McHenry County Blog

The Algonquin Township Board last summer.

Word from the Algonquin Township meeting is that Russell Cardelli of Algonquin was named to replace Joe Powalowski, who resigned.

I interviewed Cardelli about the interviewing process.

“I was a little surprised.

“It seemed one of the other guys had been a trustee (Chuck Lutzow) and was a little better qualified.

Referring to Tom McDermott, Vice Chairman of the Algonquin Township Republican Central Committee, Carelli said, “I just assumed someone like that would get the position.”

Asked what Township Trustee do, Carellli said he “wasn’t really sure, but I’d like to find out.”

The five candidates not selected were

• Robert Abraham, Lake In The Hills
• Charles A. Lutzow, Crystal Lake
• Thomas P. McDermott, Crystal Lake
• Catherine Nash, Algonquin
• Bob Simpson from Crystal Lake

A press release from Congressman Joe Walsh:

Walsh Stands Up for Victims of Domestic Violence

WASHINGTON – Congressman Joe Walsh (IL-8) released the following statement after voting in favor of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization of 2012 (VAWA) that passed the House.

Joe Walsh

“It is our duty as both Americans and Members of Congress to stand up against domestic violence.

“Victims of domestic violence should be protected by all levels of government: local, state, and federal. Since the original legislation passed in 1994, the number of annual incidents has decreased by 53%, while the number of reported incidents has increased by 51%.

“This is evidence that VAWA is making a difference and keeping victims safe.

“Our country was founded on the principle that the core unit which determines the strength of any society is the family; therefore the government should foster and protect its integrity.

“This bill does just that.

“It is crucial that we maintain a presence on this issue and continue to fight to end domestic violence in this country.

“This question was asked to me during the debate.

“I promised that since the vote was this week, I would let people know how I voted and why.”

H.R. 4970 Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization of 2012 (VAWA) passed the House by a vote of 222-205. This bill reauthorizes funding for VAWA grant programs for 5 years and provides more than $660 million annually to help protect victims of abuse and prevent domestic violence.

A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office:

CHICAGO MAN SENTENCED TO THREE YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR DEFRAUDING ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

CHICAGO — A Chicago man was sentenced today to three years in federal prison for engaging in a fraud scheme that caused the Illinois Department of Employment Insurance to pay approximately $479,571 in unemployment insurance payments to approximately 57 ineligible claimants who were not legally allowed to work in the United States.

The defendant, Roberto Cisneros, pleaded guilty to mail fraud in January and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber in Federal Court.

Cisneros admitted that more than half of the fraudulently-obtained proceeds, approximately $261,017, was deposited into bank accounts he controlled.

Cisneros, 34, who was in the country illegally when he was arrested in June 2011, has remained in federal custody and will be subject to deportation following completion of his sentence.

He was ordered to pay restitution totaling $479,571 to IDES.

Patrick Fitzgerald

The sentence was announced by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, James Vanderberg, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General in Chicago; Gary Hartwig, Special Agent-in-Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Chicago; and Thomas P. Brady, Inspector-in-Charge of the U.S. Postal inspection Service in Chicago.

According to court documents, between 2006 and 2009, Cisneros accepted money to assist individuals whom he knew were ineligible for unemployment insurance payments by aiding another individual’s submission of fraudulent applications for benefits to an IDES employee for processing.

Unbeknownst to Cisneros, the individual to whom he provided the false applications had later begun cooperating with law enforcement.

Cisneros knew that the claims he submitted and assisted in submitting for unemployment insurance were fraudulent because the claimants were not legally allowed to work in the United States due to their immigration status, making them ineligible to receive unemployment insurance payments.

Cisneros admitted assisting in obtaining unemployment insurance benefits on behalf of 57 individuals using social security numbers that did not match their names and/or dates of birth, numbers that were not issued by the Social Security Administration, or whose numbers matched their names but were not eligible to work in the United States.

The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Halley B. Guren and Matthew Getter.

Bill Zettler, who has done oodles of research on Illinois public employee pensions has written a book on the subject.

The cover of Bill Zettler's book entitled, "Illinois Pension Scam."

