McHenry County Blog

From attending previous Teeni Weenie Bikini fund raisers held by McHenry County Board member Barb Wheeler, I know that one cam find drinks other than the advertised martinis.

Wine is served, as are soft drinks.

I haven’t found my favorite drink yet (Kahlua and skim milk–one has to save calories somewhere, right?), but there are interesting attendees.

Last time I was surprised to see former McHenry County State’s Attorney Gary Pack, for instance.

This year’s event is being held the last Saturday night of the month, July 28th. (RSVP by the 24th.)

4-7 is the announced time and swimming is encouraged.

The location is Lindy’s Landing at 115 Park Street in Wauconda.

No set price again, although “sponsorships” are solicited at $1,000 a pop.

Matthew Potts of Potts and Pans will provide music.

Republican State Rep. candidate Barbara Wheeler has scheduled a fund raiser for

Still thinking about the implications of the McHenry County GOP interview committee’s decision to reject Tonya Franklin’s offer to run a high energy campaign against 7-term incumbent Democrat Jack Franks.

"Chainsaw Jack" Franks is singing "Hakuna Matata" today after learning the McHenry County Republican Party will give him his third free ride in four elections.

Today Jack Franks is sighing a big “Whew.”

The reason?

The gift given freely by the McHenry County Republican Central Committee for the third time in four elections.

Once by then-Chairman and County Treasurer Bill LeFew and twice now by Chairman and State Rep. Mike Tryon.

Until this morning I was just focusing on the potential impact of legislative campaigns elsewhere in Illinois.

That’s not quite right.

I did point out that the manpower-starved Central Committee with Precinct Committeeman vacancies all over McHenry County would benefit from an infusion of Tea Party supporters for Tonya Franklin.

Tonya Franklin

Rather than all of those energetic folks going to Wisconsin to support a cause not yet espoused by Republicans in Illinois, some of them might be working Tonya Franklin, if she were running for state rep.  (This is so reminiscent of how Illinois Republicans, led by Governor Jim Thompson, missed the Reagan Revolution.)

But most of my thoughts had been focused on Jack Franks’ traveling all over the state trying to ingratiate himself to Democrats running for state rep and state senate.

You know, trying to make sure Mike Madigan remains House Speaker and John Cullerton Senate President.

But that’s no problem for the Republican-dominated McHenry County.

“Hakuna Matata.”

And, along the way Franks would picking up chits for whatever statewide office he wants to spend his $450,000 war chest on.

Are Republicans willing to wait for Franks to make such an exit from the 63rd District?

“Hakuna Matata.”

Another thought popped into my head this morning.

The leaders of the Republican Party probably don’t know it, but Jack Franks has gone to go door-to-door for candidates other than himself.

Four years ago, for instance, he campaigned actively for Mary Margaret Maule in the McHenry-dominated District 4.  Franks had no opponent then.

Jack Franks

Maule is coming back for a second try this year.

“Hakuna Matata.”

Franks has already contributed to the campaign fund of District 6 Operating Engineers’ member Ryan Heuse, so he has a stake in his winning.

“Hakuna Matata.”

Six years ago, Franks campaigned actively in McHenry County for Melissa Bean against David McSweeney. We know how that turned out.

No opponent then.

What did it take to turn Melissa Bean out of office?

Tea Party candidate Joe Walsh.

We wouldn’t want to try that approach again, though, would we?

“Hakuna Matata.”

If Franks is really interested in running for County Board Chairman (look for article about his robo-call survey on the subject later today), he might take the freedom of having no worries and campaign for Nick Chirkos in District 1.

Goodness knows that Republican incumbent Bob Bless has about as many problems as he can juggle.

“Hakuna Matata.”

Or, heaven forbid, even get involved in District 2 County Board races, where the Democrats will be trying to knock of County Board Chairman Ken Koehler using alleged conflict of interest charges.

Already Jim Roden, who fought Metra‘s attempt to buy property in Ridgefield that Koehler half-owned

And, Roden went to the C0unty Board meeting last week to call out Koehler for his son’s being head of a housing entity that could benefit from County action.

But McHenry County Republicans have little or no interest in making sure Jack Franks stays in his district.

“Hakuna Matata.”

In discussing what I consider an abrogation of Republican Party responsibility to make sure that Franks has an opponent, one person pointed out that Republican Barb Wheeler has no opponent and maybe a deal has been cut to reciprocate.

