It's time to stop the squabbling on Island Lake village board
Like every other town across the suburbs, the village of Island Lake needs strong leadership, most especially now. Whether residents will get that, however, is seriously in doubt.
Over the past few years, officials seem to have spent more time arguing with each other than doing the people's business. This election should have been the opportunity to start fresh, but whether the candidates on the April 7 ballot will be able to put the focus on the people, and not on any personal agendas, is, again, in doubt.
Voters have three choices for mayor: Trustee Deborah Herrmann, Trustee John Ponio and former trustee Sally Fleissner, who is running an independent write-in campaign. All have had trouble getting along with others.
Herrmann says the fighting on the board is the fault of Ponio and his political allies, and that there's "really nothing I can do" to stop the animosity between board members from getting in the way of village business. And while we admire Fleissner's desire to get back into the fray, her last stint on the village board didn't end so well. She quit abruptly in August 2005, just months into her second trustee term, saying she was "disgusted at the games being played" by the mayor and other board members.
Ponio is certainly no stranger to conflict, of which perhaps the most notable examples involve public works and buildings department officials and employees. Ponio also voted against a 2007 ordinance requiring the board to act courteously and professionally in board meetings. But Ponio has the best plan on how to address the board's problems, promising to make liberal use of the gavel during meetings, open the lines of communication among officials and between the board and residents, and pursue the hiring of a professional village manager. With reservation, we give John Ponio our endorsement.
Voters will have to weigh similar issues when casting their ballot for the three trustee seats. Running are incumbents Connie Mascillino and Don Verciglio, and newcomers Donna O'Malley, Gregory Kachka, Laura Rabattini, Dwaine Schaal and write-in candidate David Meeks.
We endorse Mascillino, Rabattini and Verciglio. Mascillino and Verciglio are relatively new to the board, and have knowledge of the village's issues without the history of squabbling with colleagues. Verciglio in particular admits that there are projects that have been delayed by fighting, and we believe his pledge to do his part to turn things around. Rabattini has gained local attention with her blog about village issues. She's attended many board meetings and has recorded and posted many of them on her Web site. Rabattini clearly is committed to bettering the village, and has solid ideas for bringing in new revenue and keeping the lid on expenses.