Island Lake candidate not a chamber member — yet

On his campaign website, Island Lake village board candidate Charles Cermak lists current membership in the village’s chamber of commerce among his civic duties.

Cermak — owner of the local Any Kut barbershop — repeated the claim in his Daily Herald candidate questionnaire.

Cermak isn’t a member of the organization, however.

He has applied for membership and likely will join the group at its next meeting on Monday, said Debbie Myers, the chamber’s administrator.

But at the time he filled out the questionnaire and wrote his campaign biography, he had not been granted membership.

Cermak acknowledged the discrepancy Friday. He said he thought he was in the group as of January, after he filled out an application, paid a $50 fee and asked a fellow business owner to turn in the paperwork.

“I thought I was (a member),” Cermak said. “They’ve had my check and application for a while.”

Myers said Cermak’s application will be presented to the chamber board for potential membership Monday.

“We do have the paperwork, but we can only approve (new members) once a month when we have meetings,” Myers said.

Myers said she doesn’t expect any problems with the application.

Cermak is among six candidates for three seats on the village board.

He’s running in a slate with Mary Piekarski and Allen Murvine. The three other candidates — Shannon Fox, Thea Morris and Joe Ptak— are running as an opposing team.