Hartstein won't seek another term as Buffalo Grove village president
Buffalo Grove Village President Elliott Hartstein will not seek another term.
In a prepared statement released Sunday afternoon, Hartstein said it is “time to turn the page to a new chapter” in his life and his electoral involvement.
Hartstein is nearing the end of his third term.
In his statement, he did not mention his very public battle with recently recalled Trustee Lisa Stone, which culminated in Hartstein being publicly reprimanded by the village board for donning a wig and mocking her at an Election Night rally.
In a phone interview later Sunday, Hartstein said his tangles with Lisa Stone had no influence on his decision not to run for a fourth term.
“Quite frankly, I think it has been blown out of proportion in the sense of its toll on me,” he said. “Of course it was a bump in the road. But I always did the best I could to be fair to everyone on the board, including Trustee Stone, during some of those less-than-smooth meetings. It was my responsibility to do the best I could. And I think, under circumstances which were sometimes more challenging than others, I think I did a reasonably decent job in trying to keep our meetings moving. And more importantly, the village moved forward and did the things that it needed to do in terms of serving the community and making decisions on important issues.”
Nor did the decision by longtime Trustee Jeffrey Braiman to run for village president affect his decision, Hartstein said.
Hartstein said Braiman's decision did not come as a surprise.
“I had anticipated running against him in the past. If I decided to run, I'm sure we would have had a healthy and vigorous debate,” Hartstein said. “He had talked about doing it in the past, so it did not come as a surprise to me.”
When asked if Braiman has his support, Hartstein said he would not comment on the election now.
“I have always felt that elections are a good thing, giving people choices is a good thing,” he said. “I certainly would reserve judgment at this point in time.”
Braiman said Hartstein's delay in making a decision was an indication that maybe it was time to pass the baton.
Braiman announced his candidacy last week, but up until then had repeatedly said he would not run if Hartstein chose to seek another term.
“My own opinion was that if recall was successful that he would come back, and if it wasn't, that he wouldn't come back, that it was just too trying on him,” Braiman said. “And if he was going to run again, based on just everything else, there was no reason not to support him.”
But Braiman said that based on signals he was receiving from Hartstein recently and encouragement from other people, he decided it was time for him to run.
“There is no question that he loves the village,” Braiman said. “He has had a very good tenure. ... His style was different from those before him, Verna (Clayton) and Sidney (Mathias),” but the results were similarly successful, he said.
Style differences did cause some conflicts in the beginning, Braiman said. But ultimately they were overcome.
“It's true that Elliott and the board didn't necessarily get along well in the beginning, 12 years ago, but what we were able to do is to forge relationships, and we saw the greater picture,” Braiman said. “There is no question there is a respect that went back and forth between the board and Elliott, and Elliott and the board.”
Hartstein said the decision was difficult because of his passion for the community, as well as the strong encouragement he received from countless residents through calls and e-mails and contacts over the last several days and weeks.
“This is the right decision for me after many years of service,” he said, noting that he has been leaning toward this decision for some time, even as far back as his unsuccessful run for state representative earlier this year in the Democratic primary against Carol Sente.
He said he had second thoughts about leaving the position, given his commitment to a smooth transition from Village Manager William Brimm, who retired in the spring, to Brimm's successor.
But he now feels, particularly after the budget presentation a couple of weeks ago, that the village is “in good hands for the day to day things that matter in providing leadership and quality services and direction to the village for the years to come.”
As for appointing someone to replace Stone until April's election, Hartstein said he hopes to make a decision by the next meeting, although he could not guarantee it.