WATER

Lake Michigan is the Prime Natural Asset that Highland Park has within its boundaries. There is no doubt of the importance it has to us as well as life itself. Most of us take the fresh body of water for granted.... but we should not. Remember, this lake water compromises 70% of our bodies. Yes, 70% of US is Lake Michigan.

We need to protect the lake and understand the fundamental requirements to do so. The Great Lakes ecosystem has limits of tolerance that can't be ignored. Proactive decisions and policies need to be thought out and enacted to assure its survival and ours. Short sided public policy and industrial decisions must not be allowed to continue for our children, and children's children to be able to survive on this earth.

The Great Lakes Compact, passed into federal law in 2008 and signed onto by the State of Illinois, prohibits water diversions outside of the watershed and ensures that the waters are used sustainably within the watershed. Actions by our Lake County leaders and affirmed by the state do not seem to follow this commitment since they have suggested we pump new Lake Michigan water outside the watershed. Along with breaking the rule on this compact, there is no plans to bring the water back into the watershed to replace its diversion. This proposal by Lake County is morally vacant of any reasonable stewardship of our Great Lakes resource and possibly violates the Compact that we did sign.

On another front we are spending over 30 million dollars at our Highland Park water plant to increase capacity from about 21 MGD (million gal. per day) to 30 MGD. To be fair to my colleague Jim Kirsch, a major promoter of this expansion, this new micro filtration process does remove smaller elements in the process making it marginally safer. The micro filtration process also significantly increases the amount of energy to operate the plant over our current sand filtration system. The plans also make it possible to produce 40 MGD with future modifications. Currently, Highland Park and the western communities we serve use about 11 MGD with peaks in the summer over the 21 MGD. So there are two major reasons proponents have pushed this project forward over the past 5 years. One is increased capacity and the other is cleaner water. My concern and objection to moving forward over the past several years is that we do not need increased capacity (we could enact a conservation policy and reduce consumption significantly, thus fall well within the current operation capacity during peaks) and currently we exceed all the federal and state requirements for clean drinkable water.

At our last City Council meeting Councilman David Naftzger made a motion to postpone two items on our agenda to immediately spend over a million more on this project until we had time to dig into the policy changes this Council has embraced, and its effects on this expansion plan. Only Councilman Naftzger and myself supported that postponement. After urging an pleading from our city manager, the Mayor and 3 others voted to spend the million plus and push forward on the 30+ million spending plan without additional investigation or discussion. 

Councilman Naftzger and myself will push forward on clarifying the facts on NEED and the resulting economic impact these decisions will have on our water rates as we borrow the 30+ million dollars future residents will have to pay back. While most might say this horse is way out of the barn, I believe we can reduce the scope of this project and save many millions, move forward with a cutting edge conservation plan, and reduce the economic burden that these costs will impact residents for the next 25 years. My hope is to turn this LEMON into lemonade we can all support.

Hands-Free Cell Phone Driving Only - June 1st, 2011

The City Council now requires all motorists driving in Highland Park utilize their cellular devices in a hands-free mode only while operating a vehicle.

Please look at the City website to learn more.

Folks that are caught not using a cell phone Hands-Free..... will be ticketed.
I suggest not using your cell phone while driving at all. Wait until you pull over and park before using the phone. Studies have shown that any cell phone use while driving is dangerous.
Be safe......

A Call for Alternative Energy

Our Wind Energy ordinance passed allowing residents to install turbines on their homes and on large land parcels. While these are mostly untested winds of governmental regulation, we have to start somewhere. I have discussed running beta scenarios with our city manager to be sure we don't over regulate this promising technology.

If any of you are interested in installing wind turbines please shop for installers and contact our community development office at 847.432.0867 for details.
The City of Highland Park and other governments must lead by example. We have been collecting sustainability funds from our waste contracts to provide examples. I hope to have a wind turbine on a government facility by 2012 if not sooner..... Stay tuned!

June 2011 Roundup

Property Owners from our downtown came before the City Council to ask us to help facilitate code changes and administration procedures to help facilitate a more prosperous district. The Council responded that we should put this on a front burner and in short work get to decisions points. Staff had proposed a more process laden approach in which I heard the City Council reject.

Fencing on route 41 pedestrian overpass was again postponed because of lack of time. I am hoping that we can get this moving soon to install fencing to protect our bike riders and vehicles on 41.

We extended Karger lease agreement with Community Family Center for another year..... This gives them time to continue to raise money. Also, The Music Theater Company will be continuing their great performances at Karger during this transition. Please check out both these websites to support these great organizations.

