McHenry County Blog

A tool for those who want to know where their tax dollars are going went up today on the Adam Andrzejewski’s web site, For the Good of Illinois.

Pick your school district (after signing) in.

Take a look at where the money goes from biggest to smallest vendor. You can put up to fifty vendors on a page.

I decided to look at Crystal Lake Grade School District 47.

I noticed

• $7.9 million for insurance
• $7.3 million to IRS
• $4.4 million to the Teachers Retirement Fund
• $1.3 million to the Illinois Department of Revenue
• $1.3 million to the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund
• $826,000 to Ameren Energy Resources
• $622,000 to Teachers Health Insurance
• $264,000 to CLETA (Crystal Lake Elementary Teachers Assoc.)
• $179,000 to Woodstock Comm School Dist 200

Those above are just some of the first 50 listed in descending order.

Farther down I found these:
$3,069.74 to the McHenry County Treasurer

• $3,016.00 to the Crystal Lake Country Club
• $2,520.00 to the Il Alliance Of Administrators Of Sp[ecial Education]
• $2,240 to Ohio State University
• $1,958 to former District 300 Board member Mary Warren (who teaches in District 47 now)
• $1,250 to William Blair & Company Llc
• $1,213.20 to American Mobile Shredding
• $1,059.96 to the Rockford Board of Education

Take a look at how one of your school districts does with your tax dollars.

State Senate candidate Karen McConnaughay is charging “mudslinging” in her reaction to an email and mailing sent out by Adam Andrzejewski’ For the Good of Illinois PAC.

You can read the mailing and Andrzejewski’s motivation for sending it here.

First I’ll show you McConnaughay’s rebuttal, then the original email with links to sources concerning the charges:

Statement from Citizens for Karen McConnaughay regarding continued baseless mudslinging from the desperate Surges campaign

There is nothing surprising about activist Adam Andrzejewski’s mudslinging at Karen McConnaughay.

Karen McConnaughay

In his bid for political relevance he joins in the chorus of baseless, unfounded attacks that have characterized the Surges campaign.

With no meaningful experience, no substantive knowledge of the issues and no relevant accomplishments, Cliff Surges and his attack dogs have resorted to assailing the character of one of the most respected local elected officials in the area.

No matter that the Chicago Tribune, Daily Herald, Kane County Chronicle, Northwest Herald, Examiner Newspaper, Congressman Roskam, Congressman Hultgren and many others have attested to the achievement and integrity of Karen McConnaughay, we are supposed to believe outlandish accusations offered with no substantiation and no basis in fact.

It is also extremely curious that Adam’s electronic assault came two days after Cliff Surges paid him $3,200.

If you apply the same standard of proof that Cliff and Adam use that is clear evidence of corruption.

If Surges makes a donation to Adam and then Adam launches his attack, it is rock solid evidence of a quid pro quo.

The double standard is mind-boggling.

The voters of the 33rd District are smart enough to know that Karen has never engaged in any pay to play antics and has never made any personnel or policy decision based on anything other than merit and the best interests of the taxpayers.

Nothing in this, or any other politically-motivated attack, has shown or even claimed that anything Karen did was in violation of the law or any county policy.

This is just another example of the sad depth to which the Surges campaign has sunk.

Below is the blast email that Andrzejewski sent out, apparently last night:

“Converting government employment, salary spiking, pension padding,
& paid consulting into… campaign cash.”
Adam Andrzejewski | Chairman, For The Good of Illinois PAC

Does the Kane County Board Chairmanship come with a license to print campaign cash?

Karen McConnaughay must think so.

So many county vendors became campaign contributors that the Daily Herald Editorial Board wrote, “We encourage McConnaughay to quit taking money from county vendors…”

She’s now running for state senate on a track record of presiding over a legalized money laundering scheme™.  Here are the details–

In 2004, McConnaughay won election as Kane County Board Chairperson. From 2004-2009, the salary of  Phil Bus- county development director- was spiked 71% from $93,481 to $158,923, graph.

