Inverness candidate wants village hall to listen to residents

Be it potholes, coyotes or electricity shortages, one Inverness resident says concerns fall on deaf ears.

Nanci Staten Robinson has set out to better what she sees as a lack of communication in the village. The 52-year-old insurance executive and mother of five is challenging three-term Mayor Jack Tatooles in the April election.

"Friends and neighbors say they feel uncomfortable going to village hall," Robinson said. "There has to be a sense of inclusiveness."

A 23-year resident of Inverness, Robinson has never held political office or served on a village committee. She hasn't attended a board meeting since Donna Thomas served in the mid-90s, something Tatooles is quick to point out.

But Robinson's resume is loaded with community service and leadership positions from Palatine Amateur Football Association board member to Fremd High School Booster Club president. She was named a Palatine Park District Volunteer of the Year and is current chair for the American Heart Association Chicago chapter's Go Red for Women campaign.

"I may not be politically involved, but I've shown the ability to sit on boards and work with people," she said.

Robinson also touts experience with "bringing projects to closure," a quality she'll have to play up in her campaign as Inverness embarks on a $10 million roadwork project and opens its own police department.

"This is not the time to change engines over the Atlantic," Tatooles, 66, said. "It's a vital time in our village and there has to be some continuity."

Robinson doesn't like the direction Inverness is headed. She said officials never should have eliminated property tax revenue by buying land to build an annex village hall. She also questions the move to break away from the Barrington-Inverness Police Department, but admits she's yet to read the study officials referenced.

Both moves, she said, caught residents by surprise.

"The decisions aren't being relayed. There's no communication," said Robinson, who doesn't recall the last time she received a newsletter. "And the response to that can't be to go to board meetings."