McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren’s GOP primary opponent Zane Seipler is seeking to have a special prosecutor named to investigate whether the Sheriff has used taxpayer dollars to advance his political campaigns.
The hearing is September 28th.
Today, Seipler’s attorney, Blake Horwitz, held a press conference, which several heard by telephone, calling on McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi to withdraw his office’s opposition to such a special prosecutor’s appointment.
Bianchi has taken the position that he cannot investigate Nygren because he statutorily represents the Sheriff’s Office.
And, his office is opposing the appointment in its role as Nygren’s attorney.
Now Horwitz argues that Bianchi should not be involved because the State’s Attorney stands accused of official misconduct, the same statute Horwitz believes Nygren to have violated.
Horwitz said that there is “a substantial basis to believe that criminal activity is afoot relative to the seven-point star.”
The official star of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department has five points, Horwitz points out.
Going back at least five years, the Sheriff has used a seven-pointed star for campaign activities, he added in answer to a question from the Northwest Herald reporter.
“The emblem is affixed to his campaign paraphernalia.”
Zane Seipler found these wine bottles given out to campaign contributors.
Horwitz mentioned wine bottles.
Keith Nygren's car at this year's Algonquin Founders Day Parade.
Of course, it is on the sign Nygren puts on the cars he uses in parades.
The seven-pointed star is on the wall on the left as one enters the McHenry County Jail complex.
And, as McHenry County Blog has shown, it’s on the wall to the left as one enters the McHenry County Jail.
Note the seven-pointed star on this silent auction sheet used at an annual golf outing fundraiser for Sheriff Keith Nygren.
And, McHenry County Blog also found a silent bidding sheet for a Nygren fundraiser on which State Rep. Jack Franks was offering a “Page for a Day.” Dan Regna, who successfully filed for appointment against Lou Bianchi, whom he lost to in the 2008 primary election for State’s Attorney, has signed up on the sheet to pay $25 to be a “Page for a Day.”
Kieth Nyrgen was bouncing a ball to this young boy at the McHenry County Fair.
At the McHenry County Fair, you can see a five-pointed star on the Sheriff, playing with a child, and a seven-pointed star on the poster behind him.
The Crime Prevention Trailer, paid for in part by state tax dollars through the Illinois Department of Transportation, is seen with a seven-pointed star in the Lake in the Hills Fall Festival Parade.
And the seven-pointed star is on vehicles used in parades.
“You can’t use state property to support your campaign,” Horwitz stated. He compared it to using office phones to make political calls.
The law he believes Nygren is violating?
5 ILCS 430/5-15, (a) and (b).
= = = = =
Why am I reminded of the book “Catch-22?”
If the seven-pointed star is an official star, why is it being used on campaign materials?
If the seven-pointed star is a campaign symbol, why is it being used in the Sheriff’s Office?
It cracks me up that this guy is calling for Bianchi to remove his opposition to the request due to conflict of interest…So this attorney is not asking Bianchi to step aside just to take a different position due to the conflict of interest?
That is just silly.
It does further the reasoning on why Bianchi should resign. The Bianchi and Nygren issues are not the same (imho). However, for those who think they are if Bianchi and Nygren were accused of violating the same law and Nygren was dependent on Bianchi as the counties lawyer to direct him on such legal advice it may only add to the reasons Bianchi should resign. There is no way Bianchi as Sheriff Nygren’s lawyer would not have been aware of the differing star images. If there are any issues with these images he should have given advice/direction long ago.
So most likely the reason that Bianchi is taking the legal stance defending against the special prosecutor for the image issues is that over the years of seeing them daily he felt them legal…Or he would have advised to change them long ago.
To a point, I understand the concern.
However, in NONE of the parade photos shown, have I seen ANY signs that say “Re-Elect Keith Nygren”, nor at the County Fair.
To another observer, it would see, to be just that the Sheriff is being a part of the Parade, and displaying some of the department’s equipment that the taxpayers have bought to further the department, and being driven in them in cars from Gary Lang and Buss Ford.
Bianchi was part of some of the parades, and he isn’t running for anything at the moment (except maybe the special grand jury), and he uses his employees to walk in the parades and hand out candy. SOME of these complaints sound like so much campaign bulls__t.
az, if you read the chapter in ILISC, there is no exemption on saying “re-elect”.
These claims that i have read appear to be a valid violation of the law, and
that Sheriff Nygren should resign, instead of his current status of “Retired on duty”.
Im just saying, come on, the law is the law, and just because you are
Sheriff Nygren, or Margie Nygren doesn’t mean you can continue to
break the law.
Good by Sheriff,
Well, I’d still think “Good Luck With That”. I really don’t think he’s beatable in an election, but I’m sure we’ll see soon enough.
(a)
State employees shall not intentionally perform any prohibited political activity during any compensated time (other than vacation, personal, or compensatory time off).
State employees shall not intentionally misappropriate any State property or resources by engaging in any prohibited political activity for the benefit of any campaign for elective office or any political organization.
