Povidas will not seek re-election for Lakemoor presidency
By DIANA SROKA - dsroka@nwherald.com
LAKEMOOR – Virginia Povidas refused to be interviewed for this story. But that seems to be the way she’s set to end her term as Lakemoor village president: in like a lion, out like a lamb.
When the former trustee was elected to the village’s top spot in 2005, she vowed “change” and “improvement.” Instead, her presidency was wrought with requests for her resignation from the Village Board, accusations of financial mismanagement, and a costly investigation into missing village records.
Todd Hendrickson, a former Lakemoor trustee, said Lakemoor frequently was in newspaper headlines for the wrong reasons.
Hendrickson was on the board during the first two years of Povidas’ term and described the experience as “tumultuous.”
But others said the criticisms of Povidas stemmed from bitter political opponents.
“The woman did not deserve what they were putting her through,” trustee Kathy Lennon said. “It was a matter of sour grapes actually on some board members’ parts.”
Within the first 18 months of her term, Povidas’ administration was plagued with accounting and personnel problems.
Povidas, two clerks and two trustees were overpaid $5,650 for attending village meetings. Other employees were paid double or triple overtime in violation of village policy.
In March 2006, Povidas ignored a vote by the Village Board and paid a handyman $1,144 for part of his work in renovating a donated trailer into a temporary police station, and when questioned, she said she forgot the board had not approved that payment.
Later that year, after a villagewide investigation was under way, Povidas was the only official who failed a polygraph test as part of an investigation into the improper removal of financial documents from Village Hall. She questioned the test’s accuracy.
“There’s only five people with access [to the documents],” Hendrickson said. “They all take a lie detector test. All pass with flying colors but one.”
However, Lennon said the critics overlooked Povidas’ positive efforts, such as moving the police department out of the Village Hall basement and into a separate location and making village meetings accessible to disabled residents.
“That’s a big thing,” Lennon said. “She’s going out as having accomplished things for the village.”
Povidas is not seeking re-election Tuesday.
