A press release from Grafton Township Republican candidate for Assessor:
Alan Zielinski, Republican nominee for Grafton Township Assessor, clears the air.
VILLAGE OF LAKEWOOD, IL (March 21, 2013) – Alan Zielinski, Republican nominee for Grafton Township Assessor, wants to make sure his message “Grafton deserves better!” is not muffled by distractions, unfounded rumors and even outright lies.
Al Zielinski
“Press releases are usually written in the third person but this comes directly from me. The voters chose me as their Republican nominee for the general election and deserve to hear a clear message.
Taxpayers’ focus should be on critical issues like my Taxpayer Bill of Rights and not inconsequential distractions. Some peripheral attacks have been posted and it’s time to discredit them and put them to rest forever. Grafton Township is facing a life and death financial situation!” said Zielinski.
Political sign damage
“My campaign had several of our large signs damaged during the primary. Because of the frigid cold and wind, the plastic tie-wraps broke and we had to replace them with nylon rope and electrical wire.
“While it certainly could have been vandalism, my mind didn’t even go there because it’s not something I would ever do nor condone. No one in our community should stoop to such low standards.
“It’s unfortunate my opponent chose to implicate me without any basis whatsoever. The Huntley Deputy Police Chief stated for the record the wind was likely at fault. This community has had its fill of name-calling and in-fighting and needs to focus on the serious issues in front of us.
“Those serious issues and my concern for the residents of Grafton Township are why I chose to enter this race by offering my education, experience and qualifications in my bid for the assessor position.”
Reaching across the aisle
“My opponent conveyed a phone conversation we had several weeks ago about possibly joining forces. It occurred but its context and basis were solely the speedy healing of the community.
“Grafton Township is in dire financial straits. The ability to diligently work ourselves out of that financial pit will require astute financial planning and management. For that to occur, the new Trustees will require accurate and timely assessments so a prudent and realistic cash flow plan can be initiated.
“Given my 11 years of appraisal experience, 30 years of valuation experience and 40 years of general business experience which include company leadership roles, I have complete confidence in my abilities to hit the ground running. That includes timely, accurate and complete compliance with all statutory requirements of the Illinois Property Tax Code. However, I’ll need a team to achieve that.
“None of the assessor’s current staff have approached me since I won the primary. I value initiative in my teammates and, in the absence of that, decided to act proactively based on feedback I’ve received from several independent sources.
“I’ve stated several times I’m a businessman, not a politician. The suggestion to my opponent was one any good businessman would have made. Rather than battling for several months, let’s join forces and get a head start doing our part to help right Grafton’s financial situation. My opponent’s call notes even cite one of my opening phrases conveying the goal of my call: ‘Allies instead of enemies.’
“Her call notes confirm that overture was summarily declined without even a moment’s consideration. Worse, that genuinely appropriate business venture has been sadly spun into some sort of political ‘deal.’ Nothing could be farther from the truth as confirmed by my opponent’s published call notes.
“Talent acquisition/management and succession planning are mandatory in any successful organization. That’s true whether the organization is for-profit, non-profit or public service. The fact my opponent doesn’t realize that clearly indicates her inexperience as a senior manager.
“Maintaining the status quo requires only a Certified Illinois Assessment Officer designation. Achieving zero appeals by earning the trust of Grafton’s taxpayers mandates an appraiser certification.
“My opponent’s public Linkedin resume (http://www.linkedin.com/pub/terra-jensen/50/720/833) conveys she lacks the in-depth valuation and management experience required to be a trusted steward of Grafton’s $1.6 billion of assessed property value. Her resume states no managerial, P&L or balance sheet responsibility of any significance.
“My offer was a chance for her to safely develop and cultivate those skills without further jeopardizing the financial well-being of Grafton Township. The offer was also straightforward: let’s work together with the township’s best interests at heart. There was no hidden agenda. There was no selfish motivation on my part. There was no benefit to me. There was no ‘deal.’
“The only winners would have been my opponent who would’ve received her 2,500 hours over 2 years of appraisal experience under my tutelage and the taxpayers of Grafton Township who would have eventually received a seasoned certified appraiser and experienced senior management executive.”
Grafton deserves better
“The definition of ‘better’ includes several facets.
- People working together versus forming polarized camps and sniping at each other.
- Accurate and timely assessments that will allow proper financial planning.
- Leaders with real business and managerial experience at the township’s controls.
- A focus on matters of fact and consequence versus innuendo and unfounded aspersions.
“My commitment to this community remains absolute and I plan to use my decades of business skills and diverse valuation experience to help the new Trustees’ financial planning and management in every way possible.
“Complaining about lost signs, casting aspersions as to whom the ‘culprit’ might be (other than Mother Nature) and spinning an authentic, unselfish and sound business venture offer into something sinister smacks far too much of the past behavior that got Grafton Township into its current mess.