Then Phil Bus retired (2009) on the largest pension in Kane County history-  $113,277/ year, proof.  The salary spiking had padded his pension.  But only two months later, Bus was re-hired by the county on lucrative consulting contracts. Look up FoxPlans, LLC by year, here.

Sourced by a local newspaper, Bus’ wife and brother (Randall) contributed $9,300 in campaign cash to McConnaughay. We confirmed $4800 from the state board website.

The Bus brother Randall’s engineering company, according to published reports, became the “go-to consultant on almost every unincorporated county subdivision plan”.  We sourced tens of thousands of dollars in “consulting” payments flowing from Kane County.

Karen McConnaughay’s political paradigm isn’t new to the GOP.  Governors Thompson-Edgar-Ryan pioneered the patronage model. The Republican Party then split between political bosses who needed taxes to fund patronage, and our conservative, productive, tax-paying base.

You can’t reform Illinois if you don’t reform the IL GOP.  And, you can’t reform the Republican Party if you elect politicians like Karen McConnaughay.

Period.

Sincerely,

ADAM ANDRZEJEWSKI
Chairman | For The Good of Illinois PAC

PS. On March 20^th, you and I can stop “McConnaughay Money Magic”.  Please give online $25, $50, $100, $250, $500 or $1000 to For the Good of Illinois PAC today. Thank you!

Here’s what is on the way to mailboxes in the 33rd State Senate District.

That’s where Kane County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay is running against former Gilberts Village Trustee Cliff Surges.

One could logically observe that the gloves have been taken off for what appears to be a bare knuckle end of the election fight.

For the Good of Illinois, the Political Action Committee run by Adam Andrzejewski, is sending the following post card.

In the email accompanying the images, half of which I found in an email forwarded by a reader, Adam wrote the following:

Adam Andrzejewski

“Please note that I actually signed the mailer.”Republican primary voters need to understand exactly what the stakes are in this race.

“As you know, my father ran against George Ryan in the late 1970’s twice.

[I did not, so I asked for details and here's what I received: "My dad (John Andrzejewski) was a conservative Democrat in the elections of 1976 and 1978. He ran to the right of Ryan on the ERA amendment and forced Ryan to take a hard stand. To Ryan’s credit, it was one issue he didn’t sell his vote for a bridge. As House Speaker he voted against it and ERA failed by one vote (if memory serves). This is why it is important for good people to make a principled stand in elections."]

When Reagan came through in 1980, our family became Republican and never looked back.

“I see McConnaughay as a George Ryan repeat: the establishment of this party knows exactly what she’s about- just like they knew and promoted George Ryan.

“If we don’t stop her now, she’ll cost us all a million dollars in 2014.

“We faced the same ‘institutional force’ in the Roger Eddy race: former gov Jim Edgar, Assistant Minority Leader Dale Righter, all six Republican county chairs, most pc’s, the nested state reps, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce alongside the teachers unions, AFSCME and SEIU.

“I think people are looking a little deeper this year.

“Everyone endorsing McConnaughay should be asked to recant, and if not they are held accountable too.

“The country/state is in crisis- there is no room for compromise on fundamental, basic principles.

“As you know, this race is our fourth situation where our research has uncovered gross ethical lapsed or legalized money laundering schemes.

“This is very embarrassing for our party.

“In one IL GOP primary season, I have the material for a national best-selling book.”

The blast email forwarded to me ended,

“You can’t reform Illinois if you don’t reform the IL GOP. And, you can’t reform the Republican Party if you elect politicians like Karen McConnaughay.”

Double-dipping State Rep. and School Superintendent Roger Eddy has an offer to go to taxeater heaven.

The tax hiking advocate and transparency opponent has released a statement which I found in the Decatur Herald-Review via a link from Dave Diersen’s GOPUSA Illinois which you see below:

“The (Illinois Association of School Boards) has asked me to serve as their new executive director beginning on July 1. While final details regarding the position have not been resolved, I do expect them to finalize soon, and as a result I am suspending my champaign for state representative effective immediately.”

