Northbrook village president highlights transition in her final State of the Village address

Northbrook Village President Sandy Frum's theme was one of transition.

She, of course, is a major part of that.

Frum delivered her final State of the Village address on Jan. 27, an annual presentation of the Northbrook Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Elected to the board in 1987 and elected president in 2009, she'll retire when her third term expires in April.

That her address was held remotely via Zoom - providing for "record attendance," chamber board chair Bob Caldwell said, with some 164 viewers - underscored Frum's theme of transition. COVID-19 made one and all, including Frum and her six-member board of trustees, adjust on the fly.

"The biggest decision I had to make in January, a year ago, was who to appoint to fill the vacancy of Jason Han," she said of the former trustee's December 2019 resignation. "And you know what, looking back, that was an easy decision, and Dan Pepoon's been a wonderful addition to our board.

"And then, come spring, all hell broke loose," Frum said.

The pandemic required redrafting the village budget to address lowered revenue projections, providing a $250,000 grant program to bolster mainly restaurants, $150,000 to mental health providers and another $20,000 to the Northfield Township Food Pantry.

She happily reported that sales tax estimates are $1 million over revised projections, the budget's 40% reserve remains intact, and the village's portion of the tax bill remains flat.

COVID response required cost-shaving measures such as retirement incentives that have seen or will see the departures of communications specialist Cheryl Fayne-dePersio, Development & Planning Director Tom Poupard, Police Chief Roger Adkins, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Rowitz and Village Manager Rich Nahrstadt.

That's transition.

It also required the dubious honor of Frum making two emergency declarations - for wearing masks and for social distancing.

"As far as I know, I am the only village president of Northbrook to do that," she said. "And let me tell you, that's not a record I'm particularly happy about."

She noted the "civil unrest" that flooded the nation and Northbrook as well, adding proudly that Northbrook funds three social workers in the police department.

"Because there seems to be a rumor going around in the community, I want to say unequivocally that this board has never - all caps, NEVER - talked about defunding the police," she said.

She provided brief updates on the Granger property (tentative plans to sell, provided it's not needed for stormwater detention) and Northbrook Court (building plans to be submitted in the second quarter), and was pleased to hold the line on the Green Acres development the board denied for, among other reasons, being still too dense.

She said a report on work crafting the village's Climate Action Plan could come back in April.

And she saluted the passage of an enforceable Affordable Housing Plan that "will aid in making our community more diverse and more the community that I want to continue living in," she said.

Frum thanked people including her husband, Carlos, celebrating his birthday that day, before a video presentation of "The Sandys," some of her favorite moments spanning four decades of Northbrook government. Her most recent occurred just Jan. 23, when she officiated a wedding for the first time, at the Village Green gazebo.

What has she learned this past year?

That life continues, Frum said.

"We were pushed in a thousand directions, and sometimes our paths changed in a single day. We persevered, and we have a lot to be proud of in 2020 and a lot to look forward to in 2021," she said.

"I knew my last year as president would be memorable. But I never imagined it would look like 2020."

She advised civility and patience with one another, including the transition between parting officials and their successors.

In a poignant moment to close her main address she quoted a favorite tune, John Denver's "Friends with You":

"Friends I will remember you, think of you, pray for you; and when another day is through I'll still be friends with you."