Public officials can express opinions

I would like to respond and clarify some of the issues which have been raised in recent news articles relating to my communications with the media.

As an individual and a public official, I feel that communicating with the public on issues and candidates is part of being a good citizen and a good public official. I realize and respect that others may not always share my views, but our democracy dictates and encourages us to share our opinions and views with each other to try to give us all information that will help us all make better and more informed decisions.

With regard to my personal endorsement of Barack Obama for president, I would point out that it is quite common and a generally accepted practice for office holders to endorse candidates for public office. Sometimes I have written letters or pieces identifying myself by title to demonstrate that by virtue of my position I have had personal experiences that impact upon what I am sharing, and other times I have not included my title.

Sometimes when I have not identified myself by title, the media has chosen to list my position either on the signature line or in a caption above what I wrote. The fact is that I happen to be the village president/mayor having been elected to that office and the reference accurately identifies me as an individual whether given by myself or added by the media.

Considering the common practice of elected officials endorsing others, I find it hard to accept that people would somehow think that such an expression was an endorsement by the village government. Moreover, when people are elected to serve in a position, they do not surrender or check their constitutional rights to free expression upon election.

I know our village attorney has been asked to render an opinion on what may or may not be appropriate in terms of guidelines for political expressions and am confident that any such opinion will be respectful of everyone's right to freedom of expression under our Constitution.

With regard to my sharing an announcement I received about a new restaurant, I was merely passing on what I thought everyone would perceive to be good news since I had previously confirmed with our village manager that he had polled the village board and that they were supportive of having this particular end user in our new development on Milwaukee Avenue. Our development agreement merely provides that the developer cannot get a building permit to proceed until the village has received at least three letters of intent for restaurants acceptable to the village but does not proscribe any limits on communications relating to prospective tenants.

Nevertheless, I certainly want business announcements to be something we can all be excited about. In that vein, since the village board prefers to hold back public announcements until we have acceptable restaurant letters of intent in hand, I certainly am happy to hold off on sharing any enthusiastic welcoming comments or restaurant announcements until that point for future prospects.

I stand committed to doing my utmost for the future economic development of the village and keeping our residents informed of our progress.

Elliott Hartstein

Buffalo Grove