O'Reilly, O'Connor and Kritzmire win Long Grove trustee race

Long Grove voters spoke with one voice in Tuesday's election.

The Voice of Long Grove slate prevailed, sending three new trustees to the board, as well as a new village president in Trustee Bill Jacob.

According to unofficial results, Bobbie O'Reilly, Rita O'Connor and Anne Kritzmire defeated incumbent Trustee John Marshall and challenger Pat Tode.

With all eight precincts reporting, O'Reilly, a Realtor who previously served on the Buffalo Grove village board and the Lake County Board, and Kritzmire, a managing director of marketing and strategy, each had 415 votes, or 27 percent. O'Connor, a real estate broker/manager and attorney, had 380 votes, or 25 percent.

Finishing out of the running were Marshall, who was a distant fourth with 214 votes or 14 percent, and Tode, a retired Chicago police detective, who had 97 votes or 6 percent.

There was no mystery surrounding the outcome at the top of the ticket. Jacob, a member of the Voice of Long Grove slate, ran unopposed for village president and had 497 votes.

Assessing the slate's success, Kritzmire gave credit to its ability to reach out to voters.

"We did a whole lot of talking and way more listening," she said.

When they listened, she said, "I heard a lot of people who are generally pleased with Long Grove, but they think there are certainly more things that need to be done. They are looking for people to be decisive and action-oriented."

Among the issues that emerged during the campaign was the future of Long Grove's historic covered bridge.

Debate has swirled through town in recent years over what to do with the deteriorating 111-year-old landmark.

Another issue was raised during the campaign by Tode, who wanted the village to revisit the $600,000 contract for the Lake County sheriff to provide public safety services. Tode wanted the village to gradually assume those duties and offered to serve as an unpaid town marshal.