Not a blizzard of votes -- or a mandate

Jane Byrne had the blizzard.

            Harold Washington had his coalition.

            Beverly Sussman had the downtown proposal.

            Last month’s election results, while surprising to many, should not come as a surprise.

            Elections, whether urban or suburban, are often fueled by emotion as opposed to civic interest and responsibility.

            Suburban elections typically do not fuel a lot of interest – the numbers bear that out.  Tuesday’s Lake County turnout was 11.25% while Cook County officials speculate, according to media reports, that the turnout in suburban Cook County was barely 14%.

            In Buffalo Grove, the turnout in the Cook County precincts was 13.55 percent while the turnout in the Lake County portion of the village was above the county average with a turnout around 13.89 percent compared to a woeful 11.36 percent county wide.

            The reality is this:  Sussman and others like her who were elected or even re-elected during the April 7 elections, did not receive a mandate.

            This is not an indictment of the backgrounds of those who sought public office, but more of one for residents who seek to shirk their civic responsibility.  It seems as though local voters take the attitude is if “I don’t have a complaint, why get involved?”

            What happens then is a handful of folks who take an interest in their municipality or school board pretty much call the shot when it comes to selecting governing officials especially if there’s an issue or situation that generates considerable media coverage or impacts a specific neighborhood.

            Like a blizzard, a coalition – or a proposed shopping center.

            It’s sort of a good news / bad news scenario. 

            The good news is that the civic process works – sort of.   The ‘bad news’ is that it’s a selective process.  The troops like to be rallied when it’s a matter that is near-and-dear to them. 

            But what about the rest of the time?

            Civic involvement should, ideally, encompass the entire village and not just a specific area when an issue arises.  Quick glances at the voting trends from the April election yield just that.

            Sussman and the “Save Buffalo Grove” slate carried the areas that had proximity to the site of the proposed downtown development.  A look at the rest of the results indicates just the opposite as incumbent Village President Jeff Braiman garnered more votes than Sussman.

            Did the process work?

            Again, to some degree it did because voters who were passionate about an issue got the vote out.  But for whom?  For candidates who they thought would serve them well.

            Sussman has been on the Village Board for six years and Adam Moodhe is a regular attendee at Village Board meetings for years.  Dan Peterson and David Weidenfeld were both newcomers to the village politics and had it not been for the proposed downtown edifice, odds are they would not have run.

            When asked, people were hard-pressed to tell you why to vote.  One person told me Weidenfeld was a good candidate because “he’s a nice guy and a member of our havarah.”  Great; that will be help the next time the Village Board wants to hold hands, do a group hug and sing Kumbyah.  Not a pretty picture.

                This doesn’t mean he’s not qualified, but if you want me to vote for someone, tell me more than what he does with his social life.  Weidenfeld, who won a seat on the Board, has extensive background with the Lake County State’s Attorney’s office, so he is familiar with local and regional governments.

            Beyond that, however, there was not a lot of information available.

            Why?  Several reasons.

            Outside of aggressive social media campaigns by Steve Trilling, Jeff Berman and to a lesser extent Jeff Braiman, information about all of the candidates was limited to a plethora of signs that provided little, if any reason for voting any of them.

            This is why social media has become a key component.  Granted, information was available, but to varying degrees.  As is the case with paid advertising, social media posts are loaded with bias.  At least it was an effort to reach a broad base of constituents.

            If voters are to make decisions -- let’s make that intelligent decisions -- they need to be more civic minded and informed news consumers. This, of course, presents a new challenge – where can news consumers go to get that sort of information.

            The main media outlets that cover the village are the Daily Herald, the Countryside Reminder and the Journal Topics. Most of the coverage focuses on events, municipal meetings, pointless features or soccer mommies promoting friends. The lack of in-depth or watchdog coverage is not due to a lack of money or the misnomer that journalism is dead.  The Pew Center for research finds that it can be a mixture of things.

