Incardone becomes Lake Zurich's new village clerk

Lake Zurich village board members have sworn in Debbie Incardone as the acting village clerk.

Incardone, who was approved at Monday night's village board meeting, was one of approximately 20 village residents who applied for the position vacated by Wende Dau. Dau resigned April 15 because she moved out of village boundaries.

"She (Incardone) had a real strong resume with a background in taking minutes and she seemed to be familiar with some of the duties she needed to perform," Village President Suzanne Branding said.

Incardone said her varied job experiences as an executive assistant and event planner helped qualify her for the job.

The four-year resident has never run for elected office, and Monday was her first time at a village board meeting. However, she said she has kept up with village business by watching board meetings on the village's website.

"I really wanted to get involved and step up to learn more about the local government," she said.

Incardone will serve until the spring 2011 election when she could seek a full term.

Village staff has been filling in to handle the clerk's duties, which include taking minutes at village meetings and directing calls and e-mails to the village.

"It's been a somewhat significant disruption because we've had to find people to fill in taking minutes," Branding said. "We run into difficulty in executive session. The village administrator has had to take minutes."

The difficulty has sparked conversation about the need for the village clerk to be elected rather than appointed.

"We're looking the possibility in the future to have an appointed village clerk rather than an elected one," Branding said.

There are no concrete plans to seek that change, which would be subject to a village referendum vote.