Where was the mail supporting the campaign of Lying Jack Franks for McHenry County Board Chairman?
That has been the question I have been asking myself for the last week.
Did Lying Jack Franks think he was so far ahead with his paid door-to-door workers, television and internet ads, plus Northwest Herald coverage, and editorial endorsements that he didn’t need to spend anything on direct mail?
Today at least one family living in the Western part of McHenry County discovered that Franks did not think he was so far ahead that he could coast to victory.
The following mail, filled with falsehoods that those who have followed his lust for power have come to expect, was delivered today:
The address side of this Lying Jack Franks’ hit piece is full of lies. The big one is that opponent Mike Walkup is “gaming the system at our expense.”
The address side of this Lying Jack Franks‘ hit piece is correct that Mike Walkup is running for two offices, McHenry County Board Chairman and County Board member from District 3.
What Franks does not say, of course, is that Walkup made certain that in doing so he could not received two salaries.
At Walkup’s initiative, the County Board passed an ordinance saying that if someone both offices, he would only be paid the higher salary, which is for County Board Chairman.
Franks continues to want people to infer that Walkup’s disability insurance payment is from the source of most such policies, rather than from a privately-paid insurance policy.
Franks knows that the County Board voted to eliminate the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund pension for County Board members. That was, of course, in reaction to Franks’ putting pressure on the Board as to the insensibility of having a pension for part-time employees.
Walkup called IMRF pension abolition on May 3rd. (The Northwest Herald did not consider that newsworthy.)
And, Franks, of course, leaves out his legislative pension for his part-time State Representative job.
Franks will get $58,622 a year starting for his part-time State Rep. job when he is 55. It is estimated he will receive General Assembly pension payments in excess of $2 million, if he lives to his actuarial age of 83. Franks father Herb is older than that.
Since Walkup did not have the minimum ten years in that pension system that he will received no pension.
Mike Walkup proposing the County Board abolish the Valley Hi tax.
Franks is correct that Walkup receives health insurance benefits.
One has to admit that Lying Jack Franks has a sense of humor.
The photo used in this negative mailing comes from McHenry County Blog’s August 11, 2016, story of Mike Walkup’s calling for the elimination of the real estate tax on Valley Hi.
This is the position that Franks tip-toed toward in answer to my question at his Algonquin Town Hall Meeting.
Franks finally came around to Walkup’s “no Valley Hi tax” position in the joint endorsement interview session with the Northwest Herald.
Below is the back of the hit piece:
The back of Lying Jack Franks reiterates the lies on the address side.
First let me say that I do not like Franks and wouldn’t vote for anyone close to Madigan.
That being said……..what Franks is doing is rather smart.
This is the time to send these lies out hoping people will believe them.
People have a short attention span and will only remember for a short time.
So this is why he is sending this out now.
The blog should have been about the good things about Mike all along instead of always talking about Franks.
I think it hurt more than helped.
MARK!!!!
Post the same thing you always do below this!!
Lies, lies, sooooo many lies !
Talk about ‘arrogant’, that is serious
PROJECTION on Jacko Franco’s part.
Jacko’s numerous pathologies are coming
Out of every pore now.
What’s on your Computer? : http://www.lyingjackfranks.com/
TWO ELECTED POSITIONS, but Walkup is only taking one salary!
C’mon Franks, can’t you be honest about anything?
Mike has only been in local govt for a few years and managed to lower taxes.
Franks has been in Springfield for 18 yrs. and hasn’t!
Figure it out!
VOTE WALKUP!
If Walkup wins both the Chair seat and his District seat, he will be saving taxpayers approximately $145,000 over the course of 4 years.
Well I guess that is not exactly true.
The amount would actually have to be removed from the levy for taxpayers to see real savings.
I’m sure the savings would just be shuffled around in the budget.
Mike Walkup led the fight to actually remove $3 million from county government’s tax levy.
It went down from $79 to $76 million.
PO Box 274, Woodstock, Illinois is the address for Supporters of Jack D Franks, which is the political action committee (PAC) for Jack Franks.
Democrat Jack Franks has claimed he was the reason that county board pensions were eliminated.
The above mailer claims Mike Walkup would benefit from 2 pensions.
How can Mike Walkup benefit from 2 county board pensions if Jack claims he was the reason county board pensions were eliminated?
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Mike Walkup has said he would collect only 1 salary, not 2.
Presumably he would collect benefits for only 1 position, not 2.
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The reason Mike Walkup is running for County Board Chair and re-election as a member of County Board District 3 is that the newly created voter elected County Board Chair does not vote on county board measures.
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Jack Franks has problems.
Jack Franks said twice in 1998, while running for his initial term as State Representative, that he would serve a maximum of 3 terms (each term is 2 years, so that would be 6 years).
Jack Franks said in 2014, while pushing the County Board to add two advisory referendums to the upcoming election November 2014 election ballot, that he would not run for County Board Chair in 2016.
All three of those statements are documented in the Northwest Herald and have been noted on this blog.
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Unfunded Mandates from State lawmakers on state and local government
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Jack Franks as a State Representative voted for pension benefit hikes that became state law.
Hiked pension benefits results in hiked government costs to fund the pensions.
There are several ways to deal with the hiked pension costs:
– Hike taxes
– Don’t fund the hikes (the unfunded liability grows, and future taxpayers will have to fund the hikes).
– Divert funding by cutting costs in other areas, diverting savings to fund pensions.