While possible, I don’t think that’s the reason for making Jack Franks happy for the rest of his life, to paraphrase the Disney song.

The logo on the Blue Star Vineyard web site masthead.

This past weekend. John Hammerand was cast in an unfavorable light by a Northwest Herald article about the desire of the makers of Blue Star Wine to be allowed to serve customers and sell bottle of wine at the vineyard this past weekend.

Today, McHenry County Board member Barb Wheeler was the focus of a story on WBBM-Radio in which she promoted approval.

Focusing on the objection raised by Hammerand that the winery would essentially be a bar with no limits on the amount of wine sold by the glass, the WBBM story said,

“Blue Star would have to agree not to be a bar, which Wheeler says has already happened.”

Hammerand put his objections in writing, which you can see below:

Winery?

My wife and I have visited many wineries, including California’s Napa Valley, Iowa’s Amana Colonies, Illinois and Wisconsin, and we have enjoyed them.

John Hammerand

On these Wine tasting visits it was always very clear I was not in a Tavern. For one thing the quantities were just a taste – a small quantity – and usually limited to 4-6 ounces per day.In the new proposed ordinance for McHenry County, the wine will be sold by the glass in unlimited quantities. And to make it more interesting, you can buy fortified wines. The process of Fortification raises the alcohol content between 18 – 20 percent alcohol with the addition of spirits to the wine. This — on top of the wine’s natural 17% alcohol content means they could be serving a drink of 74 proof – by the glass.

How does this differ from a tavern?

You might say, it’s the hours of operation. But 6 a.m. to Midnight? Maybe closing an hour early makes it winery, not a tavern.

A Tavern has to be located in Business Zoning. The proposed ordinance does not consider zoning. The process will be handled by a Conditional Use Zoning Petition. and it may be located anywhere outside of municipalities in the County. Many people refer to this as “Spot Zoning” – not a good zoning practice and, in fact, not in compliance with the intent of our recently adopted 2030 Plan.

Maybe it is a Winery and not a Tavern because it is Agri-Tourism. But putting a Tavern in an agricultural area does not make it agriculture.

As the newspaper reported, a majority of the liquor commission opposed requiring local grapes.

I don’t understand how this is Agri-Tourism?

Do we not have grapes, apples, pears, strawberries in the bountiful harvest of McHenry County, hoping to be turned into a local product and keeping our agricultural heritage intact?

In case the McHenry County grape harvest is insufficient because of drought or too much rain, the Director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture could allow grapes to be brought in.

So I have many questions and I hope you do too. It will be discussed in a vote taken to move it on to the County Board Tomorrow, April 10th in the Administration Building at 11:00 a.m.

John Hammerand

Chairman,

McHenry County Liquor & License Committee

p.s. Here’s a letter from a constituent who actually lives in the area affected.

Hammerand also shares a letter he received from a Hebron woman, which you can see below:

Hi John and Cheryl,

Happy Easter!

I have read the article in today’s paper.

I guess you should have told me, or perhaps I should have asked, what the real issues were when you asked me what I thought about having a winery in our area.

If approving this thing allows for bars/taverns to just pop up willy-nilly, I would be against it. If that can be written out of the proposal, it should be.

I have nothing against a nice winery, such as we see on TV, a place to go learn about raising grapes, making wine, what various wines are used for and taste like. That seems “refined,” and safe. It would attract people who have money, and who drink responsibly. It would be a good tourist attraction.

As far as it being a problem for zoning, isn’t it a problem for zoning on either side of your committee/board decision? They have to go through zoning – is your acquiescence a yes vote for zoning, don’t they have their own issues?

I totally support you on any issues you think are dangerous. I understand that what your opponent said sounds a lot like she is trying to bully you.

The thing about using only grapes grown here can be defined somehow – limiting what can be brought in, and some kind of permission from our county Farm Service Agency could be worked out, for instance them defining what would consist of a crop failure that necessitated importing produce. And, the company might want to achieve a certain taste in a wine by adding some exotic-tasting grape that cannot be grown here.

I am not a drinker – but “a little wine for the stomach’s sake” might be something I might do someday. I have a glass or wine or a can of beer three or four times a year at most, and I do not mind if someone else drinks responsibly.

But I surely hate drunk driving – and anything that would encourage or allow it.

You may quote me or use any of my letter if you would find it helpful.

Sincerely,

Carol Hansen

To get on the fall ballot as a write-in candidate a candidate has to get at least as many write-in votes as he or she would have to get signatures on a petition for the office in question.

