At the McHenry County Board meeting during the public comment period a couple of weeks ago, District 5 McHenry County Board challenger Dave Frederick laid out a preliminary outline for a “Contract with McHenry County Taxpayers.”

The idea seemed patterned, after Newt Gingrich’s 1994 “Contract with America.”

I was writing as fast as I could, but he was talking faster.  He said he was not willing to release its contents because it was in preliminary form and that he wanted to see if other candidates might agree with him.

Veterinarian Frederick told of showing the platform to 180 voters while gathering petition signatures and they “enthusiastically supported this.”

Sort of test marketing.

Among the notes I made seemed to be a preamble about governments at all levels having responded “very inadequately” to something, perhaps, the economic situation.

“Bureaucracy” also came in for a “hit.”

Then there were a series of “If elected” statements.

One advocated term limits for county board members—two, unless someone were elected county board chairman during a second term and then he/she could have three.

Another supported reducing the number on the county board from 24 to 18 elected from nine districts.

There was a plank about electing someone at-large.  It may have been the county board chairman.

In an anti-politician year, cutting back the size of the county board might find some traction.  A similar approach to the Illinois House, called the Cutback Amendment, won now-Governor Pat Quinn a lot of supporters back in 1982