Tryon Takes Legislative Aim at Walkup

A press release from McHenry County Board Chairman candidate Mike Walkup:

WALKUP RESPONDS TO TRYON 11TH HOUR MOVE ON CHAIR

Mike Tryon

Mike Tryon

State Rep. Mike Tryon today introduced a bill which would prevent anyone from running for County Board Chairman at the same time as they are a county board Member.

This is a last minute effort to throw water on the campaign of Michael Walkup, who is running for his Board seat at the same time as he is running for County Board Chairman, according to Walkup.

“State law not only allows for someone to hold both positions, but actually requires it in certain instances, such as where the County Board Chair elected at large is allowed to hold office for only a two year term instead of four,” said Walkup

55 ILCS 5/2-3007

The Board considered placing a two year term on the ballot but that was rejected  because the state statute would require in that instance that the Chair also be a Board Member simultaneously.

This could have led to the situation where someone was elected by the entire county to be Chairman, but then lost his or her district seat, resulting in having to revert to the old system of appointing the Chair by the Board Members, thereby frustrating the will of the voters.”

To say that this is a ‘loophole’ in the law, as Rep. Tryon did, is simply not the case.

MIke Walkup

MIke Walkup

“The legislature set this up deliberately.

“Holding both positions also allows for the Chair to vote on all issues.  As it now stands, in a county the size of McHenry which has a directly elected Board Chair, the Chairman simply oversees the meetings and does not vote, even to break ties.

“It that is going to be the case, why then do we pay the Chairman over $100,000 per year in salary and benefits?  The Chair does not sit on any committees.  Aside from chairing two meetings a month, what then does the Chairman do for that salary?”

Walkup had previously successfully introduced a measure which will prevent someone from collecting salaries for both positions.

“Having a Chairman who is not a Board Member also results in an extra Board seat along with the salary and benefits that go along with it, an additional cost to the taxpayers.

“Not only that, but in the case of the current Chairman, who is a Board Member now, it will result in an appointment of a replacement thereby depriving the voters of District 3 of the opportunity to vote on who should be representing them.”

“In addition, someone who runs for County Board Chairman should at least have a current or recent seat on the Board so they have some knowledge of county government.

“Requiring some sitting members to choose between relinquishing their seats to run for Chair, while not requiring others to do so because their terms do not coincide with the Board  Chairman election cycle, is unfair and reduces the available pool of potential candidates to basically 12 people.

“Finally, if we are going to eliminate concurrent positions, we should put another referendum on the ballot to allow the voters to decide if they would like the Board Chair to be limited to a two year term rather than four.”  said Walkup .

“I can only conclude that this desperate 11th hour measure is being attempted because the powers that be are worried.”

“There are going to be a lot of new voters in this primary due to the interest in the Presidential race and the mood of the country is against incumbents.

“Think what you may of Donald Trump, but he has awakened a sleeping electorate and they are going to make themselves heard all over this year, and that is not good news if you are an office holder.”


Comments

Tryon Takes Legislative Aim at Walkup — 27 Comments

  1. No one should hold two elected positions in this state.

    The County chair should have the vote to break a tie just like a Mayor does.

    Maybe if there is no real work for the Chair, either a cut in pay or get rid of the Administrator and make the Chair run the show like a full time Mayor.

    Prior experience is preferred in most cases, but required to be on the board first, no.

    Running for two positions at once is nonsense also, hedging your bet to staying in power.

    Sorry Mike and other county board members, we don’t agree.

    Mike Tryon was slow on the gun again, he will not be missed.

  2. What a way to end an eventless career, Mike Tryon.

    You choose an ineffectual candidate to endorse (and she’s perfectly capable of providing the same ineffectual representation that you have.).

    Maybe the voters will be able to overcome the big money influence from the teachers union and Althoff (really, Pam, $40,000???).

    Now you try to affect the county board election on your way out. Here’s the door and bye-bye. I would think you’d have more pride.

    Good luck, Michael Walkup!!!

  3. Mike Walkup gutted the right of the chairman to vote now he runs for both because he wants to vote.

    This Walkup is nothing more than a double dipper and a rhino I would not vote for him for either position.

    Walkup is worse than Provenzano don’t be fooled this rhino Walkup is nothing more than a power stroke he has made friends with the rest of the rhinos who say they are conservative and for smaller government.

    Yet they are trying to grow government by hoodwinking the uninformed voter under the cloak of not taxing.

