McHenry County Blog

Keely Cat can continue relaxing after Andy Andresky reassured those big people who feed him.

After attending “Under the Streetlamp,” a concert by the stars of “Jersey Boys,” at Huntley High school, the Skinners went to eat at 1776 in Crystal Lake.

Proprietor Andy Andresky, as usual, came around to greet us and, after catching up on family affairs, I asked about the Cat Tax.

Andresky, who is now President of the McHenry County Board of Health, told me that it wouldn’t come up this year.

So, it seems Keely Cat can relax for another year.

No need to keep watch for the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax Collector.

That’s what this email to area residents said:

DanRutherford

State Government in Illinois is a fiscal mess. One party dominates the Legislature, the Governor’s Office and the City of Chicago, which has the highest sales tax of any city in the nation.

The Democrat controlled Illinois Senate has passed legislation which would create a new tax on services for the entire state.

I am a nominee for Illinois State Treasurer.

It’s time to have the State’s Chief Financial Officer stand up and lead.

In addition to being a very good steward of the resources in the Treasury, I intend to use the position as a bully pulpit for jobs in Illinois.

I appreciate your support in helping me maintain a strong political presence.

I would be honored by your attendance at a breakfast in support of our state-wide effort on Friday, October 15, 2010 at the 1776 Restaurant in Crystal Lake beginning with coffee at 7:15 AM.

For details go to: http://danrutherford.org

You may mail checks payable to DRCC, 220 W. Howard, Pontiac, IL 61764. Proceeds benefit the Dan Rutherford Campaign Committee.

I hope to see you and thank you for your support of our bid for State Treasurer.

Sincerely,
Dan Rutherford
State Senator
Nominee for
Illinois State Treasurer

I’m sure I didn’t find all the signs in Crystal Lake honoring the memory of Staff Sgt. Christopher Antonik, but here are two:

"Staff Sgt Chris Antonik - Not to be forgotten," reads the marque at 1776.

The restaurant named 1776.

"In Memory of SSgt Christopher Antonik - Thank you for our freedom," reads the sign at Teddy's Liquors.

Teddy’s Liquors was another business honoring the Prairie Ridge High School graduate.

McHenry County Republican Party Chairman (and State Rep.) Mike Tryon formed a political action committee separate from the Central Committee.

I thought you might find the contributors and expenditures of interest. They are included in the PAC’s campaign disclosure filing this month.

The price to join the group of inside advisors seems to be $500, although more seems to be welcome.

Here are the contributors:

• Algonquin Township Highway Commisisoner Bob Miller’s PAC – $500
• State Rep. Mark Beaubien’s PAC – $500
• Alliance Contractors Inc – $1,000
• Robert Boncosky – $500
• Randy Donley – $395.20
• Blake Hobson – a $500
• Howard Green Company, Cedar Rapids, IA (John Smith’s Smith Engineering was acquired by HR Green) – $500
• Human Resource Techniques Inc, Algonquin Karla Dobbeck is its president) – $500
• Innovative Component Sales Inc, Huntley (Mike Skala is its president) – $2,500
• Kathleen Kuchta – $500
• Donald Lewis – $500
• Madsen Sugden and Gottemoller – $500
• Marc Munaretto – $500
• Gary Overbay – $500
• Tom Zanck – $500

About $3,500 of the money raised has been spent on “Roundtable Breakfast Meetings” at Crystal Lake’s 1776 restaurant and Richard Walkers Pancake House. I’ve been told candidates were “vetted” at some such meetings.

Richard Walkers Pancake House

• 8/12/2009
• 8/12/2009
• 9/15/2009
• 10/23/2009

1776

• 8/30/2009
• 9/8/2009
• 9/14/2009
• 10/12/2009
• 10/23/2009
• 12/2/2009
• 12/9/2009

In addition utilities have been paid at the campaign office and a camcorder purchased for the Young Republicans.

The fund has $11,800 in the bank.

Last night at Crystal Lake’s 1776 restaurant will be a night that Jason Plummer, an aggressive Downstate candidate for lieutenant governor, will remember forever.

How do I know?