Old Council rejected my request to use additional funding to repair more streets in town. I am hopeful the new City Council will authorize a one time use of funds for enhancement of our aging infrastructure. Our reserves are now over 40% and our fiscal policy requires 25%-33%. We will begin the budget process in July.

The threat of the State stealing our Local Government Distributive money is over for this year and I personally would like to thank Senator Garrett and Representative May for supporting our position.

Interviews for our seventh Council seat have gone well. We had 27 interested citizens of which one will be brought forward by our Mayor for final approval by the City Council. The vote and seating of our newest Councilman will be on June 27th.

Reflection on Memorial Day

I want to personally thank all those that have served us in our armed forces. For those brave citizens that have done so in support of our country and values, I have no greater respect. To sacrifice your life and future on this earth is a leap of faith in man and the ultimate commitment to our nation and people. G_d bless those soldiers that served us, made the ultimate sacrifice, and their families that will live with the loss.

To Begin at the Beginning again.

Okay, New Mayor, Whole new Council, and Jimbo and I.  Well, I am very hopeful that we can get something stirring soon and have good outcomes for us to make you proud. In a managerial form of government the operations is run by our City Manager and it is up to the Seven of us to form a policy direction that must be obeyed.

As ONE of the SEVEN that serve you, I am going to share some of the specifics that I hope I can get consensus on during the next two years.

Budget - Increase in capitol spending and a decrease in personnel. I am hopeful though shared services with other governments in and around Highland Park we can gain a much greater efficiency. We also need to understand the realities of what we need to provide to residents.
Environmental Initiatives - The best way to approach energy conservation is through incentives and providing best practice examples. Just like the Prius cars I convinced staff to buy many years ago, we need to now demonstrate that electric vehicles can now make a difference. We must show geothermal applications for heating and cooling at city hall and the Library. How do we integrate wind turbines and solar panels onto our existing buildings? When you talk about planning and zoning, establish laws that prevent neighboring properties from blocking sunlight to peoples homes.  Stormwater discussions have gone on for many years but it is time we enacted laws on incentifying sustainable methodologies to collect stormwater for reuse instead of flushing it down to the Gulf of Mexico. And let's not forget the street-ends.... need to raise private money to work with our governmental sustainability fund to improve the street-end overlooks as the picture windows onto our Great Lake Michigan.
Governance -  I am hopeful that the staff will be much more aligned to the values of consensus of the City Council than I have seen in the past. We should not be pitched curves and sinkers that result in fouls and ground outs. The pitches should be slow, straight down over the plate, and easy to hit home runs. Maybe not every time, but I am looking for high scoring events!

LATER GATOR!

Sustainable Taxism

Over the past several years we have shown how government can serve our community with less. We continue to examine the efficiencies of the private sector and realities of our economy to share services and reduce cost. Yet, the staff continues to promote an increase in taxation.

Staff suggested and the Council passed an ordinance to establish a 4.5 cent / therm tax on out-of-state Natural Gas for customers in Highland Park. This additional tax of 4.5 cent/therm for out of state gas was presented to us to equalize the the 5% charged to HPkers buying in-state gas. This new tax will increase taxes to a tune of about $360,000 per year.

When I asked for this issue to be tabled a month ago or so, I was promised a pre-session discussion and presentation by staff. WELL, we ran out of time to discuss this in detail and I got no support April 25th from all 6 other members on the City Council to spend more time on the subject. This tax increase passed 6-1 with your buddy Steve being the only "NO" vote! Surprise Surprise!!

$360,000.00 of new taxes out of citizens pockets that are already strained!! I agree that all customers using natural gas should all pay the same tax rate. We could have reduced the tax rate for existing in-state paying customers to a point where we brought in the same total taxes that we bring in today? Why not also charge everyone a set price at X amount / therm instead of some by the therm and others by a percentage of cost of therms.....and INCREASE TAXES!!!

We are elected to watch over these actions and I believe this decision to raise $360,000.00 more tax dollars was unwarranted.  I again propose we fairly distribute all taxation of Natural Gas among all users not raise taxes. This way we can be fair and reduce taxes for a significant part of of public. What is wrong with that? Comments?

Congratulations and Thank You!

Elections over, Life goes on! I want to give a heart felt congratulations to Mayor-elect Nancy Rotering, Councilman-elect Tony Blumberg, David Naftzger, and Paul Frank. Also, all those that will be serving our community on the park and school boards.Those of us on the City Council look forward to working with our sister governments on shared services and a new level of cooperation.
I also wish to thank Councilman Scott Levenfeld, Councilwoman Terri Olian, Councilman Larry Silberman, and Mayor Michael Belsky for their combined decades of service to this community.While the political road seems to get bumpy at times (OMG), we must elevate ourselves above our differences and renew relationships within government for the benefit of our community and citizens.