The write-in votes counted by election judges for the Democratic Party nomination for State Representative.

I’m betting that the eleven write-in votes Jeff Thirtyacre received for the Democratic Party nomination to run against Republican Barb Wheeler will not meet that standard.

A press release from Mike Shorten:

Barb Wheeler

Kent Gaffney

Kent Gaffney to guest on The Shorty Show Tonight

State Representative Kent Gaffney is the scheduled guest on The Shorty Show tonight at 8:30pm. Rep. Gaffney is running to retain his seat in the 52nd District against challengers David McSweeny and Danielle Rowe.

Also appearing will be McHenry County Board Member Barbara Wheeler to discuss the recent controversy surrounding a liquor license for Blue Star Vineyards in Hebron. Wheeler is running for State Representative in Illinois 64th district.

The Shorty Show is hosted by Nunda GOP Precinct Committeeman and Crystal Lake resident Mike Shorten.

The show can be heard live every Thursday at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/shortyshow.

Jeff Thirtyacre waves from his pickup at the 2010 Johnsburg Parade.

Spring Grove Democrat Jeff Thirtyacre has filed papers with the McHenry County Clerk’s Office to run as a write-in candidate for this party’s nomination for State Representative in the 64th District.

To win the write-in contest, he must get as many votes as signatures he would have to have gotten on petitions–500.

Thrityacre has run unsuccessfully for the McHenry County Board twice and Burton Township Road Commissioner.

He works for the Illinois Department of Transportation out of the Woodstock garage.

If he gets on the ballot, he will face off against McHenry County Board member Barb Wheeler, who is the Republican Party’s candidate.

I emailed him last night asking why he wanted the Democratic Party nomination, but have not gotten a reply.

Barb Wheeler at the Nunda Township Republican Picnic.

Let’s face it.

The district McHenry County Board member Barbara Wheeler is running in is a Republican one.

The filing deadline has passed and she didn’t draw an opponent.

I kept hearing of some guy from the northwest part of Lake County who was mounting a challenge, but Wheeler’s pre-filing campaign apparently intimidated him.

So, with a Republican primary opponent and no Democrat having filed, it’s a good bet that Barbara Wheeler will be representing McHenry and Lake County citizens in the Illinois General Assembly starting in January 2013.

Danielle Rowe

Kent Gaffney

David McSweeney

There are no surprises in McHenry County State Rep. races, except that 52nd District Republican candidate Danielle Rowe did not file on the first day.

There is no indication that she is not going to file and, assuming there is not a fourth candidate from that district that has not made him- or herself known, she will have last place on the March 20th ballot.

Primary filings show no indication there will be any general election contests.

In the 52nd District Kent Gaffney and David McSweeney filed as Republicans.

In the 63rd District State Rep. Jack Franks filed for re-election as a Democrat.

in the 64th District McHenry County Board member Barbara Wheeler filed as a Republican.

In the 66th District State Rep. Mike Tryon filed for re-election.

The McHenry County Board failed to break with the “increase the tax take as much as possible” crowd, but they came close.

Barb Wheeler made the motion to remove the CPI and Nick Provenzano seconded it.   Wheeler is a candidate for State Representative and Provenzano is running for re-election.  Both are from District 3, where a hot primary for County Board is shaping up.

There was an 11-11 vote on the motion to prevent county government from grabbing as many property tax dollars as the Real Estate Tax Cap law allows.

A tie vote loses.

I explained what was to be presented to the County Board in this article two weeks ago:

No Financial Diet for McHenry County Next Year + The Tax Levy Game

It was a levy intended to maximize the tax take for county government.

If the levy for year two exceeds the extension year one by the percentage amount allowed under PTELL (the initials of the Tax Cap law), then taxes will go up the maximum amount allowed.

The extension is the amount allowed to be collected, that is, the amount billed by the County Treasurer.

After an attempt by half of the Board to keep county taxes from increasing, a second vote passed the “take all you can get” levy by a vote of 15-7.

Kevin Craver’s article in the Northwest Herald tells details, but the most telling observation was made by Crystal Lake’s Donna Kurtz.  The story puts it this way:

“…the hole created by inflation would increase over time and hamper the county’s ability to handle unforeseen expenses and state funding shortfalls.”

That, of course, is the line and attitude of those who believe that government must take as much as it can out of our pockets.

