To no one’s surprise McHenry County Board Chairman Jack Franks has nominated someone to replace Andrew Gasser who was not recommended by the County’s Republican Party.
County Chairman Sandra Salgado offered Franks two GOP’s nominees:
- David Stieper, an attorney and unsuccessful 2014 Republican Primary Election candidate
- Ralph Sasso, an investor specializing in banks, who seems to have withdrawn his name from consideration
Franks selected former Cary Grade School Board and Certified Public Accountant Chris Spoerl.
Others known to have applied are
- Elaine Ramesh, a patent attorney from Barrington Hills, where she served as Village Clerk and Trustee
- Bob Miller, former Algonquin Township Road Commissioner
- Kevin Kaplan, Cary Realtor and former Barrington School District teacher and football coach
Maybe now Jack Franks will release his plan for reducing the property tax levy of school districts by 10%.
He said before the election, he would release the plan after the election.
The only “plan” he released was a plan for county board members to pass a resolution that the county board members would submit a plan to reduce property taxes by 10%.
Was there more to the plan…if so, where is it?
And what about the plan for all the other property taxing districts in the county?
Where is that plan?
Cal, when was he President of dist 26?
2009.
Thx and when was the referendum for Dist 26 so the state wouldn’t take them over?
What years was he on the board for Dist 26?
I believe it was Apil 2009-April 2013.
Referendum passed in November, 2010. $17M bond.
I would like to extend my thanks and gratitude to the McHenry County GOP for their confidence in me to effectively serve the residents of District 1 in McHenry County as well as Chairman Jack Franks for taking the time to interview and vet all candidates for this vacant board seat including having each candidate respond to a detailed and thoughtful questionnaire.
I wish the Board well on its continued mission of providing good government to McHenry County residents at a competitive price.
I hope someone who is a tax fighter, with the same agenda as Mr. Gasser will run as a candidate when this term expires.
Then maybe this appointment will only be temporary.
I highly doubt an ex-school board member has an interest in lowering our property taxes.
Thx you former and present board members.
He was on the board only one term?
Now what kind of Republican, Conservative, Moderate, or Rhino?
When was the teachers contract passed prior to the referendum?
The negotiated contracts back to 2008 are on the district website at https://www.cary26.org/domain/38.
2008 – 2011
2011 – 2014
2014 – 2017
2014 – 2018 (maybe this was just an extension)
I think the contents run from July 1 – June 30.
To refresh your memory, Mr. Spoerl was elected to the Board in the spring of 2009.
By the end of that year, the State indicated that they would take over D-26 if the district didn’t make substantial changes to its operating cost structure after having run 9 consecutive annual deficits.
That triggered the resignation of several existing members which resulted in Mr. Spoerl becoming president and my appointment to one of the open spots.
The Board immediately began the restructuring process which resulted in the closure of a school, the layoff of more than 100 employees, and the elimination of many programs.
The net effect was a roughly 20% in operating expenses that generated the district’s first balanced budget for FY11 in over 9 years.
With the significant cuts and a balanced budget, the voters approved a working cash bond referendum in November 2010 to recapitalize our balance sheet and prevent the State from taking over the district.
After 9 years of deficits, I believe our Education Fund balance stood at negative $10 million and the successful referendum eliminated our need to issue Tax Anticipation Warrants every year and eliminated the takeover threat.
The Board then immediately pivoted to the renegotiation process of the expiring union contract.
Some may remember how difficult and drawn out those negotiations were.
The process concluded with an affordable and sustainable contract that resulted in a reduction in salaries/benefits and the elimination of the retirement incentives of 4 year/6% spikes and $20K bonuses.
Since Mr. Spoerl’s departure 4 years ago, the Board has been able to build off the groundwork that was done during his tenure to execute the long term plan to move from the restructuring phase, to a rebuild phase, to a position where district is now better off under just about any metric while maintaing an affordable cost structure.
I think Chris has the right skill sets and financial acumen necessary to be extremely successful in this position.
It was no small task in leading the effort in pulling off what one banker told me was a miracle in turning around what was, financially, the worst district in the State.
If County Board members want someone that has a proven record of reducing costs, analyzing alternatives, setting effective long term strategy, and developing consensus, all while operating under the most extreme adverse circumstances, then I can think of no one more qualified than Chris Spoerl.
I really do not care about the qualifications of Spoerl.
Any GOP board member who votes for his approval should be primaried.
Why? He did not apply for the position with the County GOP and the County GOP did not vet him – the “round mound” did.
In addition if he is appointed, he too should be primaried.
He should have picked Bob Miller.
Thanks Coffey and Jenner for the refresher.
The Partronage laiden County GOP is a joke, but hay thanks for the laugh.
Optimus, thanks for the laugh!
STIEPER!!!!
Chris Spoerl is on the board (Assistant Secretary) of the Cary police pension fund.
http://www.caryillinois.com/485/Police-Pension-Fund
Since County Board elections are partisan, it would be pertinent if Mr. Spoerl has voted Democrat or Republican in past elections.
I am told he is a Republican, but I do not have first hand knowledge.
Chris Spoerl was appointed to the Cary police pension board.
Some board members are appointed, and some are elected.
Spoerl pulls Republican ballots in primaries but how much of the Republican platform does he support?
Is he a Republican like Kurtz or more like Schuster?