            Interestingly enough, Pew reports that the higher level of education, the less likely is someone may follow local news.  However, the more educated a resident is, the more likely he/she will digitally share local news. When it comes to the use of social media, local residents, especially those 18-34, have a higher rate of usage for local information than those over 50.  (The full report can be found at: Pew Center for Research: How Demographics Play Into Local News Habits)

None of this should be a surprise, but it does raise a question – what’s the best way to get information to residents so they can become civically engaged?

            Or perhaps a better question – why don’t more people care?

            As mentioned, April’s election had six candidates; three incumbents and three wanna-bes.  Aside from a candidates’ forum sponsored by Stevenson High School and the Buffalo Grove – Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce, forums, if you want to call them that, were limited to gatherings at local residents.

            There was a time when the League of Women Voters would sponsor forums.  Now, however, the only chapters near Buffalo Grove are in Highland Park, Glenview and Lake Forest.  When it comes to local civic activity, aside from the longstanding and stellar Civics Forum coordinated by Village Clerk Jan Sirabian, there’s not much happening around here.

            Civic activity?  Civic responsibility?  The lack of both may be partly behind an effort by the Illinois State Board of Education’s task force on Civic Education to pursue a required civics education class.

            So what’s next? Interestingly enough, with Sussman now Board President, there’s a trustee opening that has attracted nine residents.  They include Kurt Baier, Robert Giddens, John Green, Joanne Johnson, Bruce Kahn, Adam Moodhe, Edward Osmon, Frank Sears, and Eric Smith.           

            Some names are familiar to Village Board meeting regulars, while some are either new or want to try village service once again.

            No matter who they are, questions remain.

            Who are they and why are they running? Do they have unique qualifications?  Do they have a personal agenda? Were some asked to run by the remnants of the Save Buffalo Grove group?

            Whatever the reasons the information needs to get out. I am pursuing information about each candidate via the Freedom of Information Act as the village is reluctant to release full applications without redacting “personal information”.

            No matter what the reasons, a few things are certain.

            The blizzard is over.

            The downtown proposal is dead.

            What’s at issue here is the need for an informed citizenry to know not only how government works, but who is involved.

            And perhaps get involved beyond Election Day.

Chicken Little living in fear...

It’s always a difficult time of year for Chicken Little.

                “You know,” he says, “in the fall, there’s just one holiday dinner; but this time of year, there are two seders.”

                Not realizing he was so observant, I asked why that concerned him.

                “You fool, that means twice as much chicken soup!  And this year there’s an added stress besides the holiday.”

                Which is?

                “I keep hearing voices and seeing images in my head.  Franklin Roosevelt, Jimmy Piersall Dale Carnegie – even Napoleon!”

                Whoa, I said, where did this come from?

                “They all talk about fear and how we need to overcome it,” he said.

                So you’re living in fear of chicken soup?

                “Hey, that’s normal,” he said.  “But what has me more concerned is the fear being generated during this campaign.”

                You fear signs, I asked?

                “No, it’s the fear being disseminated by some candidates and their supporters. You know the inference -- if we don’t elect them, the village will turn into a concrete slab.”

                Ah, campaign rhetoric, I said. 

                “That may be, but it scares me to death.  I need space for my coop and what if they build a mega mall and I have to flee the coop, so to speak.”

                I told him told him to take a deep breath and relax.  Unfortunately, campaigns do that to people and the result is an onslaught of, for lack of a better term, inaccuracies.

                Much of the discussion in this campaign has been brought on by the now defunct proposal for “downtown Buffalo Grove.”  It was, to say the least, an albatross that was going to fit into Buffalo Grove as, a professor of Middle East studies would say, an Arab in a Kibbutz.

                It was, however, an idea.  But it’s gone.

                And despite what at least one resident said in a letter to the editor to The Daily Herald, the Village Board did not pull the plug on the project when Beverly Sussman announced her candidacy.  It was withdrawn when village officials decided that a plan calling for the village to provide between $100 and $120 million in finances in one way shape or form was not going to fly.  Period.

                “So you mean fear of the evil empire from Deerfield return is unfounded?” Chicken Little asked.

                Big time.  CRM officials have made it quite clear that they are not going to submit another proposal and that, as the spokesperson said “I will not develop in Buffalo Grove.”

                “So what’s the big yehuda?” C.L. asked.

