McHenry County Blog

Com Ed had a power failure last night right in front of our Lakewood home.

My son was looking out the front window and saw two explosions.

He said looked like fireworks and startled him.

After each one, the power went out, then came back on.

There was no wind and no rain.

No car hit a pole.

Simple failure of a couple of brackets, it appears.

I immediately call Commonwealth Edison and informed them.

It took about a half an hour for a truck to show up.

Even with the so-called Smart Grid Com Ed has succeeded in getting most local legislators to pass rate hikes to finance, the notice of the outage would not have brought the repair truck appreciably faster.

Although the cause of the damage was obvious–two brackets had collapsed from the pole, which is about fifty feet high–onto the wires causing them to short out, the truck went up and down the street looking at the rest of the line along Lake Avenue.

As I was beginning this story shortly after nine last night, the lights and the computer went dark again.

Over five hours later, our bedroom lights went on waking us about 2:15 AM.

And here’s what the repair to the electric system looked like this morning:

This section of Com Ed’s grid was installed about ten years ago. The part of Broadway cost a man his life.

Awaiting a call from Com Ed to answer my questions as to how many were affected and what the cause of the problem was.

I don’t know how you read the above letter, but it sounds to me as if Democrat Jack Franks is threatening to sue Republican Cal Skinner because of the critical articles I have posted on McHenry County Blog.

It seems to me that he is, as was McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren’s clone and endorsed successor Andy Zinke last week, trying to eliminate pretty much the only criticism he receives from anyone whose stories can be found on the internet.

No, I forgot the Northwest Herald criticized him for eliminating himself and judges from his meaningless Gubernatorial Recall Amendment to the Illinois Constitution and the Drano registration bill, a hint as to how much of a regulation mentality lies right under the surface of his public persona.

And the Chicago Tribune tore him apart for his bill to allow Com Ed to chop down any tree within 20-feet of a power line.

But, on the whole, headline-seeker Franks gets good press.

Franks says I’m not welcome at any of his personal or political events.

Pretty strange statement since I have never been closer to his home than the video tour his real estate agent posted when he was trying to sell his Bull Valley home to move to Marengo.

Pretty strange since I am not one of the Republicans who comes to his political fund raisers–not the cheap ones in McHenry County nor the big ticket ones in Chicago.  And I’m not a Republican who allows my name to be used as part of his “Host Committee.”

Franks says I don’t have his permission to post his picture or that of his family.

Come on.

For starters, I have no interest in his family.

I’m interested in what Jack Franks does in the public arena.

And I think I have taken every picture I have posted of Franks on McHenry County Blog in a public meeting or somewhere he showed himself in public trying to get publicity.

Those of us with long memories can remember the populist Jack Franks of the early days.

The guy who said he was “Pro-Choice,” but was not  Pro-Choice enough for Personal PAC, the pro-abortion Political Action Committeen to endorse him.  (In 2008 and 2010, Franks was endorsed by Personal PAC.)

Franks says I’m not a journalist and have “no right to any access.”

No credentials, don’t you know.

Guess I have no right to go to a parade or the Marengo re-apportionment committee meeting.

I’ll bet that those folks who wrote broadsides during the American Revolution didn’t have credentials either.

And lots of them didn’t use their own names as I do.

The folks who smeared Franks’ 2010 opponent John O’Neill right before the election weren’t brave enough to use their names either.

Although anonymous, the Founding Fathers who criticized King George fought for my right to criticize those who rule us.

One would think an attorney and seven-term Illinois State Representative would understand that.

The man who introduced a bill during the first part of his Springfield career to stop SLAPP suits filed by developers (think Richmond where the developer sued Village Trustees) is long gone.

(SLAPP, by the way, stands for “Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation.”)

When the Northwest Herald sued me, we used Franks’ law as part of our defense.

The article in question was about public policy.

So are my articles about Jack Franks.

I’m not an attorney like Franks, but I believe that political speech under the First Amendment has the highest protection.

If I wanted to distribute one of my posts, complete with photos, as a campaign piece in opposition to Franks’ re-election, or put it on the radio or television, I sincerely doubt anyone would take the complaints expressed in the above letter seriously.

Franks, like every candidate and public office holder, would love to get a free ride.

Franks has enjoyed that most of his career.

But the “populist” of the early days is long gone.

The “baggage” gets heavier as he seeks more power.

Now, instead of promoting an end to SLAPP suits, Jack Franks voted for the Commonwealth Edison rate increase bill.  The Illinois Commerce Commission in a most convenient recent decision put off that electric rate increase of $3 a month until January.

That’s after the election, not that the timing makes any difference to the three legislators from McHenry County who supported the bill.

None of them have opposition.

Franks last sentence says, “I trust that I have made myself clear.”

You have,”Chainsaw Jack.”

