Lake Zurich Appoints Third Clerk in 6 Months

It has proven a difficult task to keep a Lake Zurich village clerk in office over the last six months, leaving the village board at odds about how to fill the third vacancy.

Longtime resident Kathleen Johnson was appointed acting village clerk at the Sept. 7 board meeting, though she wasn't in attendance and has yet to be sworn in.

In the meantime, the board approved village administrator Bob Vitas as interim acting village cerk until Johnson officially takes office so the daily responsibilities of the clerk can be fulfilled.

The vacancy issue began on April 15 when Wende Dau resigned after just over a year when she  moved out of Lake Zurich. 

Residency requirements for the clerk dictated she had to leave her post.  Dau was elected village clerk on April 7, 2009 along with the Citizens Acting to Reform and Energize slate of candidates, all of which won their election bids.

So in the middle of April, the village began a public search within the community for Dau's replacement, netting 24 candidates interested in the position.  

That list was narrowed down to Debra Incardone, who was sworn in on July 6, 2010 as acting village clerk.  Just a little over a month later, she handed in her resignation effective Aug. 31.  

The reason for Incardone's brief time as acting village clerk remains unclear.  Village President Suzanne Branding said she did receive a confidential letter from Incardone explaining why she chose to leave the position, but Branding says due to privacy considerations she cannot reveal the reasons as to why.

The village clerk's office was technically vacant between Sept. 1 and Sept. 6, though Incardone's resignation wasn't officially accepted by the board until the Sept. 7 meeting. 

On the night of that meeting, Vitas was sworn in as interim acting  clerk so the day-to-day responsibilities of the clerk's office could be fulfilled.  That move was complicated; municipal code doesn't clarify whether or not a village administrator or any other village employee can even temporarily fill the clerk's role.

Village Attorney Ruth Schlossberg said it is a gray area in the law, but she believes there is no conflict of interest due to the clerk being an independent office with no subordinates.

Vitas wouldn't be performing the clerk duties himself, but rather delegating responsibilities to Deputy Village Clerk Susan Ragsdale until Johnson is legally holding the office. Clerk responsibilities can only be delegated by either an elected or an acting clerk, both of which must reside in Lake Zurich.

Vitas is a Lake Zurich resident, but Ragsdale isn't, so she would be unable to handle clerk duties without an official clerk to delegate responsibilities to her.

Many of the administrative tasks of the clerk's office, barring minute taking at meetings and signing documents, are currently completed by the deputy clerk or other village staff.

Schlossberg also cited the brief time that Vitas will be in the role as additional reason why the action is legally viable.  There is no set date on when Johnson's swearing in is to happen, but Branding said Johnson is out of town until later this month and will be sworn in upon her return. 

Johnson's appointment wasn't met with unanimous approval among the board.  Both Trustees Jonathon Sprawka and Rich Sustich voted against the motion. 

Trustee Sustich said "my vote had nothing to do with Kathleen personally, and everything to do with the process." 

The process Sustich is referring to is the open and public search the village conducted to fill the clerk's office after Dau's resignation.  He said he expected that same process would be followed after Incardone unexpectedly resigned. 

Sustich publically questioned Branding as to why the more than 20 candidates previously interviewed weren't revisited to determine if one might fill the clerk's position.

Branding said the previous interview process was time consuming and ultimately unsuccessful and wasn't instituted this time around because of the immediate need to fill the clerk vacancy.

She said that papers need to be signed by the Clerk on a daily basis in addition to taking minutes at village meetings.  She said she exercised her right as village president to appoint someone who was known and would have a positive ending in filling the continually vacant office.

The village did consider the possibility of changing the clerk role from an elected position to an appointed one, but at the Aug. 2 board meeting, the motion to authorize a referenda question for the November election failed by a vote of three to two.

Trustee Jim Johnson also knows Kathleen Johnson, who is not related to her.  Jim Johnson said he is satisfied with the Branding's judgment, and has known Kathleen Johnson for more than 40 years. 

He said she is intelligent and capable, and is unlike many of the previously considered candidates who were unemployed and looking for a temporary job until full-time work was found.

Johnson also said the village's second choice resulting from the public interview process was called back by the village, but their calls were not returned. 

Trustee Tom Poynton pointed out he was not made aware of that call being made.

"This is just another example of how there continues to be a lack of transparency regarding the village and actions that it takes," Sustich said.

Poynton voted in favor of Kathleen Johnson's appointment, but not without concerns over how it was handled. 

"I agree with questions about the process that was used (to find the appointee), but I didn't want to make Kathleen Johnson the issue." 

He said that there is definitely a disconnect regarding the village and inclusion of its residents.  That is something Poynton says needs to change.

The position is deemed acting village clerk' and not village clerk at this point because in between elections, the position becomes appointed if it is vacated. 

The clerk's term is two years, and will be on the ballot in the April 30, 2011 election.  The post pays $4,800 a year, which averages to be about $400 a month. 

It is a part-time job, where the only administrative duties not fulfilled by delegated village personnel are minute taking at meetings and the signing of documents.  During the time Vitas remains interim acting village clerk, he will not be taking compensation for filling the role.  

Kathleen Johnson has promised to fill the difficult-to-fill position until the term is up next April.

For 13 years, Johnson served as a teacher at early childhood centers in Mundelein and Lake Zurich, according to a letter she submitted to the village board.

In 1995, she became director of a center in Island Lake. She retired in 2007 to travel with her husband and volunteer at her granddaughter's school.

She also served as teasurer of the McHenry County Directors association for five years.