McHenry County Blog

Earlier I figured out the percentage turnout of Republican voters for Algonquin Township and Grafton Township. All parts of the three townships had contested primaries for Republican county board seats.

Nunda Township precinct map. Click to enlarge.

Nunda Township also had a hotly contested Republican county board primary. Five candidates ran with the results you see below:

In the analysis below you see the Nunda Township precinct number, the percentage of GOP turnout and the name of the elected precinct committeeman, if anyone ran for the office.

• Nunda 1 – 13.5%
• Nunda 2 – 12.2%
• Nunda 3 – 9.7%
• Nunda 4 – 10.2%
• Nunda 5 – 15.4% (Howard Parth)
• Nunda 6 – 13.0%
• Nunda 7 – 9.7% (Kevin Lee Jennings)
• Nunda 8 – 11.6% (Kathy Corwin)
• Nunda 9 – 11.8% (Bernard Narusis)
• Nunda 10 – 17.0%
• Nunda 11 – 22.5% (Mark Daniel)
• Nunda 12 – 13.9%
• Nunda 13 – 14.4% (James Becker)
• Nunda 14 – 11.4% (Patrick Collins)
• Nunda 15 – 16.4% (Mike Shorten)
• Nunda 16 – 19.5% (James Schlader)
• Nunda 17 – 16.7% (Nick Provensano)
• Nunda 18 – 22.6% (Dave Gervais)
• Nunda 19 – 13.7% (In the only contest, Jon Heideman beat Doug Mann.)
• Nunda 20 – 18.2%
• Nunda 21 – 16.7% (Brent Smith)
• Nunda 22 – 16.3%
• Nunda 23 – 9.3%
• Nunda 24 – 13.1%
• Nunda 25 – 10.9%
• Nunda 26 – 7.1%
• Nunda 27 – 7.0%
• Nunda 28 – 9.3%
• Nunda 29 – 22.7% (Barbara Wheeler)

So, who did the best job of getting GOP voters to the polls?

The only three precincts with turnouts over 20% are those of county board member and candidate Barb Wheeler, Dave Gervais and Mark Daniel.

If you live in one of the precincts without an elected precinct committeeman and would like to serve in that position, shoot me an email.

July 4th Crystal Lake TEA Party demonstration.

It’s time for those people who attended TEA Party demonstrations to increase the intensity of their activity.  Serving as a precinct committeeman is one way to do that.

License plate 989-NHH on a white Jeep into which Sheriff Keith Nygren and his wife drove from the fundraiser for Appellate Justice Mary Schostok. It has a license plate holder saying, "POSSE SHERIFF NYGREN."

I found this Wisconsin license plate in the parking lot of D’Andrea the night of the event for Appellate Court Justices Mary Schostok and Ann Jorgensen.

While looking for a big, lit up Nygren sign in the parking lot, I saw McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren and his wife Marge get into a large white Jeep with a Wisconsin license plate and a Nygren’s Posse license plate holder.

It prompted me to send this email yesterday morning to Nygren’s campaign web site.

Brent Smith sent me out to the parking lot at Schostok’s fund raiser to get a photo of your sign, which he said was lighted.  Searching the parking lot, I ran across a white Jeep with Wisconsin plates.  It had a Nygren Posse license plate holder.  (At the far edge of the parking lot I finally found the pickup truck, but with an unlit sign.)

Cary village Trustee Ray Chisholm and, later, Woodstock Mayor Brian Sager and I talked on the steps.  Then you and Marge left the event, got into the Jeep and drove away.

Why does the Jeep have Wisconsin license plates?

By the time I went to bed, having scheduled this to be posted shortly after midnight, Sheriff Nygren had not replied.

Republicans of all ages, including many members of the McHenry County Young Republicans, hunters, sportsman, and local residents packed the Prairie Grove Village Hall last night.

The Second Amendment advocates were inspired by a Saturday article in the Northwest Herald in which Jeanne Smith, the Village Administrator of Prairie Grove and my 1998 Democratic Party state representative opponent, stated there would be an informal discussion about allowing hunting in the community.

