Island Lake trustees stand by waiver for political signs

Island Lake trustees are backing their decision to allow political candidates to plant campaign signs on public property, even though it’s resulted in a local controversy.

“People running for office should be able to make themselves known, even if they don’t have widespread support by the residents of their voting district,” Trustee John Ponio said Wednesday in an e-mail to the Daily Herald. “How they go about it, and the placement and quantity of signs, is up to them.”

Last weekend, village board candidates Charles Cermak and Allen Murvine took advantage of the newly relaxed rules by deliberately placing signs in the easement in front of rival Joe Ptak’s house, against Ptak’s wishes.

Ptak filed a police report, but authorities have said there’s nothing they can do because a local prohibition of signs on public property was lifted for the election. As of Wednesday, those signs remained in place, Ptak said.

Ptak hasn’t been the only candidate targeted through sign placement. Cermak said signs promoting his political opponents appeared outside his barber shop before he and Murvine visited Ptak’s neighborhood.

Six candidates are running for three open seats on the village board in Tuesday’s election. Three incumbents, including Ponio, are not seeking re-election.

The candidates are: Cermak, Murvine, Ptak, Shannon Fox, Thea Morris and Mary Piekarski.

Cermak, Murvine and Piekarski are running as a slate; Fox, Morris and Ptak are running as a rival team.

At the March 10 village board meeting, Ponio proposed lifting the rules on political signs for the election and said candidates should be free to advertise their campaigns.

The board members didn’t vote on the matter but indicated their support. Afterward, the village’s attorney said the consensus essentially meant village officials wouldn’t pursue candidates who violate the ordinance during the campaign.

On Wednesday, Trustee Connie Mascillino stood by the board’s decision but admitted she suspected it could become controversial.

Dirty politics are nothing new to Island Lake, Mascillino said in an e-mail. Even so, she said she did not agree with either party “playing childish games” with campaign signs.

Trustee Laura Rabattini supported the board’s decision, too. Unlike Mascillino, Rabattini was surprised by what happened outside Ptak’s house.

“What happened was not in the spirit of what the board intended,” she said. “In hindsight, we should have known better. But we thought these slates wanted to clean up the village’s image, not create more controversy.”

Some local residents also have complained about the many political signs planted on public property along Route 176 and in other locations in the village.

Mascillino called it “a cardboard jungle.”

Ponio said he believes placing too many signs in public can hurt a politician’s message, but he didn’t change his mind about the waiver.

“One thing is for sure: The residents can’t say they didn’t know about the election, and the people running for office can’t say they couldn’t get their message out,” he said.