Highland Park City Councilman Steven Mandel recently put his hat in the ring to serve on the Lake County Board, saying he wants to focus on budgetary and environmental issues.
If he wins in November — and so far he appears to be running uncontested for the seat — Highland Park would have a new board member that would be appointed to the remaining term of a seat that Mandel has held for almost 20 years. Mandel’s term ends in May 2013.
Mandel, 58, recently filed for Lake County Board in what’s now to be District 11 after the county redrew the district’s map. It covers Highwood and parts of Highland Park and Deerfield.
Mandel said a position on the Lake County Board would give him greater reach to help residents.
“I’ve gotten a kick out of able to create good outcomes and help citizens,” Mandel said. “When residents call me with problems, I get excited about how I can help them. It’s even better when I can help more than one person with a particular problem.”
Mandel got involved in local politics in the 1970s, when he successfully lobbied to prevent the expansion of Lake Cook Road on the south end of town. At the time, the road was far less congested and was lined with open fields, Mandel said.
That led him to become a founding member of the now-disbanded Highland Park Conservation Society, which persuaded local agencies to set land aside. He was also part of Save Open Land, which secured land for the Highland Park Country Club.
With some political experience under his belt, Mandel ran for Lake County Board in the 1990s, but lost. A short time later he was appointed to the Highland Park Plan Commission, a recommending body to the city council. He won election to the city council about two years later.
He’s spearheaded many of the city’s recycling programs, including plastic bag and foam recycling. He’s the Highland Park representative to the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County.
“A core focus has always been our natural surroundings,” Mandel said. “It’s one of our highest values” in the county.
If elected to the Lake County Board, Mandel would also focus on the budget, which is on the minds of most local politicians who are grappling with rising costs and dropping revenues, he said.
Mandel grew up in the area and graduated from Deerfield High School.
Mandel attended Deerfield High School before going off to Southern Illinois University and George Meany Center for Labor Studies. He’s held apprenticeships at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Schubert Theater and Blackstone Theater.
He’s a retired master electrician at Ravinia Festival.
