Stolman is new chairman of Lake Co. Board

Fulfilling predictions made after last month's general election, Buffalo Grove Republican David Stolman on Monday was named chairman of the Lake County Board.

Likewise, Lincolnshire Republican Ann B. Maine surprised no one when she was appointed as the new president of the county's forest preserve district board a short time later.

Although several people privately had voiced interest in the county board's top job, Stolman was the only candidate nominated for the post, an appointment of the panel's members. Maine was the only nominee for the forest district job, too.

Stolman replaces Suzi Schmidt, a Lake Villa Republican who held the post for 10 years and is leaving the panel to serve in the state Senate.

A teary-eyed Schmidt recommended Stolman succeed her.

“We need a chairman who understands the county the way David does,” she told the board Monday. “The good people of this county deserve the best. And I can't think of anyone who can do that better than David Stolman.”

Stolman, a board member since 1992 and its vice chairman since 2008, graciously accepted the job. After taking his seat at the front of the boardroom in Waukegan, he called the appointment “an absolute honor.”

Then, in an interesting and very modern move, Stolman spoke directly to the public, which can watch county board meetings on local cable and on the county's website. He promised county operations would be transparent and urged residents to contact him through e-mail or other means with concerns.

He also pledged to continue the county's reputation for fiscal responsibility and customer service. He promised to focus on boosting the local economy.

“My motto is going to be ‘jobs, jobs, jobs,' and I need your help to do that.” Stolman told whatever people might have been watching or might watch on the Internet or when the meeting is rebroadcast on cable.

After Stolman took his new post, the board named Lake Barrington Republican Stevenson Mountsier its vice chairman.

The forest board which consists of the same 23 members as the county board then met and chose its top two leaders.

Maine, a commissioner since 2002 and an avowed environmentalist, was a natural choice for the job. She replaces Bonnie Thomson Carter, who remains on the board but decided not to seek a fifth term as its president.

In a wistful acceptance speech, Maine talked of her lifelong love of nature and reminisced about gardening with her mother, watching birds with her father and sneaking through barbed-wire fences with her grandmother to look at wildlife.

Thanks to the forest preserve district's conservancy efforts, “a grandmother (now) can take her grandchildren for a day outdoors, and she doesn't have to move any barbed wire,” Maine said. “This is the gift that our preserves give to us.”

Antioch Republican Linda Pedersen was selected as vice president of the forest district board. She defeated Waukegan Democrat Angelo Kyle for the job in the only contest of the morning.

The vote was 13-10 and followed party lines.

Democrats also were shut out of the top leadership posts in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2008. Kyle was named forest board vice president in 2006 and held the post for two years.

Monday's other votes were not without controversy albeit minor. Deerfield Democrat Michelle Feldman voted against Stolman, Mountsier and Maine in succession, the only commissioner to do so.

Although she didn't explain the votes publicly, Feldman told the Daily Herald she opposed the candidates because of things said during a recent closed-door forest district committee meeting.

She declined to elaborate.