                As the old journalism adage goes, sex sells.  Or in this case, fear sells.

                That could be why some folks are waving the panic flag.

                “Ah, I see.  It’s like if you don’t vote for them the ensuing impact will infect you mind, curve your spine and cause the allies to lose the war.”

                At this point it became clear to me that Chicken Little was finally getting it, or listening to vintage George Carlin – or both.

                “What do the newspapers say?” he asked.  I told him that those newspapers that did endorsements raised the same question – what’s the problem?

                When there is no real problem there seems to be a need to drudge up an issue.

                That’s not to say things are perfect, because they never are.  And that’s not to say that all incumbents are perfect, because they are not.

                What is important to note, however, is that despite who you are supporting, you need to look at the global situation.  In a nutshell, the village is doing fine.  Could things have been done differently?  Absolutely.  But don’t preach fear.

                “So maybe that’s why I’m hearing voices,” Chicken Little said.  Possibly, I told him.

                “You know, for a while there, I thought Rahm Emanuel and Jesus “Chuy” Garcia were running for were running in Buffalo Grove.”  Hardly, but I can see your connection.

                In general terms, Garcia has one issue, brought on by a single group.  Rahmbo, the incumbent, is getting beat up for the things he’s done and is trying to do.  Welcome to elections.

                “But what other issues are there?” C.L. asked.

                We’ve heard about transparency in government.  A good one.  It’s always amazing to me that people who have problems with this show up once every two years to complain.  Again, there is probably room for improvement, but information from the village is available online, from staff and through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  The FOIA has tight regulations as to when and how an organization needs to respond, difficulties getting information are most likely due to ‘user error’, which is not an uncommon occurrence.

                In terms of citizen input, I do not know of another village, school board, or any other public body that gives residents as much time to present their views as Buffalo Grove does.  Ten minutes at the end of each meeting and five minutes on specific topics.

                “Darn, the meetings must go forever,” C.L. said.  That depends on what is being discussed, but in general they don’t because not many residents attend.

                “Ah, but I bet all of the candidates show up,” Outside of the incumbents (for obvious reasons), they don’t.  Merely stating a fact without serving as an endorsement, candidate Adam Moodhe is one of the few regulars at Village Board meetings.

                “Other issues?” he asked? 

                Economic development, which is incessantly referred to as ED.  When I saw that I thought I had to see Alice in Village Hall.  Seriously, however, it is a pressing issue and the village is taking steps to address it. As a matter of clarity, it should be retail economic development.  The village is doing extremely well with office and industrial square footage – in fact, there is nearly 8 million square feet of occupied industrial and office space in the village.

                The village continues to work with companies to locate in Buffalo Grove.

                “Do you think companies will leave,” C.L. asked? Some have, I noted, even though they maintain facilities outside the village.  “So why didn’t they stay in the village?”  Good question, I told him; maybe someone on the Board can investigate that.

                “Geez, I guess I need to read the campaign signs a bit more,” he said.

                Let’s not even go there.  The sign issue has become an annoyance at the very least.  So much so, I told him, that at least one candidate’s spouse filed a police report claiming vandalism because of damage to her campaign signs even though they weren’t on their property.

                “Wow,” C.L. said, “I’m not sure what to do.”

                The best advice, I told him, comes from the late Fidel Ghini, who was mayor Highwood for 24 years.

                “And that is?” he asked.

                Do your homework.

A sign of the times?

I’m not a fan of campaign signs.

            I know they’re essential to campaigns because how else will people get to know the candidates?

            There’s so much information on a campaign sign that there’s no need to research a candidate or slate.

            You can find out that some is experienced, dedicated and that the candidate cares.

            And it seems that the more signs a candidate or slate has, the more qualified they are.

            Right.

            So as the campaign for Village Board winds down, the focus appears to be on signs.

            Issues?  We don’t need no stinking issues, we have signs.

            Signs address everything – the issues, transparency, civic responsibility.

            It’s a sad state when those running for public office focus on image rather than substance. It’s especially critical – yes critical – in today’s world of quick-info.  News consumers don’t take time to understand the news about the world around them – whether it global or local.