    The 75% of your tax bill is the school district yet the group that aligns itself with Walkup does not even mention this waste.

    Voter beware of Walkup and anyone who he supports or that supports Walkup

  4. Here is the actual statute:

    55 ILCS 5/2-3007) (from Ch. 34, par. 2-3007)
    Sec. 2-3007. Chairman of county board; election and term.
    Any county board when providing for the reapportionment of its county under this Division may provide that the chairman of the county board shall be elected by the voters of the county rather than by the members of the board.

    In that event, provision shall be made for the election throughout the county of the chairman of the county board, but in counties over 3,000,000 population no person may be elected to serve as such chairman who has not been elected as a county board member to serve during the same period as the term of office as chairman of the county board to which he seeks election.

    In counties over 450,000 population and under 3,000,000 population, the chairman shall be elected as chairman without having been first elected to the county board. Such chairman shall not vote on any question except to break a tie vote.

    In all other counties the chairman may either be elected as a county board member or elected as the chairman without having been first elected to the board.

    Except in counties where the chairman of the county board is elected by the voters of the county and is not required to be a county board member, whether the chairman of the county board is elected by the voters of the county or by the members of the board, he shall be elected to a 2 year term.

    In counties where the chairman of the county board is elected by the voters of the county and is not required to be a county board member, the chairman shall be elected to a 4 year term.

    In all cases, the term of the chairman of the county board shall commence on the first Monday of the month following the month in which members of the county board are elected.

    (Source: P.A. 93-847, eff. 7-30-04; 94-273, eff. 1-1-06.)

    Translation:

    (1) Counties over 3 Million: Chairman MUST be a Board Member. Votes on all issues.

    (2) Counties between 450,000 and 3 Million: Chairman CANNOT be Board Member. Votes only to break ties.

    (3)Counties less than 450,000: (a) Chairman elected to two year terms, MUST be Board Member. Votes on all issues.
    (b) Chairman elected to four year terms, MAY or MAY NOT be Board Member.
    If NOT Board Member has NO VOTE.

    We are under (3)(b) above.

  5. Tryon, spent enough time around Nygren to learn some really dirty politics.

    This is one more attempt by Tryon to protect the old establishment.

    Walkup is the candidate to support and vote for.

  6. What is the law about a State Rep also being the Chairman?

    Tryon should update that law so both positions cannot be held simultaneously.

  7. This race for Board Chairman is a lot like being forced to choose between getting a root canal or having an impacted wisdom tooth pulled.

  8. The number of county board members (24) should be sliced in half.

  9. “What a way to end an eventless career, Mike Tryon.”

    Last I checked Tryon has accomplished quite a bit.You must have missed Cal’s post from the other day discussing him actually getting things done in Springfield and representing his constituents.

    Here is the link below.

    http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2016/02/27/tryon-aims-to-help-veterans-in-last-year/

    Where were all of the hater comments on that post?

    Oh wait, the facts don’t fit with the narrative.

  10. The nob, you always support Algonquin Township but it evidentially didn’t bother you when Mark Munaretto, for years, collected $20,000 as township clerk and $20,000 as county board member.

    Ersel Shuster double dipped, on and off, for years until she got beat at the polls.

    Now with Preston Rea and Kearns running, we will be looking, with your support, for them to resign their township positions should they be elected.

    Right?

  11. Since it was asked, you can be a county board member, county board chairman, township supervisor, mayor and still be state representative or state senator.

    The only restriction is that you cannot collect the salary for the local office for the same days in which you are in attendance at a legislative session.

    There is a provision for that in the state constitution.

    You can also be a township supervisor, or clerk and serve on the county board, but cannot be a county board member and a township board member and a county board member.

    You can’t be a mayor or city or village board member and a county board member.

    There are two township supervisors running now for County Board.

    They could reneg on their campaign promises once elected and keep both positions and both salaries.

    You will notice in the statute above that in two instances a county board Chair is actually required to be a county board member, those being where the county is more than 3 Million population, or under 450K and the term for the Chair is two years rather than four.

    I cannot think of any logical reason for this but there it is.

    Right now, Jack Franks could have himself caucused in for County Board Chairman after our primary. He could either

    (1) resign from the ballot for state rep. and the Party could caucus in a replacement or

    (2) even more diabolical, stay on the ballot, win the election for both, and resign as state rep., in which case the Democrats would appoint a Democrat replacement without that person having had to stand for election, or

    (3) do both jobs and just not be paid for the Board Chair while he is in Springfield.

