Endorsement: Braiman in Buffalo Grove - with Berman, Trilling, Weidenfeld
No town is perfect, but Buffalo Grove has a lot going for it, and one of its great characteristics is an involved citizenry that keeps an eye on local government, gets involved in the community and isn't afraid to speak its mind.
That's a unique thing. Believe us. We know. We get to village board and city council meetings all across the suburbs, and very few of them feature the kind of engaged public debate that you get with regularity in Buffalo Grove.
Occasionally, that leads to uproar, like the one that broke out last year over an ambitious and controversial downtown proposal that ultimately was jettisoned even before it got to a stage where it could be considered.
The project may be dead, but the Save Buffalo Grove coalition that grew up to oppose it is not.
It's fielding a cast of candidates to give the village one of the most provocative elections it's witnessed in years.
Trustee Beverly Sussman, the earliest board critic of the downtown project, has jumped into the race for village president against incumbent Jeffrey Braiman, and Save Buffalo Grove co-founder Dan Peterson has been joined by retired attorney Dave Weidenfeld and civic volunteer Adam Moodhe in taking on incumbents Jeffrey Berman, Mike Terson and Steven Trilling for trustee.
Let us say at the outset that despite the sharply disparate views among them, we find all of the candidates likable and earnest, and each would no doubt serve ably if elected.
That said, we have a clear favorite for village president. We think it would be a downright shame if voters for some reason turned out Jeffrey Braiman after all he has given of himself to the village in the course of half a lifetime of public service.
Buffalo Grove is a well-run community with a stellar bond rating and an impressive reputation. Not too long ago, it was named to Money magazine's list of Best Small Towns in America and it frequently shows up on other lists of that sort. And justly so.
Braiman's contribution as village president over the course of the last four years, as a village trustee for 20 years prior to that, and on various village boards and commissions for six years before that has been a major reason for Buffalo Grove's fine standing.
He's collaborative, intelligent, open, hardworking and visionary, and Buffalo Grove is the envied community that it is largely because of him and public servants like him.
For all her attributes and experience, Trustee Sussman has simply failed to make a case for rejecting Braiman's candidacy.
As for the Save Buffalo Grove campaign, we'd ask, save Buffalo Grove from what? The village is well managed. The downtown project was rejected. The public's voices were and always have been heard.
Rather than viewing the trustee race as two factions to consider, we prefer to view it as choices between six individual candidates.
Our endorsements for the three village board seats go to incumbents Jeffrey Berman and Steven Trilling, who both have a long record of accomplishment and service, and to Dave Weidenfeld, whose career and civic credentials would promise fresh but still-collaborative perspective to board deliberations.
No trustee has served more ably and attentively than Berman. No trustee approaches issues more open-mindedly and thoughtfully than Trilling. And no newcomer possesses more analytical skill than Weidenfeld.
Regrettably, these choices leave other good candidates on the sidelines. Our choices are reflective less of opposition to Terson, Peterson and Moodhe than of faith in Berman, Trilling and Weidenfeld.
Buffalo Grove is a model suburb. Braiman, Berman, Trilling and Weidenfeld will help keep it that way.