Island Lake candidates want an administrator to run village

All six candidates for seats on Island Lake’s village board believe the town should hire a village manager or administrator to oversee the staff.

Few, however, have any ideas about to pay for such an employee.

Three seats, all with 4-year terms, will be on April 5 ballots. The candidates are all newcomers: Charles Cermak, Shannon Fox, Thea Morris, Allen Murvine, Mary Piekarski and Joe Ptak. Three incumbents chose not to run for re-election.

The candidates were asked about the village administration and other issues during recent interviews at the Daily Herald’s Lake County office.

Some trustees, residents and candidates have been critical of how Mayor Debbie Herrmann has run the town since she was elected in 2009. Without an appointed top administrator, Herrmann is Island Lake’s chief executive.

Cermak said hiring a manager or administrator “would take a lot of responsibility and a lot of weight off the mayor.”

The only way to fund such a position is to bring more businesses into the community, he said. That would boost the village’s tax revenue, he said.

Fox also favors hiring an administrator and suggested bringing on someone part time at first, or perhaps sharing an administrator with another town.

“That would reduce the financial burden... and then we’d start reaping the benefits of having that manager, which would end up saving us a ton of money,” Fox said.

Ptak said an administrator is needed to oversee every department in the village. Under the current system, he said, “the mayor determines what gets done.”

Ptak suggested money can be raised to hire an administrator by cutting waste and reducing the town’s legal bills. Ptak and others have criticized trustees and the mayor for running up hundreds of thousands of dollars a month in legal fees over the last two years.

Piekarski said hiring an administrator should be a priority, but she didn’t know how to come up with the money needed to fund the position.

Murvine admitted he hadn’t thought about the issue until the Daily Herald asked about it. He believes there’s enough work for a village administrator or manager, but didn’t know if the village can afford such a position.

A nonpolitical, neutral administrator could resolve some of the village’s disputes, he said. And if having an administrator reduces the town’s legal costs, “(maybe) it pays for itself,” Murvine said.

Morris said the village needs to move toward hiring a manager or administrator, but said the board’s hands “are very tied” financially right now.

Morris suggested implementing a cost-cutting plan that would allow officials to afford hiring an administrator. She called for “heavy-duty cuts” and said reducing legal charges would help, but she made no specific suggestions beyond that.