It’s time for fireworks for those who are on the taxpayers’ side of the equation.

How important is this race?

Tom Cross thinks it is important enough to tell contributors to Eddy’s opponent that they will be “persona non grata” in his office.

That’s what I’ve been told anyway.

Eddy seems to have replaced Bill Black as Spokesman for Republicans in House debates.

This is a man who has received $60,000 from the Illinois Eduction Association during his current campaign.

Other taxeaters contributing include

• $12,000 – Illinois Federation of Teachers
• $5,000 – University Professionals of Illinois AFT AFL-CIO PAC
• $3,000 – Illinois School Administrators
• $2,500 – Illinois Retired Teachers Association
• $1,000 – Citizens for Jim Edgar
• $500 – The Illinois Alliance of Administrators of Special Education

Eddy is being challenged by Republicans Kevin Garner of Toledo and Brad Halbrook of Shebyville.

Garnger had $269 at the end of December.

Halbrook’s first Illinois State Board of Elections filing was for $20,000 from the We Mean Business PAC, followed by $5,000 from For the Good of Illinois, $10,000 from Pioneer Oil’s Mr. and Mrs. Don Jones, $2,000 from Eagle Forum Illinois State PAC, $3,000 from Adam Andrzejewski, $1,000 from Unique Home Properties, and $1,000 from Deborah Dunn.

= = = = =
The current Chief Executive, Michael D. Johnson, retired, as far as the Teachers Retirement System is concerned, in 2008. His last contribution to TRS was $30,141 in the 2007-2008 school year based on reportable earnings of $320,656.

After attending State Senate candidate Karen McConnaughay’s event in Lakewood, it seemed appropriate to see what was up at her opponent’s pizza affair in Lake in the Hills.

While McConnaughay’s was a freebee, Cliff Surges’s affair cost $25. When I got to the entry table, Surges recognized me and let me in free.

The place was packed, with some seeking a place for a quiet conversation in an overflow room.

While McConnaughay’s affair had numerous locally-elected officials, the only one I saw at Surges was Cary Village Trustee Bruce Kaplan and Cary is not in the district. Of course, his opponent had folks at her affair who live out of her district.

After an introduction by his campaign manager Scott Webb, the Northern Illinois campaign coordinator for Peter Fitzgerald’s U.S. Senate campaign, Surges test marketed a new talk.

Surges really was pretty good.

Surges revealed to us non-Kane County folks that there is a slate that has developed down there.

Surges is aligned with

• State Senator Chris Lauzen’s County Board Chairmanship campaign,
• Tom Hartwell’s Circuit Clerk’s campaign,
• Dr. Bob Tiballi’s campaign for Coroner,
• Terry Hunt’s campaign for Auditor and
• County Board candidates Robert Sauceda and Drew Frasz,

and perhaps others I missed.

The main event was a speech by Adam Andrzejewski.

Andrzejewski ran in the GOP primary for Governor in 2010 and has been on a transparency campaign since then.

His organization, For the Good of Illinois, has posted salary information for all sorts of public employees.

Andrzejewski said that Surges was “taking on the entire failed political class in Kane County.

“The Illinois political class still doesn’t understand the political crisis,” he continued.

Former Director of Development Phil Bus came in for comment.

Andrezejewski said that McConnaughay raised his salary over 60% in six years, retired, took a good pension and then was put on as a consultant.

He said that the man’s wife and brother made multi-thousand dollar contributions to McConnaughay.

Andrzejewski railed against

• “salary spiking”
• “pension padding”
• “contributions after retirement along the lines of pay to play.”

“His opponent has an unlimited access to tainted money.

“There’s not one person in this room that has a county contract.”

 

= = = = =
The event was full of people who seemed likely to campaign actively, including one 18-year old Surges had coached. He registered to vote in order to be able to vote for Surges.