Rauner Gives Jack Franks New Power

There was a tie vote at the last meeting of the McHenry County Board.

It was whether to “buy now, get approval later, ask forgiveness” vote, to put it in the words of Huntley Board member Jim Kearns.

Should the County Board give ex post facto approval of what appears to have been an illegally purchased Chevy Silverado Pickup Truck or not.

The vote was 11-11.

Tie votes fail, as Franks pointed out.

Karen McConnaughay and Mike Tryon.

If such votes come up in the future, legislation signed by Governor Bruce Rauner today will give Franks the ability to cast the deciding vote.

The bill had two sponsors:

  • Rep. Mike Tryon
  • Senator Karen McConnaughay

The issue is still alive, because the County Board, after a 14-8 vote to reconsider the motion, tabled the issue until the February 21st meeting.

Which way would Jack Franks vote if another tie occurred?

And speaking of the Silverado Pickup purchase, I asked County Auditor Pam Palmer under what authority she paid for this truck, whose purchase was not approved by the County Board.

She replied,

I have attached the documentation that was presented for the payment which includes: a description of the vehicle and the initialed approval; a copy of Purchase Order DP204400 created for purchase of the vehicle; and the Retail Order and Invoice from Liberty Auto Plaza.

You can see what she sent below:

This page shows highlights of the vehicle, plus someone’s notes.

This is page 1 of the purchase order.  Note that is it not signed,

This is page 2 of the purchase order. Note it is not signed.

Page 3 of the purchase order.  No signature here either

Next comes the documents with the Liberty Auto Plaza car dealership.

Mario Medina was the salesman.

Someone signed on behalf of McHenry County. Can anyone decipher the name?

I replied to Palmer:

I don’t see any signatures on the purchase orders.

Isn’t that a requirement prior to payment?

Palmer’s reply:

I am in a meeting yet, but am attaching the signed PO from the Purchasing Department files. When processing payments in the Auditor’s Office, we work on-line with our financial system that ties the approved PO to the creation of the voucher for payment.

The paperwork presented that I sent you earlier had the copy to reference that a PO had been created and approved in the system.

The signed copy is sent to the vendor and a signed copy is retained by the Purchasing Department.

= = = = =
The bill in question also had a second segment that will prevent people from running for both a district seat and the County Board Chairmanship, as Mike Walkup did.


Comments

Rauner Gives Jack Franks New Power — 11 Comments

  1. There were two tie votes on Tuesday night.

    One had to do with a zoning change – that one also was reconsidered.

  2. Interesting that Rauner waited until today to sign the bill.

    As posted before, if this why the “Little Liar” was so emotional during his tirade about the ‘advisory’ referendum and how it would help Rauner?

  3. The re-zoning one, was that about the couple with a barn on the property where they want to run a bar/banquett hall out of it but still want an agricultural break on their taxes?

    THAT SHOULD BE A SLAM DUNK, NO!!!

  4. Gov. Rauner
    Ex-rep Mike Tryon
    Senator Karen McConnaughay

    You’re all dead to me.

    Thanks for bringing Madigan to McHenry County.

    Fools and crooks.

  5. Didn’t get a great deal on the truck.

    Wondering if someone is taking it home like all the other yahoos.

  6. This does not seem to be the bill referenced in the post, but this bill was signed today and does apply to the McHenry County Boar Chair position.

    It is House Bill 6418 (HB 6418) which was signed into law as Public Act 99-0924 (PA 99-0924).

    The bill changed state laws in the following ways.

    ++++++++++++++++++++

    The first change is a revision to an existing sentence.

    Keep in mind the population of McHenry County as of 2013 was 307,409.

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Sentence prior to HB 6418 / PA 99-0924:

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

    +++++++++++++++++++++

    Sentence as of HB 6418 / PA 99-0924:

    “In counties over 300,000 population and under 3,000,000 population, the chairman shall be elected as chairman without having been first elected to the county board.”

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    So what is the intent of that sentence?

    And what are the possible judicial interpretations?

    Could the sentence be legally interpreted to mean that anyone with prior County Board experience cannot be elected as County Board Chair?

    Could the sentence be interpreted to mean that an existing county board member cannot be elected as County Board Chair, event if they will resign as a County Board member upon being elected as County Board Chair?

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Here is the second change.

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    First the sentence prior to HB 6418 / PA 99-0924:

    “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.”

    ++++++++++++

    Next the sentence as of HB 6418 / PA 99-0924:

    “In all cases,

    (i) 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, and

    (ii) no person may simultaneously serve as a member of a county board and the chairman of the same board if the office of chairman is elected by the voters of the county rather than by the members of the board.”

  7. I have a close relative who works for the county (don’t want to say mike to protect my family from Emperor Jacko and his government Madigoons) who told me Franks made Peter Austin give him “entertainment” and “clothing” budgets.

  8. Mark, if you think that bill was poorly written, check out the current SB0009 and tell me what the impact will be on the Local Government Distributive Fund.

  9. Thanks, Bruce Rauner!

    Thanks, Karen McConnaughay!

    Heil Fuehrer Franks!

  10. HB 6418 / PA 99-0924 is the bill which allows the McHenry County Board Chair to cast tie breaking votes (when the population of the county is between 300,001 – 2,999,999).

    “Such chairman shall not vote on any question except to break a tie vote.”

    follows

    “In counties over 300,000 population and under 3,000,000 population, the chairman shall be elected as chairman without having been first elected to the county board.”

    ++++++++++

    Is Jack Franks a voting member of the ad hoc committees he appoints himself to?

    If so how is that legal, given the above sentence which states county board chairs can only vote to break a tie vote?

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