During the standing room only meeting, Brent Smith, Vice-Chairman of the Nunda Township Republican Central Committee, seen standing to the left, said,

“We were not aware the village ever stopped entertaining the idea of hunting within the community.”

Brent Smith’s statement was reinforced at the meeting when the Village President Stan Duda stated,

“It wasn’t intended at the time to prevent hunting.”

Shortly after the meeting was called to order, the board agreed to change the order of business to accommodate the issue they felt the people in attendance were there to discuss.

At one moment the Village Attorney David McArdle stated that

before 2005 “hunting was legal in the village as long as a firearm was not used to inflict harm to a person or property, used to assault or threaten harm, or used in a reckless manner.

“However, that year the ordinances were typed into a new code book, and the addition of an extra period changed the law, making it illegal to discharge a firearm in Prairie Grove under any circumstances.”

“They’re areas that aren’t reasonable, but nobody’s trying to stop hunting in legitimate areas,” said Village President Stan Duda.

“That’s ironic,” said a heated Bryan Javor, Chairman of the McHenry County Young Republicans, seen in the orange hat.

“Then, why was it changed in the first place? In 2005?

“If the intent was as you claim, to never prevent hunting, then why did Jeanne Smith say this was a meeting to discuss whether the board would entertain the idea of hunting in the community, as if it wasn’t already (allowed).”

Nick Provenzano, McHenry County Board candidate in District 3, stated the deletion of the first sentence of the ordinance would provide adequate protection for the village and not infringe upon hunting.

The board quickly approved a measure to repeal the ordinance and stated that the ordinance would be sent to committee to be re-written.

The attendees applauded the board for there decision.

Many attendees volunteered their time if the committee wanted residents input.

The Ordinance being debated can be found here. It states

“No person shall discharge any firearms in the Village. In addition to those firearms defined by the Illinois Compiled Statutes, for purposes of this section, firearms shall include pump air rifles, potato guns, CO2 pellet guns, paint ball guns and any other device capable of discharging a projectile if used with intent to inflict harm to person or property or to assault or threaten harm to a person or property or when used in a reckless manner.”

The only opponent seemed to be former Lake in the Hills Police Chief and now Director of Police Jim Wales. He expressed concern about people who use and fire guns respecting the residents of the community.
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From left to right in the top photo are Trustee David K. Robak, Village President Stanley C. Duda, Village Administrator Jeannine Smith, Trustee Todd Greenwald, Trustee Lisa Behm, Attorney David McArdle and Trustee W. Randal Baudin II.

Bill Behm is holding the Prairie Grove map. Jim Wales is seen standing in the bottom photo with Brent Smith standing listening.

Wednesday night I searched all the townships and municipalities in the pork bill passed by the General Assembly and put up an article about how much each township received.

They all got $75,000, but I discovered that three of the largest four—Algonquin, McHenry and Grafton—got more.

I wondered why Nunda got only $75,000, but after running the search engine twice, wrote the article and went to bed.

Nunda Township Democrat Patrick Murfin saw the piece and speculated on why Nunda got less.

He wondered whether Nunda was being punished for trying to “seize leadership in the county party, ” citing Brent Smith’s role in putting together the slate Team Nunda, which rolled to victory in both the GOP primary election and the general election in which Murfin and a running mate were challenging Smith’ wife Joni, who ran first.

(Murfin also wrote a piece on the election, which I referenced.)

So, Murfin reads my article and asks, “What gives?”

Pretty much the same question I asked myself.

Those of you who remember geometry may remember that one can reach the wrong conclusion if one starts with the wrong information.

The next day, I read Pete Gonigam’s First Electronic Newspaper and discovered he had found much more money had be allocated to Nunda than my bleary eyes had spied in House Bill 313.

I dutifully wrote a correction about missing the $175,000.

And, so did Murfin.

He observed, “Maybe Nunda is being rewarded for his increased clout.”

So, nothing unusual about the township pork. The big townships got more than the little townships, just as one would expect.

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The photo shows Brent Smith recruiting Neko Olsen for the Young Republicans at last summer’s Nunda Township Picnic.