On a final note, I would like to wish everybody a great Easter and Passover holiday. I so enjoy the reflection and observance of my heritage as well as the joyful experience of the diversity of cultures in our community..... Health and Happiness to all!

Who should fill Councilman Roterings Seat?

Now that Nancy will be our new mayor on May 9th, it is time to focus on who will replace her as our new City Councilman. As usual, I have some thoughts on direction my ONE vote will go and am currently reaching out for candidates to fill certain obvious vacuums.

WEST SIDE!!! As many of you know I grew up in the Red Oak / West Ridge neighborhood and will always consider myself a Highland Park Westsider...... That being said, no one currently serves on the City Council that lives West of route 41 and I believe that is a BIG problem. We need eyes and ears in our west side neighborhoods to better network with that part of our community 24/7.

WOMAN!!! With Nancy being the only woman still on our council, this is an obvious consideration in picking her replacement.

Availability and time spent in Highland Park is important since four of our current Councilmen work mostly outside of our community. It does make sense that a few us that serve on the Highland Park City Council be in Highland Park on a "Daily Basis".

Qualified Candidates is the first consideration in this process. While one might think that being a University of Chicago, Northwestern, Harvard, or Yale graduate seals the deal...... think not!  I am looking for candidates that have heart, intelligence, passion, and a like vision and set of values that are shared with the everyday people of our community. Even a Stagehand like me can produce great results and not be an Ivy League Peep.

PLEASE consider this position for yourself and/or ask others. Nancy, as our soon to be Mayor, is taking requests for this open seat to be filled by the end of June. Read the city posting for this position. According to the State of Illinois law, the Mayor will appoint with advice of City Council. Then, that Mayoral appointment will be placed in front of the City Council and will become a Councilman if the majority of the City Council agree and give consent.

April 2011 Roundup

The NO-Bank type (POSO) zoning placed to keep our pedestrian downtown viable is being examined. Can we increase foot traffic in our downtown by easing restrictions on use of main street storefronts? Should we allow athletic clubs, convenient stores or simply shrink the overall size of the overlay restrictive ordinance?

More 1st run movies at the Highland Park Movie Theater. Please check out movies and visit our downtown. While you are there, have lunch, dinner, or shop and visit our great stores.

Awarded $1,136,790 bid for Asphalt work that includes work on segments of Barberry, Clavey, Egandale, Grange, Highland, Lewis, Lilac, Old Briar, Pleasant, Second, Sherwood, St. Johns, Washington, Windsor, and Vine.

Western Ave. project is moving along with us approving our 110k share of engineering consultant on the project. Highwood is taking the lead on this project that will include sewer and water upgrades.

Project on 2132-38 Green Bay will be getting a upgrade with us passing a special license to improve that commercial property without changing the zoning to a RO 50 unit/acre density as was proposed by staff. Myself and Councilman Levenfeld pushed hard for this significant amendment to staff's recommendations to leave the underlining lower density residential in place as our Master Plan envisions. This one caught my attention and our City Council did respond positively!

What do you people want?

In the 80's, one of many admirable actions of Councilman Al MacLeod was when he won office, he thanked the citizens for their support, published his phone number, and asked people to call him at home if they needed any assistance. Simple, Direct, and Sincere!

I had this short thank-you note taped to my book shelf at my home on County Line Road and did call Al for help on several issues over the years. He was a great asset to this community and I do miss him and Martha. Accessibility, transparency, and the heart to serve our residents is why someone should serve on the City Council. Making connections to our residents is a great way to open dialog and enhance communications.

Over the past eight years, as a City Council, we have not been reaching out to neighborhoods on an annual basis like we had in prior years. It is time to continue on with the annual reach-out neighborhood meetings we had in the 90's. This is a forum we can give a short update on our actions and provide an opportunity for residents to ask questions and discuss issues with their public servants.

The City Council should make this a priority and make it part of our yearly boilerplate of operations. Until those opportunities emerge, as always, I am available to help and can be reached at my home at 847.831.0373 or on my cell at 847.456.6933.

GO, Get Ready, Set

We are off and running with our new City Council that will be seated on May 9th. Your wishes have been received, the votes have been counted, and I am looking forward to working with our new Councilmen Tony, David, and Paul.  All are well accomplished gentlemen that have governmental experience and achievements.

