Lake County board candidate appointed Vernon Hills village trustee
Vernon Hills has a full village board again with the appointment of Karimar "Kari" Brown to fill a vacancy.
Brown, who has lived in Vernon Hills since 2002, was advanced for the position Wednesday by Mayor Roger Byrne to fill a vacancy created when longtime village Trustee Cindy Hebda resigned and moved out of town. Brown's selection was approved unanimously.
The unexpired term runs until municipal elections in April, and Brown's official tenure will be until the first board meeting in May. Theoretically, Brown could be holding two government offices simultaneously.
Last month, she was appointed as the Republican nominee for the 18th District Lake County Board seat. That seat has been held by county board Chairman Aaron Lawlor but he is on leave for drug treatment and is not running for re-election.
Brown said she is concentrating on the campaign and it is too soon to determine whether she would seek election to the Vernon Hills seat. She is facing Democrat Julie Simpson, also of Vernon Hills, for the county board seat in the Nov. 6 General Election.
"Honestly, I would have to evaluate everything and make sure it wasn't a conflict," she said.
Interim village attorney Keith Hunt said there is no legal prohibition for her holding both offices.
Brown was born and raised in Puerto Rico, where she owns a professional volleyball team. She and her husband, former Chicago Bear Alex Brown, have four children aged 1 to 16.
In the release on her appointment for county board candidate, Brown is described as spending "thousands of hours" volunteering in the community, including SEDOL fundraisers with other Bears and their families.
Brown was not among the village trustee applicants and did not send a resume as part of the initial process. Only three people formally applied and one did not respond when contacted, Hunt said.
"There was a very small response and then there was a broader search conducted by the mayor and (village) trustees looking for people interested and qualified," he added.
Brown said she was approached to run by Byrne. He was not immediately available Thursday.
"They approached me and gave me an opportunity to start working for the people I would work for if elected to the county board," she said.
Brown, 37, is the only female on the village board and its youngest member. She said there is no specific village issue on her agenda.
"My issues are making Vernon Hills the best place to live," she said. "I just want to come in with an open mind."