What a stretch……..
So “lets be honest” by your definition of “of the law is the law” you would be consistent and say anyone who falsifies a ticket should also resign? I mean “the law is the law”, right?
I mean if we are being consistent even if Nygren’s too many pointed star is a violation of the law the most Zane should be calling for is a 3 day suspension, right?
Are you – do you think that this is ALL the info? Could fill an 18 wheeler with all of the proven facts.
But still, as a supporter of Zane’s you really should be consistent and start calling for a 3 day suspension of Nygren at the very worse.
You guys crack me up. Wait till I am ALLOWED to tell the world what I have found in the personnel files of MCSD’s finest.
For all the people reading this that aren’t Nygren’s cronies and do not know what to believe, I am not allowed to discuss the specifics of anything that has been uncovered during the course of the Federal Civil Lawsuit discovery process. I will tell you this, the information that Nygren’s minions continually return to whenever their overlord is in a jam, is not accurate. TICKETS were not falsified. I did not force anyone to do or accept anything.
They call it entrapment, I call it giving kids a break by not putting them in jail and towing their vehicle.
This is the last I wll comment about this because AZ and Just Curious are going to lose their minds right now and go off on exactly what they know about an incident they did not witness and talk about “facts” they did not observe and discuss proceedings they did not attend.
(Not everything that was presented before the arbitrator is accurate. New facts have come to light as Nygren well knows.)
The bottom line is they weren’t there. Unless they are Lt Miller, Lt. Lutz or Lt. Carlson, they don’t know jack. And if Lutz, Miller or Carlson are discussing this case with Just or AZ then that would be a violation of G.O.’s and that would warrant an investigation and discipline.
As far as Miller is concerned, you know how you know when he’s lying? His lips are moving. The guy always figures there is “no proof”. Little does he know.
Get ready Nygrenites, your world is crumbling and the TRUTH is on it’s way.
MCSDEXPOSED.BLOGSPOT.COM
Hilarious…Issuing a written citation to the person who was the passenger of the vehicle that was pulled over is “giving them a break”? Hope no on I know is ever a passenger in a vehicle an gets issued a written notice for speeding, I mean who would want a “break” like that? I don’t care who you are that’s funny.
I love that Just reads my blog. I don’t care who you are that’s funny.
You have to change one more word and then it is accurate. WARNING not CITATION.
Come on, you say it, WARNING!
You’ll almost there!!!
MCSDEXPOSED.BLOGSPOT.COM
OK…Written warning…Did you sign saying she was speeding?
Don’t remember saying I read your blog…But if you would sign a document saying a passenger was speeding why would a small fact like that get in your way?
So, now you are saying Zane falsified a WARNING and according to Zane he did it not to arrest a kid and give him a break.
Not as bad as deputies beating up a 65 yr old woman and 82 yr old man. Sounds like Zane made a mistake trying to help some kid get a break. And this was an isolated incident vs 13 yrs of Nygen’s ethics violations.
Boy, Zane is really evil.
So earth mother did he sign a document saying the passenger of the car he pulled over was speeding? I mean we both know the answer despite the spin attempts…But I suppose you are right that it would have been worse had he beat up a 65 year old woman…you are not saying he did that also are you?
You know who did the beating (one of them might have been you). It certainly was not Zane. You try to vilify him over giving someone a break over a warning and you or others have beaten elderly people and much more. So much about the SO office stinks it is pathetic. You are surely a part of it. A lot of garbage going on long before Zane even lived in this county. Do you think long time residents do not talk??? Are not disgusted??? Think again.
Get off of this track Kid, you are sounding more and more like an idiot 7th grader on the playground.
To be clear…I am not employed of the Sheriffs department…Have never beaten an old lady…signed a document swearing the passenger of a car was speeding…claimed I was giving someone a “break” by documenting the committed a crime when they had not.
I mean you spout the “giving the kid a break” line over and over like a broken record. It’s not the letting the driver off with a verbal warning that most people have a problem with. That would be “giving a kid a break” and we could debate that.
The core of the problem lies in documenting that the passenger committed the crime of speeding when they did not.
I am simply a private citizen that thinks we can not even consider starting to talk about letting someone return to law enforcement when they and their supporter can not simply state that documenting that someone committed a crime that they had not is simply wrong and a breach of public trust.
Is it really that hard to believe that private citizens don’t want officers on the street that would document that people committed crimes that they had not committed?
Are you -you are a broken record. It gets very old. If you are indeed private citizen you are ill informed and should not have officers on the street that do what Nygren and “his boys” have done. Could write a book about it Might just do that after the court case is done and the real bad guys go to jail.
Zane is the first person the victims have had to go to and they are.
Good Bye.
It gets very old that the simple questions aren’t answered. Off course simple straight forward question seem to sound like a broken record when those attempting to deceive about them won’t answer them… Its going to be a recurring theme for the rest of your life if you stay in law enforcement…the question from defense attorneys about signing documents accusing someone of a crime they did not commit will always sound like a broken record, but they will come up over and over….