Glenview Watch: The real scoop on issues and events in Glenview, Illinois

The Cook County Clerk’s office has reviewed nominating petitions submitted by Andy Sarkany, the only independent candidate running for village board, and agrees that 36 of the 74 signatures challenged are invalid. If Glenview’s Electoral Board meets Thursday evening and agrees, that would leave Sarkany 14 signatures short of the required 143.

The objections were filed by Matt Whipple, the campaign manager for three candidates running on the Citizens United ticket, formerly known as Unite Glenview (UG). Village President Kerry Cummings and Trustee Kim Woodrow sit on the electoral board along with Village Manager Todd Hileman. They’ll meet Thursday to decide whether to boot Sarkany off the ballot.

Whipple challenged 45 signatures on the grounds that they were "indecipherable,” but the county clerk was able to decipher 38 of them. Fourteen signatures were rejected because registered voters printed rather than signing their names. Sarkany plans to appeal those, and if the electoral board agrees, he could run for a seat on the village board this spring.

Meanwhile, Sarkany has written to the three candidates who would be running against him: Trustee Jim Patterson, Trustee Phil White and candidate Scott Britton. Sarkany urges them to honor the spirit of fair play by asking their campaign manager to withdraw his objections.

Editor’s note: Clearly Kim Woodrow and Kerry Cummings are not impartial in this matter. Both belong to the party that’s challenging Sarkany’s petitions, and both were elected with funds from that group. Even Village Manager Hileman is in an uncomfortable position, since he reports to a board of Unite Glenview members. All should recuse themselves and ask the county to appoint an impartial electoral board of people from neighboring communities to decide the validity of the UG challenge. This is yet another piece of proof that single-party government is bad for a democracy.

The farmers’ market, which has drawn residents to downtown Glenview for 18 years, will probably open this summer in a new location -- the parking lot across the street from Wagner Farm. The Glenview Women of Today, a volunteer group that organized the market, no longer wants the job and says it could find no other organization to step in. GWT’s Cheri Sloat approached the Glenview Park District, and officials there were delighted by the idea.

Wagner Farm Director Todd Price said the Saturday morning event would not conflict with any other activities and was a logical extension of the farm’s mission. “I would hate to see the farmers’ market not continue,” he told the park board.

Commissioner Mike Scholl, who lives in Golf, noted that past markets drew many customers from surrounding homes – people who were able to walk to the parking lot next to Jackman Park. He suggested the park district offer a shuttle service from downtown.

“You could run it from the Dairy Bar,” said Sloat. “That is the most popular place in town.”

The park district’s recreation committee will meet to work out details of the transfer. Parks Director Chuck Balling said he was sorry there was not time for a public hearing on the matter, but the organization would have to move quickly to notify participating farmers of the change.

The market runs from 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays from July through mid-October. It features fruits and vegetables grown by area farmers, artisan cheeses, baked goods and flowers.

The Chicago Tribune’s Metro section sparked hope Thursday for thousands of dog owners in Glenview. In a story headlined: Plan for park has (4) legs, the paper suggested Glenview’s park district was finally moving to designate a space for dogs.

Most North Shore communities have one, but Glenview has dawdled, unable to find a spot to which no one objected. The situation has given the village a bad name in the region. In the Dog Lover’s Companion to Chicago, author Margaret Littman writes: “Northbrook is one of the Cook County suburbs that seem to get it. Kids and dogs are actually welcome to roam together at the park. Nearby Glenview is the opposite: dogs are only allowed to walk on the perimeter of certain parks, including Community Park West, Countryside Park, Cunliff Park and Flick Park. Dogs aren’t allowed to check out Wagner Farm, and the best canine contribution Glenview has to offer is several hotels that accommodate canine guests.”

The park district had been talking with residents about creating a temporary space at Community Park West along Milwaukee Avenue. Residents of east and central Glenview were told the search would continue for a more central location. But on Thursday night, when the park board met, hopes for a dog park any time soon were dashed. Administrators announced they had hired a consultant to hold a series of public meetings and would apply for a state grant to pay for the park. They would not know if state aid was approved until November, and they claimed creating a temporary dog park might hurt Glenview’s chances of getting money from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

That didn’t stop administrators from hiring a consultant. They’ll pay civil engineering firm Gewalt Hamilton $7,200 to hold two or three public meetings on the dog park and sports fields to be located at Community Park West.

