Trustees not surprised by Hartstein's state bid

Buffalo Grove Village President Elliott Hartstein's decision to apply for State Rep. Kathy Ryg's soon vacant seat came as no surprise to anyone following his political tracks.

Among the least surprised were Hartstein's colleagues on the village board.

Hartstein has been deeply involved in regional and even national issues. He has served as Lake County delegate to the Chicago Agency for Metropolitan Planning or CMAP, an agency that concentrates on land use and transportation planning issues, and he is vice chairman of its board. He has also served as president of the Northwest Municipal Conference and is a vice president of the Illinois Municipal League.

Trustee Jeffrey Berman said, "Obviously he has a resume that could appear to have been built for the job."

Likewise, Trustee Jeffrey Braiman said that when he heard Ryg decided to vacate her seat, "My first immediate thought was that he would be the perfect person to be appointed and the perfect candidate.

"It's clear that his focus, his passion extends beyond the village. He has been involved in regional and statewide issues since he became village president."

Hartstein's interest in national issues is reflected in his enthusiastic support for President Obama, including working in Iowa for him on the caucus, and Hartstein's blog, which the village president has used as a soapbox on such issues as health care reform.

Sometimes, however, Hartstein's outside activities have caused friction between him and other board members. Two years ago, the board reprimanded him for going against its wishes by urging fellow members of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus to take a stand on educational funding reform in the state. The village board had urged Hartstein to abstain from voting with the caucus on a recommendation to the General Assembly, but that didn't keep him from expressing his opinion.

Hartstein said the only direction he received was to abstain. But Trustee Steven Trilling told him at the time, "I'm really greatly saddened today that you really do not see anything that the board is trying to convey to you."

This week, following Hartstein's announcement, Trilling said that while "people are going to disagree about things all the time, I would say the majority of the things that Elliott does on a daily basis on behalf of the village of Buffalo Grove I agree with."

While Hartstein's departure would change the dynamics on the board, Trilling said, its impact would pale in comparison to the changes wrought by the recent village board election.

Following the election, the relative serenity of a board that once ruled by consensus has been shattered by the friction between the older board members, particularly Braiman, and newly elected Trustee Lisa Stone.

Stone said she was concerned by Hartstein's possible exit, even though she and Hartstein haven't always seen eye-to-eye.

"Elliott is independent of the rest of the board, meaning the old board," she said, referring to incumbents Braiman, Berman, Trilling and DeAnn Glover. "At least there is some neutrality with having Elliott there, because he is not one of their chums."