Is Buffalo Grove candidate's job a conflict of interest?

Would Michael Terson's job as marketing manager for the Buffalo Grove Park District create a conflict of interest if he's elected village president April 2?

Incumbent Beverly Sussman believes so, and she raised the issue when she and Terson met recently with the Daily Herald Editorial Board.

"I do feel it is a conflict of interest," Sussman said.

"I just feel you're on one or the other. You're not on both," she added. "Right now he is on one."

Terson disagrees, noting that nobody raised the conflict issue when he served as a village trustee while working for the park district between 2011 and 2015.

"In the four years I was a trustee, when I actually had voting power - I wasn't just running a meeting or breaking ties or serving in the capacity that is more of a village president role - as an actual trustee voting on policy, it never came up," he said. "It was never an issue."

Sussman is seeking her second term as village president in next month's election. She said Terson's employment could become an issue when it comes to matters involving both the village and park district.

"We have an intergovernmental agreement with (the park district) for the use of Mike Rylko Park for Buffalo Grove Days," she said. "It's either up this year or next year, and we will be talking about coming to terms about it."

Terson said his job with the park district does not require him to interact with the village. As village president, he said, he would abstain from any votes involving the park district.

"I'm happy to recuse myself from park district matters, if people feel that that's a concern," he said.

Sussman said that was not the case when Terson served as a trustee. Board meeting minutes show Terson voted in April 2012 to refer the park district's request for a performing arts center at 225 McHenry Road to the village's plan commission. And in July 2014, he voted to approve an amendment related to the park district's Golf & Sports Center.

Minutes in both instances indicate Terson publicly disclosed his employment with the park district before voting.

"I even asked the village attorney, I believe, in those meetings. So there was nothing inappropriate. There was nothing illegal," he said. "I don't have a financial interest in any of the things that came before the park district."