Promises have been made and now it is time to walk the walk and deliver for the citizens of Highland Park. While I did not run for office this past year, I did express a strong view point for Mayor and Councilman. I am hopeful that our entire City Council being seated on May 9th will meet the expectations that were promised during the campaign season.
Over the next several meetings the dynamics and cohesiveness of this Council will begin to emerge.  Up to now our Mayor-Elect Rotering seems to have been planning with staff our first moves including the process in which the Mayor will pick her replacement. I am hopeful our government process will reform and the entire City Council will be more involved in leadership roles. Keep your fingers crossed and think positive!

Create Change-- VOTE ! !

As your Highland Park Councilman for about 18 years I believe the City Council has done a great job providing all of us a vibrant community that is a great place to live, work, raise a family, and retire. The economic reality of the past several years has put stress on our community. That being said, we do have the resources and heart to keep Highland Park moving forward to provide services and the excellence we all expect.

I am supporting candidates that have strong positions in looking at every possible way to consolidate governments, create efficiencies, and reducing property taxes and fee's. Candidates and positions that propose that the same old governance practices are good enough and the big bucks will be rolling our way soon, should not be supported. Along with providing consolidations and efficiencies, we should re-examine old ways of capital improvements and develop a more sustainable practice.

In this election, I have noticed a wide bandwidth of candidates that provide us with both the "business as usual" approach and others like myself that want to reduce the size and costs of government. Please read about the candidates for the Park District and School Districts and only support those candidates that are willing to make the hard choices to help our residents afford to live in our community. Candidates that don't have a problem raising our taxes and increasing fees should be retired and not hired.
PLEASE VOTE........

Early Voting
March 14 through March 31

Remember to bring a government-issued photo ID such as a passport, driver’s license, or military ID.

Early voting location:

Lake County North Shore Health Center
1840 Green Bay Rd., Highland Park
847-984-5323
Election Day is Tuesday, April 5, 2011.

Councilman Mandel's "On The Table" Blog: Steve Mandel's Political Endorsements: "Steve Mandel's Political Endorsements"

Economic Development . . Economic Development . . Economic Development

Candidates promise Economic Development as a super pill for all our worries.... Get Real. Over the past four decades our city government has taken advantage of economic booms that have nourished a wonderful and successful economic culture in Highland Park. We have imported tax dollars from pockets "out of town" by attracting regional market needs to Highland Park. We have grown our sales taxes significantly over property taxes over the last 20 years.

Concerning the status of our downtown and other business areas, all of us on the City Council have encouraged and grown our resources with the Chamber, the new downtown Alliance, and groups like the Ravinia Neighbors Association. Through our Business and Economic Development Commission, we have reached out to property owners and business owners to find ways to partner and help them succeed.

What is troubling to me is to hear those say we need to physically grow Highland Park to feed the government beast. We need to reduce the size of government to live within our means. We are almost a fully developed community that is land locked by the lake and what growth we should desire is mostly infill development, not an Evanston plan.

Be careful what you embrace as you cheer for your candidate screaming "Economic Development...Economic Development.... Development...Development" What do they mean?? I have heard this before. What they mean is 7 story hotels, 50+ foot buildings, and traffic tied streets. Ask them what specific new reality they will create? What will it look like? How will it affect us in our daily lives? We had this debate 10 years ago and went all over this community and got a consensus of supporting a less dense more cozy community.

Looking throughout our bustling downtown last night our entertainment and dining district has started its spring and summer boom. There is no need to cry wolf since Highland Park is a great thriving community and will continue to be so with a little nourishing... NO Reason to use Steroids!!!

Now, we do need and are currently working with property owners to help fill vacant business spaces in many ways. We are fully engaged in helping business market themselves and our community. Also, what is also important is that property owners help merchants that are leasing their shops be successful. This means flexibility in rents, partnerships with marketing, and an overall sharing in the pain. Good news is things have been getting better and look forward to some upside to revenues over the coming years with our existing business framework.
Keep Cool.... Stay Tuned!

We should speak out against intimidation

Good people sometimes "Lose it" because they are frustrated, not feeling good, or simply just having a bad day. It has happened to me and almost everyone I know . . . and when it does, most of us immediately regain control, apologize, and move on in our lives doing the best job we can being respectful and kind. Stuff Happens!

Some people, when they don't get what they want feel they can intimidate and threaten harm to individuals to get their perceived obstruction to disengage. When a group of individuals that are party to these kind of behaviors do not intercede and demand an end to this behavior, the aggressive intimidating individual feels a license to continue a bad disruptive approach to achieve their way.