– Divert funding by becoming more efficient, diverting savings to fund pensions.
– Borrow the money (the borrowed money would have to obviously be paid with interest).
– Those are the most common methods.
In general, hiked pension benefits results in hiked costs, and taxpayers fund those hiked costs with hiked taxes.
But, Jack Franks claims he has never voted for a tax hike.
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How is that possible?
Hiked benefits result in hiked costs, but there were not tax hikes?
Well, generally, at the state and level, the state unfunded liability has grown (taxpayer IOU to the pension fund).
Restated, debt has grown.
Thus, the hiked costs have been deferred.
That worsens the taxpayer IOU to the pension fund, that results in less investment returns, and the largest contributor to a mature pension fund is investment returns.
So, the taxpayer debt grows.
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At the local level, as property taxpayers have seen, taxes have been hiked, but Jack Franks didn’t vote on those tax hikes, as he is a state politician.
So that allows him to say HE has never voted for a tax hike, although local politicians have voted for tax hikes.
And thus Jack Franks as a State Representative voted for hiking local pension benefits which became state law.
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Mayors that endorse Jack Franks and their association (Illinois Municipal League) have complained about state unfunded mandates.
Jack Franks was on a state task force for unfunded mandates task force.
But Jack Franks does not talk about unfunded mandates during his campaign.
That’s unfortunate, as unfunded mandates have a had a big role in hiking taxes in this state, and have had a big role in the enormous debt and the state and many local levels.
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Jack Franks is campaigning to reduce property taxes in every property taxing district in the county 10%.
How ironic.
Jack as a State Representative voted for pension benefit hikes (unfunded mandates) that resulted in hiked property taxes.
The best chance he had to reduce local property taxes was as a State Representative, by not voting on pension benefit hikes, and to lobby for pension reform.
Furthermore, Mr. Franks is a candidate for only 1 the County property taxing district.
The County.
Furthermore, if elected, he would not vote on county board measures, as the newly created voter elected County Board Chair will not vote on County Board measures.
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The State Constitution problem
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Worsening the problem is one pension sentence added to the Illinois state constitution on December 15, 1970, as part of the voters approving the constitutional rewrite that was produced by the 1970 Illinois Constitutional Convention.
The sentence states government retirement benefits are contractual and cannot be diminished or impaired.
Elimination of the hiked benefit would only apply to future employees.
In most cases, pensions and retiree healthcare were already underfunded, at the time of the hikes.
In comments in the following blog article, Mike Walkup discusses his disability that Jack Franks calls into question.
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McHenry County Blog
Advice for Jack Franks
August 13, 2016
http://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2016/08/13/advice-for-jack-franks
The mailer includes the sentence, “Walkup collects disability claiming he cannot work due to a paper allergy.”
Is that how Jack Franks would portray disability clients of Franks, Gerkin, McKenna (the law firm in which he is a partner) whom are also employed?
Last Name is working and collects disability claiming he cannot work due to y disability?
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There is another Franks that is a partner in Franks, Gerkin, McKenna.
That is the Herb Franks, the father of Jack Franks.
Herb Franks’ name appeared in a letter that Jack Franks wrote in 2003.
Jack Franks wrote a letter dated February 27, 2003 to the Deputy Chief of Staff Intergovernmental Affairs in the Office of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.
The letter was titled, “Positions with Gov. Blagojevich Administration.”
The first few sentences of the letter were:
“The following are individuals who we had requested be considered for jobs with the Blagojevich administration.
They are prioritized as follows:
1. Deborah Wolf Franks for a Commission;
2. Herbert H Franks for a Commission;
3. David B Franks, a non-paid position with Boxing Commission;
4. John Bartman, a position with IDOT;
5. Michael Dalesaandra, position as Highway Maintainer with IDOT;
6. Judge Erin O’Connell-Diaz, position with the Illinois Commerce Commission;
7. Nancy Vazzano, managerial position with any public service department;
8. Fred Shaw, primary management position, primarily Info Technology and IDOT Aviation;
9. Rob Giorandano, position with an advisory commission;
10. Susan Van Weelden, position on any commission;
11. Bill Clow, any public service department;
12. Mary Kennedy, any public service department.
JDF”
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The first three names on the letter were the wife of Jack Franks, father of Jack Franks, and a brother of Jack Franks.
The second person listed, the father of Jack Franks, Herb Franks, was appointed to the Illinois Courts Commission.
John Bartman, the 4th person listed, did obtain a job at IDOT.
The 6th person listed, Judge Erin O’Connell-Diaz, did receive an appointment with the Illinois Courts Commission.
The 11th person listed, Bill Clow, did receive a job in the Harvard School District.
It is not known what if any role the letter had in obtaining the appointments and jobs.
http://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2016/08/08/walkup-gets-under-franks-skin
Typo, Fred Shay now Fred Shaw.
Does anyone really believe these lies from Jack Franks?
Maybe the uneducated voters…
Uh YES, this is information that has been in
Various types of media over a period of time
And put on the website LyingJackFranks.com.
For NEWBIES on the blog, they should feel free
To fact check & also look at the numerous threads
& posts on the blog as well.
I didn’t set up that website, but look at it
Frequently and find it to be factual.
Thank you Mark for advising us that we are all paying Walkup disability on a very laughable claim.
Who knows what other ways Walkup has figured out to get his hands in the Taxpayers’ pockets?
Bohica?
Moderate believes it.
But Moderate is REALLY STUPID.