Sussman apologizes for campaign irregularities

Buffalo Grove Village President Beverly Sussman went on Facebook to apologize for what she said were two mistakes in her re-election campaign involving the improper use of village resources.

One involved a five-day Facebook post of a business card that included her village email address. The other, she said, was asking the village attorney a campaign-related question.

Sussman said Sunday she had meant to use the business card to provide her personal telephone number to residents and didn't realize it also included her vbg.org email address.

“You're not allowed to have that (village email address) published during an election,” she said.

Sussman said she asked the village attorney if she could use the titles of the trustees who had endorsed her for re-election.

“I thought that would be helpful not only to me, but the other trustees, as well, who are being endorsed by their other board members,” she said.

On Facebook, she wrote, “He could not answer my question and I should not have asked him the question in the first place. I should have asked my own lawyer this question.”

In an interview, Sussman said it was “simply my mistake. I would never do anything on purpose. It's very important to me that they (residents) feel that way, that they know how I am. I am very trustworthy.”

Her opponent, former Trustee Michael Terson, said the election should be about “actual issues and qualifications.”

However, referring to Sussman's previous characterization of his employment as Buffalo Grove Park District's marketing manager as a conflict of interest, Terson added, “I do find it a bit hypocritical that the village president is so quick to say that me being employed by another unit of government is somehow a conflict of interest, while she can't even follow the law when it comes to what an elected official can and cannot legally do.”

Sussman said in a Feb. 20 Daily Herald endorsement interview that Terson's park district position, which he also held when he was trustee from 2011 to 2015, would create a conflict of interest if he were elected village president.

The village board's legal liaison, Trustee Jeffrey Berman, said some board members alerted him that Sussman contacted village counsel in early February.

“If I'm made aware of possible issues involving our legal counsel, it's my responsibility, in my opinion, to look at it,” Berman said.

He added he called it to Sussman's attention and she corrected it.

“I view the matter as closed,” Berman said. “Not every mistake is a scandal.”