It is not an acceptable approach to sit back and watch someone bully or intimidate individuals at anytime. We must always stand up and reject this behavior in a loud and clear manner. If an individual can't help themselves, refuses to get help from at a professional level, then we must separate ourselves from this assault. If the group in which bullying occurs demonstrate strongly that this behavior will only produce negative response from the group, then the bully will most likely withdraw.

There are times to sit back and wait things out to not cause a scene. It is my opinion that we should stand up to aggressive intimidation immediately and never allow these events to occur in any group where we are participants.

March Roundup

Designated a home at 1923 Lake Ave. as a Highland Park Local Landmark. Home was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1905 and is known as the Mary Adams House. Cool!

Complete Streets Plan will be overseen by our newly named Transportation Commission. They will look at merging bike lanes, off road paths and trails (Greenways), better use of public transportation, etc. The commission will be creating a subcommittee to include our commissions and citizens to get a broad perspective on this issue. Great Project!

I asked staff to schedule a discussion concerning replacing the pedestrian overpass fencing that was taken down during a rehab project. We will discuss the cost and timing of installation

We were asked to deal with signs on fences and will discuss that matter after this current election. Our ordinance might need some tweaking on this issue. NO Biggie...

I also asked that on the next agenda we have a presentation about the water bills and the fees that have been charged for Storm water and our Sanitary sewers. I was opposed to these charges since I suggested it come out of our property tax money..... Watch for the upcoming presentation.

Steve Mandel's Political Endorsements

I publish who I support for Mayor and Councilmen because the composition of the City Council determines how I (We) can promote the best representation for the citizens of Highland Park. For the citizens of Highland Park to be served best there should be seven strong independent folks working collaboratively to discuss vision for our community as well as how the performance of those goals are achieved. After listening and understanding the values of each of the 7 candidates I have endorsed the following.............. Please join me.

City Council of Highland Park
Mayor-
Nancy Rodkin Rotering is an outstanding choice for Mayor. Smart, independent, and will move things along for us to achieve many creative and positive outcomes.
Councilman- vote for three...
Tony Blumberg- I served with Tony on the Plan Commission for several years and he is a superb and thoughtful individual that is passionate and independent.
David Naftzger- Is the Vice Chairman of the Natural Resource Commission. He works with the Governors of the seven Great Lake States promoting economic growth and constructive environmental policy.
Paul Frank- I have had a sit down with Paul, listen to him and was very impressed. His is a very mild mannered intelligent person that has experience and an education in this public stuff!

I strongly recommend these four individuals to help the entire City Council of Highland Park move our community forward during the next four years. Please join me in voting for these candidates on April 5th or at early voting starting on March 14th.

Here We Go... Talkin bout raising taxes again!

Amaudit presented findings to the City Council on March 28th showing us ways to raise revenues by adjusting our utility taxes. The first suggestion they made was to change the rate tier structure to increase the electric utility tax on most of our residents and business in our community. I spoke out in opposition to raising these taxes on our residents and was joined on Voting "NO" by Nancy Rotering and Scott Levenfeld. Those that wanted to get more information and would possible support this tax increase were Terri Olian, Larry Silberman, Jim Kirsch, and Mike Belsky.
The other Utility discussion centered around residents and commercial establishments that have not paid any Gas Utility Taxes since deregulation and ability to sign on with out-of-state providers. We all agreed that this loophole should be fixed and all Highland Park natural gas users should pay the tax. Our ordinance concerning this loophole will be adjusted and brought back to the City Council.

Study up - 133 million School Dist.113 Referendum

On April 5th and early voting starting March 14th, we will be voting on School District 113 referendum for spending 133 million dollars of our money. The 133 million referendum question will be on the ballot with Mayor, City Councilman, and Board Members for School Districts and the Park District of Highland Park.

My first reaction is to think that the School District 113 staff backed into a 133 million dollar figure since they do not want to lose the bonding authority that this government enjoys. The question I have is simple . . . . .Do We Need the 133 million dollars of improvements? I have been asking my City government staff to decrease spending and taxation for over three years and have only received solid support from Nancy Rotering to vote against our budget that proposed another tax increase this year.

Focusing on our High School 113 issue of 133 million of NEW BORROWING, I am going to spend the next several weeks studying the proposals and then taking a strong position on this subject. However, at first glance it seems excessive and continue to ask government to reduce its costs. I wholeheartedly support infrastructure replacement and maintenance of HVAC, electrical, and other skeletal obligations that are needed. Talking about sustainable practices of geothermal advances (which will pay back as energy costs skyrocket) is also a smart investment we should all embrace. I will not however support wish list items since many homeowners are being stressed by high property taxes that are undermining our property values.