            It’s no wonder that the Illinois State Board of Education has a task force that is calling for a mandatory civics class for Illinois students.

            Perhaps they want to start in Buffalo Grove.  Not because Stevenson or Buffalo Grove high schools need it – their students get it – just watch them in action at the village’s annual civics forum coordinated by Village Clerk Jan Sirabian.

Signs for the Save Buffalo Grove slate were at Town Center,
but we removed by management on Tuesday

            Strong civics involves weighing all sides of an issue from multiple, independent and non-bias sources while sticking to the facts and not mere opinion.  A novel idea.

            But in our little town (thank you Simon and Garfunkel) it seems like the superficial is what’s beneficial.

            Like signs.

            Signs in parkways, on lawns, fences and just about anywhere you can put them.

            It’s to the point that the signs have seemingly become a campaign issue.  Most recently “signgate” as one social media poster put it, involved campaign signs touting the re-election of Village Board President Jeff Braiman and Beverly Sussman who is running against him

                It seems as though both Sussman and Braiman placed signs on and in front of the fence that belongs to The Villas at Hidden Lake development at the corner of Deefield Parkway and Buffalo Grove Road. Sussman had one of her large banners on the fence along with several standard lawn signs.  Braiman supporters, seeking equal space, placed a couple of lawn signs there as well, a move that should not be seen as unexpected. At issue is who allegedly had permission to place the signs there.

            The drama unfolds when it was discovered the other day that someone placed

Signs for Beverley Sussman are placed in front of those for
 Incumbent Village Board President Jeff Braiman.
These signs are at Deerfield Parkway and Buffalo Grove Road

additional Sussman signs in front of the Braiman signs.

            Now this is a classy campaign.

            Those signs, however, are not then only ones at the center of signgate.  During a stop at Town Center a couple of Saturdays ago, I was amazed, if not a bit taken back, by the number of campaign signs for the Save Buffalo Grove slate. I understand that individual stores may want to display a sign, but it appeared that the entire center was supporting the slate.

            During a return trip I found that there were 32 signs at Town Center; 28 in the common areas and four by entrances on Lake-Cook Road and Illinois Rt. 83.

            A few things come into play here.  If you are trying to lease vacant retail space, do you permit a litany of campaign signs haphazardly placed throughout the property? There seems to be a bit of irony here since the beleaguered Town Center has been a focus of downtown redevelopment efforts touted by the Save the Buffalo Grove slate.

            Tim Donohue, property manager for CTK Asset Services, which manages Town Center, said Monday that he was unaware of the signs (he was on vacation the week before) and that “We’re not supporting any slate of campaigns.  Someone from the group may have put them there.”

            He added that tenants may be allowed to have “certain temporary signs,” they need to follow village and property guidelines.  “I have never come across this before.”  He did a site visit on Tuesday to assess the situation and seemed more than a little surprise at what he found.  “There were a lot of signs out there,” he said. He added that when checking with tenants, “nobody was able to tell me that they put the signs out, so I took them down.” All 32 of them.

            As for granting permission, Donohue was adamant that “nobody asked me permission; I did not give permission to anyone to put signs like that out.”

            In a telephone interview last Wednesday, Sussman said that she goes to Town Center once a week, but had not seen the signs and was “not aware of them.”

            In the meantime, sources tell me that signgate found its way to the Village Manager’s office where both Village Manager Dane Bragg and Deputy Village Manager Jennifer Maltas have reportedly been in touch with all candidates about placement of signs and the fact that village inspectors will remove campaign signs that are on village right of way.  Among the signs reportedly removed were those placed near the Vernon Township Hall where early voting is taking place.  Maltas did, however, say the problem is not unique to this election.  “Every election season we tell the candidates that they (signs) can’t be on village right of way.  They can be on private property with the owner’s permission.

            In regard to Town Center, Maltas was emphatic that the village did not remove any campaign signs because the development is private property.  She added that campaign sign regulations are handled by the Community Develop Department.  Maltas said that when a violation is spotted, photos are taken to document the infraction

            After that, “We contact them and they can pick their signs up,” Maltas said.  Signs that are not claimed are discarded.

