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Buffalo Grove trustee attacks village president's communication style

What began as a routine discussion of a consultant's document by the Buffalo Grove village board erupted into a display of inner tensions within the board itself - tensions that have been simmering since April 2015 when Beverly Sussman defeated former Village President Jeffrey Braiman, who had been supported by the board's senior trustee, Jeffrey Berman.

Consultant Peter Burchard had been hired in 2015 to work with the board to develop priorities for the village board, with the goal of incorporating them into the strategic plan. The priorities consisted of finance, economic development and leadership/communications.

During Monday's committee of the whole meeting, Berman blasted the latter section and then launched upon a critique of Sussman for lack of communication with the board. He also criticized Sussman's involvement with the recent promotion of a dance festival through village channels, which he said violated village policy.

Berman said the policy limits the use of village communication media to village business or events affiliated with or sponsored by the village. He said he was dismayed at the "flurry" of advertising for the International Festival of Dance run by a "for-profit entity," the Mazurdance School.

"This is the kind of multifaceted media promotional blitz that businesses pay money to obtain and has no place in taxpayer-funded communication," Berman said.

He said the ads were not removed until after he continued to press the issue over several days. He added that he was disconcerted to see a "personal promotion" of the village president on the back of the event program, accompanied by her photo.

"It certainly can be suggestive of a quid pro quo," he said.

Sussman apologized for the appearance of impropriety, explaining that the intent was to promote arts and culture in Buffalo Grove and welcome people from around the world to the village.

"This was something that a man named Roman Mazur started out with the Arts Commission," she said. "He was trying to have a celebration, an international celebration, with people from all over the world coming to Buffalo Grove."

She said the Arts Commission was unable to provide funds to help, so Mazur did everything himself.

"I didn't even think of the advertising aspect of it. On last Thursday, I welcomed a room full of dignitaries and people from around the world to the village of Buffalo Grove. … And I have to tell you what an amazing feeling that was, being with foreign people and welcoming them to Buffalo Grove."

She said Roman Mazur, who was given a proclamation by the village last year, was trying to promote the arts and culture in the village. She said she did not ask for the photo to be put on the program. "It was just put on there, and I didn't see it until I got a program at the performance."

Addressing Berman, she said: "I only wish that you had, instead of sending a tirade of emails, that you just called me and said, 'Hey, Bev. You know what? This isn't right. You made a mistake. Let me tell you.' And I would have said, 'Thanks, Jeff. I appreciate your help.' And I would see to it immediately that nothing else was done. But you didn't choose that route. You chose a route to send to everyone on the board to try and embarrass me.

"And you know what? I'm not embarrassed. I'm sorry that I plugged a company that was a company, and I should not have done that. And I apologize for doing that."

Berman replied: "There is a distinction, even if you don't recognize it, between your welcoming a group of people to the village as the village president and co-opting the village media to promote an event that, whatever lofty aspirations may be behind it, is an event run by and for the benefit of a private entity that is looking to sell tickets and make money."

He added that she should have communicated with the board on the matter.

Berman also was dissatisfied with the consultant's recommendation on how the village president should interact with individual trustees, calling his suggestions "drivel."

"I realize that this village president has continually abdicated the responsibility of communicating the past few years and has shown herself unwilling or unable to … effectively communicate or to engage the members of this board in a meaningful way," he said. "But a continuation of that practice is unacceptable and memorializing it in a policy statement is completely unacceptable."

Trustee David Weidenfeld defended Burchard's work.

"If you consider the atmosphere two years ago (when Burchard started the work), that's probably all he thought he could accomplish" given the atmosphere on the board, he said.

Jeffrey Berman
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