Along with the monetary questions, looking at the plans has also sparked some land use questions like shuffling tennis courts and parking lots in ways that will also continue to undermine property values and neighborhood appeal. I suggest immediate neighborhood meetings with our city land planners and public to understand impacts and realities of consultants recommendations. Too many times consultants create bigger projects that feed bigger profits for themselves.

Please study up and provide me with your input on this matter since this will be the most impacting issue on the ballot.. Call me! Email me! Let me hear your thoughts!

Here Come the Signs

Ahhhhh! . . . . . . you can tell Local Elections are close when you see the winter snow and soil gripping the steel, paper, and plastic of "Vote For Me Signs" popping up like the dandelions that will be following in the spring. Now, in our Great and Free nation we are proud to show support for our candidates by placing signs on our properties.

Just to remind all of you.........myself, Mayor Pro Tem Michael Brenner, and Councilman Jim Kirsch did not buy and distribute hundreds signs to our supporters in the 2009 election for City Council. We donated $3000.00 to the Park District to plant trees instead of spending the money to plant signs.

While you might never see that again in Highland Park politics, I am proud of the fact that I did not use signs and wish we had created a following with this practice. One Sign, Four Signs, No Signs, we should all sign that dotted line at this election and go vote for the best candidates to represent us in government. That is what is really important!

Where do we Plug our Electric Cars?

IGO, Zip car, and just providing electric receptacles for us to plug in the upcoming electric cars need to be installed soon. I brought this subject up several times over the past year in public and to staff to get something going that promoted sustainable vehicles in our parking lots.

We need to move forward on places for hourly rental cars and electric cars. While I don't believe we have put one step in front of the other on this front, we need to reach out to Metra, GE, and other stakeholders and partners in this arena to get this ball rolling.


Over a year ago we were approached by local business folks to partner on this idea. I think frustration and lack of response from the city had sent them back into the shadows. Time is ticking, sun is shining, and they now need to step up with us in demanding action. Come May, we will have a whole new City Council and Mayor . . . . . and am hopeful this agenda will be getting a big boost!!

February 2011 Roundup

Hats off to our City Staff that did a tremendous job with the snow storm of 2011.... Thank you!
City Council Reaffirmed support for a 9 hole compromise golf plan and are requesting the Lake County Forest Preserve District follow through on their commitment to maintain a golf course on the property they received at no cost from the federal government. This maintenance of the golf course was the consideration for purchase articulated in the deed the County currently holds on the property.
Intergovernmental agreement to lower costs for our pavement overlay program that will save us $$'s on our streets. Lake Forest will lead this endeavour this year! Way to go .. staff!
Tabled building code changes for a couple of weeks to look at changing our Mandatory Demolition and Construction Recycling codes changes to include smaller jobs. Currently the remodeling threshold is proposed at 2500 sq ft.
City of Highland Park is no longer are refunding $1000.00 of real estate transfer tax to residents who sell one home and buy another within our community. This action was taken because of the large drop in revenues and simply could not afford this anymore.
Passed a law to require graffiti gets taken down by owners of property or the city will have ability to clean it and charge back to owners.
A new long term residential care facility has received preliminary approval at the old Illinois Bell property, next to Toys R Us on Richfield and Deerfield Road. This facility will provide care for elderly and Alzheimer residents.

Mayor is the First of Councilman

We operate our government under the Council -Managerial form of government. The Council - Managerial form of government was passed by referendum in the early 1950's. Unlike the Strong Mayor form of government that Chicago operates under, we have seven elected officials (Mayor and six Councilman) that all have the same power and authority, one vote each. The Mayor's role in this government is not to lead us but rather to serve us as OUR voice.

In this election for Mayor and City Councilman, it is important to understand the equal role every member will have in setting policy and giving direction to our staff. The Mayor is just one of the City Council and should not be dictating how it operates, what it hears, and how it proceeds. It is the Consensus of the City Council that rules on all these issues.

Outside of being the presiding officer at the meetings, the Mayors role should be virtually the same as any other City Councilman. Cultivating creativity, support and representation of the City Council consensus, and advocating the City Council's objectives is the job of every Councilman and the Mayor.


