Election board attorney: Lake in the Hills ought to appoint trustee

An attorney from the Illinois State Board of Elections says Lake in the Hills should fill a recent opening on its board of trustees, a position that runs counter to the village president's views.

Longtime Trustee Joseph Murawski, 75, died in June after a lengthy illness and Village President Ed Plaza has said he would not appoint a successor out of respect for Murawski and his contributions.

But Ken Menzel, an attorney with the state board of elections, says this is not in keeping with the law.

"The (law) indicates that an appointment must be made within 60 days after the vacancy occurs and that person would ... fill out the remainder of the term until the new crop of trustees is elected and takes office," Menzel said, adding that the board of elections will not intervene. "I don't really view it as optional, although failing to do so doesn't carry a penalty or other kind of sanction."

State election law says a village president must appoint someone to fill board vacancies that occur with less than 28 months left on the term.

Murawski's term had about 10 months remaining when he died, and the 60-day deadline to nominate his replacement expired Tuesday.

Plaza is still intent on leaving the spot empty until the spring elections.

"The seat is not going to be filled until April. That's all there is to it," Plaza said. "The choice for a replacement to Joseph Murawski is the residents' choice. It isn't the state board of elections' choice ... it's the residents' choice."

Plaza and Village Attorney Richard Flood see the law as a guideline Lake in the Hills would follow, only if Plaza planned on picking a successor.

"It provides a mechanism for filling a vacancy, but there is no consequence to not filling it," Flood said. "I understand where the board of elections is getting a read from, but again, having worked on this thing for five years, nobody wanted to ... say this is going to be the consequence if somebody isn't going to do this."