Sussman running for re-election in Buffalo Grove
Buffalo Grove Village President Beverly Sussman will seek a second term in office, setting up an April showdown with former village board colleague Michael Terson and perhaps others.
Sussman, elected to the post in 2015 after six years as a village trustee, made the announcement Thursday, saying she'd heard from several residents who told her they would run if she didn't.
"I feel that in the past three and a half years, it's been very positive and productive," she said. "I look at the accomplishments that we have come up with, and what we still want to do, and I just feel that I belong there, that I would like to be there again, and I hope the residents agree with me."
Sussman, a retired teacher, defeated former Village President Jeffrey Braiman in 2015 in what was the first contested election for the office in 16 years.
She said that during her first term, the village has had more citizen engagement and resident involvement than ever before. Among the accomplishments she lists during her tenure are the Lake-Cook Corridor Market Study and Plan and an influx in new and profitable businesses.
Last year, she said, the village saw more than $62 million in new construction, and 75 businesses have opened, expanded or relocated in Buffalo Grove this year.
At the top of the list is Woodman's Market, which opened this year along Milwaukee Avenue after receiving a $7 million incentive package from the village.
"We have become a manufacturing hub in the Northwest suburbs and we are really becoming an economic hub in the Northwest Suburbs," she said.
She also pointed to a 2019 budget with no new taxes and a lower property tax rate.
Terson, who served on the village board from 2011 to 2015, announced earlier this month he plans to run for village president.
Buffalo Grove candidates can begin filing nominating petitions Dec. 10. Besides village president, the village clerk post and three village trustee seats are up for election April 2. All carry four-year terms.