            Hello, WoodStein?

            You would think that as the election gets closer, candidates, especially those who are not happy with the incumbents, would be addressing issues.  Things like economic development, the pending hatchet job by the Rauner administration, and maintaining the village’s financial situation.

            But no -- it’s all about signs.  Voters need to look past the signs and research the candidates.  As for the candidates, as noted, they need to address issues, offer solutions to things they see as problematic, and get past the sign issue.

            The late Will Rogers once said “All I know is just what I read in the papers, and that's an alibi for my ignorance.”

            When it comes to effective voting, if all you know about a candidate is what you read on a campaign sign, then it’s more than an alibi for your ignorance; it’s a lack civic responsibility.

This blog was updated at 4:40 p.m. on April to include comments by Deputy Village Manager Jennifer Maltas.

Hatred has no part in a campaign

It has been said that politics can lead to some strange bedfellows.

                Toss in social media and you end up with bed sores.

                Make it local politics and it defies logic.

                As is the case during a recent campaign swing by a supporter for village board candidate Dave Weidenfeld who allegedly told a resident that “…we need to unseat the Jewish people in favor of having some Christian blood on the board..”

                Seriously.

                It’s heinous enough that a mindset like that exists at all, let alone with someone campaigning on behalf of a candidate.

                It gets more bizarre.

                Weidenfeld is Jewish.  Seriously.

                Of course it made the rounds on social media as election materials have been known to do.

                And while at first glance it’s tempting to make it a political attack on one group of candidates by another, it’s clearly an act of stupidity.

                “What the person said was awful, offensive,” Weidenfeld said. “I can’t explain it –  it makes no sense.”

                This is the understatement of the day.   Weidenfeld said he immediately “fired” the person from working on his campaign.  Weidenfeld also said that he contacted the person who had this less than ideal conversation with the volunteer to apologize and set the record straight that this was not how he was  running his campaign.

                A neophyte to the world of political campaigns, this being his first one, Weidenfeld said the interaction may have drawn some attention on social media because “it is a highly contested election – emotions are pretty high.”  Welcome to the world of local elections.

                We’re not talking Rahm Emanuel and Jesus ”Chuy” Garcia here. We’re talking Buffalo Grove.

Racism, hatred, lack of respect has no place in a campaign. We should be beyond this – way beyond it.

                But we’re not.  As one poster on Facebook noted, “How many other people got the same hate message? Where are their apologies? Where are the apologies for the other Jews in the village? Or the Blacks? Or Hispanics? Or any other minorities? Bigotry by any other name is still bigotry. It doesn't belong in BG politics. It doesn't belong anywhere.”

                People often get caught up in their own cultural cocoon and think the village is made of folks just like them.  It’s not.  For a village of fewer than 50,000 people, Buffalo Grove is extremely diverse.  Its residents come from all over the world – India, Korea, Pakistan, and Burma – and that’s just on my street.  Residents come from Eastern Europe, central and south America, the Middle East and all other Asian countries.

                It’s who we are.

                So when some neanderthal wants to usurp the efforts of residents who want to work on behalf of their community by spewing forth venomous verbal poison, it’s going to make the rounds.

                Weidenfeld said he was surprised by the timing of the posting on social media.  I’m not.

                Nothing should surprise anyone about social media.  Stuff makes the rounds and it can happen quickly, or like the Cubs’ playoff run, can take a while.

                What is surprising to some people is that aside from Weidenfeld’s apology to the resident who had the unpleasant interaction, no one else has said a word.

                You can argue either side.  On one side it’s an isolated case while on the other side cases like this should receive some attention to let residents know that this kind of stuff happens and it does not belong in a campaign.

                No matter for whom you are voting for.

What's at the root of the campaign -- issues or Italian food?

My first beats more than 40 years ago were the villages of Lincolnshire, Bannockburn. Riverwoods – and the city of Highwood.

                Not the stuff “Front Page” was written about.

                But they provided their moments.

                And while Lincolnshire, Bannockburn and Riverwoods dealt with issues related to growth and the onslaught of city dwellers to their once secluded parts of suburbia, Highwood dealt with just being Highwood.