Published on May 12th, the book’s blurb follows:

“Illinois’ state pension systems are in the worst financial condition of any state system in the country.

“According to Pew Research, Illinois ranks dead last with only 51% of its pension obligations funded.

“In this well-documented and provocative book, Bill Zettler debunks the common myths surrounding the reasons why Illinois is last in pension funding.

“According to Zettler, collusion between public sector unions and the politicians they have funded with member dues has resulted in more than 130 benefit increases since 1970 most of them passed by the Illinois legislature with large majorities and with little or no publicity.

“Those benefit enhancements and their costs have been underplayed by both the public employees and the politicians to the point where there are currently over 6,700 pensions in excess of $100,000.

“These $100,000 pensions are growing at a rate of more than 20% per year thus projecting to more than 25,000 by 2020.

“Zettler uses public information concerning salaries and pensions to develop a powerful argument for immediate restrictions on Illinois public salaries and pensions in order to bring them into line with the private sector and to prevent the state from bankrupting Illinois’ children’s future.

“Bill Zettler is Director of Research for the Family Taxpayers Foundation and has researched and written over 150 articles on Illinois public salaries and pensions since 2005. For 30 years prior to that Zettler was owner or principal of three different software companies.”

Jack Franks

Nineteen days from now, Democrat State Representative Jack Franks gets his third election in four election cycles without a GOP opponent.

The first time was by then-Republican Party County Chairman Bill LeFew in his last term.

The second was by now-Republican Party Mike Tryon.

The third will be by Tryon as well, unless he acts quickly.

The comments under some of the articles on the subject below might be of interest.

4/29/12 Help Wanted – GOP Opponent for Labor-Lawyer-Lobbyist Democrat “Chainsaw Jack”

The 2010 billboard that sent rockets spewing from Jack Franks' head.

5/9/12 “Chainsaw Jack” Franks’ Drano Bill Makes Menards’ Shelf

5/9/12 Clock Is Running on Finding GOP Opponent for Jack Franks

5/10/12 Republican Candidate Steps Forward to Challenge Jack Franks

5/11/12 GOP Interviewing Committee Turns Thumbs Down on Woman Who Volunteered to Run Against Jack Franks

5/11/12 Jack Franks Now Free to Help Democrats Running for the McHenry County Board

5/12/12 Who Could Name a Candidate to Run Against “Chainsaw Jack” Franks?

5/13/12 The McHenry County Committee Who Interviewed Tonya Franklin for State Rep. Vacancy against Jack Franks

NBC's Edward McClelland's criticism did not prompt a press release from Joe Walsh

Here’s a press release in the “Man Bites Dog” genre from Congressman Joe Walsh:

NBC declares Congressman Walsh Winner of First Debate

After Joe and Tammy finally sat down for their first debate, what we already knew became even more clear: Tammy Duckworth is out of touch with the voters of the 8th Congressional District, and has no interest in their opinions.

Duckworth quipped,

“There’s not been a ‘crackpot’ Tea Party idea that he hasn’t embraced.”

Even moderator Rick Pearson of the Tribune intervened to ask if she really meant “crackpot”, and Duckworth doubled down to say “absolutely!”

It’s no wonder NBC called Joe Walsh the winner of the debate and stated,

“Walsh used his superior rhetorical and public speaking skills to portray himself as a reasonable, fiscally-responsible congressman, and Duckworth as a servant of the special interests.”

(Read the full article here)

This article praising Joe Walsh's debate talents did merit a press release.

Congressman Walsh painted a clear picture for Duckworth and the Democratic Party this past Friday night; it’s going to take a whole lot more than just “Democrat Talking Points” to win over the 8th Congressional District voters and their “crackpot” ideas.

Please consider a generous gift of $50, $25 or even $10 now to help us send your message to Tammy. Click here to tell Tammy, “I am not a crackpot!”

= = = = =
Edward McClelland, who has regularly trashed Walsh, summarized the debate like this:

“Walsh used his superior rhetorical and public speaking skills to portray himself as a reasonable, fiscally-responsible congressman, and Duckworth as a servant of the special interests.”

On the homosexual marriage issue he observed in part,

“Walsh didn’t look like the candidate of the religious right, but Duckworth looked like the candidate of the gay community.”

