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No decisions yet in Island Lake candidate objections

A pair of Island Lake political candidates will have to wait at least 10 days to learn if they will stay on April 9 ballots.

The attorney representing mayoral hopeful Charles Amrich and trustee candidate Tony Sciarrone filed motions to disqualify a member of the village’s electoral board and to entirely dismiss the cases during well-attended hearings at village hall Monday night.

With the lawyer for the men who objected to Amrich and Sciarrone needing time to review and respond to the requests, both cases were continued until Thursday, Jan. 24.

Local residents Louis Sharp and Dan Field are seeking to get the candidates knocked off the ballot. Neither man was present at Monday’s hearing.

In their objections, Sharp and Field claimed Amrich and Sciarrone were ineligible to run for local office because of financial debts to the village.

Clerk Connie Mascillino and Trustee Laurie Rabattini are serving on the electoral board for both cases. Trustee Shannon Fox is the final member for the Amrich case, while Mayor Debbie Herrmann is leading the panel hearing the Sciarrone case.

Attorney David McArdle, who represented Amrich and Sciarrone on Monday, is seeking to have Mascillino removed from the electoral board in both cases because she may be called as a witness. He also is arguing the cases be dismissed because of a lack of facts and a technical violations.

Sharp and Field were represented by attorney Anish Parikh.

No evidence was presented by either side Monday night, nor was any testimony given.

Amrich and Sciarrone are part of a slate challenging Herrmann and a team of her political allies. Amrich was the town’s mayor from 1985 to 2005. Sciarrone is a former police officer and interim chief in town who retired in 2011.

Amrich and Sciarrone are campaigning with clerk candidate Teresa Ponio and trustee hopefuls Mark Beeson and Keith Johns as the “For the People” slate.

Herrmann is leading the “United for Progress” slate. She’s joined by Mascillino and first-time trustee hopefuls Josh Rohde, Ken Nitz and Ed McGinty.

The boardroom was filled with supporters of Amrich’s slate Monday. Other candidates also attended.

“All of this is expensive,” Beeson said during a public comment section of the Sciarrone hearing. “It really seems bogus.”

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