Hartstein should not run for re-election

As a college student living far away from Buffalo Grove, I do my best to follow the happenings in the village where I grew up. After reading newspaper articles and watching online videos of the village board meetings, which presented the entire Lisa Stone situation in depth, it is abundantly clear that Buffalo Grove's leadership reached a new low on the night of Nov. 2.

Village President Elliott Hartstein's donning of a black wig and dancing around mocking a fellow village official who was just forcibly removed from office for, in his words, “relentless negative and improper conduct” was not only disrespectful, but utterly reprehensible.

For him to openly call for her removal because he felt that she breached the rules of decorum, only to mock her and act in a way unbecoming to someone who's been in village government for 30 years is, at best, laughable and at worst, downright ironic.

Hartstein's conduct was unprofessional, especially for someone who believed he was qualified to be a state legislator. This behavior underlines his history of disrespectful behavior toward Lisa Stone that included him personally attacking and now mocking her character.

Regardless of what each of us may think of Stone's actions and his halfhearted attempt at an apology, Hartstein's response on election night made me a little ashamed to still call Buffalo Grove my hometown.

I know most people my age are not actively involved in politics, but the actions of Elliott Hartstein on election night reached such a high level of embarrassment for our village and someone has to speak up. I can only hope that Hartstein realizes the error of his ways and respectfully chooses not to seek re-election as village president.

Bradley Dlatt

Buffalo Grove