Editor’s note: If ever there was a simple and inexpensive job for the park district, this is it! Find an unused chunk of land. Talk to neighboring communities about their dog parks. Establish a citizens’ committee to help craft rules and oversee the operation. Put in a fence with a gate, and go home. Sadly, Glenview officials seem to have lost their confidence. They’re unable to complete a basic task without hiring consultants, holding public meetings, doing surveys, applying for grants, planning and planning and planning some more. Glenview has built a new police station, two new fire stations, two new swimming pools and a large visitors’ center at Wagner Farm in the last five years. It’s preparing to build a new library and additions at three elementary schools. Surely we can afford a dog park without state aid, and surely we can make it happen this year.

Despite strong local support for a new county law to ban smoking in all public places, Glenview’s trustees plan to craft an ordinance that will prevent the ban from taking effect here. The board agreed smoking should be banned in offices, but only Trustee Debby Karton wanted to keep smokers out of local restaurants and bars.

Karton argued that it was important to protect the health of employees who are subject to dangerous second hand smoke. Trustee Paul Detleffs said he was not persuaded by the U.S. Surgeon General’s report stating second-hand smoke posed a risk. He noted that only 25 percent of local restaurants allow smoking and worried about people who have, perhaps, “mortgaged their house to buy a business. We’ve got to think about them. Food service operates on very thin margins. A 5-10 percent decline in business can be the end.”

Trustees Cuisinier also worried Glenview restaurants would lose business to Morton Grove, which will continue to allow smoking in its eateries and bars. Trustee Woodrow argued the market was already leading many restaurants to go smoke-free. “I think we should look to the market to make the call,” he said.

Trustee Phil White said people who didn’t like smoky establishments should vote with their feet and go elsewhere. He admitted that people with asthma might want the right to go anywhere without fear, but White said government had to weigh protection of the public against limits on personal freedoms.

“I would like the right to be able to go to any movie and not look at the sex and the violence and all the rest of the crap that’s there – excuse the French, but I don’t have that right, because the freedom of the individual says that all that stuff is permissible. It’s okay. It’s okay to carry handguns – even assault weapons. That’s the right of the individual.”

White also dismissed concerns about the health of employees, saying people must decide every day if they want to work in hazardous occupations. “Maybe we’re stepping too far for the sake of a few individuals who don’t want to change. Should a spouse have to choose between their health and their marriage? Why shouldn’t we ban smoking in homes?”

While many North Shore communities, including neighboring Northbrook, have embraced the county’s rule, Morton Grove and Wheeling have passed more permissive ordinances. President Cummings argued Glenview businesses deserved a level playing field.

Karton wondered if we were “levelizing [SIC] the playing field with Northbrook or are we levelizing [SIC] the playing field with Niles and Morton Grove?” She said she was “very disappointed,” prompting an outburst of applause from a large number of spectators who had come to Village Hall in support of the county ban. Karton begged them to stop, noting that her colleagues had thought long and hard about the situation, and she respected them for that.

President Cummings thought the village might extend smoking rights to any business that had a liquor license, but Trustee Jim Patterson pointed out that many people enjoy a cigarette with coffee.

The board will continue discussing a new smoking ordinance at its March 6 meeting.

Deputy Village Manager Chris Clark gave an impassioned presentation in support of plans for software and upgrades that will allow a single team to dispatch police cars, fire trucks and ambulances from a communications center at the new police station. Glenview’s police and fire chiefs also endorsed the plan, and Village Manager Todd Hileman stepped in to explain again what Clark had told the board.

Not only would the new dispatch system provide better service, they said, but it would have excess capacity, allowing Glenview to market its services to neighboring communities for a price. The board’s business-savvy members were not convinced. They worried that the $1 million price tag might grow and wondered if this was a wise local investment.

Hileman and his team promised to present its financial projections at the next village board meeting in March.

