In Her Own Words, Ciesla Shows Unfitness For Northbrook President

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The upcoming April 6 election is vitally important for the future well-being of the residents of Northbrook, who more than ever deserve transparency, accountability, and responsiveness from their local officials. One candidate for Village President, Kathryn Ciesla, will bring none of these things if elected. As a result, we feel compelled to expose a representative sample of her illuminating public statements. Ciesla’s own words, on film and available on the Northbrook Village website for all to confirm , provide a valuable insight into her megalomaniacal approach to governance and demonstrate why she is wrong for Northbrook.

Ms. Ciesla, at a Board meeting on November 5, 2019, showed why the redevelopment of Northbrook Court has been abandoned, the long-overdue revitalization of downtown Northbrook has fizzled, and the multi-million-dollar Green Acres development is indefinitely stalled; she hates developers: “I am not, I do not want to listen to the numbers from the developer. Quite frankly, respectfully, there are developers in the room. I just don’t trust ya. I mean, you’re, you’re incented to, um, you know, line your pocket.” (1:14:00)

Ciesla’s anti-developer, anti-business ideology was on further display at a Board meeting on August 11, 2020, to which the owner/developers of Green Acres had been invited to demonstrate their proposal: “I’m not interested in hearing a presentation, a fifteen-minute presentation. Maybe if they wanted to talk for five minutes. But, I don’t know what it’s going to do. So I guess I would make a motion that we limit the applicant presentation to five minutes.” (47:09)

Curiously, Ciesla sided with a developer and against homeowners on Woodlawn and Farnsworth at a Board meeting on October 23, 2018. This developer wanted a row of 13 high-density townhouses, replete with rooftop decks, parking galore, and a retention pond, immediately adjacent to single-family houses: “You’re gonna have more density there. While I respect the neighbors that live in there, this is what the street is going to attract. So, I take a different position. I like it and want the developer to keep going.” (1:01:58) Residents be damned!

And on October 22, 2019, Ms. Ciesla appeared to have a secret benefactor in mind when she inexplicably offered a last-minute amendment to the ordinance regarding the pot dispensary. The Plan Commission recommended that such a dispensary be at least 500 feet from schools and day care centers. But not Ciesla: “I’m going to make a final, um, amendment, proposal of an amendment to change the distance requirement for medical cannabis and adult use cannabis from the 500 feet in relation day cares and schools to 250 feet.” (4:28:10)

Ms. Ciesla’s penchant for secrecy was on further display on May 26, 2020, as the Board assessed which local businesses would be eligible for $2,000 grants related to Covid. The Board apparently devised criteria to decide who the lucky businesses were. But Ms. Ciesla didn’t want the businesses to know what the criteria were: “I would just say that the, the matrix or the rubric should be, um, maybe available if people FOIA’d it but I don’t necessarily know if we have to like put it out there, um, and that’s really all I have to say.” (2:15:33) Why would Ciesla hide the criteria from Northbrook businesses struggling for survival during the pandemic?

And to Ciesla, the Grainger debacle – the Grainger lot purchased in 2018 by the caucus candidates for $8 million without a public hearing, rudimentary due diligence, or a plan for its use, and replete with contaminants such as “volatile organic compounds” and benzene – must be discussed in private: “We’ll talk about, from my perspective I’ll talk about Grainger in the executive session.” (34:52) Watch Ciesla seek to scurry behind closed doors during this October 15, 2019, Board meeting. We would hide, too, if we made such an ill-advised purchase, referred to by another current Board member as a “gamble”. Should you vote for someone who gambled $8 million of your tax dollars?

And here, from a Board meeting on November 5, 2019, is Ms. Ciesla on her plans for affordable housing that she apparently does not want the public to hear: “But we are going to be doing some of this. It probably would be beneficial to talk about it in an executive session or something like that because, obviously . . .” (1:38:15) Could this be the detached structures she wants everyone in Northbrook to erect in their backyards, by right and without your ability to object, 20-28 feet high, without parking provisions, and having no requirement for a landlord on the premises? If Ciesla is elected, these Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) are coming to a backyard near you. Indeed, her minion, Muriel Collison, said on film the same evening that Ciesla’s plan would be “disastrous”, especially if the public ever found out about it. No wonder Ciesla wants to hide her ADU plan until after you have voted. Look on the website for the accompanying packet showing what the Evanston ADU plan she wants to emulate would mean for your property values.

Fortunately for us, Ciesla carelessly let her guard down during an October 13, 2020, Board meeting, where she admitted what she wants for ADUs in Northbrook: “I’m okay with detached. I think, you know, big picture, I think this is an economic benefit to the homeowners. Um, I think it diversifies our housing stock which is attractive to me. Um, and then I think it attracts a different demographic to the community.” (1:18:08)

We believe that you, the residents of Northbrook, should know the real Kathryn Ciesla. We hope that by bringing Kathryn’s story to you, in her own words, we have provided you with information that can inform your decision in this vital April 6 election.

Paid for by United4Northbrook.

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