Letters to the Editor: Residents Voice Support for Mayoral Candidates

Rotering a true leader

We urge every voter in Highland Park to seriously consider what it will take to be our next Mayor and then cast your vote for Nancy Rotering.

While we love living in our beautiful city, we have serious issues, and need a true leader in the Mayor’s Office to guide us through these times. Nancy understands that our next Mayor will need to provide the leadership necessary for all parts to work together to be successful. Under Nancy's leadership, the Office of Mayor will open lines of communications with the school district and park district; something that has been sorely missing for many, many years.   

Nancy isn’t afraid to challenge the status quo and ask the tough questions, rather than dismissing an issue or passing it to someone else to fix. She has proven this time and time again in her current term on our City Council.  Nancy was instrumental in leading the Council to establish neighborhood meetings, and reconnect the City Council with the many individual areas and neighborhoods in Highland Park.  She embodies the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Highland Park needs a Mayor with integrity, character and responsibility. This person is Nancy Rotering.

Jocelyn & Adam Hecht

Olian 'has the edge'

I am writing to you about the very important choice we have in the race in Highland Park. This is the first time I have written a letter to the editor in support of a local candidate, but considering the difficulty of both our choice and the issues facing Highland Park, this seemed like an important time to speak up.  We have two very talented and capable women running for mayor, and many have said that it’s hard to distinguish them because they are both highly credentialed and bright. That is most certainly true, but I feel that has the edge because of her networking capabilities and her “can do” approach to all she sets her mind to. 

Over the years, I have seen Terri take on community tasks that seemed next to impossible to accomplish, either because there were no financial resources available or the political will did not seem strong enough.  For example, teens in our community had little to do and few public places to go on weekend evenings.  Terri solved that problem pragmatically by partnering with the local business community establishing Late Night Highland Park.  When an increase in financial need threatened the students who most needed help to attend summer school, Terri agreed to co-chair the District 112 Fund Run to raise private money for scholarships. Years ago when District 112 was facing the prospect of serious penalties for not having school buildings up to safety code, Terri helped to spearhead the effort to pass a referendum which protected our kids and saved our the school district from financial punishment.

All these things and more she has accomplished because she was willing to talk with everyone and connect with all the stakeholders in the community to solve a problem.  At the local level especially, this networking skill is critical because the stakeholders are neighbors and decisions touch us directly. Furthermore, I have never seen Terri take on anything that did not get done successfully, nor have I ever seen her approach a task without an enormous amount of confidence and enthusiasm. For these reasons, I am urging you to vote for Terri Olian for Mayor when you visit the ballot box.

Diane Moore

Rotering 'not afraid to question'

I am proud to endorse Councilman for Mayor on April 5. 

Nancy brings new eyes and perspective to the tasks at hand. She doesn’t believe in change for the sake of change, but is not afraid to question whether the way we have done things in the past can be improved.

Drawing on an impressive and broad background, her working knowledge of finance, industry, law and government regulations, labor relations, and environmental sustainability have yielded proven results during her time on the City Council. She has the leadership skills to lead Highland Park through these challenging times, and will never duck tough issues. Nancy brings good working relationships with other local, county, state and federal policymakers, an important asset in our city’s leadership.  

I have had the pleasure of serving on the Community Family Center Board with Nancy and working with her on environmental issues. Her dedication matches her strong record of community work with the arts, our schools, our youth, and on the environment.

Her commitment to service and passion for our community has been demonstrated through decades of work on our residents’ behalf.  She will bring broad experience and clear vision to the Mayor’s Office. 

I’m excited about her candidacy and hope you will join me in supporting Nancy Rodkin Rotering for Mayor on April 5.

Anne Flanigan Bassi

Olian familiar with the city

has been on the Council for over five and one half years. Terri is far more familiar with the City’s problems and is best able to handle and solve them. Nancy has been on the Council only for two years and lacks the knowledge and judgment Terri has demonstrated.

Here is a prime example. One of the highest priorities of government is public safety. Do you know that during the past few years of our depressed national and local economies, our City has not filled several vacancies in our police and fire departments. During the last budget meetings in December, the Council struggled over the need to furlough several more members of the police and fire departments. At least one policeman urged the Council not to take such drastic action because the remaining members on the force were already being overworked and were being deprived of time with their families. The police and fire departments were overly stretched and stressed.

Mayor Belsky suggested that the Council use some of the City’s reserve funds to avoid such layoffs. Those reserves had been carefully nurtured by Belsky and the Council over prosperous years. Rotering opposed use of the reserves [even though that’s why the reserves were created] while Olian favored their use in order not to further reduce our police and fire protection. Nonetheless, at a recent meeting of the candidates, Rotering spoke of the importance of public safety even though her vote on the budget succeeded in reducing that protection. In my view that was due to her lack of experience and judgment.

After the election, the Council will have three or four [out of six] new members, an exceedingly high turnover of 50% or 67%. If Nancy becomes Mayor, she will appoint her successor to the Council, with the approval of four members of the Council, only two of whom [Kirsch and Mandel] will be incumbents.

