Politics & Government

Candidate Profile Rerun: Michele Bromberg

As the April elections draw near, we felt it would be informative to the community to rerun our previous candidate profiles. Look for more as April 9 draws near.

Editor's note: This is a rerun on a profile we did on trustee candidate Michele Bromberg, which ran on March 13, 2013. 

You can read the original article and comments here. And you can see all of our profiles to date here.

Trustee Candidate Bromberg: 'Crime Hasn't Changed in Skokie'

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Caucus Party candidate Michele Bromberg told Skokie Patch that crime in Skokie has not changed, citing recent statistics showing that crime is down in the village.

Original story - 

Find out what's happening in Skokiewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

If elected, Caucus Party candidate Michele Bromberg will be the most tenured trustee along with trustee Randy Roberts.

Bromberg, the nursing coordinator for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, also serves on the Commission of Family Services, Board of Health and Consumer Affairs. Bromberg has been a trustee since 2001.

A Skokie resident since 1993, Bromberg said crime in Skokie has not changed.

"I believe Skokie is as safe as it was 10 years ago," she said. "You have to look at outcome research data. Putting 20 more officers out there will not help us. What could help, is more citizen involvement with community block watches. That is helpful."

To date, no Caucus Party member has acknowledged that crime is indeed an issue in Skokie. Rather, they say studies show residents are more concerned with property taxes.

According to Bromberg, the village uses research data, or experts, to make decisions for the village.

"The crime tip hotline, bringing the police force up to 114 officers (the Skokie Police Department currently has 109 officers), Bromberg said. "We are doing what the experts have told us."

Preliminary statistics show that crime in Skokie declined by 6 percent in 2012 from 2011. That marks the fifth consecutive year of declining crime in the community.

A total of 4,572 crimes occurred in Skokie in 2012, which is down from 4,866 in 2011. The number of crimes reported in 2012 is below the five-year average of 5,149 total crimes per year, and also below the 20-year average of 5,209 total offenses per year, according to the village. 

Skokie's long-term and short-term goals

One of Bromberg's short-term goals is to enforce existing ordinances, such as age restrictions on the purchasers of lighters.

"A child shouldn't buy a lighter and it was allowed," Bromberg said. "My son went into Walgreens with me - he was about 10 - and said, 'Mom can I have this?' I looked at it, it was a keychain that looks like a flashlight, and I say, 'Whatever, sure.'

"When I'm in the car driving home, I look out of the corner of my eye and see a flicker," she added. "It was a novelty lighter."

Bromberg went on to say that she spoke with the village manager who informed her that you have to be 18 to purchase a lighter in Skokie.

"We're always looking to make sure our citizens are safe," she said. "We research it, and we take care of what needs to be done."

Bromberg added that she wants citizens to get more involved with the village's boards and commissions.

"We have a tremendous group, and just the other day, someone said to me, 'I want to be more involved in Skokie.' I think that it is important that we have citizen involvement."

According to an NRC survey, citizen involvement in Skokie is below the national benchmark - standing at around 23 percent.

Meanwhile, Bromberg said she wants to continue building Skokie's excellent track record of economic development.

"One thing I think that Skokie should get tremendous credit for is what has been done to be as fiscally sound as we are," she said. "We have a thriving Old Orchard Mall, we have Touhy Marketplace, where we [will] have a Super Walmart.

"There's also eight new restaurants," she added. "We have these very amazing boutique-type restaurants in downtown Skokie."

Bromberg added that she really thinks downtown Skokie "is on the way up."

"The CTA Oakton Street stop is such an amazing accomplishment," she said. "Yes, there is more work. I'm a positive thinking person and I think we are going to see more growth in the [downtown area.]"

Read our previous candidate profiles here


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