Concern arises about husband-wife team on Hainesville board

Some concern has surfaced about the possibility of a husband-wife team serving together on the Hainesville village board.

George Duberstein is one of six candidates in the hunt for three Hainesville village trustee seats up for election April 7. If he is one of the top three vote-getters, he'll join his wife of about 30 years, Trustee Georgeann Duberstein, on the six-member panel.

Trustee Kevin Barrett, who also will be on the April ballot, said he doesn't like the possibility of one-third of village board voting power coming from a single household.

“Boy, oh boy, oh boy,” Barrett said Monday. “I don't know if this can be a recipe for disaster or not.”

George Duberstein said he would not expect to vote the same way as his wife on all issues.

Georgeann Duberstein added that her husband's volunteerism in Hainesville and steady attendance at village board sessions since 2002 make him qualified to be a trustee.

“We don't always agree on everything,” said Georgeann Duberstein, elected to the village board in 2009. “I'm sure it won't affect our personal lives.”

Hainesville Mayor Linda Soto said that while it would be legal, she doesn't approve of family members serving together as elected village officials. She said one of her concerns is the potential for village business carrying over into the Dubersteins' home.

“I will tell you, George surprised all of us when he filed,” Soto said.

Though rare, there have been husbands and wives elected to serve together on a suburban government board.

In 1995, Michael Meyer was elected as a Lake in the Hills trustee and sat on the board along with wife Tina Thornrose, who was then village president.

Sherry Craig served as Hanover Park's village clerk while her husband, Rodney, was mayor. Sherry Craig, who retired nearly six years ago, became a source of controversy in 2008 after her husband was elected mayor and some trustees succeeded in eliminating a collector job she had been performing.

Although not married, current Barrington village board candidates Mike Kozel and JoAnn Fletcher share a residence. Kozel described their relationship as one of “longtime friends.”

It wouldn't be the first time members of the same family served on the Hainesville village board. Wallace Stilz II and his son, Wallace III, were village trustees from 2005 to 2007.

• Daily Herald staff writer Doug T. Graham contributed to this story