Commissioner Larry Suffredin, who represents part of Glenview on the Cook County Board, joined forces with six other members to try and defeat President Todd Stroger’s budget. That spending plan, supported by Glenview’s other commissioner Gregg Goslin, called for substantial cuts in medical services to the poor, funds for the state’s attorney’s office, the public defender and the sheriff. Suffredin ultimately voted for the budget, but only after he was able to win back some of the funding for law enforcement and the courts. “To protect those improvements from a Stroger veto,” he said, “I reluctantly voted for the final package.”

-- Owners of the Plaza del Prado return with a request to add another building to the already busy shopping center on the southeast corner of Willow and Pfingsten roads. Architects have redesigned the Panera Bread building and changed its location to address objections raised earlier by the commission, but critics say they can do nothing about limited parking and traffic congestion at the plaza.

-- The Taco Bell on Milwaukee Avenue will be on hand to discuss plans for its new building at the site of the old Burger King about one mile south on the west side of Milwaukee. The fast food restaurant will move to make way for redevelopment of its current site.

-- The owner of the former Prime Minister Restaurant site is also expected back to discuss his plans for a shopping and office complex.

DISTRICT 34 PLANS THREE SCHOOL ADDITIONS

Glenview's largest elementary and middle school district has unveiled plans for additions at Glen Grove, Pleasant Ridge and Hoffman Schools.

Director of Facilities John O'Connor says construction will start in June 2007 and be finished by May 2008, adding 8-9 classrooms at each building, along with improved parking lot designs and additional space for cars. The construction will mean paving 39,000 square feet more in Glenview. O'Connor said it was not possible to build second-story additions, since existing buildings were not designed to support that much weight, and the district would not consider permeable parking -- an environmentally-friendly form of storm water control, since it was more expensive than asphalt.

Editor's note: If the people who are supposed to care deeply about children in an affluent community cannot spend a little more to do their part toward reducing global warming and improving water quality, we are all doomed.

-- About 40 people turned out for the first in a series of public hearings on how Glenview can improve its network of bike trails and make cycling safer around town. Walking workshops are set for March 24 and 31 at 10 a.m. If you’d like to take part, call Amy Ahner 847-998-9500.

-- Professional cyclist Floyd Landis, whose Tour de France title is in doubt over charges of illegal doping, will appear in Glenview from 5-9 p.m. Friday, March 9 at the H. Marion Framing Studio in the Plaza del Prado at Willow and Pfinsten roads. The fundraiser for a Landis appeal will feature vintage cycling posters, jerseys and memorabilia. For more information, go to www.floydfairnessfund.org

GNG wants library board critics to quit complaining: “I have been a regular patron of the library for 28 years. I have yet to find it empty. I don’t know when SOLD ran its studies, nor have I seen its published results, so I personally believe that it is just a bunch of bunk! If there were fewer than an average of 30 seats occupied, then why is the parking lot full all the time? Which 30 seats were filled and during what time of day? I am so sick of these constant complainers and their incessant harping about the library that I could scream. Their bottom line is this: they don’t want to pay for anything except things for themselves. Why don’t they think of others? Glenview is a wealthy community and can certainly afford a much better library than it has had for the last ten years. If Glenview can afford to build a new post office for the federal government and donate the land for it while also building probably the largest, most luxurious police station on the North Shore, it can certainly afford a new library. The Park Center and all of the soccer and baseball fields have been bought and paid for by the same people that complain about the library. Glenview has built all the fine attributes of suburban living and lifestyle for sports and recreation. What’s wrong with building things to benefit the mind as well as the body? Nothing, but some people believe that intellectual pursuits are a waste of time. Well, the library complainers are a waste of time and should find something else to do with their spare time. How about attacking the one party village government instead?”

YOUR TURN: Write to glenviewwatch@aol.com or 3537 Maple Leaf Drive, Glenview, IL 60026. If you haven’t already done so, please consider making a contribution to support The Watch. Non-deductible checks should be payable to Glenview Watch. Thanks for your support and for reading. Dean Schott and Sandy Hausman, Co-Editors.