Lientenant governor candidate Jason Plummer begins speaking after being introduced by McHenry County Young Republican President Bryan Javor.

Because I’ve been on the same route he took twice, once in 1982 when I ran for State Comptroller against Roland Burris and twenty years later when I ran for governor in 2002 against Rod Blagojevich and Jim Ryan.

A statewide candidate doesn’t remember all the stops on the campaign trail, but some are memorable.

Like the night at some big meeting hall in Carbondale when all the candidates on the ticket were standing under a big photo of us all and Jim Thompson was commenting on the St. Louis Globe’s endorsement that day.

“Even Skinner got endorsed,”

he exclaimed.

Of course, I thought and still think I was more qualified than incumbent Burris to be State Comptroller, but even I was surprised I had received the endorsement.

Last night the McHenry County Young Republicans held a candidates’ night for county board candidates.

Thank goodness, the YR’s were not as hidebound as the DeKalb League of Women Voters in 1982, when I was not allowed to speak because I wasn’t a legislative candidate.

In any event, the tallest Republican candidate I have seen since Thompson walked to the podium and was told, as the other candidates had been told, that he had five minutes and that when he was at the four minute mark, he would be told.

He started by pointing out the Illinois lieutenant governor had “no constitutional duties.”

He cited the three statutes giving the office some things to do—probably all enacted while Neil Hartigan was serving under Governor Dan Walker—and said,

“Clearly it’s not an overwhelming workload.”

Plummer talked about his having created jobs in companies he had started, as well as his role in the family lumber business, RP Lumber, with 43 yards in Illinois and two in Missouri.

He told of how he was in intelligence in the Navy Reserve, had worked at the Heritage Foundation and for U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald.

And, how he had returned from Washington to run for Madison County Republican Party Chairman.

He talked about fighting corruption in Madison County, something that no knowledgeable person would deny exits.

“I battled corrupt legislators, a corrupt county board and a corrupt judiciary.”

Plummer said,

“The state needs someone who knows how to sign the bottom of a check, not just the back of a check.”

Great line, don’t you think?

While at a trade convention in Indiana, he told a woman he was running for lieutenant governor.

“In Indiana?” the woman asked.

“No, Illinois.”

The New Jersey resident reacted with dismay, wondering why anyone would want to run for office in our corrupt state.

“When the people of New Jersey are questioning the ethics of Illinois, (we’re in trouble).”

Then, a very bright light put up by YR President Bryan Javor went out.

Jason Plummer's expression after the bright light went out at 1776, plunging the room into relative darkness.

Then came the best quip of the night:

“Is that what you do at one minute?”

I’m still chuckling.

Tell me that Plummer won’t remember last night for the rest of his life.

In that last minute, Plummer listed some endorsements. I caught the Illinois State Rifle Association and the Illinois Federation of Right to Life.

Lientenant governor candidate Jason Plummer posing at 1776 in Crystal Lake with his campaign manager, Ray Marchiori.

Afterward I got a photo of Plummer with his campaign manager, Ray Marachiori. Marachiori staffed my Privatization Committee during the 1995-96 legislative session.

Plummer stayed until the end of the meeting. I guess he figured everybody in the room would vote in the GOP primary election.

I noticed 6th District county board candidate carrying one of Plummer’s signs out of the restaurant.

= = = = =
If this story interested you, this might, too:

“Jason Plummer calling“

Yesterday in an article entitled

Kirk Dillard Woos McHenry County Women

McHenry County Blog started a three-part series on what happened when the GOP candidate came to Crystal Lake.

Stephanie Dillard talks with Irene Napier and Joyce Story after the breakfast at 1776.

Besides covering pensions and a new tax credit for contributions to charitable organizations, Dillard also spoke favorably about subsidizing private schools, noting that their being open saved taxpayers lots of money.

He said he wanted to increase it (the tax credit) to “make it meaningful.”

There were lots of claps in the roomful of women.

A business woman asked the candidate about reforming Workers Compensation.

“I’ve already begun talking to unions about this,” he said. Dillard advanced a voluntary arbitration plan which would “cut the trial lawyers out of the system,” encouraging “faster payment and more money.”

