Concerned Citizens started it all

With new bloggers coming to this website, and in light of recent arrests and indictments of village officials of our town, let me reiterate to some new comers why this blog exists.

Back in 2007, a letter was sent to all new trustees at the village of Island Lake. A packet was also attached as evidence backing up most claims. I asked for and received a copy of the letter and packet (this letter can be found on www.cbgil.com). Because the evidence backing up the claims contains personal, identifiable information, I did not post the entire packet contents.

This letter pointed out several allegations with evidence and documents to back up many of the claims. Some claims were substantial; others were petty.

I attended a board meeting and asked all trustees seated at that time (Herrmann, Verciglio, Sadoski, Garling, Ponio and Saville as well as Mayor Hyde) to investigate the claims made in the letter. Trustee Verciglio was one of the most vocal in stating that the letter had no merit as it was not signed by anyone; it was anonymous. The press, to my surprise was more interested in who was behind the letter than what was in it. After attending several board meetings and reading the papers, it was my conclusion that the village of Island Lake residents were not getting the full story on what was going on in our village via the newspapers. I began to audio record board meetings and attend regularly. I started looking into some of the allegations in the letter and found many were valid. I formed my own opinion after performing my own investigation. After repeated attempts to get the local papers to write about our town and in trying to get the attention of the states attorney from both counties, I decided to be a voice for the village by creating a blog.

The blog was slow going at first, but soon picked up momentum and a following. In January of 2008, I began video recording meetings so residents could watch the meetings at their leisure. I have received many thank yous for my volunteerism and many "you're brave" comments and statements of encouragement from so many folks in this village.

That is in a nutshell why this blog exists and why I have been fighting the corruption for over two years. It wears on a person at times, especially when you feel you are climbing a mountain that doesn't seem to have a summit; however, with my recent election and arrests of several elected officials and investigations going on, I feel that my work and the voice I have put out for residents of Island Lake has been worthy of my time and frustration. I make no claim in being responsible for the arrests but protests at the SAs office and constant blogging and pressure by the people will get the attention needed. One can't do this alone; without the support of the people and changes in the local gov't's behaviors and the way they operate have been attributed to postings on this blog. It's been small victories here and there but in the end, I believe this town will be turned around and an honest, friendly community.

That is why this blog exists and will continue to exist. Many other communities are doing this in an attempt to be heard; and it works, very well. So, hats off to political bloggers!