D46 Board Member Seeking County Board had Prior Arrests Under Another Name

According to published reports, outspoken Grayslake District 46 board member Michael Carbone, who is running against Democratic incumbent Terry Wilke for his Lake County Board District 16 seat, had prior arrests under the last name of Jorudd.

According to a story in today's Lake County News-Sun, Carbone "racked up criminal arrests and charges that include driving on a suspended license, criminal trespass to property, assault and two DUI charges."

The Daily Herald reports that Carbone, who has not denied the charges, pleaded guilty to reckless driving in Fox Lake as part of a negotiated deal on Aug. 8, 2006. 

Carbone told Patch on Friday he does not deny the arrests, but said the issue with his last name is a non-issue that has "been blown out" by the daily newspapers, and that most people in the district know he had changed his name.

Carbone said he, his wife and children changed their last name from Jorudd to Carbone in 2009, in honor of his grandfather, who adopted and raised him after his biological father died in a fire.

Jorudd had been Carbone's stepfather's name.

"I never hid anything. All of my (nominating) petitions have had both my names on it," said Carbone.

As for his arrest record, Carbone does not deny it. He noted his 2006 DUI charge was thrown out, but acknowledged he plead guilty to reckless driving.

"It's all true, and I have been open about it."

Carbone said he does not expect these "revelations" to hurt his election campaign. "If it does, it does."

"I never claimed I was perfect."

Though there will always be those who don't like him or what he stands for, Carbone said he still has many supporters.

On his Website, Carbone, 39, of Round Lake, identifies himself as a family man with four kids who has his own small business, the Carbone Group, for seven years.

Carbone, a 1991 graduate of Antioch Community High School, is a real estate broker and tax appeal consultant, according to his Website.

He has cited job growth, property taxes and government transparency as his reasons for running for county board.

Carbone was a write-in candidate for District 46 in 2009. His term ends in April 2013.

As a school board member, Carbone has been outspoken about district transparency and ethics; increased spending and property taxes; whether the board should hire an attorney to sit in on meetings; the superintendent's contract; and the budget deficit.

Last month, it was revealed that Carbone had a complaint lodged against him by two district employees accusing him of harassing them over not wanting to pay his daughter's school registration fee. Carbone was also censured by the board last spring.

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