He stressed that it would not be mandatory, but would be accomplished through collective bargaining.

Advocating an “agreed bill” process he said,

“I’m going to lock these folks (business and union officials) in a room in the mansion (until they bring) Workers Comp costs in line with the nation.”

In a nod to the historically-minded, Dillard told of having spent ten years trying to get his father-in-law to donate the bedroom set in his house to the Executive Mansion.

I can’t remember the number of great-greats, but one of those great-grandmothers of Dillard’s wife Stephanie bore a child in the bed while her husband, Gov. Richard Oglesby, was in office during the mid-1900′s. Oglesby nominated Abraham Lincoln for president.

If her husband is elected governor, Mrs. Dillard promised,

“I won’t be giving birth in the mansion.”

Near the end of the formal part of the gathering, the state senator urged the women to go back to work to improve the economy and, incidentally, the health of the state’s finances.

“That’s the best way to grow the economy.”

He wants them to shop, too, I guess, because he added,

“We need the sales tax revenue.”

State Senator and Republican gubernatorial candidate Kirk Dillard speaks to mainly women at Crystal Lake's 1776 restaurant.

Billing himself as the only non-millionaire in the race for the Republican nomination for governor, State Senator Kirk Dillard spoke to mainly women at Crystal Lake’s 1776 restaurant Tuesday morning.

He related having received this advice from his former boss, former Governor Jim Edgar:

“You must find a way to attract women and Latinos.”

State Senator Kirk Dillard greets Cathy Danca after the 1776 breakfast hosted by his colleague State Senator Pam Althoff.

Jobs, education and safety are the approaches Dillard said he was taking for both demographics.

My friend Pete Castillo and I arrived during the question and answer session for the 45 or so McHenry Countians in attendance.

Dillard reflected on his ability to work with newly-elected Senate President John Cullerton:

“We work on things we can get along on.”

In answer to a question about the pension debt hanging over Illinois, Dillard came out in favor of a two-tiered pension system with new employees not being guaranteed a certain amount each month.

(Government pensions are typically called “defined benefits.” They guarantee a certain amount each month and, in the case of Illinois, a 3% increase each year whether inflation is lower or higher. Private enterprise has moved from the defined benefit approach to a “defined contribution” approach in which the employer agrees to put so much a pay period into a pension pot. The amount available for retirement depends on how the money is invested and whether and how much the employee sets aside his or her own money for retirement.)

Dillard said he thought he was the only one who could pull that off (not his words). In a telephone town meeting with Andy McKenna, I heard his rival take something of a similar approach to reforming future pensions.

Dillard pointed out that the pension problem is not just one for state taxpayers. Local governments’ police and fire protection personnel have similar problems of under funding.

“We can’t sustain” the state pension situation, Dillard said. If something is not done about the pension system, “we will have no money for education, (hospitals and other functions financed by state government).”

Why does Dillard say that?

Because the Illinois state constitution pretty much says that pensions get paid first. At least as long as members of the Illinois Supreme Court get pensions like other state employees.

Prairie Grove Village Administrator Jeanine Smith and former State Representative Rosemary Kurtz listen to GOP gubernatorial candidate Kirk Dillard.

“I’m the person who has the political courage to get it done),” the state senator said, indicating he would tell state employee union leaders,

“If we don’t make these changes, we’ll go insolvent and a Federal bankruptcy judge will (impose) them.”

A question was asked about providing “tax credits up to a certain level” for contributions to not-for-profit organizations. Credits are subtractions from what one owes in state or federal income taxes.

Dillard indicated his support for such a change in the income tax law because not-for-profit groups provide better services cheaper than state government.

Touching on the precarious nature of state finances, Edgar’s former chief of staff pointed out that bills were paid in 17 days when the former governor was in office, but now a nursing home in his district hasn’t been paid “in more than five months.”

More tomorrow.

Apparently the leading candidate for the Republican gubernatorial nomination (according to the Chicago Tribune pollster), Jim Ryan, has called for privatizing the Illinois Tollway.

Actually, I see in the Daily Herald, Ryan wants to sell it.