Finally, McClelland writes,

“Walsh is a conviction politician. Duckworth is a consensus politician. In a debate, her nuance is not as engaging as his belief.”

Last fall McClelland criticized Walsh and three other Republican congressmen for criticizing the Democrats 67% income tax hike.

A new state law requires municipalities to post their employees’ salaries. McHenry County Blog is on the third day of posting pages made public by the City of Crystal Lake.

The job titles today cover more Firefighter Paramedics.

Click to enlarge this page.

More tomorrow.

If one believed in conspiracies in McHenry County, one might think the gouging of the grass along parts of Fleming Road was deliberate.

The McDot mower went right next to one of the trees targeted for destruction under the original County plan to widen Fleming Road.

There certainly could be motive for McDOT’s defacing the shoulders along the stretch of scenic rural highway.

The County Highway employee who mowed this part of Fleming Road damaged the shoulder.

After all, the Fleming Road Alliance put so much pressure on the McHenry County Board, that the Highway Department had to back off from its plans to widen and level the road to an extent that lots of Bull Valley folks thought it was deliberately designed to be an eastern truck bypass of Woodstock.

State highway workers don't mow the shoulders until young wildlife have reached the age to survive on their own.

Whether the original plan or the possible retribution holds any credence, the damage done by County employees certainly marred the sides of the road.

You can see that from the photos.

Maybe the mowing of the shoulders of Fleming Road was a "make work" project. It's not as if people regularly park next to the roadway.

The pictures came along with this email last night from Emily Berendt:

“As I drove down Fleming Road this morning, not far behind the MCDOT Mowers, I was appalled at the condition of the roadsides.

“Large patches of earth were scraped bare of vegetation, deep gouges were dug into the banks, tire marks dug into the shoulders.

“At the southern end of the road, mowers encroached about 20 feet into the hay the entire length of the field, taking down that much of the farmers crop.

“A call to Anna May Miller resulted in her agreeing to look into this.

“We will be attending the Transportation Committee meeting tomorrow morning to see what transpires.

“The last picture is our new sign in response to the damage.”

"Mow Shoulder Not More Don't Scrape or Gouge!" says the Fleming Road Alliance sign.

Political analyst Russ Stewart writes a weekly column that is usually packed full of numbers.

The one almost four weeks ago is no exception.

He entitles it,

“CINDERELLA” DUCKWORTH IS NOT CINCH TO BEAT WALSH

The guts are below, although there is much in the article of interest.

Russ Stewart

“Here’s a shocker: In the March 20 primary in the 8th U.S. House District, the unopposed Walsh got 34,839 votes, while Duckworth, who was opposed by Raja Krishnamoorthi, got 17,091 votes — less than half of Walsh’s vote.

“Even the combined 25,802 Duckworth-Krishnamoorthi vote was only three-quarters of Walsh’s. Where’s the vaunted Duckworth juggernaut?

“Where’s the ‘Democratic’ district?”

Stewart concludes that the race depends on how well Barack Obama does in the district.

My heavens.

Who would have thought that typing in a comment on McHenry County Blog would end up in a suspension?

Well, it was a bit more than that.

State Rep. Kent Gaffney’s campaign manager Nick McNeeley also volunteered for opponent David McSweeney’s campaign while on the state payroll.

That’s what a letter after the report from House Minority Leader Tom Cross, who initiated the probe, to Legislative Inspector General (and former State Rep.) Tom Homer says, as you can see below:

Commenting on McHenry County Blog and volunteering for opponent Dave McSweeney's campaign on state time was found to be a "No-no" for Kent Gaffney's campaign manager Nicholas McNeeley. The letter is dated March 8, before the primary election.

I found out from Mike Riopel post on the Daily Herald. The DH found the information from David Ormsby in this article on the Illinois Observer.

McNeeley’s punishment?

Five days suspension (April 2-6) and six months’ probation, plus conversion of all sick time from September 1 through November 15, 21011, into vacation time.  And reassignment from his position in Research and Appropriations staff “to another position.”

Read the report for yourself below:

And here is Tom Cross’ response, dated March 8, 2012:

One might note that today is almost two months after the election.