I was in Andy’s Family Restaurant last Saturday morning and who should walk in but State Rep. Mike Tryon (R-Crystal Lake).

Tryon, whom I discovered was there in his role as McHenry County Republican Central Committee Chairman, was having breakfast with Crystal Lake’s Bryan Javor, its newly-elected president.

He’s about the same age as I was when I took over the reins when Jack Schaffer was off the Germany to serve in the Armed Forces.

For once, I didn’t have my camera, but Javor handed me his cell phone as if I would know how to use it.

He showed me what button to push and you seen the result.

Later he sent me this press release:

MCGOP Launches “Young Republicans”

Crystal Lake, IL… September 3rd 2008 at approximately 7:45 PM the McHenry County Republican Central Committee chartered The McHenry County Young Republicans (MCYR) and the 48 members it represents.

The MCYR are the 11th state recognized Young Republican organization. Prairie Grove native and Nunda 21 Precinct Committeemen Brent Smith and Dan Regna founded the organization with the assistance of Republican Party leaders.

Elections were held at the McHenry County Campaign Headquarters. Candidates elected were Bryan Javor as Chairman, Erica Poremba as Vice Chairman, Greg Austin as Treasurer and Garret Hill as Secretary.

The MCYR are looking for people between the ages of 18 and 40 to support McHenry County’s Republican leadership and values. For more information on membership please contact subscribe@mchenryyoungrepublicans.com or visit http://www.mchenryyoungrepublicans.com/

Later he emailed me this executive meeting notice:

Sunday September 21st the second executive board meeting will occur.

The MCYR Chairman, Vice Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary will be in attendance.

The meeting will determine who is appointed as committee Chairmen.

The available committee positions are Bylaw Chairman, Social Chairman, Fundraising Chairman and Membership Chairman.

Positions will be determined in part based on responses received from the MCYR Chairman’s survey and emailed request for additional member involvement.

The Executive board members will also choose a day for the next member meeting.

This will again be based largely on responses to the attached survey. The survey was sent September 14th using internet polling technology thru Poll Daddy.

I was in Andy’s Family Restaurant last Saturday morning and who should walk in but State Rep. Mike Tryon (R-Crystal Lake).

Tryon, whom I discovered was there in his role as McHenry County Republican Central Committee Chairman, was having breakfast with Crystal Lake’s Bryan Javor, its newly-elected president.

He’s about the same age as I was when I took over the reins when Jack Schaffer was off the Germany to serve in the Armed Forces.

For once, I didn’t have my camera, but Javor handed me his cell phone as if I would know how to use it.

He showed me what button to push and you seen the result.

Later he sent me this press release:

MCGOP Launches “Young Republicans”

Crystal Lake, IL… September 3rd 2008 at approximately 7:45 PM the McHenry County Republican Central Committee chartered The McHenry County Young Republicans (MCYR) and the 48 members it represents.

The MCYR are the 11th state recognized Young Republican organization. Prairie Grove native and Nunda 21 Precinct Committeemen Brent Smith and Dan Regna founded the organization with the assistance of Republican Party leaders.

Elections were held at the McHenry County Campaign Headquarters. Candidates elected were Bryan Javor as Chairman, Erica Poremba as Vice Chairman, Greg Austin as Treasurer and Garret Hill as Secretary.

The MCYR are looking for people between the ages of 18 and 40 to support McHenry County’s Republican leadership and values. For more information on membership please contact subscribe@mchenryyoungrepublicans.com or visit http://www.mchenryyoungrepublicans.com/

Later he emailed me this executive meeting notice:

Sunday September 21st the second executive board meeting will occur.

The MCYR Chairman, Vice Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary will be in attendance.

The meeting will determine who is appointed as committee Chairmen.

The available committee positions are Bylaw Chairman, Social Chairman, Fundraising Chairman and Membership Chairman.

Positions will be determined in part based on responses received from the MCYR Chairman’s survey and emailed request for additional member involvement.

The Executive board members will also choose a day for the next member meeting.

This will again be based largely on responses to the attached survey. The survey was sent September 14th using internet polling technology thru Poll Daddy.