    If someone were really interested in addressing all of this, they could do so in an omnibus fashion rather than focus on just one thing (which isn’t a problem for the reasons outlined above), a week out from a primary election.

  12. Perhaps the above is why Jack ran a shadow candidate for state rep. in the GOP primary.

  13. And if it is, MaeWest, I still predict the remaining members will double their salaries because the new workload justifies it.

  14. You see to have missed that Walkup was the one who made sure someone running for both County Board Chairman and a district seat would not be paid two salaries.

    He shepherded through an ordinance that said such a person could not get both the Chairman’s salary and the district member’s salary.

  15. YoungMan?

    I will tell you where.

    Not one of us was impressed!

    Once you agree with poisoning the population – nothing makes you seem like a nice guy.

  16. Mike?

    Thank you for trying.

    My opinion of you goes up daily when I read your commenting thoughts.

  17. Warning!

    Sticking your head into septic tanks for many years may have detrimental effects!

    Tryon is not running for office this year but his business partner Preston Rea is.

    Again, septic tank effect?

  18. gordoh,

    Correct, if they fail to resign from their elected Twh positions, they lose my support.

    Yes it did bother me when Mark M. double dipped, but then I wasn’t commenting here when he was
    either.

    Ersel I just meet recently, really don’t know her or Mark real well at all.

    I know more about Mike W. than most, and we only meet once in person.

    When Mike and his pals come up with a good plan for Twh services, I’ll listen, question, and if it’s a good plan help get enacted.

    The last plan was not a real good plan was it gordoh?

  19. The Thesaurus lists ‘Tryon’ as a synonym for:

    A) Loser

    B) Dunsel

    C) Creature facing extinction

    D) Taxoholic

    E) Domesticated male turkey

    F) Pretentious goblin

    G) Arachnoid cyst

  20. Fighting Corruption,

    I’ll be here all week for your enjoyment friend.

  21. btw Stand, I did not “gut” the right of the chairman to vote.

    I discovered that we had been operating under an incorrect interpretation by reading the actual statute, which provides:

    “In counties over 450,000 population and under 3,000,000 population, the chairman shall be elected as chairman without having been first elected to the county board.

    “SUCH CHAIRMAN shall not vote on any question except to break a tie.” (emphasis supplied).

    This therefore confers on a Chairman elected in that size county who is not allowed to also be a Board Member, the right otherwise to vote.

    No such provision is made for a Chairman who is not a Board Member in other size counties.

    If you are not a Board Member, you cannot vote on anything unless the statutes say you can.

    Therefore you can’t.

    The current Chairman had said several times that the new county wide elected Chair could vote to break ties.

    We had never gotten a States Attorney opinion on that.

    I thought I should check it out.

    It turns out he was wrong.

    He was also wrong in thinking that you couldn’t be both a directly elected Chair and a Board Member.

    This is also clearly spelled out in the statute.

    You would think a lawyer would know better.

    Also, there is only one salary.

    This is another problem I noticed.

    If someone is elected to an office they can insist on being paid whatever salary goes with that office.

    Therefore, if they are elected as Board Member and Chairman separately, as Mr Gottemoller would be if he decided not to give up his Board seat after being elected Chair, that person could insist on being paid the salary for each position and we would have to pay that.

    I therefore drafted Board Rules that we used in setting the new salaries that if the Chair is also a Board Member, he/she would only be paid $61,200 instead of $82,200. (subtracting out the $21,000 paid to a Board Member).

    As this is something that is inherent in the salary structure when we set the salaries, it prevents the double payment possibility.

    It cannot be changed once the election cycle begins for the next term, which it already has.

    Had I not done that, Joe could be the real double dipper here should he be elected directly as Chairman and then say he was not going to resign from his Board seat, and no one would have been able do anything about it.

    Finally, I believe the word you are looking for is RINO not Rhino.

    A Rhino is a large African animal with horns.

  22. How dare Mike Tryon try to prevent Mike Walkup from a “double-dipping” run for both County Board Member and County Board Chairman???

    Doesn’t Tryon realize that the rules don’t ever have to apply to MIKE WALKUP??

  23. You apparently don’t realize that Walkup prevented what you are accusing him of seeking.

    Before his legislation, had a candidate been elected to a district seat and the county board chairmanship, he or she would have been paid both salaries.

    Now, such a person would be paid only the salary for the chairmanship.

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