Island Lake trustee slams mayor in resignation letter
Weeks after abruptly announcing her resignation and storming out of a public meeting, Island Lake Trustee Sandy Doehler has made her departure official.
Doehler submitted a notarized resignation letter to village hall Wednesday. The letter, which Doehler emailed to the Daily Herald, criticizes Mayor Charles Amrich and Trustee Harold England, with whom Doehler was feuding.
In the letter, Doehler said her concern for her safety and her family's safety "far outweighs my desire to continue working with a village leader for whom I've lost all respect and trust."
When contacted Wednesday, Amrich said he hadn't yet seen the letter. He also said he's lost respect and trust for Doehler, too.
England couldn't be reached for comment.
The letter paves the way for Amrich and the remaining trustees to appoint a resident to complete Doehler's 4-year term, which ends in April. She was elected to the board in 2015.
In her email, Doehler criticized the board for voting to accept the verbal resignation she made during its Dec. 20 meeting without first receiving a formal resignation letter, as required by state law. The board also cast the vote even though the resignation wasn't on the agenda for the evening's meeting.
Under the state's open meetings law, items must be included on public agendas before deciding votes are called.
Doehler announced her resignation at the Dec. 20 meeting after a heated disagreement with Amrich and other officials. It was her latest showdown with other elected officials in town.
In September, Doehler was censured by Amrich and the board for her behavior during the village's Independence Day parade.
According to the censure resolution, Doehler made "offensive gestures and insulting comments to village employees and a fellow trustee" who were participating in the parade. Doehler was watching the parade from her driveway, not participating in it.
Doehler also was part of the board majority that voted last year to hire an attorney to investigate allegations of harassment involving the police department and village employees. That investigation led to the firing of Police Chief Anthony Sciarrone, who's now running for trustee.
Earlier in the year, Doehler objected to an exclusive police-related towing arrangement with a company whose owner donated money to Sciarrone and Amrich's 2013 political campaign.
Doehler said she's been able to "make peace" with her sudden decision to quit the board.
"(I) look forward to a future void of good-old-boy politics that I feel will be forever rooted in this town," Doehler said in her email.