Tina Thornrose, fighting to win back her job as Lake in the Hills village president, pulled another surprise Monday when she presented a McHenry County judge with a $5,728 check for overdue insurance premiums and said her questionable debt to the village no longer exists.
Joseph Gottemoller, Thornrose’s attorney, told Circuit Court Judge James Franz, “I would ask you to return Tina Thornrose to office because the court has the money, and there has never been a determination by an independent fact-finding body that she owes it.”
Gottemoller also argued that Barbara Key received the same insurance coverage from 1990 to 1993 when she was village president and that such benefits were part of the compensation when Thornrose took office in May 1993.
“Any decrease in compensation during the term of her office is prohibited by the Illinois Constitution,” Gottemoller argued.
Gottemoller asked Franz to order Thornrose, who was ousted by the Lake in the Hills Village Board on July 25, reinstated until Franz conducts a hearing to determine whether Thornrose actually owed the village $7,558 for health coverage that she and her husband, village Trustee Michael Meyer, received for 29 months without Village Board approval.
But Richard Flood, Village Board attorney for Lake in the Hills, countered that the check submitted Monday, as well as a previous check for $1,830, were designated as “loans” to Thornrose or the village from George Wells, former Crystal Lake mayor, and do not represent final payment.
Outside court, Flood said, “We’ve asked Tina or her attorney to give us a check stating that it is final payment rather than a loan, because the Village Board does not want to revisit this issue again and again.”
When Wells sent Thornrose the first check, payable to Lake in the Hills, shortly after she was voted out of office, he did not characterize the payment as a loan.
“I fully intend to pay this off for her because I think it’s important for people in Lake in the Hills to retain Ms. Thornrose,” he told a reporter at the time.
Wells, reached Monday night at his home in North Carolina, called the money a gift.
“I put the money out there and it was not a loan,” he said. “I’m getting sick and tired of Mr. Flood lying all the time.”
At Monday’s court hearing, Franz declined to order Thornrose back into office but scheduled a hearing for Sept. 5 on whether Thornrose incurred the debt, which would have made her ineligible to hold office, and whether she can be returned to office with payment of the money, though the Village Board has declared her position vacant.
Meanwhile, outside court, Thornrose continued her war of words with the Village Board. She played up to a citizens watchdog group that was formed this summer after the long-running feud virtually prevented the trustees from dealing with broader issues, such as water system deficiencies.
“Four of our board members and (State’s Atty.) Gary Pack are determined to get me out of office regardless of what the public thinks,” Thornrose said. “Flood’s biggest client is the village, and he’s making money off this. I tried to fire him six months ago.”
Earlier this year Thornrose fired Flood as village attorney, and trustees rehired Flood as their Village Board attorney.
“The four (majority trustees) have their grudges, for whatever reason,” Thornrose said. “About 97 percent of the residents have said, `Drop this issue; we do not support it in court.’ Our village needed a citizens watchdog group years ago, and I’m glad it’s here.”
Flood said Franz would have to determine whether trustees can reverse their ouster vote.
“I haven’t seen any indication that the trustees will change their minds, but if they do, it will have to be Thursday night,” the last meeting before the Sept. 5 hearing, Flood said.
Meanwhile, Citizens Allied for Responsible Government Officials, the Lake in the Hills citizens group, stayed away from court Monday.
“We’ve never taken a position pro or con on the issues involving Tina,” said Michael Gleason, a group spokesman. “Our premise has always been that with the amount of time and consternation spent on the insurance issue, the trustees have lost a lot of time and seem to be on a witch hunt.
Gleason said the twin stigma of a deficient water system and the publicity over Thornrose are discouraging prospective home buyers from moving to the village and making it difficult for residents to sell their homes.
