advertisement

Beverly Sussman: Candidate Profile

Buffalo Grove Village president

Back to Buffalo Grove Village president

Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioQA Bio City: Buffalo GroveWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Buffalo Grove Village president Age: Candidate did not respond.Family: My husband and I have lived in Buffalo Grove for forty-three years. We have 3 sons, 3 daughters-in-law and eight grandchildren. Two of our sons live in Buffalo Grove with their families.Occupation: Retired 6th Grade Science Teacher -Kildeer School District #96-25 years â#8364;cent; Retired Adjunct ProfessorEducation: â#8364;cent; Master of Science in Education, City University of New York â#8364;cent; Bachelor Of Arts, City University of New York â#8364;cent; 69 credits above a Masters DegreeCivic involvement: â#8364;cent; Trustee: 2009-20016 â#8364;cent; Liaison to Plan Commission, Board of Health, Commission For Residents With Disabilities, Arts Commission, Buffalo Grove Days Committee â#8364;cent; Member of Buffalo Grove Sign Committee and Appearance Review Team â#8364;cent; Commissioner - Commission For Residents With Disabilities â#8364;cent; Member -Buffalo Grove 50th Anniversary Committee â#8364;cent; Board Member-Kildeer District #96 Foundation â#8364;cent; Recipient of United Way Participation Award â#8364;cent; Recipient -Best Friend Award- Buffalo Grove Park District â#8364;cent; Presenter - Career Night-School District #214. â#8364;cent; Presenter - Girl Scout and Boy Scout Badges â#8364;cent; Sponsor - Illinois Special Olympics, Baseball Teams, Science Olympiad â#8364;cent; Science Fair JudgeElected offices held: Trustee for the Village of Buffalo Grove: Term 1: 2009-2013 Term 2: 2013-2017Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?I've been a resident of Buffalo Grove for 43 years. I have a history of service to the Village and to the community. I am qualified for the job. I am honest, competent, intelligent, independent, experienced, knowledgeable and passionate in what I do. I want Buffalo Grove to remain a safe community where we respond to people's needs. I want to maintain a good level of services while keeping property taxes the same. Our employees and volunteers are a big part of the Village; I value them. During my tenure as a Trustee, the Village has been the recipient of many awards related to the budget and those naming Buffalo Grove as a safe place to live and one of the best places to live. I've had many leadership roles, during my career, that will help me transition to the position of President. I was a team leader for 14 years; I was President and CEO of a company for many years; I was a leader of workshops which I presented on a national, state, regional and local level. I have written articles for national and state journals.The Village is made up of people who will depend on me to make decisions that affect them. I will always look at the total picture. I will listen to them and represent them. I want everything to be transparent. Residents should always know what's going on in their Village. I am here for the residents of Buffalo Grove. I am their voice.Should the Buffalo Grove golf course and municipal campus ever be re-developed? Now that the downtown proposal is dead, tell us what is your vision for that property going forward.We must always remember certain things that we learned from the downtown development experience: â#8364;cent; The Buffalo Grove Golf Course is a floodplain. The word "flood" is part of floodplain for a very good reason. â#8364;cent; The Village never followed the proper procedure to determine what the best use for the golf course is, if their is any other use for it at all. â#8364;cent; Step One should have been to hire an Urban Planner or Urban Developer to determine what this land could be used for. This was never done. The Village received a plan by Malk and they ran with it. â#8364;cent; Church Street is a quiet neighborhood street with private homes and St. Mary Parish located there. Making this a busy street is wrong. Consider all of the children going to St. Mary Parish and also consider that the cemetery is there and might have potential flooding. This should remain a quiet street. â#8364;cent; If it's ever decided that the Buffalo Grove Golf Course should be sold, then we need to know what it is worth, and we need to have a REFERENDUM where the residents get to decide if they are in favor of selling it. I opt for a BINDING REFERENDUM. â#8364;cent; I will save my vision for this property until I know what the possibilities for the Golf Course COULD be, in spite of the fact that it is a floodplain. I am open to suggestions.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?The Village of Buffalo Grove has a balanced budget. The current budget for the Village is very trim. Each department works to produce a very lean and trim budget. As part of our Capital Improvement Plan, each project is given a numerical rating in thirteen different categories. The highest rating is 26. When deciding which improvements will be made, that number is looked into very carefully. Just because a project has a high rating, it doesn't mean it's an automatic go ahead. Everything depends on the amount of money that we have to spend and it all comes right down to the budget. We also stay trim by sharing services with other villages and belonging to consortiums with other Villages to save money. We belong to CMS, Central Management Services of Illinois, where we make purchases at a lower cost. We have a joint purchasing venture when we purchase salt. Fire hydrant painting was done through municipal partnering. We have a triple bond rating from Standard and Poor's and Moody's which is their highest rating on the Village's bonds. We have received many awards for our budgets. From the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), we received the (PAFR) Popular Annual Financial Reporting Award. The Village has also received The Distinguished Budget Presentation Award and the Certificate of Achievement For Excellence in Financial Reporting. One of Buffalo Grove's strongest accomplishments is its very trim and balanced budget.According to the village engineer, Buffalo Grove faces enormous street reconstruction costs due to faulty road materials used in the 1970s and 1980s. How important is this for the village, where should Buffalo Grove find the money and how urgent is it to fix the roads?With the overall diligence we have been using to repair our streets, not every single street in Buffalo Grove will need reconstruction at the exact same time. Street reconstruction is a very important part of maintaining our infrastructure. The Village of Buffalo Grove is constantly working on repairing, replacing or patching its streets. This is nothing new. Each year, certain streets are targeted to be repaved or resurfaced or patched. This is how the Village works. Everything is planned out. We do a certain number of streets each year. Which streets are selected is done on a needs based priority determined by engineering studies. Mr. Monico, the engineer with the Village, said that the system currently used by the Village is called Pave Pro. He went on to say that this is a pavement management program. We also use a company to assess our roads with a specialized truck that reviews and rates our roads. This procedure is followed every five years. Mr. Monico said they were last assessed in 2013. During my research, I came across another system called the PASER system which is also used to evaluate the conditions of streets. The Village is considering this one, as well. By targeting a given number of streets at a time, we should not have to do any enormous street reconstruction at any one time. In the meantime, let's see if there are any grants available from the Federal Government and what other options are available for the Village.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?My idea addresses the issues of alcohol and drug use in our community. Presently, in Buffalo Grove, there are two coalitions, namely Link Together and Stand Strong, who work to keep our children safe from drugs and alcohol. In conjunction with these two groups, police officers, from Buffalo Grove, attend meetings from Lake County Underage Drinking and Drug Prevention Task Force. it would be productive if the Police Department could get the message back to the residents of Buffalo Grove and neighboring communities by holding public forums. Some of the issues that could be addressed are: social hosting laws which spell out fines and jail time that includes parents as well as children; how using marijuana affects the teenage brain; the fact that the drug, Naloxone, counteracts heroin overdose and is available to the public; displaying what the drugs look like; signs of drug use; e-Cigarettes and its effect on children; informing the residents that a prescription drug drop off box is available at Village Hall. Another important issue is keeping prescription drugs locked up and away from children. These are just a few of the topics that could be presented and discussed by the Buffalo Grove Police Department. I am sure that this would be a win win situation for everyone involved in presenting and attending these programs. I would also like to show more public support for our Police Department and Fire Department. Perhaps, this could be accomplished by recognizing a police officer and firefighter of the month.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?One issue regards concentrating on economic growth and development. This is one of our five strategic planning priorities identified in our Strategic Plan. We need to be aggressive and pursue new business opportunities. We need to concentrate on Berenesa Plaza, Milwaukee Corridor, Dundee Road Corridor, Cambridge Commons, and filling up the empty stores. We also need to keep simplifying the process for businesses to relocate to Buffalo Grove. We have made many strides in this area. One big mistake that we made when we hired a Deputy Village Manager in 2012 was that we neglected to hire someone who excelled and was experienced in economic development. We finally hired someone, two and one half years later. Better late than never! I want to make the Village more transparent. Although we are following the rules and requirements of the OMA and FOIA, and even received a Sunshine Award, we can still be more transparent. We need to let the residents know what is going on in the Village at all times. I believe in working out in the open. There are many things we can do to improve our transparency. When planning for the future development of Buffalo Grove, I would like the Village to remain as green as possible and save as much land as we can. I realize that some land might need to be used for commerce. However, I do not want all of the empty green spaces to be gone. Somehow, we need to have a balance!Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Sonia Sotomayor. A woman raised from poverty who overcame obstacles in her life and went on to be appointed a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?I was always told that I could be anything I wanted to be and do anything I wanted to do. Never give up my dream!If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I am happy with my life: my husband, children and grandchildren. I hope I inspired many students along the way. No do over for me!What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Actually, my least favorite subject had the greatest impact on my life. I taught science so my students would learn, excel, enjoy and have fun.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Be happy. Don't sweat the small stuff. If you are all happy, all of your lives will be filled with love and all good things.