Your bill to allow Com Ed to chop down every tree within 20-feet of a power line shows how out of touch you are with McHenry County.  Even having been out of office almost twelve years, I can tell you that introducing that idea was about as far from representing McHenry County residents as one can go.

It’s clear you can’t stand the heat.

Right near the north end of the Virginia Street TIF District (you know the place, just look for the two $16,000 stone monuments) in front of the Crystal Lake Motel, high winds have snapped an electric line maintained by Commonwealth Edison.

In this case, it was not any of those nasty trees within 20 feet of a power line that “Chainsaw Jack” Franks wants to have cut down.

In fact, there were no trees near the line break.

The following notice was sent out by the Crystal Lake Police at 4:43 PM:

Temp Road Closure, All lanes Route 14 from Northshore Dr to Dole Ave are closed and being re-routed, down power lines

Police and fire equipment were there when I arrived.

But there were no Com Ed repair trucks when I left to write this article at about 5.

No doubt traffic reports will tell of the big jam on Route 14 in Crystal Lake.

Crystal Lake resident Paul Greenlee has shared his communication with the Crystal Lake City Council about a couple of items on tonight’s meeting agenda:

Mayor Shepley and Members of the City Council:

It is not clear whether or not I will be able to attend the Council meeting on May 15, 2012, but it is important that I comment on and call to your attention the following:

1. Our portion of our neighborhood (South of Barlina/West of Golf Course) had a power outage May 13, 2012.

It lasted about 30-45 minutes.

Given that there was no adverse weather and no other known condition, this kind of out of the blue occurrence is of concern.

Especially in light of Com Ed’s performance when we had such a recent significant storm, their inability to provide reliable service in relatively serene condition is a concern.

The outage was reported to Com Ed and their automated system indicated that there was no outage.

When I called it in, the power had already been out a little while; it wasn’t like they were called 30 seconds after the power went off.

When I held to speak to a customer service representative they indicated that their automated system was in error, but then contradicted themselves and said there was no outage in Crystal Lake, and then said that power from said non-outage would be restored about 12:45 a.m.

It came on earlier than that, but their inability to answer simple questions correctly is of great concern.

They should know from their grid where power outages exist, one would think.

2. On the agenda for your consideration is a request from Bernotas Middle School for an electronic message center sign. The Plan Commission previously rejected this request.

I am not a Bernotas parent (I am a Lundahl parent), but I support the school’s request for you to override the Plan Commission recommendation.

First the kids in that school worked quite hard to raise the money for the sign.

If you want to engender apathy within young people or upset parents, then support the Plan Commission’s recommendation.

The kids need to know (as do the parents who supported them) that their efforts truly meant something.

It sounds like the Bernotas group tried to follow the rules from the beginning but received faulty guidance or some other misunderstanding that caused the Plan’s recommendation.

Also, I think Bernotas is the only school in the district without some kind of sign of that nature.

Finally, if I WERE a neighbor of that school, I cannot imagine a sign like that (even with lights, for goodness sake) would be a nuisance.

I urge you to reward the efforts of the families of Bernotas Middle School and approve their request for a sign.

3. I notice a request for a business for Lightning Lazer Tag.

If established, I am sure my nine year old son and his friends would make use of this facility.

I suppose if I were a neighbor to this facility, I would have concerns about it becoming a nuisance.

If you receive significant complaints and concerns about establishing this business by the neighbors, I support your not allowing it.

If the neighbors do not raise issues, I still would ask that you strictly enforce anti-loitering ordinances to keep a “bad element” from initiating a presence.

[The location near the 7-11 on Berkshire seems to be the same space previously occupied by a lazer tax facility.]

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Paul Greenlee

State Rep. Jack Franks (D-Marengo) is using up a lot of political capital carrying Commonwealth Edison’s chainsaw.

He has introduced legislation (House Bill 3884) which will allow electric utilities to chop down any tree within 20 feet of a power line.

As you drive around, look at the trees within 20 feet of a wire.

How barren will the streets look after the chainsaw massacre?

Another article may be of interest:

Fellow Democrat Finds “Chainsaw Jack” Franks Got $1,000 from Com Ed Ally Ameren

Below are the email addresses of the House Public Utilities Committee members:

