From District 1 Democratic Party County Board candidate Kerri Barber:

More on the Funding of Valley Hi

First, allow me to thank our Republican neighbors for highlighting the issue of Valley Hi and the funding questions. It is important that people know the truth.

I posted about the bait & switch at our county board level for Valley Hi to call attention to a lack of transparency over funding of the Valley Hi facility. To be clear, I LOVE Valley Hi and their mission, the work they do and the entire funding concept of this wonderful facility. I have been there, spoken with the leadership, the staff, residents, and families. Their work is heroic on so many levels and needs to be valued and upheld as the standard by which other facilities should strive to achieve.

Protecting Valley Hi from privatization is one of the two reasons I decided to run – not the other way around. I heard about problems arising from the county board over two years ago and starting looking into things for myself. Something had changed and the talk of privatization became a growing theme. Questions were raised from many sources culminating in the board’s decision to abate the funding of our tax dollars down to a $0.00 allocation for the year while they told us they saved that money ‘for us’. That simply wasn’t true.

Valley Hi Nursing Home fund’s cash on hand from FY 2006 through FY 2016 (projected). Over $41 million currently.

As more questions arose about where the surplus money was invested, the board sought to deflect the issue. The board decided not to address these questions about where the money went. Instead, they decided it was safer to come after me than face the truth and answer some very tough questions honestly.

They think you will be distracted by an assault on my character. While I may be the safer alternative for them, here are some follow-up questions we need to be asking:

1. Where did that $3 million dollars of tax money collected for the benefit of Valley Hi go? It didn’t go to fund Valley Hi.
2. All that surplus money – where is that money, how is it being invested right now?
3. Have members of the board suggested privatizing or outright sale of the facility? How many of them?
4. Did the board approve and finance a study on the value of the facility for a possible sale?

It is OUR money, given by choice to support the mission of Valley Hi for all of us. You have a right to know the answers to every one of these questions. Keep asking them.

I do have the answers to the above questions because I took time away from my business to be at these meetings. What I am after is their written documentation to provide a credible witness to all of the above – not political rhetoric. My observation – there is a really good reason they don’t record every meeting and it has nothing to do with the expense.

Note: I have asked these questions of my own County Board Rep for District 1, Andrew Gasser, and will await his response. To get input from your own county board rep, you can contact them here: https://www.co.mchenry.il.us/county-government/departments-a-i/county-board/meet-your-county-board-members
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With Valley Hi projected to be in the black in the next fiscal year (starting December 1, 2016), it would seem appropriate for Barber to reveal what advice she would give