Who donated - and how much - to Northbrook village races?

One slate of candidates in the races for Northbrook elected offices has compiled a substantially larger war chest than the other, and local real estate interests have made up the bulk of that slate's donations.

According to required financial disclosures filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections, the United4Northbrook slate has received a total of $38,500 of campaign donations of $1,000 or more from individuals since Jan. 1. United4Northbrook includes village president candidate Gene Marks, and trustee hopefuls Robert Burns, Christopher Lay and Ana Mendez McGuinnes.

On the same type of report, the Northbrook Caucus candidates listed a total of about $3,500, comprising $1,000 each from trustee candidate Joy Ebhomielen and William Ebhomielen, and a little more than $1,500 from the caucus itself. In addition to Ebhomielen, the Northbrook Caucus slate includes village president candidate and sitting trustee Kathryn Ciesla, and incumbent trustees Muriel Collison and Daniel Pepoon.

Two of the major issues debated in the campaign are real estate development proposals: the status of the village-owned Grainger property, 1657 Shermer Road, and what's next for the former Green Acres Golf Club, 916 Dundee Road.

Two development proposals for the Green Acres property have been denied since November 2019 by the Northbrook board of trustees, which includes caucus candidates Ciesla, Collison and Pepoon.

Green Acres is owned by GA Northbrook LLC, an investment group in which former Colliers International CEO and nonexecutive chairman David Kahnweiler is a managing partner. State records show $11,000 to United4Northbrook's campaign came from employees of Colliers, a global real estate services and investment management firm with Illinois offices in Chicago and Rosemont. Of those employees who donated, only one lists an address in Northbrook. The rest are mostly from addresses in nearby North Shore towns - Glenview, Glencoe, Winnetka, Wilmette and Highland Park. The other donors listed addresses in River Forest, Chicago, Hampshire and Naperville. Other donations came from Realtor PAC, employees of Chicago-based mortgage company Draper and Kramer, an interior designer, and people listing their profession as retired or self-employed.

Only Kahnweiler himself - who has not donated any money to United4Northbrook - responded after the Daily Herald started leaving phone messages for contributing Colliers employees: "A number of Colliers employees made legal contributions to United4Northbrook. I assume that the employees were exercising their right to free speech and expressing support for the United4Northbrook platform."

Kahnweiler, in emails, also emphasized neither he nor anyone at Colliers asked the employees to make any political contributions.

"Although other news sources have reported that Colliers is an owner of, or a proposed developer of, Green Acres, that is not true," he wrote. "I am one of the managing members of an investment group which owns the property. I have no ownership interest in Colliers. Further, Colliers did not direct its employees to make political contributions, and any assertion or implication to the contrary, would be improper."

Marks, who served a term as village president from 2005 to 2009, said that none of the donations represent a conflict of interest: "We promised nothing," he said, regarding any issues coming up before the Northbrook village board.

"We're all above-board," Marks added. "We're not going to buy anything or build anything or push anything through until the community gets a voice into it. We're all about transparency and safety in the village. Also, we want to make sure the schools are protected; we don't want to overpopulate the schools."

He also said he'd certainly consider recusing himself from votes on Green Acres.

"I would never be influenced by political contributions or political favors when making decisions in government," Marks wrote in an email. "I pledge that, if the economic disclosures for Green Acres or any other property indicate these donors are owners, I shall refrain from voting on that development. United4Northbrook is committed to full transparency and open and honest government."

Marks and his supporters have, however, raised concerns about a conflict of interest regarding the Northbrook Caucus itself, questioning the involvement of real estate attorney Barry Nekritz, a member of the Northbrook Caucus Leadership Committee.

A Northbrook resident since 1968 and village trustee from 1973 to 1981, Nekritz has been active with the Northbrook Caucus for "either the third or fourth time" in the past 12 years, he said.

"I've never in all those years had any accusations that we ran anything improperly," he said. "I've never voted on candidates for president, for example. Everything has been fair and above-board."

Nekritz said that he's contributed zoning expertise for clients seeking to do business with the village before the board: One he'd represented for 40 years and the other project's shared counsel was a former law partner.

Denying any conflict of interest, Nekritz also supported his work with the caucus: "I think I came with some experience, and I think what they consider some experience."

Mark Cohen, chairman of the Northbrook Caucus Committee, agreed.

The process of selecting candidates for the April 6 election "could not have been more fair and more transparent," he said.

"Anybody focusing on the caucus process is forgetting about the candidates, what they stand for on all sides of the issues, because that's what needs to be discussed now," Cohen said.