Island Lake candidates split on mayor’s performance

Not surprisingly, the candidates running for seats on the Island Lake village board are split about Debbie Herrmann’s performance as mayor.

Three candidates, all critics of Herrmann and her allies on the village board, gave the mayor mostly negative marks for her work since being elected in 2009.

But Herrmann earned generally good reviews from the three other candidates in the race.

Some of the comments were more extreme than others. Joe Ptak said he couldn’t think of a single positive thing Herrmann has accomplished.

On the other side, Charles Cermak questioned how anyone could say Herrmann is doing a bad job.

The responses are representative of the deep political divide that has split the board and the town for many years.

Three seats will be on April 5 ballots. All six candidates are first-time hopefuls, and they’ve formed two opposing slates.

Cermak, Mary Piekarski and Allen Murvine are running together as one slate. Ptak, Shannon Fox and Thea Morris are running as the other slate.

The candidates were asked about the village’s finances, Herrmann’s leadership and other topics during interviews at the Daily Herald’s Lake County office.

Of all the candidates, Ptak was the most critical of Herrmann’s job performance.

“As far as I’m concerned, the mayor and her allies have not accomplished a single thing in our town,” he said. “Nothing, unless you want to call negative news accomplishments.”

When pressed, Ptak insisted he couldn’t cite one positive accomplishment.

Fox was critical, too, but she was more gentle about it, saying she wasn’t “particularly pleased” with the mayor’s performance.

Fox said she’s seen “a lot of fiscal irresponsibility” at village hall and singled out the town’s much-publicized legal bills as an example.

Fox also criticized Herrmann for organizing a fireworks show last year without first raising the money for the effort. Fox acknowledged all the money eventually was raised but said “buying on credit is not fiscally responsible.”

Cermak praised Herrmann, saying she’s doing what’s best for the village. He pointed to the snowplowing efforts during last month’s blizzard as proof good things are happening in town.

“How can anybody say she’s doing a bad job?” Cermak said. “If she wasn’t, I’d be running for mayor.”

Piekarski was reluctant to judge the mayor, saying she’s “not with her day to day.” Even so, she said she feels Herrmann is doing “a decent job” and is happy with her performance.

“She’s trying to get done what needs to get done,” Piekarski said.

Murvine said Herrmann “has a tough job” and blasted the dynamics of the village board, calling it “completely dysfunctional.”

As for Herrmann’s job performance, Murvine sided with his slate mates.

“Right now, I think she’s doing a good job, given the circumstances,” he said.

But Murvine said he’s also heard complaints from some of Herrmann’s adversaries on the board that they don’t get documents about village issues in a timely fashion.

“If (that’s) happening, I think it’s wrong,” Murvine said.

Morris attended an interview session but had to leave before this topic was covered. She was asked about Herrmann’s performance via e-mail afterward.

Morris said she generally has not agreed with Herrmann’s decisions “and definitely do not agree with the direction in which she has led our community.”

Morris didn’t solely blame Herrmann for the village’s problems, however.

“It has taken the actions of many to get us to this point,” she said in her e-mail.