Former leaders on opposite sides in Buffalo Grove mayoral race

A pair of former Buffalo Grove village presidents are on opposite sides when it comes to who they believe should occupy that office for the next four years.

Elliott Hartstein, who held the office from 1999 to 2011, is endorsing incumbent Beverly Sussman in the April 2 election.

Jeffrey Braiman, who replaced Hartstein after he stepped down in 2011, then lost his re-election bid to Sussman in 2015, is publicly backing her challenger, former Trustee Mike Terson.

Both posted their endorsements on social media.

"Mike has the intelligence, strength and vision to move the village forward," Braiman wrote.

Terson said he is humbled by the endorsement.

"I think that when someone like Jeff, who has not only been in that role of village president but has been involved with the leadership of our community in so many different roles for so long - when someone like that sings your praises and puts their name behind telling this community that they think you're the best person to take over that role, that's a pretty humbling thing to hear."

Braiman delivered as much a scathing indictment of Sussman's leadership as a ringing endorsement of Terson. He questioned her transparency - noting that fewer village meetings are now televised - and financial stewardship.

"Over the last four years, the fund balance (amount the village has in monetary reserves) has diminished and its debt has increased," he wrote. "While the corporate real estate tax levy for the tax years between 2011 and 2015 averaged less than 1 percent increase per year and totaled less than a 3 percent increase. Over the past 4 years the increase has averaged approximately 3 percent per year and a total of 12 percent."

Sussman responded by suggesting that Braiman's comments are sour grapes over the 2015 election.

"He has not forgiven me for winning," she said. "I have won. Get over it. That was four years ago."

She also disputed his remarks about transparency and the village's financial condition, saying she's given residents more opportunity to address the village board at meetings than was permitted under Braiman.

Hartstein, who now lives in Northbrook, wrote that both candidates care about the community, but, "With Bev at the helm we have seen some significant progress in economic development with Woodman's (Market) and other significant industrial development."

He also praised the process for the Lake-Cook Corridor plan, noting it provided a significant opportunity for public input, and defended Sussman's record on retail development, saying neither she nor the village board can require property owners to sell or develop.

Sussman welcomed Hartstein's support.

"I think the world of him," she said. "He goes out of his way to be involved in the community."