I am not suggesting who should be elected as new members on the Council. But the facts seem to be that most of them have little, if any, knowledge or practical experience in running a government like Highland Park’s. They are relatively young [perhaps a good thing]. If these new and inexperienced councilpersons could be swayed by the mayor, it would be far better to elect Terri who has good judgment, experience and is eminently qualified.

Aaron Wolff

Rotering 'embodies genuine integrity'

I am a writing in support of for Highland Park Mayor.  I am a Highland Park resident and General Counsel of a commercial finance company.  In my life and in my career, my guiding principles are integrity and fiscal responsibility.  These are also the principles that define Nancy. 

Political Integrity is often reduced to looking honest for the sake of amassing power.  Nancy embodies genuine integrity derived from being honest and having strong values, ethical behavior, and righteous character.  When Nancy advocates transparency and accountability in government, she means truly opening the city's proverbial books to its residents and being certain that her commitments become actions and all of us know exactly what those actions are and the consequences that follow. 

Integrity is also integral to true fiscal responsiblity as advocated by Nancy.  The words fiscal responsiblity seem to be used in politics to mean allocating benefits to political allies and being "responsible" toward the powerless or political opponents by cutting those programs that do not directly benefit the politician.  Nancy embodies genuine fiscal responsibility derived from hard work and determination to eliminate waste and mismanagement and to prioritize those projects that best serve our community.  As a finance attorney, I know that this is a difficult task and one that takes financial acumen.   Nancy is willing to put her Northwestern MBA and U of C law degree (the best financial and legal training in the world) to work for the benefit of our community.  We would all be extremely fortunate to have an official of Nancy's caliber put her skills to work in making our wonderful town the best that it can be.

Carla Garfinkle

Olian  a tireless and selfless advocate for the city

The citizens of Highland Park will soon be faced with a very important decision to make; who will serve as our newly elected Mayor.  To be fair, we have two able candidates, each more than capable of carrying the mantle of leadership in our community.  However the Mayor’s office has but one desk and one chair, so ultimately we must choose.  When I weigh the relative merits of each candidate, the decision becomes a simple one, Terri Olian.  

When Terri first became a member of the City Council, she was appointed to complete the unexpired term of a retiring councilperson.  Terri came to the City Council with a long history of service and leadership, having been elected to two consecutive terms as a member of the Board of Trustees of North Shore School District 112.  

Terri has given generously of her time and considerable intellect to public service.  As a councilperson Terri has been a tireless and selfless advocate for the City.  No issue is too small to warrant Terri’s attention.  Her personal commitment to the welfare of our City and its inhabitants is indisputable.    I hold Terri Olian in high esteem.   I hope that you will each carefully consider who is best qualified to carry our City forward and that you will reach the same conclusion that I have, Terri Olian.

David S. Glasner

Community needs a fresh, new voice

The community, we believe, owes a debt of gratitude to for his leadership of the City Council and his many considerable contributions to the well-being of Highland Park. 

While we applaud the achievements of the recent past, our sense is that the community needs a fresh new voice. One that is more independent, more questioning - one that can more ably speak to the times in which we live. And moreover, one that is aided and abetted by sound judgement, moderation and restraint. 

It is for these reasons we believe as Mayor will best serve the needs of Highland Park in the coming years. 

For changing times we need a change of direction! We hope you'll join us and vote Nancy Rotering for Mayor.

Derek & Ursel Norman

Olian a super (and super-involved) candidate

Several years ago I had my first true experience with city government: a class trip to the City Council meeting with my Social Studies teacher, Cheryl Levi, to present our "Project Citizen" plan to the community-at-large. We ran a five-minute presentation, and then took comments from the Council. The first, and most memorable comment was from the woman on the far right: Councilwoman . She made a simple, yet valid point: we, as students, are the future of Highland Park. 

Since then, I have stayed involved in both activities and organizations both in and out of the school community. Succinctly put, I believe you are only able to be as successful as you are involved - you have to know a little something about everything. Today, I am writing to voice my support (and ask for yours) for a super (involved) candidate for Highland Park Mayor: Terri Olian. 

For as long as I've known who she was, I've seen Terri at numerous public events, ranging from arts performances to charity benefits to library programs to school assemblies. Olian makes it part of her daily routine to go out and talk to the citizens of our city of all ages and learn what it is they like and don't like about Highland Park. And then she takes action. Terri Olian's main focus is that of the residents' needs. For example, after the great Blizzard of 2011, a resident noted a concern about our Snow Plowing Ordinances on Olian's Facebook page. Within hours, a discussion was underway where Olian worked with the resident to clarify and address his concern - problem solved!

Olian also comes to the office of Mayor with no typical “political agenda." Her goals and positions are clearly spelled out on her website, all backed by fiscal facts taken straight from our city’s finances. As a future Highland Park taxpayer, I want a Mayor that I know will keep all of our city’s great services intact while not breaking the bank. From what I’ve heard from all of the various local outlets, so does everyone else.

Bryce Robertson