                It was unique place back then as it was the only city along the North Shore north of Howard Street where you could saunter up to a bar and have a drink.  The city’s history was so unique that author Marvyn Wittell wrote a book (28 Miles North) about Highwood in 1953.

                A lot changed in Highwood from 1953 until the time I started covering it.

                Perhaps the most interesting thing about Highwood at that time (1973) was its mayor, Fidel Ghini.

                Ghini had all the style, grace and diction of Richard Daley.  To be exact, Richard J. Daley. It was not unusual to interview him as he worked on a sewer line with a jug of Pisano at his side -- at 10:30 in the morning. Seriously.

                For 24 years Fidel was the boss – not quite like Daley – but Highwood was his kingdom, his empire, his domain.

                And two Friday nights a month when the city council met (yes, Friday nights), in meetings that rarely eclipsed the one hour mark, boss Ghini had the floor.

                When there was a lite agenda, Ghini found a way to take the stage to re-enforce his position as boss.

                And then there were elections.  To no surprise, Ghini would milk them for all he could.  One of my favorite ‘Fidelisms’ came during a tirade about opponents who tried making an issue for the sake of campaigning.

                “They’re making a polenta,” he told me once.  “You know how to make a polenta?  You need hot water.  What they’re trying to do is make polenta with cold water – or even no water.”

                If you follow Fidel’s recipe, Buffalo Grove could boost a lot Italian restaurants that specialize in polenta.

                Especially during the current campaign.

                In an election year that is seemingly devoid of any major issues – and let’s emphasize major – folks have been grappling at the corn meal to try and drum up some interest in the seemingly placid politics that has become synonymous with Buffalo Grove.

                That’s not to say things are perfect, because they are not, but compared to some municipalities, when it comes to campaign ‘issues’, the land of big bison is white bread in the bakery of political campaigns.

                Perhaps the one issue that continues to resonate is economic development.  It does so because folks are still living in fear of the ‘evil’ Chuck Malk who proposed an instant downtown on the site of the Buffalo Grove golf course.

                This just in – Malk withdrew his proposal three months ago.  The plan is gone. Get over it.

                The issue, however, is not.  Some candidates now focus on the golf course as the lifeblood of the community and those who think, consider, or day dream about altering the course are practicing blasphemy.

                This just in – it’s still there.

                Fear is a motivator, not always a positive one, but a motivator nonetheless.  Voters who are going to exercise their civic responsibility by voting need to do so in an informed manner.

                To do this, it’s imperative to look beyond the campaign signs, brochures and opinions of people who spew forth verbiage just to hear themselves talk.

                Daniel Patrick Moynihan said it best – Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts.

                Or as Fidel would remind us – Don’t make a polenta. 

Who's on first?

The advent of social media has provided candidates at any level a new vehicle by which to deliver their messages.

President Obama used it extensively in both his campaigns as did Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

So I was not too surprised when I started seeing various posts by the candidates in the stimulating and issues loaded race for village trustee.  With three names on the ballot, current Board members Beverly Sussman, Andrew Stein and Lester (call me Les) A. Ottenheimer III,  and one write-in candidate, Jeff Battinus, it’s hardly been as exciting as say, an appearance by Carlos Marmol.

The four candidates have all said the usual stuff.  The three current board members have touted their experience and concern for the village, something incumbents usually due.

Battinus has been doing the same too, but since he has not served on the Board, he does not have the experience to fall back on as the other three.  Instead, he has been trying to forge ahead by riding the coat tails of the proposed instant downtown.  At last month’s candidate forum much of the discussion focused on the 65-acre proposal for a central business district along Lake-Cook Road on land currently being used as one of the village’s two golf course. 

A little residential concern, objection and ::poof:: we have a campaign.  Sort of.

With only one proposal on the table a decision does not seem to be in the near future.

If there are other major issues in the race, there has not been much discussion about them.  Yep, folks are concerned about the Weiland Road project.  Yep, folks are concerned about the budget.

