VIDEO: Rotering and Olian Trade Jabs at Ravinia Forum

The gloves came off Tuesday night when Highland Park mayoral candidates  and met for an informal debate sponsored by the  at the Ravinia train station. 

Rotering and Olian, both councilwomen vying for the mayor's seat, clashed over the sewer lining program that affected the Ravinia neighborhood, the use of the city’s reserves to meet budget needs, the use of the funds from the Ravinia ticket tax and other issues. 

The first questioner, Gavin Sollinger, wanted to know how the candidates voted on the sewer lining program and their current position on the plan, which he said required individual residents to pay between $7,000 and $10,000 for sewer repairs on their property. 

Rotering was quick to say she was not a member of the City Council when the program was created. She also said she is opposed to making property owners responsible for the expense and wants to change the plan. She considers the repairs the city’s responsibility. 

“I think it’s too much of a burden,” Rotering said. “I thought the process by which it was accomplished was unacceptable.” 

She expressed outrage that after 45 days notice to pay the required amount, a lien would be placed on a person’s home if payment was not made. 

Olian claimed Rotering was silent at a November council meeting when she could have taken a position. At that gathering, Olian said she beseeched her colleagues to change the program. She recalled that while other council members took a position, Rotering said nothing. 

“There were other councilmen who spoke up. Nancy did not say one thing,” Olian said. “I now see the burden it has placed on homeowners. In terms of this lien stuff, there have been no liens imposed. Our ordinance doesn’t talk about liens.” 

Rotering claimed in rebuttal that she did speak at the meeting in question.

Debra Rade said after the debate both candidates were well qualified and she would not support either until one of them committed to returning the money affected residents paid for the sewer lining program. She is currently an undecided voter. 

When asked if money from the city’s reserves could be used to pay for police officers and firefighters, Olian agreed. However, Rotering suggested utilizing money derived from the tax imposed on ticket sales. 

“What I have asked was: Could we use some of the funding we received from the admissions fee on our Ravinia tickets?” Rotering said. “That … is one opportunity that we can use to fund this increase of public safety personnel.”

Olian accused Rotering of promising to use the Ravinia money—about $500,000 after a distribution to the services program YEA! Highland Park—for different purposes throughout Highland Park. 

“I’ve heard at Ravinia School they should be used to fix Ravinia’s infrastructure,” Olian said about her opponent’s suggestions for the festival fees. “I heard at Northwood they should be used citywide to improve infrastructure, and I’ve now heard that twice they should be used for public safety purposes.” 

Rotering said that the city's fund reserves should not be used anymore to . 

“It’s [reserves] for labor negotiations. It’s for emergencies. It’s for revenue shortfalls,” Rotering said. “We’ve had three years of shortfalls. It’s no longer unexpected. You can’t continue to spend down our reserves or you won’t have sufficient reserves for when you really do need them.” 

Olian, on the other hand, said she did not think Highland Park’s solvency was threatened by the continued use of reserves. She explained that Highland Park’s AAA bond rating is due to its historical fiscal prudence. She said the city operates far beyond the expectations of bond rating agencies. 

“Most rating agencies say you’re good until maybe 25 [percent of the city's budget in reserves],” said Olian, who noted reserves covered 39.5 percent of Highland Park's budget. “We not only have enough for a rainy day, we have enough for a thunderstorm.”

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