Trustee Heller Endorses Scott Bush

I am endorsing Scott Bush for Northbrook Village Trustee.

Indeed, I have encouraged Scott to run for Trustee because in my 22 years of public service in Northbrook, including 12 years as a Village Trustee, and 10 years before that on the District 27 School Board, I have come to appreciate that a municipal board requires diversity, especially in terms of employment or professional experience. Differences in how Trustees look at issues lead to a more thought out and analyzed approach. This is necessary to make Northbrook’s future bright. Accordingly, even though I am a lawyer and believe the Village Board should have attorneys as members, it is not appropriate to have all lawyers elected for the same terms.

I strongly feel Scott Bush will make an excellent Trustee. I have gotten to know Scott and believe he is the right candidate for Northbrook. Scott is a lifelong resident of Northbrook, and his life is fully intertwined with the community. He is a first responder (firefighter/paramedic) and also owns a small business in Northbrook.

There are significant issues that will be coming to the Village Board over the next few years, including, but not limited to, the possible redevelopment of what is now the Green Acres Country Club, and changes to Northbrook Court, which for so long has been the lynchpin of the financial strength of our Village. The changing retail world is going to affect Northbrook Court and therefore the Village.

Trustees, as well as the public, tends to think that zoning and development issues are the most important aspect of the job of Trustees. They unquestionably get the most attention and are admittedly important. However, the paramount duties and responsibilities of the Board are to do what is necessary to try to provide the residents with the exemplary basic services we require, including public safety and infrastructure. We need the perspective of someone in Public Safety on these issues.

It would be avoiding the pink elephant in the room if I did not address the issue of why I, who has run the last 3 times as a Caucus-endorsed candidate for Village Trustee, and ran 3 times as a Caucus endorsed candidate for School Board, am not endorsing the full Caucus slate. I simply believe that the Caucus process did not work properly this time Originally there were only 3 potential candidates for the 3 Trustee positions, all of whom are attorneys. I belatedly decided to appear in front of the Screening Committee, to at least provide some choice. If I did not appear in front of the screening committee there would have been only 3 candidates appearing for 3 open positions, with Sandy Frum appearing uncontested for Village President. I do not view that as a process that vets the candidates. The Caucus was not a vetting process this time, but one where it was set to endorse 3 candidates from the get-go.

I do not think we should have 3 attorneys elected to the Board to fulfill these 3 terms. I cannot ever remember having that on the Village Board. The Caucus, ran by an attorney of approximately the same age and experience level as these 3 attorneys, endorsed 3 attorneys. The Caucus failed in getting multiple qualified candidates to appear for screening, for whatever reason.

Please note I have worked on the Board with Kathryn Ciesla for almost 8 years now. By endorsing Scott Bush, I do not in any way express any negativity towards Kathryn’s Board service. She has done a good job and indeed over the years has progressively become a better Board member. I recognize that maybe the public does not value experience, that the public wants new Board members. That is not for me to decide, but I do not want anyone to think I am expressing any opinion that Kathryn has not been a good Board member and that I do not think she will continue to be.

I do not know either Muriel Collison or Jason Han well. So, I really cannot comment on whether they should or should not be elected. In my relatively few interactions with Jason Han he seems very honest, decent and bright. I am just not sure how ready he will be from day one to make the important decisions he must be ready to make.

The Caucus system works sometimes, sometimes it does not. I have been a part of an election where 3 of 4 Caucus members did not get elected. Mike Scolaro was one of the non-Caucus candidates who was elected and he has served this Village very well and will be missed. When I first ran for School Board there was a full slate that ran against the Caucus endorsed slate. One member of the non-Caucus-endorsed slate won – Karen Long. Karen proved to be a great Board member at District 27 and then at District 225.

So, in summary I know that Scott Bush is exactly what we need on the Village Board. He will serve this Village well. WE NEED HIM. Not 3 people with very similar skill sets.