Weidenfeld joins Berman, Trilling on BG village board

Dave Weidenfeld will be joining the Buffalo Grove village board, while Trustee Mike Terson is on his way off.

With all 30 precincts reporting, Trustee Jeff Berman leads all six candidates with 2,077 votes. Weidenfeld is second with 1,996, with Trustee Steve Trilling is close behind with 1,937.

Meanwhile, Dan Petersen had 1,683 votes; Adam Moodhe had 1,608 votes and Terson had 1,335. All vote totals are unofficial.

Berman, the senior trustee, said he feels good that voters renewed their trust and faith in him, "and believe I have done a good job in my four previous terms and want me back."

He said the results, particularly Beverly Sussman being elected mayor, represent a significant shift.

"We will have to see how people come together," he said. However, he added, the pressing issues remain, including the impact of the state on local finances, the need to grow revenue and labor issues.

"I will try to continue to provide a rational, thoughtful, meaningful analysis to those issues."

Trilling was unwilling to comment until all the results were in.

Weidenfeld said the results were overwhelming.

"I'm really honored that the people thought enough of me to vote for me," he said, especially since, "Folks really didn't know me very much."

Weidenfeld echoed Berman's comments about the challenges facing the village and other villages and cities from the state's decisions.

"The more creative we are, the more likely we are to succeed. It can't be the same old, same old, because that's not going to work."

He said the downtown proposal made a huge impact on the election. Many residents were frustrated by the process and thought there needed to be an improvement in how the village operated.

"Folks were given opportunities to speak, but from their perspective, nothing they said mattered," he said.

Weidenfeld said that the board can work together, despite previous differences.

"One of the things that Beverly (Sussman, the new village president) can do is to help that process along."

Moodhe said he will continue to speak as he has in the past at village meetings.

"I will always be there, because it was never about me. It was about the interests of the village."

Petersen, who was one of the most vocal opponents of the downtown, said, "I think that everybody ran a good race."

He added that he would consider running again.

"We had a good healthy debate, and a lot of the issues were brought up," he said.

I think the village is being a lot more transparent about a lot of things. I think everybody won today."

Terson was unavailable for comment, but he posted on Facebook, "I just want to thank those of you who supported me during this election. Even though things didn't go my way, I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to serve our community in that capacity. I think it is unfortunate that a group of people were successful in inaccurately exploiting a single issue; however, that is how democracy works, and the people in the community who vote have spoken. If I had it all to do over, I wouldn't change a thing. I did not run to just get elected; I ran because I have a clear vision for our community, and I feel it is important to be honest with people, even if they disagree with you. I still believe that developing an actual mixed use downtown is what this community needs. I hope one day the community is ready for that."