Hainesville man questioned about seeking two elected posts

Hainesville trustee candidate Timothy Powell was asked at a recent debate about his effort to capture two elected positions and how he’d handle conflicting meetings if he won both seats.

Powell and village board candidates Kevin Barrett, Walter Kriese and Gary Walkington touched on a variety of issues at the League of Women Voters-moderated forum last week. They are competing for three, 4-year seats in the April 5 election.

Not only is Powell is on the ballot for the Hainesville village board, but he is seeking a 6-year post on the Grayslake Area Public Library board. He already is a Lake County Board-appointed Avon-Fremont Drainage District commissioner.

At the forum, Powell was asked how he’d handle the village and library posts, considering both boards meet at 7 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month. The Hainesville village board has another meeting at 7 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of the month.

“This is an issue that has been brought to my attention,” said Powell, a retired Lake County sheriff’s deputy. “Whether or not I would have to miss one meeting for the Hainesville village board or one for the library board, this is something I would have to contend with.”

State law allows someone to hold an elected library and village office simultaneously. Powell is a former Avon Township trustee.

Hainesville’s contract for police service with neighboring Grayslake also arose at the forum. The candidates were asked if a Grayslake police representative should attend at least one regular Hainesville village board meeting per month.

Walkington, a farm manager for Grayslake Gelatin Co. who’s been a Hainesville trustee since 1993, said he supports the idea of receiving police updates at village board meetings.

Barrett, the other incumbent in the race, also gave the concept a thumbs-up, saying the entire village board could query police instead of individual trustees seeking information on their own.

“I think it would make them (Grayslake) feel a little bit more involved or make them have a little bit more of an ownership of the contract with the community and the responsibilities to the village residents here in Hainesville,” said Barrett, a regional sales manager at an international trucking company in his eighth year of village board service.

Kriese, a political newcomer who’s an electronic maintenance technician, offered a suggestion in addition to saying he’d want to hear from Grayslake police at Hainesville meetings.

“I would also like to see a community workshop once a year, or whatever, to find out what is going on in the surrounding communities with other police departments,” Kriese said.

Powell said crime statistics are something police could provide if they attended a village board meeting once a month.

Hainesville village board members last June voted in favor of the three-year police contract. Hainesville’s total police cost with Grayslake for the first year is expected to be $712,000 in a village budget of roughly $2.92 million.

During discussions about a year ago regarding the issue, former Hainesville police chief Wallace Frasier had said about $1.1 million would have been required to move the department out of village hall with full-time officer staffing.