One of his DuPage County opponents, Kirk Dillard has found my email address (Ryan hasn’t yet) and offers the following reaction seen below.

Dillard, by the way, is coming to Crystal Lake’s 1776 restaurant tomorrow morning from 8-9:30 to meet folks. Complimentary breakfast will be available at the event being hosted by State Senator Pam Althoff.

Dillard’s press release follows:

Dillard Statement on Privatizing the Tollway System

LISLE, Ill- State Senator Kirk Dillard, Republican candidate for governor, today released the following statement regarding Jim Ryan’s support of privatizing the tollway:

“It sounds like Jim Ryan is taking a page out of Rod Blagojevich’s playbook and looking for short-term solutions to the state budget problems.  It’s a risky scheme that threatens motorists, primarily suburban drivers, with massive toll increases and could put current bondholders in jeopardy.

“When other states have privatized their toll roads, tolls have skyrocketed, just like parking meter rates in the city of Chicago. I successfully worked with then State Senator and current Congressman Peter Roskam to protect motorists when Blagojevich tried to do the same thing.

“Let’s not lose site of the fact that suburban drivers have tossed hundreds of millions of nickels, dimes and quarters into the toll baskets for the past 50 years. The only way I would even consider leasing the tollway is if there is a guarantee the money would be used for infrastructure and after consultation with economists, transportation experts and leaders from areas served by the toll roads.”

= = = = =
Privatizing is not the same as selling a public asset. Privatizing the tollway might make it more efficient. I remember Jim Thompson named one of his State Policeman body guards as his first Tollway director. He started cutting employees and trying to save money and got the boot. Replacing him was Thompson’s chief fund raiser.

Thanks to the Illinois Observer, you now know the following:

“Next week, State Senator Pam Althoff and State Rep. Michael Tryon help Rutherford bring in some dough by headlining a fund raising breakfast in Crystal Lake on Thursday, December 3 at 7:30 a.m.

“The early political birds will gather for a some red meat-and-eggs at the 1776 Restaurant located at 397 Virginia Street.”

Rutherford reports it was a success.

He also attended a Town Hall meeting with Senator Althoff in Woodstock the night before.

This is not the first time Rutherford has been to McHenry County. He was here in April for drinks with County Board Chairman Ken Koehler, State Senator Pam Althoff and Chuck Ruth.

On September 22nd, a morning reception was held for Rutherford at the Holiday Inn in Crystal Lake.

The patriotic decor of Crystal Lake’s 1776 restaurant was an ideal setting for Wednesday night’s meeting of the McHenry County Young Republicans.

It was so much more appropriate that the little room in the Pizza Hut basement outside the men’s and women’s restrooms where I remember the YR’s once met back in the 1970′s.

The main speaker was U.S. Senate candidate Ed Varga, a resident of Richmond and a ten-year member of the McHenry County Board of Health.

Varga was upbeat, having just been invited yesterday to give a five minute talk in Springfield to the Illinois Republican County Chairman’s Association at 10 today.

He previewed the speech on the YR’s.

Varga described himself as a 42 year old engineer who was a single parent of an 11-year old son who had lost his health insurance last year. His father emigrated from Europe.

He described his greatest achievement in his pubic service as

“Our leaders in Washington, D.C., have forgotten how to listen,” he continued.

“People are speaking, but people in in Washington aren’t listening.”

Varga outlined his “core values:”

• Pro-life
• 2nd Amendment supporter
• In favor of state’s rights
• Opposed to national health insurance
• Favors a strong, well-equipped military
• Opposed to cap and trade
• Supports the military’s patrolling our borders
• Opposed to devaluation of the dollar caused by the Stimulus Package
• Opposed to global environmental standards

From his hand out, I see Varga is [Mistake originally published follows: "also opposed to." Correction has been inserted following this parenthesis.] in favor of same sex unions. (Click to enlarge the image.)

After Varga’s short speech, YR President Bryan Javor announced the group now has 726 members and the goal of activating 10% of that number.

One of the on-going projects is to notify Young Republicans who live in a precinct which now had no elected GOP precinct committeeman and encourage them to run for the office.

Javor then called on heads of committees for reports.