“Grafton Township has endured more than its fair share of abrasion, acrimony and internal attacks. It needs to move forward with its residents cohesively working together. Remaining at odds is an unpalatable, financially-ruinous alternative.”
= = = = =
Zielinski is facing off against Independent Terra Jensen.
So Al Zielinski is ‘clearing the air’ with his 24 plus hours of deafening silence and than this tome of ‘truth’ that does nothing but insult the intelligence of Grafton Township voters and is a real slap-in-the-face of the township assessor’s employees!? I must point out exactly how this statement from Zielinski is truly insulting the intelligence of the average Grafton Township voters, Zielinski really insults the good people who are currently employed in the Grafton Township assessor’s office. The discerning voter should take note where and how he did this.
Here’s the full context of the Grafton Township assessor’s election on April 9th. With the defeat of incumbent Bill Ottley in the February 26th primary, a new assessor will be elected on April 9th between Zielinski and Terra Jensen. Whoever wins will NOT TAKE OFFICE UNTIL JANUARY 1ST, 2014, per state law. Though Terra Jensen filed her candidacy for assessor in late December, apart from appearing at a candidate’s forum in late January, she did no real campaigning until right after the February 26th primary.
So when Zielinski says “The suggestion to my opponent was one any good businessman would have made. Rather than battling for several months, let’s join forces and get a head start doing our part to help right Grafton’s financial situation.” the Grafton Township voter has to ask, “several months”? There are only 6 weeks between February 26th and April 9th, and early voting begins on Monday, March 25th.
Keeping the “several months” reference in mind, the telephone conversation where Zielinski floated his “business deal” took place on March 1st, basically 3 weeks ago, and 3 and a half days after the primary. Six weeks of a campaign between primary election and April general comes no where close to the “several months” reference. But here is where every taxpayer should be very concerned what an Al Zielinski victory will mean on April 9th.
In the previous paragraphs of his statement, Zielinski stated the following: “However, I’ll need a team to achieve that [goal of zero appeals]. None of the assessor’s current staff have approached me since I won the primary. I value initiative in my teammates and, in the absence of that, decided to act proactively based on feedback I’ve received from several independent sources.”
First Al Zielinski, the assessor’s current staff are not your teammates but working for the elected assessor for the taxpayers of Grafton Township. To infer an expectation for the current staff to approach you after the February 26th primary would not only be completely inappropriate, but ethically and morally presumptive to the voters of the township. Given Zielinski’s timeline to his March 1st ‘business deal’ phone conversation with Jensen, he expected to hear from the assessor’s current staff within 1 week after their elected boss became a lame duck for the next 10 months!
Zielinski stated earlier during this campaign that assessor’s staff be “properly motivated” if they want to remain on staff should Zielinski win next month and take office in January. I hope Zielinski’s suggestion the assessor staff reach out to him within a week of the primary is not his definition of “properly motivated”. Properly motivated at the expense of ethics and loyalty to the taxpayers of the township was not a line the assessor employees were willing to cross, and Grafton Township taxpayers should be thrilled they didn’t do what Zielinski wanted. Equally, the voters should be disgusted Zielinski expected this kind of “proper motivation” from the deputy assesors.
And the final insult is Zielinski’s self-described business deal to Terra Jensen on Friday, March 1st, within a week after the primary. As Ms. Jensen’s notes described and Zielinski himself doesn’t deny, the phone conversation happened. Per Jensen, she was approached during a business day at her Elgin Township assessor job, returned the phone call to Zielinski on her personal cell phone and on personal time (lunch hour), and within 6 minutes, diplomatically thanked Zielinski, but told him she didn’t need a weekend to think about his offer to be the chief deputy assessor, and maintained the taxpayers in Grafton Township deserve a choice and make the decision on whom the next assessor should be.
Zielinski claims over 40 years of business experience, but Jensen showed an ethical decision that trumps those 40 years, and she’s been working since graduating college for a little over 10 years. Jensen reminds me very much of another now high-profile elected official who could have taken the easy way out 20 years ago and looked the other way in the face of corruption in a state’s attorney’s office setting. She refused to, and was fired from her job as a deputy prosecutor. Within 3 years, that same woman came back and defeated the boss who fired her in the 1996 general election. That woman is Susana Martinez, now the governor of New Mexico.
The voters will decide who the next assessor of Grafton Township will be, and the election will be decided over the next 2 1/2 weeks. This incident, and Zielinski’s own words in this press release, reinforce to me that Terra Jensen is the right person to be the next assessor of Grafton Township. As outgoing Assessor Bill Ottley said when he endorsed Jensen last month, Jensen has ethics and morals, which Zielinski has once again proven he does not have.
All of this could have been eliminated if the taxpayers would have made the right choice and stuck with BILL OTTLEY.
