Island Lake - studying the Feds?

You have to read the Daily Herald to know what's going on in Island Lake. Even if you do, you may not get the whole story.

Be sure to read www.dailyherald.com/article/20110211/news/702119832/#ixzz1Dj36PM3y, where reporter Russell Lissau provides details and insights to how they really operate over there. On Thursday night the Village of (little) Island Lake approved transferring up to $300,000 from a special water fund for use to pay bills.

What exists in Island Lake right now is a bloc that eliminates any effective resistance to the herd. The Mayor and three trustees are almost guaranteed to vote the same way, leaving two or three trustees (the minority) to fume and fuss.

The attorney for the Village at the meeting Julie Tappendorf (Ancel, Glink et al.) explained that any monies borrowed from the special fund must be repaid by the end of the Village's fiscal year, which is April 30. So, if they borrow this week, the amount must be repaid by April 30. If they wait until May 1 to borrow, then it doesn't have to be repaid until April 30, 2012.

Trustee Don Saville and John Ponio voted against the borrowing. In my opinion Saville asked the best question of the night. According to the Daily Herald, "Saville also questioned how the village would be able to pay back the loan if it doesn’t have the money it needs now."

Well, duh.... Great question. How did it get answered? Mayor Debbie Herrmann and three trustees voted in favor of the borrowing!

There is an election coming up April 5, and three challengers of the R.I.G.H.T. party hope to take over positions on the Board. If that happens, then they, along with Trustee Laurie Rabattini, will create a majority, and the tide will turn against Mayor Herrmann. She'll get a taste of what it's like to be over-ruled all the time.

Now, what might the Village need $300,000 for?

Well, for one thing, it might be to pay some of the legal bills of the Village. For a small town of 8,500 residents, the Village racked up a whopping $250,000 in legal bills in the 12-month period of 2010 (which spans two Fiscal Years of the Village).

A scary thing happened when I tried to access the website of Ancel, Glink. My anti-virus program warned me that their website "had been identified as a known exploit, phishing or social engineering website". I called Ancel, Glink and reported the possible problem with its website, which I'm sure they will check on Monday morning.