Long Grove board candidates will run unopposed

Long Grove's village president will easily glide into office for another term in April since no one opposed her despite a number of high pressure issues that riled residents.

And the same can be said for the trustee slots. Two sitting trustees are stepping down, which gives others a real shot at elected office. Instead of a stampede of candidates, though, the contest produced only two newcomers, so that race will be uncontested too.

Trustee Ted Lazakis, who will not run for another term, said many residents who've shown up at village board meetings upset with the board probably recognized that taking the village's top spots entails more than what they'd bargain for.

"I think they truly believed in the heat of the moment they wanted to throw us under the bus, but then they put running for office into perspective. It's not an easy job."

Long Grove has seen its fair share of issues that brought the residents out. The Sunset Grove shopping center project, at the corner of Route 83 and Aptakisic, was one hot-button issue. In November, residents voted in an advisory referendum against the tax increment financing district created to aid development projects by a 2-to-1 margin.

Also, construction of a lift station on Checker Road upset some who wondered about the fumes, noise and unsightliness of utility boxes near their homes and the traffic hazard from the installation work.

Trustee Karen Schmitt, an incumbent running uncontested for re-election, said a lot of people who are upset initially over a board action may find that the decisions the board makes didn't adversely affect them as much as first thought,

"I think they settled down," Schmitt said. "I think a lot of people say to themselves, 'I guess we can live with it. It's not that bad'"

For Joanne Weber, the discord is what spurred her to run for office. She's filed for office as one of the two people who want one of the two open seats. John Marshall. who is a member of the village's architectural commission, is also running for office for an open seat that's vacant since Stephanie L. Hannon will not be seeking another term, village officials said.

Weber lives near the Sunset project. When it was first proposed, she was very concerned about how it would affect her. After she researched the project and had attended a number of board meetings, she decided she was for the project. She also decided she wanted to be on the board.

"Before Sunset, I was living my own life," Weber said. "But I had to attended all the meetings (about Sunset) and I was attracted to the complexity of the issue and how it would affect people."