Island Lake trustees debate pay

Island Lake village board members engaged in a heated debate about a range of issues involving trustee pay for government meetings.

During the village board meeting Thursday night, discussion included whether trustees should be paid in full if they arrive late for a meeting, how much trustees should be paid for attending a meeting and whether they should be paid separately for multiple meetings on the same night.

Board members' opinions differed drastically on each topic and it is unclear if any action will be taken on the matter at the next voting meeting Nov. 11. Any changes made to trustees' salaries would not go into effect until the next board is elected.

Currently, trustees are paid $100 for each board meeting they attend. Some trustees said that amount should be cut or stricken if a trustee misses half the meeting.

“Let's face it, if you missed half the meeting, you had no input,” Trustee Donna O'Malley said.

Trustee Don Saville said he believed the discussion was aimed at him because of his frequent tardiness. He said it is difficult for him to arrive on time for meetings because of his job.

However, Mayor Debbie Herrmann and other trustees said the discussion was not targeted at Saville.

“I think (a trustee coming in just before a meeting ends) is so rare and there's too much of an opportunity for political games,” Trustee Laurie Rabattini said. “Let the people make those decisions on election day. I don't think we need to start policing trustees.”

Trustee John Ponio said the pay for meetings should be doubled to $200 in order to attract more qualified candidates to run for office, and to alert candidates to the amount of work involved in attending board meetings. He also said if the board has a special meeting and a business meeting on the same night, trustees should be paid twice.

“When board members sit in on special meetings, they should be paid for what they do,” Ponio said.

Other board members disagreed.

Herrmann said one night of meetings means $100 pay. Trustee Connie Mascillino said she would find it unethical to accept two payments for one night.