Early Voting begins countywide on Monday, March 4, 2024. The nearest Early Voting Site for most Highland Park voters is the Wayfarer Theater, 1850 Second Street, Suite 106 in Highland Park.

Early voting at the Wayfarer Theater is available at the following times:
Monday, March 4 through Friday, March 8 from 9 am – 5 pm
Saturday, March 9 from 9 am – 2 pm
Sunday, March 10 from 10 am – 4 pm
Monday, March 11 – Friday, March 15 from 9 am – 7 pm
Saturday and Sunday, March 16 and 17 from 9 am – 4 pm
Monday, March 18 from 9 am – 7 pm

Click here for more information. The Highland Park Public Library, Country Club and Police Station are no longer being used for Early Voting. You may vote at any early voting site in Lake County during Early Voting, but must go to your assigned polling place on Election Day, March 19, 2024. Some polling places have moved, so please verify your polling place before going to vote.

February 12, 2024:

This is a policy decision we are making today. It should be made based on the merits and rationale of the policy and not based on a single situation or person.

As your city council, our votes should always be in the best interests of the residents of HP. I believe that our existing liquor law helps to ensure that Councilmembers act in the best interests of our residents.

There are conflicts of interest that stem from holding a liquor license and selling, manufacturing and distributing alcohol. One could vote against businesses that might compete with theirs or in favor only if they sell their product.

After our last meeting, where the majority of Councilmembers voted to provide a well-established restaurant group with a sizable grant, residents reached out to me with concern and discomfort about potential conflicts of interest from the council. Residents were concerned that a Councilmember who makes and distributes beer voted to give money to a business that he might sell beer to in the future. On the flip side, suppose a Councilmember didn’t want to award the grant to the restaurant group but would like to do business with them in the future, the Councilmember could feel pressured to vote to award the grant. That presents a conflict of interest.

Businesses who have received or could receive incentives from the City might feel pressure to do business with elected officials because of the influence they hold.

Also at our last meeting, the council voted to ban certain unregulated THC and Kratom products. A Councilmember who sells and profits from these substances could be voting in the interest of their own business rather than in the best interests of residents. In another example, a Councilmember’s business is involved in a lawsuit with another entity in the community. Any participation in policymaking that would impact the other entity is problematic. Yet, at our last meeting, this situation occurred. 

While these are examples of things that actually happened at our most recent meeting, they could apply to any liquor license holder in the City serving as an elected official. Our current law helps us to avoid these conflicts of interest. That is why the majority of municipalities in our region prohibit people who hold liquor licenses from holding elected office.

Just because the law was passed years ago doesn’t make it antiquated. I believe that it helps us to serve our residents and I will vote to retain the current law.

The Highland Park Public Library is moving forward with the next steps for a 2025-2026 expansion of the Library, based on a needs assessment, strategic planning, and resident feedback to better meet community demand for space and services. Learn more on February 27 from 7-8 pm at the Expansion Design Preview meeting at the Library, or click here to read about the plans.

There is an election in Highland Park on April 4, with early voting beginning at the Highland Park Public Library on March 20. More information on voting is here. The ballot will have candidates for Mayor, City Council, School Boards and Park District Board. For City Council, I am endorsing Tony Blumberg and Adam Stolberg for re-election, and Kelly Nichols for election.

Kelly Nichols is Chair of the City’s Sustainability Advisory Group, on which she has served for 8 years; Senior Manager of Policy and Advocacy at Respiratory Health Association; and co-founder and co-owner of Evenmade, a small business teaching home improvement skills to those not generally included in these spaces. Kelly has twin 5th graders in the dual language program at Oak Terrace. As she says, “I am invested in making the community the best I can for all of the residents in Highland Park. I want Highland Park to be a vibrant, resilient, comfortable place where people love to live — a place where the kids who grow up here want to move back as adults and raise their own families.” Kelly’s intelligence, policy expertise, creativity, environmental knowledge, and strong decision making skills would be great assets to the Council. As the mother of school aged-children, and a resident of the Highlands neighborhood, Kelly represents a demographic that is currently unrepresented on City Council.

Tony Blumberg and Adam Stolberg have a strong record of accomplishments and make important contributions to City Council.

As the only practicing attorney on City Council, Tony Blumberg contributes his expertise on policy and legal issues. He is accessible to residents, and helps resolve issues that they are having with the City — in fact, that is how I first met Tony. His experience and leadership will provide continuity and stability as we address the aftermath of the parade shooting, and his calm demeanor will help us to maintain civility, openness and inclusion through this process.

Adam Stolberg is the owner of a property management firm, and has experience in real estate. As a Councilmember, he listens to residents, collaborates with colleagues, and works to find policy solutions that enhance Highland Park. He is committed to revitalizing our business community, maintaining and improving our infrastructure, incorporating sustainability into our codes, and supporting affordable housing.

Please join me in voting for Kelly, Tony and Adam for City Council.

Mayor Nancy Rotering is running for re-election and has my full support. Her leadership in the aftermath of the shooting has been remarkable.  The candidates for the School and Park District seats are also running unopposed.

Covid 19 is a contagious virus that has been spreading rapidly around the world. There is no need to panic, but you should take precautions to avoid getting sick.

The City of Highland Park has an emergency operations plan in place and is prepared in the event our area is impacted by the coronavirus disease or other emergency matters. The City Manager’s Office, Police, and Fire Departments are in communication with Highland Park Hospital, Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center, and Illinois Department of Public Health in addition to area partner agencies, and all are taking steps to prepare, prevent and aid in recovery should our area be impacted. There is additional information on the City website, including links to the websites of the Lake County and Illinois Departments of Health and Centers for Disease Control.

Information on basic protective measures from the World Health Organization is available here.  Some of the recommendations are:
1. Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
2. Disinfect frequently touched objects (phones, doorknobs, etc.).
3. Avoid touching your face – that’s a good way to spread germs.
4. Avoid contact with people who are sick.
5. Please stay home if you are sick. This will help stop the virus from spreading to others.

If you have travel plans, the Centers for Disease Control is recommending that people avoid non essential travel to South Korea, Italy, Iran and China as of this writing. Up to date travel advisories are here.

In Highland Park, you can now put food scraps into your yard waste bin. Here’s a new video from the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County (SWALCO) with some good tips on food composting. Countertop bins to collect food scraps are available at City Hall for $5 each. Click here for more information or to contact Lakeshore Recycling Systems to request a compost cart for your home. Food scrap and yard waste pick up continues until December.

Voting has gotten more convenient. You can now vote in person on election day, in person during early voting, or by mail. If voting by mail is convenient for you, click here to find out how to get your ballot.

 

Have you tested your home for radon lately? It’s a leading cause of lung cancer, and you should test your home every 18 mos. to 2 years. You can get test kits from the American Lung Association. Start with a short term test, and, if it shows anything of concern, follow up with a long term test. Our tests were fine until recently. Remediation is relatively easy – I’ll let you know how it goes.