Somehow, I don’t think the ordinary taxpayers with a couple of empty houses on their blocks would agree with that logic.

The new McHenry County Board district lines can be seen in this map.

There was a motion to eliminate the 1.5% tax hike, but it failed 11-11.

Listed in the order in which their names were called, those in favor of limiting county government’s budget growth follow:

• Sue Draffcorn (D4)
• Diane Evertsen (D6)
• John Hammerand (D4)
• Tina Hill (D5)
• Anna May Miller (D1)
• Robert Nowak (D1)
• Nick Provenzano (D3)
• Sandra Salgado (D4)
• Ersel Schuster (D6)
• Barb Wheeler (D3)
• Paula Yensen (D5)

The map for 2012 County Board District 2, where all members voted to increase taxes. Scott Breeden is retiring and Crystal Lake City Councilwoman Carolyn Schoefield has announced her candidacy.

Those voting against cutting the budget were

• Bob Bless (D1)
• Scott Breeden (D2)
• Mary Donner (D3)
• Jim Heisler (D2)
• John Jung (D5)
• Donna Kurtz (D2)
• Mary McCann (D6)
• Peter Merkel (D4)
• Marc Muneratto (D1)
• Kathy Schmidt (D3)
• Ken Koehler (D2)

Note that one Democrat (Yensen) voted against increasing taxes, while the other (Schmidt) stuck to the traditional position of her party and voted to maximize tax income.  That mitigates against a county wide campaign by Democrats next year in which they position themselves as being on the side of the taxpayers.

There was a second vote taken in which the levy was passed as presented.

Nevertheless, almost half of the County Board members opened themselves up to primary or general election challenges about their being on the taxpayers’ side.  (Two were absent.)

On a parochial note, no District 2 members voted against increasing taxes.  Perhaps not coincidentally, District 2 has only four candidates for four County Board openings.  Finance Committee Chairman Scott Breeden is retiring.

In the most rural district and the one with most candidates running, two incumbents voted with taxpayers–Evertsen and Schuster–while one (McCann) voted to hike taxes.

County Board Chairman Ken Koehler got his budget. The woman who ran against him for Chairman, Barb Wheeler, now a candidate for State Representative, led the fight to keep taxes from being hiked. She is seen here in a meeting that led to the defeat of video poker (slot machines) in unincorporated McHenry County. Koehler supported allowing the gaming devices.

In District 5, voting “No” besides the lone Democrat Yensen was Republican Hill.  The other incumbent, Jung, who was beaten by Yensen in 2008 voted to hike taxes.  Jung ran ahead of Hill in the last election, when Jung defeated Democrat Jim Kennedy, who is running again.

The following 15 members voted in favor:

• Robert Bless
• Scott Breeden
• Sue Draftcorn (a switch)
• Mary Donner
• Jim Heisler
• Tina Hill (a switch)
• John Jung
• Donna Kurtz
• Mary McCann
• Pete Merkel
• Anna May Miller (a switch)
• Marc Munaretto
• Robert Novak (a switch)
• Kathy Bergan Schmidt
• Ken Koehler

In a related effort Tea Party East Dundee Village Trustee Allen Skillicorn could find only one person (Jeff Lynam) to vote with him on not increasing the village’s levy.

There was “a Scribner’s error” in the county offices’ pay hike resolution some argued.  It passed October 18th.

In that first vote, County Board members voted 19-4 to raise County Board salaries to $21,500 per year.  That’s about where all county board members would be before the new term started (+ or – $4-500).

Most of the 2010 McHenry County Board members on swearing-in day.

Voting “No” were

• Virginia Peschke
• Kathy Bergan Schmidt
• Ersel Schuster
• Paula Yensen

Two weeks later, four again voted against the pay raise, but they aren’t the same people. Nov. 1st, “No” votes were cast by

• Diane Evertsen
• John Hammerand
• Kathy Bergan Schmidt
• Paula Yensen

The vote was 16-4, with Randy Donley, Marc Munaretto, Nick Provenzano and Barb Wheeler not voting. Munaretto appears not to have been at the meeting. Donley and Wheeler left early, having voted on earlier issues.  Provenzano left during the salary vote, but returned later.

There was another motion made by John Hammerand to refer the whole matter back to the Finance Committee.  It failed 15-4.

Voting for additional committee consideration were Hammrand, Evertsen, Anna May Miller and Schuster.

If the Democrats could put their act together, they would have an issue.

Republicans for pay hikes, Democrats against.