Joy Ebhomielen: 2025 Candidate For Northbrook Trustee

NORTHBROOK, IL — Ahead of the April 1 consolidated municipal elections, Northbrook Patch provided questionnaires to all municipal candidates on the ballot.

For three seats on the Northbrook Village Board, two current trustees - Joy Ebhomielen and Michelle Kohler - are running for reelection. Both candidates are part of the Northbrook Caucus of 2025. Also vying for a four-year term are Matt Cassidy (Northbrook Caucus of 2025), Laura Hochstein, Anthony Riccardi and Charles Zivin. Hochstein, Riccardi and Zivin are part of Northbrook Focused 2025.

Northbrook Patch is publishing all responses submitted by candidates verbatim.

Joy Ebhomielen

Town/City of Residence: Northbrook

Office Sought: Northbrook Village Board trustee

Campaign website: https://www.northbrookcaucus.o...

Party Affiliation (if a partisan race): Northbrook Caucus Party

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government? This includes any relatives who work in the government you're running for.

No

Education

B.S. Economics & Statistics - University of Benin, Nigeria
MBA (Finance) - Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta Georgia

Senior Finance Manager - Clinical Trial Payments at AbbVie
Primarily Banking, Finance & Strategy work experience for over 25 years

I am a current Trustee on the Northbrook Village Board

The most pressing issues facing our (board, district, etc.) are _______, and this is what I intend to do about them.

The most pressing issues facing our board and my plans to tackle them are as follows: 1) Continuing our revitalization efforts in our downtown by bringing reputable restaurants, retail and exciting events that will pull in residents and neighbors to dine, shop, and stay for leisure. This also includes continuing to work with Brookfield in getting ‘the shovel in the ground’ for a newly reimagined Northbrook Court 2) Construction of our new Fire and Public Works Garage and finalizing/construction of our new police station to keep delivering top notch core services to the community 3) Continuing to lead the way in environmental sustainability by keeping our CAP plan top of mind 4) Always maintaining stellar financial stewardship of your tax dollars by maintaining our AAA Bond rating and embarking on measured growth to continue to increase our tax base. Northbrook already has a strong sales tax base with a YOY increase of 5.8% and trending at 7% over the last 7 months.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

There are quite a few glaring differences between the Caucus candidates and our opponents, but I will just highlight a couple of key ones that are concerning to me.

Experience in government and community involvement – I am an incumbent so have had an opportunity to understand the rigor involved in this government office. I have also served on the community relations commission for many years, supported the food pantry and on the board of Hunger Resource Network a non-profit with the goal of alleviating hunger. In addition, I served on multiple School District 27 committees. Professionally I have an MBA with a Finance concentration and have worked for over 25 years in banking, finance, and strategy. Looking at the totality of the Caucus slate we have an incumbent team with a combined tenure of 19 years, 2 with 12 years school board experience, one who has been on both the Economic Strategy Commission (ESC) and the bicycle commission and another who was appointed by Scott Britton as a commissioner for the Cook County commission on Women’s issues. Combined we have backgrounds in IT, Finance, Banking, Marketing, Business, Law, and Law enforcement. This team is experienced, professional and able to meet the needs of the community head on.

By comparison, not one of our opponents have ever served on a municipal board or commission. Experience matters.

Transparency – Our residents, the voter had a chance vet me, ask their critical questions and make their decision on who they wanted to lead their town. That is the open and public process of the Northbrook Caucus. To the best of my knowledge there was no transparency in the criteria used to select the other candidates and there was no opportunity given to the residents to choose their candidates for the board. Lastly when offered the opportunity to meet the residents and respond to their questions at the League of Women Voters (LWV) Forum they declined. However, they are asking voters to just trust them with managing critical operations of the village and give them immediate majority control of the board. That is very unsettling to me and should be to others as they review their choices

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)?

N/A – but I hope they will be specific in their response to this question and not just ‘ I would do it differently’.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

These are not necessarily issues but priorities that define our current board and our platform:

- Construction of the Fire Station, Publics Works Garage and finalizing the location of the Police station. These facilities are old and dated and need to be reimagined for both the staff and the residents to enjoy.
- Continue to deliver first class service and safety through our committed police, fire, and public works staff. That is why it is critical to build these new offices so that they are better equipped to continue to deliver exceptional service and safety.
- Work towards the 10% Affordable Housing mandated by the State of Illinois.
- Continuing to improve our internal processes to provide better service to residents (we are overhauling the zoning code, upgrading our ERP, providing state-of-the-art water meters to all households.
- Continue to be good financial stewards of your budget – Maintain AAA rating and keeping property taxes low (the village only accounts for 8.8% of your property taxes). Northbrook currently enjoys the third lowest compared to surrounding communities.
- Continue to encourage and harness the formidable power of diversity while allowing all residents and businesses to feel that Northbrook values inclusivity and rejects all forms of hate. On day one of the start of my tenure four years ago the full board adopted the Welcoming and Inclusive Community Pledge and through the board meetings we continue to speak out loud and clear against all types of discrimination.
- Improving our communication outreach to both residents and businesses. We need to refresh our current channels and find new ways to reach people in our community.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

This job requires patience, experience, knowledge, and an exceedingly high level of involvement and commitment. I am confident that I already have these attributes and have shown that in the board meetings over the last 4 years. Some of our accomplishments include the new businesses that have made Northbrook their home (Tesla, Lazy Dog, J Crew, VASA, Napolita), HODC set to build supported housing and break ground this year, new downtown beautification currently underway, revamping of the zoning code to make permits easier for our businesses and developers, property taxes continue to remain one of the lowest in the community but services (police, fire, public works ) continue to be fully supported and remain top notch. These are just a few of our accomplishments and we have much more that we are working on if we are re-elected.