But when it comes to hearing what the Village Board has to say about it, there does not appear to be a lot of interest in these topics.  At the past two meetings, there have been more people in attendance to say good-bye to retiring Police Chief Steve Balinski and retiring Public Works Director Greg Boysen than  have been to discuss village issues. 

Oh yes, let’s not forget the parents who came at last week’s Board meeting to celebrate the state champion Buffalo Grove Cheerleaders.

So cheerleaders and public works directors have taken the focus of the village.  In an election year.

As sitting Board members, Sussman-Stein-Ottenheimer III have had the chance to let the public know of their concerns for issues facing the village, but have not made village board meetings campaign forums.

So where’s Battinus during the Village Board meetings?  My guess he’s in one of two places – he’s out running (remember, part of his candidacy announcement was based on his jogs through the village) -- or he’s in Ela Township.

Say what?

Just check social media.  Battinus has made it a point to let the world know that he “likes” Ela First.

The what?   Ela First?

 Ela First, as noted on its Facebook Page is “…Committed to the people of Ela Township, we will Continue to provide quality services while maintaining a Balanced Budget with Integrity, Accountability, and a Proven track..”

I’m not sure why Battinus is interested or concerned in the fine folks of Ela Township – I mean Lake Zurich is beautiful this time of year -- but it seems to me that a candidate running for Buffalo Grove Village Board should be putting Buffalo Grove first.

He’s made it clear his opposition to the instant-mall and has called for development along Dundee Road and Milwaukee Avenue.  But now what?  One local paper endorsed him because of his “fresh voice”.  What it didn’t say is what they fresh voice was going to say.

Yep, the village needs more commercial and retail development – you can’t argue that.  But how should it achieve that?  The campaigns of all four candidates have been pretty mum on that. 

It’s a $64,000 question that a lot of folks in Buffalo Grove have been trying to answer.  And who knows where the answer will come from.

But odds are it won’t be in Ela Township.

Chicken fried election?

I’m still mulling over the village’s Electoral Board hearing, which determined that Jeff Battinus was not eligible to be on the ballot for the April election.

The outcome seemed inevitable.  Not because of who is on the Electoral Board – cynics will say the old guard was out to nail Battinus – but that’s not the case.  The Electoral Board consists of the Village President, Village Clerk and most tenured trustee, which means it was Board President Jeff Braiman, Village Clerk Jan Sirabian and Trustee Jeff Berman.  Period.

The challenge to Battinus’ filing was not by any of the old guard, but by relative new comer Andrew Stein who was elected in 2011 to fill the remainder of ousted trustee Lisa Stone.

To help breakthrough the confusion, I met with local political observer Chicken Little.  “I’m not sure what to make of the whole thing,” Little said.  “I’m actually kind of fried, which is not a good state to be in.”

I asked him what exactly bothered him.

“ Several things. For starters, do you need to be named Jeff to be involved in the village process?  I mean, really, look at who was there --  Jeff Braiman, Jeff Berman, Jeff Battinus, and just for good measure, the attorney consulting Jeff Stein – so we had for Jeffs and two steins.”

A frazzled Chicken Little

OK, so your point is?

“Nothing really,” Little said, “but it would be nice if we had some name diversity.”  So, I asked him, what about other candidates?  Do you think they ::ahem:: chickened out?

“Not sure,” he said, “I’m still trying to figure things out.”

Good luck, I told him.

Breaking through the abundance of Jeffs, "JBs" and multiple Steins, the result of the hearing means that the Village Board election will be uncontested.  There are three candidates – incumbents Beverly Sussman, Lester A. Ottenheimer III and Stein (remember, that’s Andrew Stein) -- for three spots.

So out of a community of 43,000 plus, only four people sought to serve – and because of the ruling by the Electoral Board, we’re trimmed to three.  Quite honestly, it’s pretty amazing, especially given how we’ve been led to believe that the village is corrupt, the trustees are dishonest, the village is going to hell and everyone should flee the coup.

“Hey, don’t get personal,” Little said.

The ruling which took the contest out of contested election was pretty cut-and-dry.  Stein (oops, make that Jeff Stein) told the hearing that there were three cases that addressed election filing challenges and in all three cases, the Appellate Court upheld the ruling.