At the Nunda Township Republican Central Committee picnic last Saturday, I got this picture of Brent Smith recruiting Neko Olsen to join the McHenry County Young Republicans. Olsen lives in McHenry.

That’s how you get people to do things in politics, whether it be to go door-to-door or to contribute money.

You ask them.

At the Nunda Township Republican Central Committee picnic last Saturday, I got this picture of Brent Smith recruiting Neko Olsen to join the McHenry County Young Republicans. Olsen lives in McHenry.

That’s how you get people to do things in politics, whether it be to go door-to-door or to contribute money.

You ask them.

When McHenry County Republican Central Committee Chairman Bill LeFew decided to abandon the chairmanship after embarrassing himself and the Republican Party with his unsuccessful attempts to keep secret his efforts to oust McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi, LeFew did his best to surround consensus choice for chairman Mike Tryon with LeFew loyalists.

He pushed his Chief Deputy Treasurer Glenda Miller for party secretary to replace Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley and Brent Smith, who was active in the LeFew-backed Dan Regna for state’s attorney campaign for treasurer.

Long-time Crystal Lake precinct committeeman decided to run against Miller, pledging to open the central committee’s financial books.
Wickham won by a 2-1 margin, ushering in a new era of financial transparency.

When I was looking at State Rep. Mike Tryon’s six-month report, I noticed a $500 June 16th contribution to the McHenry County Chairman’s Circle.

I had heard rumors about it, but this was the first hard evidence that it existed.

No campaign disclosure had been filed for the committee when I looked, but a friend of McHenry County Blog found an announcement of the committee’s formation on July 23rd.

Mike Tryon is listed as chairman, Ken Koehler as treasurer and Blake Hobson as secretary. Tryon named Hobson, incidentally, as vice chairman in charge of finance for the central committee.

Tryon listed the committee’s address as Box 723 in McHenry, the same address listed for the foundation committee, the central committee and the Republican Women’s Club of McHenry County.

Interestingly, when the paperwork was filed for the Chairman’s Circle, it listed Ken Koehler’s home address, rather than the McHenry post office box.

I figure Tryon is soliciting $500 checks to be spent…well, we won’t know until sometime in January.

We will be able to find out who contributes, however, in the pre-election report before the general election.

I figure that every dollar the Chairman’s Circle gets is one less dollar the Central Committee receives.

When McHenry County Republican Central Committee Chairman Bill LeFew decided to abandon the chairmanship after embarrassing himself and the Republican Party with his unsuccessful attempts to keep secret his efforts to oust McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi, LeFew did his best to surround consensus choice for chairman Mike Tryon with LeFew loyalists.

He pushed his Chief Deputy Treasurer Glenda Miller for party secretary to replace Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley and Brent Smith, who was active in the LeFew-backed Dan Regna for state’s attorney campaign for treasurer.

Long-time Crystal Lake precinct committeeman decided to run against Miller, pledging to open the central committee’s financial books.
Wickham won by a 2-1 margin, ushering in a new era of financial transparency.

When I was looking at State Rep. Mike Tryon’s six-month report, I noticed a $500 June 16th contribution to the McHenry County Chairman’s Circle.

I had heard rumors about it, but this was the first hard evidence that it existed.

No campaign disclosure had been filed for the committee when I looked, but a friend of McHenry County Blog found an announcement of the committee’s formation on July 23rd.

Mike Tryon is listed as chairman, Ken Koehler as treasurer and Blake Hobson as secretary. Tryon named Hobson, incidentally, as vice chairman in charge of finance for the central committee.

Tryon listed the committee’s address as Box 723 in McHenry, the same address listed for the foundation committee, the central committee and the Republican Women’s Club of McHenry County.

Interestingly, when the paperwork was filed for the Chairman’s Circle, it listed Ken Koehler’s home address, rather than the McHenry post office box.

I figure Tryon is soliciting $500 checks to be spent…well, we won’t know until sometime in January.

We will be able to find out who contributes, however, in the pre-election report before the general election.

I figure that every dollar the Chairman’s Circle gets is one less dollar the Central Committee receives.