• Andre M. Thapedi (rep32district@gmail.com)
• Angelo Saviano (skip@skipsaviano.com)
• Brandon W. Phelps (bphelps118@gmail.com)
• Charles E. Jefferson (staterepchuck67@aol.com)
• Constance A. Howard (howardca@ilga.gov)
• Dave Winters (‘repwinters@aol.com‘)
• Ed Sullivan Jr. (ILhouse51@sbcglobal.net)
• sther Golar (esthergolar@sbcglobal.net)
• Franco Coladipietro (franco@il45.com)
• Frank J. Mautino (patti76th@ivnet.com)
• Fred Crespo (fred@fredcrespo.com)
• Jack D. Franks (jack@jackfranks.org)
• Jil Tracy (jiltracy@jiltracy.com)
• Jim Durkin (repdurkin@hotmail.com)
• Karen May (karen@repkarenmay.org)
• Kay Hatcher (info@kayhatcher.us)
• Linda Chapa LaVia (chapa-laviali@ilga.gov)
• Luis Arroyo (RepDistrict3@gmail.com)
• Michael G. Connelly (Repconnelly48@gmail.com)
• Mike Bost (rep.bost@hotmail.com)
• Mike Fortner (mike.fortner@sbcglobal.net)
• Patrick J. Verschoore (pverschoore@qconline.com)
• Richard Morthland (reprmorthland@gmail.com)

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The poster was designed by Allan Showalter, who writes “Heck of a Guy” blog, where today you can see some of Showalter’s suggestions for a new McHenry County Seal.

Just in case you haven’t read the latest piece from “Tree Hugging” McHenry County Blogster Cal Skinner, you need to in order to set the stage for this follow-up article.

Here’s where you can find it:

Jack Franks Shows Tree Killer Side

And, if you don’t want to read it, Franks introduced legislation on February 28th, an amendment to his House Bill 3884, which will allow Com Ed and Ameren to cut down any tree within 20 feet of a power line.

As the headline of this piece indicates, the following observation comes from a Democrat on the same primary ballot as State Rep. Jack Franks.

His name is Scott Summers.

He is so dedicated to preserving the environment that he took the train home to Harvard after an organization meeting of the Green Party, on whose ticket he has run for Congress and State Treasurer.  (I took him to the train station after covering the meeting before the GOP organization meeting.)

In any event, now running as a Democrat for the McHenry County Board, Summers posted the following comment under the above referenced story:

From the Illinois State Board of Elections website (www.elections.il.gov):

Donated to: Supporters of Jack D Franks

Contributed By:
Ameren, P O Box 66892, St. Louis, MO 63166
$1,000.00
2/21/2012

Ameren is the Com Ed of Central and Southern Illinois.

Coincidence?

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Franks was elected in 1998 and when this year is up will have served 14 years.

No one is running against him as a Republican…yet.

If anyone is interested in doing so, please email (address on the left hand side of the web site) or call me at 815-459-3505.

The McHenry County Republican Central Committee has the right (and I would argue the obligation) to make sure Franks has opposition…for this and a number of other reasons.

After his last minute “conversion” to the electric rate hike side of the bill promoted by Com Ed and Ameren, it appears that Democrat Jack Franks is now playing water boy for the not-so-regulated-as-before utilities.

We have the Emily Berendt to thank for the following information on Franks’ House Bill 3884:

[Here] is a [link to] House Bill 3884, sponsored by Jack Franks.

It allows the utility company to remove any tree that has a mature height of over 25 feet and is within 20 feet of a utility pole or overhead conductor.

The ICC is instructed to set rules that give the electric utility the right to judge whether pruning is insufficient and removal is needed. It is unlawful for anyone to interfere with this vegetation management process. The electric utility can assess charges for the removal.

The amount of tree destruction this will permit is incomprehensible to me.

The utility company already has extensive pruning standards that create grotesquely disfigured trees along our roadsides.

If this passes they will be able to just take trees out instead.

House Bill 3884 would allow Com Ed to remove all the trees on the south (right in this photo) side of Lake Avenue, if they are within 20 feet of the power lines. Northern Illinois electric service would be safe from most falling trees, but denuded of nearby trees.

This would apply to any place on your property as well.

The only lines that would be exempt are those that run to individual homes and the high voltage lines that carry more than 100kV.

Please join me opposing passage of this bill.

Contact Jack Franks through one of the options below. Please contact our other legislators as well and ask them to oppose this.

And please pass this information on to your friends and colleagues.

Emily Berendt
Member, Fleming Road Alliance
Trustee, Village of Bull Valley
Director, Alliance for Land Agriculture and Water

The hearing on the language will be Tuesday, March 6th, even though it just popped up on February 28th.

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This is truly an anti-conservation, anti-environmental bill. It gives license to Com Ed to chop down any tree within 20 feet of a power line.

Canopies on rural roads would be devastated.  One person used the word “Barren.”

Electric power would conquer quality of life.

A notice from the Huntley Area Tea Party:

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I wonder if any of the legislators who voted for the Com Ed/Ameren rate hike bill (Com Ed refer to it as the “Smart Grid” bill) will attend the meeting.  Here’s the House Roll Call.  Here’s the Senate Roll Call.

An email from State Senator Dan Duffy:

26th District Legislative Update

Dear Friends,

Today Illinois faces problems like never before. Our state is in need of strong leadership. As your representative in Springfield, I am working to promote a job-friendly environment and restore common sense, efficient policies to state government.

