Speaking Out: Now that election is over, it's time to focus together on the future

With the local elections over, it's time to reboot our communities

The candidates who won and lost, as well as the community, need to focus on looking forward. Congratulations and thanks are due to all who participated in the process. Running for office and agreeing to serve are a major commitment.

I know that there are often strong disagreements, and sometimes it gets a bit strident. Nonetheless, it is an important process that often stimulates discussions on issues that need to be tackled.

Those who won are to be congratulated, but they must be mindful that there were still people who supported their opponents and who shared a different perspective.

Those who lost should be thanked, but they must be mindful that more people chose to vote for their opponents and the community has now spoken. It is never easy after a hard-fought election, but residents are best served by all candidates trying to cooperate and putting the community first.

I have always thought that all who are involved in holding public office should try not to hold grudges and only look forward after an election or after a major decision has been made. Rehashing or dwelling on old disagreements serves no one. In these times, when negative campaigning too often rears its ugly head, when the election is over, all must be mindful that it is time to move on.

At the local level, this becomes even more important, since neighbors in a community come in contact with each other on a daily basis, whether eating at local restaurants or shopping at local stores. Yes, more and more of us are really going to have contact again post COVID-19.

As for the community, though people are on different sides in every election, it clearly works best when the community lends support to whoever gets elected. Nothing is accomplished by sour grapes. Likewise, those who get elected need to be open-minded and reach out to all sides of the community. They need to make a concerted effort to seek everyone's input as each local board moves forward with decision-making.

As always, the turnouts in local elections are quite low. In some heated races, there may be some uptick. Nonetheless, after every local election cycle, we can hopefully learn that, as communities, we need to do better in getting our neighbors to come out to vote.

For now, let's hope the fighting is over and it's time to get to work. Let's recycle our campaign signs and get back to posting more family pics on social media rather than campaign chatter. We can still share ideas or things we want to see improved or changed, but we can certainly disagree without being disagreeable.

Just as when things need to get back to working better on our computers, we sorta need to reboot our communities when campaigns are over. I look forward to seeing lots of positive things happening in our towns in the months ahead.

Just as there is a burst of energy and a certain excitement, like when a new school year starts for our kids, I am hopeful that all the newly seated and constituted local boards will be excited to come up with new ideas that will engage and energize our communities and take them to the next level.

• Elliott Hartstein of Northbrook is an attorney and a former Buffalo Grove village president.