2 Campton Hills trustees caught in the fight

Voters elected Laura Andersen and Susan George to office last fall, but now their neighbors might take them out.

The reason, however, has nothing to do with their performance on the Campton Hills village board. It's because of where they live.

Andersen and George each own houses in the Fox Mill subdivision, which recently joined about 20 other neighborhoods in filing to secede from the village. Should a judge grant the request, Andersen and George would be swept out as well.

"If they cease to be residents, they're going to cease to be trustees," village attorney Bill Braithwaite said.

Fox Mill is one of the village's most populated subdivisions, with some 700 homes southeast of Route 64 and LaFox Road. Both Andersen and George moved there in 1999.

The trustees-elect, who are slated to be sworn into office May 6, both oppose the possible detachment. But that didn't stop 57 percent of their neighbors from agreeing to it before the one-year anniversary of the village's incorporation, April 17, after which such cases needed support from all property owners.

While Andersen said she didn't know Fox Mill would try to secede when she decided to run for office, the first-time politician and medical technologist is taking the attempt in stride.

"I will be disappointed if I don't get the chance to serve the community," said Andersen, 57. "I wouldn't say I'm discouraged."

Pat Griffin, the attorney representing Fox Mill, said Andersen's and George's properties were not included in the case to intentionally kick them out of office.

"They're right in the middle of the development," said Griffin, who also lives in Fox Mill. "If there was any opportunity to exclude them from this piece, we would have done so."

From Campton Hills' perspective, there's little reason to worry. Braithwaite said the village has "significant defenses" in the Fox Mill case, though he declined to elaborate.

"At this time we are not spending any time or resources looking at the results of the possible disconnection," Braithwaite said. "We are very optimistic and believe the village will prevail."

Added village Trustee Jim Kopec: "We're not going to waste our time worrying about what-ifs at this point."

The flood of disconnection filings reflects lingering animosity between those who supported the village's incorporation in a referendum on last spring's ballot and those who didn't.

Village supporters believe incorporation helps protect them from encroaching communities and under-regulated development by giving them the authority to make their own rules. On the other side, residents say they were content living in unincorporated Kane County and worry the village will raise taxes and set policies they oppose.

"Everyone leaving wants to leave for a different reason, but if there's one theme it's the uncertainty of this village," attorney Tim Elliott, who is handling several other disconnection cases, said recently.

Last month, Judge Michael J. Colwell handed down his first five decisions regarding disconnection filings. The village lost each case, despite arguing that it stands to lose a significant amount of per-capita state revenue, and has since vowed to appeal.

Ed Fiala, a village supporter and Fox Mill homeowner, said other efforts are under way to have signers' names removed from his subdivision's disconnection petition and potentially quash it.

"I would be unhappy about losing what is clearly going to be in our best interest, which is to have two village representatives on the board who live in my neighborhood," Fiala said. "Many of our neighbors didn't even realize those signatures were for this purpose."

Griffin said he "can only assume the people who signed, signed knowingly," but he won't be surprised if names are withdrawn -- or added. "At the end of the day, the petition will be representative of what the residents desire," he said.

Even if the disconnection is approved, Andersen and George wouldn't be likely to lose their seats for quite some time.

Cases regarding properties less than half the size of Fox Mill began last fall and only wrapped up in March, not including the pending appeals. Fox Mill's bench trial hasn't even begun.

"I'm hopeful that Laura and I will continue to be able to be seated after the petition items are competed," said George, 44, who works in marketing and also is a rookie politician. "There's great hope."

A lottery after Andersen and George are seated will determine the length of their terms. Should the trustees, who were elected at large, be ousted from office, the board would appoint replacements.