Sheister! This guy tried to bribe his opponent so he could gain a quick buck and it blew up in his face.
Now he spins this crap and insults our intelligence?
Waaaaayyyy too many questions have been brought to light about this used car salesman.
Where there’s smoke….there’s fire!
Mr. Zielinski,
I am a Deputy Assessor for Grafton Township and this entire process is appalling.
The last time I checked the election was April 9, 2013 and at this point I have no idea who the assessor is going to be.
Why would I contact either candidate during this process?
In my opinion someone who is interested in leading a team should seek them out to extend a hand as a sign of respect. It is virtually impossible to come to work just to work anymore.
Now I have to defend myself on blogs, which in my opinion has been the downfall of this country.
I left Corporate America and arrogant jerks who stab people in the back for a buck years ago.
I have no interest in working for anyone who expects me to beg for my job before the voters have decided that he or she is the right candidate for the job.
Mr. Ottley was a stand up guy and it was an honor and privilege working for him.
I wish him the best with his future endeavors.
Sincerely,
Richard Alexander
FYI: I completed this response during my lunch break. This way your independent source that desperately needs a job will not have a complaint.
While I’m disappointed that Terra referenced Al at all regarding her missing signs, it would have been better to just confirm that many of her signs were missing, and, the signs right next to hers and put up in the same manner were not….
Al’s assertion that his ‘business deal’ would not benefit him is an outright lie!!!
If she had ‘taken his deal’, she would have dropped out of the race and he would have won for sure, if that is not a benefit to him, well, think for yourselves, OF COURSE it would be a HUGE BENEFIT to him, it also would have deprived the Grafton voters of A CHOICE!!!!
Al, voters are not stupid, as you assume they must be (you also talk and act like they and everyone else is, compared to you).
Please, everyone, realize that we would NOT be getting a good assessor with Al, we would be tying Grafton down to another horrid elected official, who is only out for his own best interests, not for yours.
Vote for Terra Jensen on April 9th or in early voting!!!!!!
Mr. Alexander hit the nail on the head with that one. It appears Mr. Zielinski thinks he has this election wrapped up.
Mr. Ottley and the entire staff at the assessors office do a great job and should be commended for their work. They are more than happy to help any resident.
Nothing any “fresh blood” coming into that office is going to do will change anything until our State fixes the system.
If anyone thinks a new assessor is going to come in and lower all the property values they are mistaken. The only thing that will happen is a massive adjustment from the County and State to bring us back in line with neighboring townships.
Let’s face the reality – this was a good business move for AL and only AL.
And that’s the problem I have with this insulting piddly excuse.
If Mr. Z was at all motivated by a good business move for Grafton Township, this would never have happened. And this episode is what scares me about this candidate: putting good personal business ahead of good Grafton business.
For that reason, I will be urging friends to vote for Jensen.
In my book, that speaks volumes about one’s character, ethics and values.
Illinois has enough of these morally questionable type behind bars, who should never have been in public office to start with.
Why did it take Al Zielinski all those column-inches to say his piece?
Couldn’t he just have said, “Yes, I really am just as corrupt and dishonest as I seem to be,” and save us all a lot of time..?
The press release was relative to Grafton Township being run as a business.
Perhaps if it had, it wouldn’t be in the financial straits it is.
Ever heard of one company department suing another department? I haven’t.
The baseless insinuation about the signs was initiated by my opponent.
What does that say about her “character, ethics and values?”
The choice is simple:
Unqualified status quo = opponent.
Business approach by a professional, certified appraiser = Al Zielinski.
If people are going to charge corruption, please present the evidence.
@Al Zielinski, your press release revealed a betrayal of the current deputy assessors, after you promised you would look to retain them in their jobs if they were “properly motivated”. You then defined your view motivation with them taking “initiative” within 3 days after the primary to reach out to you. You even chastized them in your press release with the line “None of the assessor’s current staff have approached me since I won the primary. I value initiative in my teammates and, in the absence of that, decided to act proactively…” making your business deal pitch to Jensen on March 1st.
Here’s the simpler choice:
Experienced township deputy assessor who’s displayed superior ethics — Terra Jensen
Business approach by a professional, certified appraiser with quiestionable/loose ethics — Al Zielinski
To our Future Assessor: whoever he or she may be?
Can you please tell us how many, and which of the current assessors staff that you have contacted regarding you potentially taking over office?
What did you discuss in regards to their jobs and opportunities going forward?
Have you asked for or received their support or endorsement?
Have you visited the assessors office to see what changes you might make?
Have you sat down with the current assessor to see how things are done now?
What is your stand on the assessors office helping people with property tax appeals as they have done for the last few years?
These are things that I think a true leader would do, and they are things that would show a real interest in making Grafton Township your priority.
Linda,
Mind your own business and get back to work.