Winnetka Caucus Chair: Pedian 'Unfairly Targeted' In Village Trustee Race

The chairwoman of the Winnetka Caucus congratulated the village's newly elected in a statement Wednesday night, and expressed disappointment that one village trustee candidate was not reelected.

In Tuesday's consolidated election, incumbent Linda Pedian was not reelected to the Winnetka Village Board. Pedian was one of the three candidates the Winnetka Caucus slated to run for village trustee, along with Richard Kates and Arthur Braun. The three new trustees will be Spinney, also an incumbent, ran as an independent candidate when she was not slated by the Winnetka Caucus to run for village trustee.

Winnetka Caucus Chairwoman Irma Villarreal said in an emailed statement Wednesday that village trustee candidate Linda Pedian was "unfairly targeted" for her service on a plan commission subcommittee that worked on Winnetka's controversial affordable housing plan. The Winnetka Home Owners Association, which opposes the village's affordable housing initiative, released a newspaper recently that said Pedian would support the affordable housing plan if elected because she helped write it while serving as a plan commissioner. Numerous emails from WHOA leader Carry Buck to the organization's mailing list discouraged residents from voting for Pedian if they did not support the affordable housing initiative. Villarreal said the accusations were false and called Pedian "one of our most dedicated and knowledgeable trustees." , which the village council will consider in a study session Tuesday night.

Village President Jessica Tucker, who was elected Tuesday to serve another two-year term, also expressed disappointment that Pedian was not reelected.

"While I personally believe that losing Trustee Pedian right now is a loss to this community, I am looking forward to continuing to serve with incumbent Trustee Spinney and our newest members, Arthur Braun and Richard Kates, and to all of the due diligence, thoughtful deliberations and perspectives that these individuals will bring to our discussions," Tucker said in an email to Winnetka-Glencoe Patch. "I am confident that we will all set aside any politics and personal emotions as we walk through those Village Chamber doors, and will carry on with the important business of the Village."

Both Tucker and Villarreal thanked Pedian for her service to the village during her two years as a Winnetka trustee.

"Winnetka owes Trustee Linda Pedian a debt of gratitude and thanks for her selfless service and enduring efforts that have left this community in a better place," Tucker wrote.

Villarreal's complete statement is below:

The Winnetka Caucus system works.  Congratulations to our elected leaders!  Yesterday, residents elected 14 of the 15 Caucus-slated candidates they approved at the Annual Town Meeting in November.  On behalf of the Caucus Council, I thank the residents who raised their hands to volunteer and go through the time-honored Caucus process.  Through the Caucus process, residents have the opportunity to confirm the candidates evaluated by their neighbors through the rigorous Caucus process that includes interviews and open public questioning, prior to the general election.  We sincerely regret that Linda Pedian was not re-elected for another term as Village trustee.  Linda is one of our most dedicated and knowledgeable trustees and we greatly appreciate her service to the Village.  Unfortunately, she not only was unfairly targeted by a political action committee for serving on a Village subcommittee on affordable housing, but the statements made about Linda in that capacity were simply not true.  We hope that the negative campaign tactics employed against Linda will not make it more difficult to recruit volunteers to help run our Village in the future.  Attack politics against our neighbors is what the Caucus system was meant to avoid, it is not who we are and it is certainly not the Winnetka way.