Win in Wilmette

Common sense won in Wilmette last week, with two challengers gaining seats on the village board, upsetting one leftie incumbent in the process. Karen Spillers won almost every vote cast, and Mike Basil scored a solid victory in a low turnout election. Wilmette Life:

Three trustee seats were won by Karen Spillers, the leader with 2,300 votes; incumbent Mari D. Terman with 1,951; and Mike Basil with 1,579, according to unofficial but final returns. Joanne Aggens lost her seat of two years, polling 1,260, and Gale Teschendorf, whose campaign never got off the ground, brought up the rear with 461 votes, returns showed.

Basil said he targeted Aggens, wanting "to provide a contrast between Joanne's ideas and my ideas" that showed how he backed development unfettered by regulations for "green buildings" and affordable housing units.

"It seems to me to be a signal that we really have to take a more focused approach on business development and not get our Village Board distracted with some of the more peripheral issues that aren't pressing needs in town," he said of the election results.

Spillers, who lost a trustee bid by 78 votes in 2005, then took a position with a Wilmette business advisory group, said, "I think it sends a message the people want the board to focus on basic services as opposed to rules and regulations."

My backyard BBQ is safe for now. Fired it up yesterday on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

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