Incumbents Fill the Slate In 2011 Local Elections

When voters go to the polls this April, they may experience déjà vu. Only a handful of new candidates are running for local office, and in most cases, races are uncontested for such offices as village trustee, park district commissioner and school board member.

On the village board, three seats are up for grabs, including the spots of longtime trustees James Karagianis and A.C. Buehler III, both of whom will run for re-election this year. Since trustee Kati Spaniak has decided not to run again, her seat is open, but only one candidate filed by the Dec. 20 deadline: civil engineer Robert Israel, who is also a member of Northbrook's stormwater management commission. The Northbrook Caucus, a volunteer group of citizens who meet to review and vote on a slate of candidates every four years, recommended Karagianis, Buehler and Israel.

The terms of four board members end in 2011, and all four will be on the ballot again. Current Vice President Marc Lonoff, Secretary Miriam Imrem and board members Sharon Bergstein and Jay Glaubinger are running without challengers.

When it comes to the , the April election is also uncontested. Current members Mary Ann Chambers, Steven Cloh, Jeffrey Simon and Michael Ziering, whose terms end in 2011, will all run again.

Some newcomers are challenging the status quo in local school districts, however. In , three seats are open on the board, but four candidates have filed: incumbents Bruce Ahlborn and Elizabeth Hall and newcomers Carol Currie and Anni Goldberg. Current member Laura Quayle, whose term ends in April, will not run again. The Northbrook Caucus recommended Ahlborn, Currie and Goldberg, but not Hall.

In , current members James Bream, Yasmeen Bilimoria and Scott Margolin will run for re-election against challengers Chuck Gitles and John Smith.

Running uncontested are incumbents David Nadig, Debbie Rabishaw and Jennifer Warner in ; Jeffrey Silver, Robert Spector and Shel Leshner in ; and Skip Shein, Joel Taub and Robert Boron in Glenbrook High School District 225.