Which didn’t surprise Battinus.  “I made a mistake,” he said.  “My problem was a clerical error.”  Battinus noted, several times, that the ruling takes away the opportunity for Buffalo Grove residents to have a choice.

Depending on your point of view, Stein – make that Andrew Stein – emerges as a goat or a hero.  Jeff Stein, however, made it clear that there is no way to over ride the statute.

Unlike some previous gatherings in the Council Chambers (ponder this for a minute – why are they called the Council Chambers, when it’s one room and the Village does not have a council?  Just asking.) the atmosphere was actually pleasant and respectful.

“You did the tough part,” Braiman said.  “You went door-to-door and got hundreds of signatures from people on the street.”  Braiman noted that the Electoral Board had “no authority to do otherwise.”

Berman concurred, noting that “whatever sympathies or thoughts we may have, the courts have ruled.”

Battinus, who moved to the village in 2010, was gracious in accepting his fate.  “ I have to be accountable.  I screwed up.”  Battinus says his goal is to serve “my community – that’s it.”  He is mulling a run as a write-in candidate, but still needs to file paperwork with both Lake and Cook counties.  Among other things.

Battinus says it depends on fund-raising, estimating it will take nearly $6,000 to run a campaign, which factors in signs, mailers and even attorney fees.  “A grass roots effort won’t be enough…If nothing else, I have name recognition.”

‘Whatever he does, he’s going to be very careful about crossing his Ts and dotting his Is.  “I won’t make the same mistake again,” he said.

He won’t be able to as long as Andrew Stein is around. 

The process for reviewing candidate filing challenges is cut and dry.  The question is why would someone, in this case Andrew Stein, challenge a candidate’s petition and why.

Stein contends he has done elections in 2009 and again in 2011 when he ran for the Village Board.  He said the reviews were a learning experience and in one case he contacted a candidate’s staff member to tell him that there was an error.  Good neighbor Stein?

Maybe.

Concerned public official?

Maybe.

Battinus, however isn’t so sure, and here’s where it gets interesting.

Battinus told the hearing that Andrew Stein told him on three occasions that he should consider not running.  “The third time,” Battinus said later, “he said someone would contest it (his filing).”

Stein told me that he did in fact talk with Battinus and discussed his (Stein’s) consideration to run in 2009.  “I talked with him about my background in 2009 and that people told me I didn’t have the experience,” Stein said.  He added that he suggested to Battinus to gain more experience and build name recognition.

Stein says he told Battinus that if he followed the directions in the candidate’s guide their probably would not be a problem.

Stein says he did “all the research I could” after the filing deadline and was more than a little surprised when he found that Battinus did not file an economic disclosure form.  Stein said he spoke with Battinus on Jan. 1 to discuss his filing, but did not tell him that it was he who was going to file the objection.  Stein said he discussed the options with Battinus which, Stein said “were to withdraw and save yourself and the village money for legal fees, or right it.”

“I hate to say it,” said Little, “but it seems kind of scrambled to me.”

C.L. might be on to something here.

Battinus did little to defend himself and, barely 14 minutes into the hearing, asked the Electoral Board if they could go to closing remarks.

Had Braiman and Berman, along with attorney Jeff Stein not made it clear that there was no way to go against the statutes, there could have been some interesting debate.  Instead, it resorted to an exchange of polite understandings and Battinus admitting that he made the error and he was not “angry with him (Andrew Stein).” 

All that was missing was a group hug.

“So what happens now?” Little asked.  “Can I run as a write-in candidate?”

“And that is?”

As noted, potential write-in candidates must file their intent to run as a write-in candidate in both Lake and Cook counties in order for their votes to count.

“And if I don’t?” he asked. 

Simple – your votes won’t count.

“Hmmm,” he said.  “What if there’s a crowd of write-in candidates?”

Seems to me there won’t be, especially since there was only one nonincumbent who had planned to run.

“Why do you think that is?” he asked.

Not sure – lack of time, lack of money or lack of interest.

“Or maybe the sky isn’t falling,” Little said.