Ciesla remains solid among caucus picks as incoming Village Board president

Concluding a process that began in July, the Northbrook Caucus finalized its slate of candidates that will be presented in the General Consolidated Election in April.

The roster was reached during a virtual Town Meeting on Nov. 15 that ran longer than 4 hours, led by Mark Cohen, chairman of the Northbrook Caucus Committee as a Whole.

"I thought it went very well," Cohen said.

More than 700 people initially indicated they'd Zoom into the event, though Cohen said the participant numbers on Sunday topped 500.

Applications for available leadership roles as Village Board president and village clerk, on the board of trustees and on the boards of the Northbrook Public Library, Park District and school districts 27 and 28 were due by Oct. 5 or, or by Oct. 9 for District 27.

Candidates were then interviewed by caucus subcommittees for endorsement by the Committee of the Whole on Nov. 8.

Challengers such as Ihab Riad, for board of trustees, and Yulya Kravtsov, for park district board, presented their case on the floor on Nov. 15. Neither received the mandated 50% minimum of the public's vote.

Voting took place through Zoom polling and Google Forms emailed during the Town Meeting to people who had preregistered for the event.

While additional independent candidates may qualify to be placed on the General Consolidated Election ballot on April 6, 2021, the candidates forwarded Nov. 15 by the Northbrook Caucus remained the same as those endorsed on Nov. 8.

They are:

Village Board president: Kathryn Ciesla;

Village clerk: Debbie Ford;

Village board of trustees: Muriel Collison, Dan Pepoon, Joy Ebhomielen;

Park District board: Michael Schyman, Michael Goodman, Lisa Chalem;

Library Board: Jami Xu, Abby Young, Barbara Unikel.

District 27: Matthew Basinger, Martha Carlos, Melissa Copeland, Gali Oren-Amit, Daniel Terrien; and

District 28: Jennifer Gallinson, DeShawn Arms, Matt Cassidy, Shweta Jinkala.

Volunteers still are needed to gather signatures on petitions, campaign for the slate, raise funds, place yard signs in support of the candidates, and prepare for the 2022 election cycle. Those interested may visit the website, www.northbrookcaucus.org/volunteer.

Cohen thought the turnout for Sunday's Town Hall was "fantastic," he said.

"I've never been more proud of our village," Cohen said. "I think it's the ultimate sign of civic engagement that that many people listened to Mark Cohen talk for four hours."