Island Lake candidate speaks about her bankruptcy

Citing personal issues, an Island Lake trustee candidate has filed for bankruptcy.

Laura Rabattini, 37, publicly acknowledged the court filing in her blog, villageofislandlake.blogspot.com, on Sunday. Rabattini made the revelation after someone anonymously posted information about the bankruptcy case in the blog's comment section, she told the Daily Herald on Monday.

"I'm not going to try to lie or hide it," she said of the Feb. 24 federal court filing. "Bankruptcy is a tool that's there for people to use when they need it. I used (bankruptcy) to protect myself."

Rabattini, a production assistant for a consulting company, declined to discuss the circumstances leading to the bankruptcy.

"I'm open enough that I did file, and that's all I'm going to talk about," she said.

Rabattini said she filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. Chapter 7 bankruptcy releases a person from most debts and stops most collection actions against the debtor or the debtor's property. A trustee is appointed to liquidate the debtor's assets, which are converted to cash to pay off the debts.

Rabattini, whose blog about Island Lake issues has gained a following and given her some public attention, said she doesn't think the bankruptcy will affect her ability to help lead the village as a trustee, if elected.

"My efforts in the community on the blog have proven that I'm in it for the long haul," she said.

Rabattini is among seven candidates seeking seats on the village board in the April 7 election. Three trustees will be elected to 4-year terms.

The other candidates are: incumbent Connie Mascillino; challenger Donna O'Malley; incumbent Don Verciglio; challenger Gregory Kachka; challenger Dwaine Schaal; and challenger David Meeks. Meeks is a write-in candidate. The other six will appear on the ballot.

Rabattini, Schaal and Kachka are running on the same slate, with mayoral candidate John Ponio and clerk candidate Mary Jo Martin.

Mascillino, O'Malley and Verciglio are running as a team with mayoral candidate Deborah Herrmann. Additonally, Pam Miller is the slate's candidate for village clerk.

A third mayoral candidate, Sally Fleissner, is running an independent write-in campaign.