I look forward to working with the new City Council to change the past practices and refine our ordinances to reflect proper governance as the law defines it so the power solely lies in the hands of the City Council of Highland Park and not the Mayor. Whom ever is Mayor will need to be a team player and not the boss. You can listen to all the rhetoric you want to about what the new Mayor will do but in May of 2011 this new City Council will finally again take control of the our agenda. We will move our city in a forward direction of continued cost control, environmental preservation, and a redesigned government we will be proud of owning.

Buckle UP!

Cell Phone Hands Free Law is Coming!

Update- 1/24 Council passed handsfree only cell phone ordinance 4-3. It will go into effect on June 1, 2011. We voted 4 to 2 at the City Council to support a ban on using hand held cell phones while you drive in Highland Park. While the Mayor was not at the meeting, Councilman Levenfeld and myself did not support the motion because we have the position that people should not use cell phones at all while driving.

What was the determining factor to me was the fact that someone using a hands free cell phone was distracted more (according to a Utah study) then someone who had a blood alcohol level of .08, which is being drunk according to Illinois law. Also according to a survey we recently sent out about 80 % of Highland Park residents thought that using a cell phone while driving threatened the safety of residents.

One of my fundamental calls as your City Councilman is to be sure government is maintaining a safe place to live. While I am a strong advocate of personal freedom, I do draw the line at allowing individuals to take unnecessary actions that might imperil others. As when I supported our no smoking ordinance in public places, I feel that asking folks to not talk on the phone while driving is not an unreasonable request.

While it is obvious that enforcement is difficult at best under the consensus of a hands free ordinance, I do not believe our police would take on any additional burden with a total ban. After all if someone does not have a cell phone in their hand, the only other visual evidence would be a phone screen showing a call or if they could hear the conversation on a mild day while windows were open. Under any case I would not ask our police force to take any aggressive steps to enforce the ordinance other than their visual cues that are obvious and currently taken as they enforce our distracted driving ordinance and current Illinois laws.

Recycle Now

Every Tuesday and Friday

7:00 am to 1:00 pm

Firearms Training Center 1180 Half Day Road

Save and Bring all your Holiday E-Waste, Styrofoam, Fluorescent Lamps, and old used HP 18gal green (old recycling containers)

Electronics, Including:

Personal Computers,

Monitors and Keyboards Printers,

Scanners, Copy & Fax Machines

VCRs and DVD Players

Telephones & Cell Phones Televisions,

Stereos and Radios

Microwaves & other Small Household Appliances

Holiday Lights & more!

Fluorescent Light Bulbs

Foam #6 (“Styrofoam”),

including: Packaging Foam

(Often used to package new TV's, Stereos, and other Electronics).

Rinsed/Clean Foam Cups, Containers, and

Food Trays Foam Egg Cartons

Foam Ice Chests All Foam should have the logo embossed on it.

18 Gallon Highland Park Recycling Bins

Contact Brian Bourdeau, bbourdeau@cityhpil.com for information on this event or call 847-926-1043. Visit the SWALCO website, http://www.swalco.org/, or call 847-336-9340 for more information on the electronics recycling program.

January 2011 Roundup

Our POSO district (Pro-Retail/Anti-Bank) boundary in our Central Business District was modified slightly by taking out Laurel Ave between 1st and 2nd street. The Plan Commission will consider and further recommendations on appeals will be coming forward in the next year.

Extended agreement with Community Family Center to continue their fund raising efforts to rehab our Karger facility unifying several social organizations under one roof. These are great people helping many people in our community. Check out the website and please support their efforts.

Preliminary Approval of Thorntons Gas Station/Convenience Mart and Medical building on the site of the former Lincoln Mercury Dealership North of the intersection of Lake Cook Road and Old Skokie Blvd.

Sign ordinance was changed so candidates could not place multiple signs together to bypass our ordinance's size regulations.

Highland Park is paying $500,000 out of 2.3 million in infrastructure work on Western Avenue. Even though the street itself is almost totally in Highwood, we are sharing certain costs because homes in Highland Park on the West side are serviced by Western Ave.

Nancy Rotering and I voted against the Budget for the second year in a row because it used increase taxes as part of the revenue stream to match expenditures. Budget and 2.56% increased tax levy did pass. We were successful however in convincing a majority of the Council from preventing use of our rainy day reserve fund for the first time in the last three years. Terri Olian and Mayor Belsky wanted to dip into the reserves for a third year in a row. I just don't understand why some of my colleagues refuse to fully adopt a recalibration of government NOW, three years after our economy shifted. I know we will have the votes after May.

Cell Phone Ban will be discussed at our City Council Meeting on Monday January 10th starting at 7:30 pm . Check out our City of Highland Park website to get the specific order of our Council agenda.

