Island Lake trustee ends controversial blog
Island lake Trustee Laurie Rabattini’s blog has been a source of news, opinion and controversy since before she joined the board in 2009.
She and her electronic followers used the forum to talk about the issues facing the village, to criticize Mayor Debbie Herrmann and other village officials and to promote various political agendas.
However, that source of information has gone dark.
Rabattini has confirmed she’s no longer publishing the blog, which had been found at theblog1.com. Anyone going to that website now is redirected to a login page for the Google Blogger system.
Additionally, Rabattini’s old blog entries no longer can be found on the Internet.
When reached via email, Rabattini confirmed the blog’s demise, saying an illness she’s been battling for a while prompted the change.
She declined to answer additional questions.
Rabattini’s blog posts were often passionate, covering topics including the agendas for board meetings, the village budget and new businesses in town. From time to time, the entries were criticized by Herrmann, trustees aligned with the mayor and their supporters.
During Rabattini’s 2009 political campaign, the blog’s comment sections regularly were filled with mean-spirited remarks by mostly anonymous readers who attacked Rabattini, her allies and her political opponents.
In July 2009, Rabattini took heat for referring to then-Trustee Don Verciglio as the “village blog Nazi” and publishing emails Verciglio wrote that were critical of the content in her blog.
In April 2010, Rabattini apologized on the blog for a post in which she likened Herrmann to Adolf Hitler.
In January 2011, Rabattini used the blog to question the stability of the police department and the safety of the community following some personnel changes.
Chief William McCorkle, a regular target of some of Rabattini’s online followers, denied the staffing changes had affected public safety.
At the time, Herrmann accused Rabattini of “conveying an incorrect image of the village.”
In an interview Tuesday, Herrmann called the blog a “vehicle that fueled the negative fire” that dominated board meetings for a few years.
Herrmann said she didn’t frequent the blog and would be fine without it.
Trustee Connie Mascillino occasionally was targeted in the comment sections after blog posts. She wasn’t a fan, either.
“Frankly, I didn’t take it seriously,” she said.