On a more personal basis, I am well equipped to serve a second term on this board because my parents instilled in me the ‘heart of service’ and the commitment to always do what is right. That is why I am passionate about this town and its continued success. In terms of knowledge and experience, my background and career successes are also evidence of my ability to manage this position. I have an MBA in Finance with over 25+ years successfully working in the fields of banking, finance, and strategy. I am on the Board of Hunger Resource Network, have served the community through support of the food pantry, school district roles and the community commission

Why should voters trust you?

Simple, I live by the golden rule to do onto others as you would have them do onto you. I was brought up to be respectful to all and I practice this every day and in every way. People know me as being kind and empathetic. When I joined the board four years ago, I committed to being my authentic self, practicing active listening and always making decisions for the good of Northbrook. I have lived here for over 20 years now, enough time for people who know me to also attest to my character. And the same goes for those I have met during this first term.

In the last four years we have accomplished so many things here in Northbrook (some detailed above) but there is much more in the works. We hope the voters will put their trust in this board and this slate to continue to push this momentum forward

If you win this position, what accomplishment would make your term in office as a success?

We have great momentum and have several projects queued up to start and some in the initial stages. I know they will all be of tremendous benefit to our residents and our businesses so I will work hard to get them through the finish line.

- Complete the new street scape and biking path including additional lighting, even more
beautiful trees and the year-round outdoor space at the downtown restaurants.
Downtown will look gorgeous, and this will happen this year!
- New Police, Fire and Public works buildings underway.
- New HODC supportive housing and a way forward for the rest of the Grainger property.
through public collaboration and insight.
- Northbrook Court redevelopment moving full steam ahead.
- Hometown Coffee a reality in Northbrook.
- Continue to be a leader in environmental sustainability with our Climate Action Plan
(CAP).

What are your views on fiscal policy, government spending and the handling of taxpayer dollars in the office you are seeking?

I consider myself to be fiscally responsible, remember I have a finance background and have successfully managed huge budgets and major projects as a career. Government spending should be critically analyzed, understanding the risks and opportunities and making informed decisions on what and where to spend. Keeping property taxes low for our residents (while delivering stellar service), increasing our sales tax base and maintaining our AAA Bond rating are all extremely critical high priority objectives which I do not take lightly

What are your thoughts on the crime rate in your community, and what more can be done to combat crime — especially violent crime — in town?

Northbrook is a wonderful, safe, and welcoming community to live in. Our crime rate is kept very low because of the commitment and professionalism of our men in blue, our wonderful police force. We have an open dialogue with the police department, especially when they come to the board with ideas to better serve our community. We make it our duty to provide them with all the tools they need to perform their job safely and efficiently. We have approved additional vehicles with highly technical computer equipment installed, we have funded new body armor and license plate readers as well as currently working towards a new state-of-the-art police station for the officers and the residents. All this will help with prevention programs and improved response times when these unfortunate incidents occur. They take diligent care of our residents and businesses and the board in turn makes every effort to take care of them. We have put an additional $4million into their pension funds (beyond the required amount) and approved a 10% increase in salaries. The job of a police officer is highly stressful both physically and mentally, that is why I am proud to say that Northbrook is one of the few communities that also has mental health professionals on staff for our officers and our residents, where needed.

What is your view of the city's/village's approach to commercial and residential development?

My view is that the Village’s strategy for commercial and residential development is thoughtful, measured, and purposeful. It is important to understand the impact that each of these can have to economic growth, sales tax growth, property taxes and the overall health of a community. The mix of residential to commercial development is one that we must weigh very carefully to keep our community growing and healthy and continue to maintain our record low property tax and property tax increases.

When it comes to development, what are some key areas for improvement or additions you feel are most wanted by residents? What will need to be done to make this happen?

I have already mentioned some of these previously, vibrant downtown, which means bringing in new retail developments as well as more density through residential developments. The new streetscape development and bike path from Willow to downtown already underway this summer will also be a huge win.

Continue to provide economic incentives like our neighboring towns to attract great developments into the village, which includes continuing to work with Brookfield to finalize the new Northbrook Court.

Northbrook has a history of providing financing incentives like 6Bs (to modernize and keep manufacturing), car dealerships and property tax rebates (Crate & Barrel). All communities around us are giving out incentives so we must stay on top of this to be competitive for developers considering Northbrook. We don’t want to forget our existing local businesses either, we are finalizing, with the support of our Economic Strategy Commission, incentive programs that local businesses may be able to participate in.

Is there any reason you would not serve your full term of office, other than those of health or family?

No

The best advice ever shared with me was:

You are not the 7th Trustee you are one of 7. This was the advice given to me four years ago as I was starting my first term. Your ideas/thoughts and decision have the same weight as others. Vote wisely. This was really spot on and helped me through my initial bout of ‘imposter syndrome’ for such an important office.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I would like our voters to know that I genuinely love this town and want it to grow and continue to flourish. Northbrook is in capable hands led by a dedicated president and public servant Kathryn Ciesla and a board that is fully committed to our duties. I would like our voters to know that I do this job purely because I want to be of help and for no other reason.

I am committed and ready to fight for you, listen to you and guide you through another four years if given the opportunity