About time Government Took Less.....

The Park District of Highland Park has decided to reduce the levy and our property taxes. With a staggering reserve balance in the bank, I agree this is a very welcome change from their past dramatic escalation of taxes over the past decade.

The new blood of David Fairman, our wonderful past City of HP Finance Director, I'm sure had something to do with this recalibration of their 2011 budget document. Thank You!

When I voted against our City budget that will increase taxes for our residents, I explained that it is time government started taking less and leaving our citizens more in their pockets. It is a simple statement that can be achieved by reducing the size of government and wasteful spending. Again, governments need to consolidate and provide shared services to reduce costs.

School district communities should look at ways to start shrinking their levy. Reducing the bonding capability by 10% or even 20% would be a good start. As we look at home values decreasing, the burden of over taxation plays a large roll in this market. If the schools would reduce costs to homeowners it would help in a large way send a strong signal to home buyers that Highland Park and Deerfield are serious about property tax reduction.

If our other governments would follow the Park District lead and reduce their levy, it would help support a large majority of citizens that need relief. Instead of giving us reasons why it can't be done supported by fear and uncertainty, let us hear approaches and reasons on how to make it a reality now.

What Makes A Good Public Official?

My Experience with elected officials has left me with pretty strong opinions of their ability to represent us in government. I can pretty much tell after a few encounters with these folks how far they are willing to stick their neck out representing me in their elected positions. The Arena of Politics is not a spectator sport. I see many of those in local government refusing to dig into the issues and make hard decisions. Unless you are willing to push the system to do the right thing as a elected official, you might as well not take up space at the table. We are not served well by representatives always agreeing with the business as usual approach.

During elections many people make a big deal about someone that has little time served or even slams those of us that have been around too long. Honestly, how many years you have been an elected official doesn't mean a whole lot after about a year of service. After getting your feet wet, this is not brain surgery. As long as you are smart enough to get it, willing to provide policy direction based on understanding the subject and desired outcomes, one has all that is needed to be able to do a great job. What I look for in a public servant is the ability to allow input of creative ideas, ability to generate consensus among colleagues, provide concise direction to staff, and to generate outcomes for the citizens in a timely manner.

The idea that we need to do business with an old established firm is not always the best choice. Old practices and rules do not always provide the best outcomes for our citizens. I am also not saying all old practices are bad. The idea of a fresh approach to government should not be feared, but welcomed to become part of the never ending debate of best practice. Do not confuse best practice with old practice!

Now that we are in election mode for Mayor, Council, and School and Park Board members, I would suggest you not be steered by some to fear change and challenges to the "Old Ways". The times are a changing and I suggest you open your mind and hearts to listening to new dialog that creates a better more sustainable practice for our future.

Happy Holidays in Highland Park

After a great week of Thanksgiving Feasts that we have shared with families and friends, the spirit of this season is building as we close on the end of the year. Highland Park is calling all of you to come and visit our shops, restaurants, and theaters this holiday season. We have never looked so beautiful and the merchants have never done such a great job in promoting great deals and aesthetics of the seasonal spirit.

While the basis of the holiday has been one of religion, basic human nature allows us the warmth of sharing, giving, and celebration of the wealth of life that we do have in our community. It is the time to unshackle from the battles of the arena and embrace all in the true spirit of community.

Join us and Celebrate in Highland Park this season! Have a wonderful holiday and a happy new year!

Big Change in City Government

Well, I will be entering my 19th year on the City Council after this next April election and under any circumstances the scenery will be changing around me. Mike Belsky is out along with Councilman Silberman and Councilman Levenfeld retiring after 8 years of service. With Councilwoman Olian throwing her bonnet into the ring against Mayor hopeful Nancy Rotering, we could have 4 or 3 new Councilmen this year depending on the Mayoral race outcome.

Five are on the ballot for the three open City Councilmen seats. Please go online to read about these candidates to make the best choices for our city. There will not be a primary, so the City Council Election will be held in April 5, 2011. If you know folks or young adults that are not registered to vote..... please encurage them to participate.

This will be a whole new City Council with fresh ideas that will develop creative policy for our future, as these folks make their imprint on Highland Park politics and our quality of life. I am strongly encouraged that we will forge ahead on the sustainability front, making huge progress on government reorganization by strongly engaging neighboring communities and other local governments to provide shared services for our residents. We need to spend less money overall on administration and overhead costs. More dollars need to be freed from current budget to rebuild infrastructure and providing essential needs to our citizens.