Spending is out of control and the budget is completely out of alignment. In January, I voted against a 67% tax increase which unfortunately passed. Our state deficit continued to grow even after passing the largest tax hike in state history. Clearly, we can not tax our way out of this mess. The answer is not increased taxation, but effective, efficient government.

I have consistently opposed additional borrowing in order to meet Illinois’ financial obligations.

Unfortunately a budget passed which increased spending and once again deferred millions in Medicaid payments.

I advocated for a smaller, smarter government in order to balance our budget and restore Illinois’ fiscal health.

In November, I voted against a bill that would increase your monthly utility bills to fund so-called “smart grid” upgrades to our power infrastructure. I do not believe the state should further burden the people of Illinois in the middle of a deep recession.

This year I also continued to fight corruption in state government and spoke out against “pay-to-play” political appointments.

It is an honor to serve the 26th district in the Illinois State Senate. Your concerns and questions are very important to me. Please do not hesitate to contact me with your feedback so that I may better serve you!

Very truly yours,

Dan Duffy
State Senator 26th District

After the letter came the following press release:

Duffy Says Budget Biggest Issue in Illinois

Senator Duffy has argued for spending restraint insisting that the state must live within its means. Duffy voted against the 67% tax increase in January 2011, and opposed additional borrowing and increased spending. Legislators must identify real solutions that deliver services more efficiently.

During the 2011 spring legislative session, Senator Duffy and others offered a detailed “reality check” plan that would eliminate the deficit, phase out the tax increase, and revitalize the state’s economy by supporting Illinois’ job creators. The “reality check” plan outlined a menu of specific efficiency measures that, if implemented, would put Illinois back on the road to a balanced budget – without sacrificing essential services.

Some of the specific suggestions included combining the Treasurer and Comptroller’s offices to save as much as $12 million dollars. The plan also included meaningful public employee pension reforms which would save the state as much as $1.35 billion immediately, with additional savings in the years ahead.

Government pensions are more generous than those received by private sector tax payers. Some government pensions offer retirement at age 55, require minimum pension contributions, and have free health care. Many pension recipients receive more than $100,000 per year in benefits. This is not fair to the hard working citizens of Illinois whose tax dollars are paying for these overly generous benefits.

Illinois families have learned that in lean times they must spend less to keep their household budgets balanced. It is time the state learns to do the same!

Duffy Opposes Utility Rate Hike

During the fall veto session the legislature voted to override a gubernatorial veto on Senate Bill 1652, a piece of legislation that uses rate hikes to fund upgrades to the state’s power infrastructure.

In debate, Duffy raised concerns that campaign contributions had influenced votes on the legislation. Campaign finance watchdogs estimated that ComEd and Ameren spent in excess of $930,000 in campaign contributions to legislators while discussing the “smart grid” legislation. Duffy also opposed the clause in the legislation which guaranteed profits to the power companies for decades to come.

Senator Duffy noted that it may not be the appropriate time to be moving forward with the new “smart grid” legislation. In theory meters may provide better information about how to cut energy use and save money, but the meters are expensive. The cost will be passed on to consumers through rate hikes. Additionally, if consumers want to see the full benefits of the upgrades, they must add complicated in-home displays and integrate home-area networks which will take data from the meters to control appliances and other pieces of equipment.

Duffy voted against the legislation over concerns that it placed an unfair financial burden on Illinois citizens to fund the upgrades.

Duffy Fights “Quinn pro quos”

This year, Senator Duffy continued his crusade against what he calls “Quinn pro quos,” or political appointments to elected officials, their top donors, and their family members.

In the fall veto session Duffy spoke out against the $117,000 a year appointment of Jennifer Burke, daughter of powerful Chicago Alderman Ed Burke and Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke, to the Illinois Pollution Control Board. Duffy said,

“This is typical pay-to-play politics—the same bad policy of appointing politically connected people to high priced board positions. How would the typical person in Illinois even know how to apply for a position like this?”

In February Duffy introduced Senate Bill 1935, a measure that would prohibit the spouse, child, or spouse of a child of a state official, from being appointed to any state board or commission.

Duffy Continues Fight Against Red Light Cameras

Senator Duffy believes we should do everything possible to keep our roads safe. However he feels red light cameras are all about revenue, not about safety.

The US Department of Transportation statistics show that an average motorist could drive a billion miles – the distance from Earth to Jupiter and back – before being involved in and accident that resulted from turning right on red. [emphasis provided]

In March, Duffy introduced Senate Bill 26, a measure that prohibits a county or municipality from using a red light camera to issue violations to drivers who enter an intersection to turn right on red, where it is a legal maneuver.

Duffy debated that if the issue was truly about safety, municipalities should remove cameras from right turn lanes and install “no turn on red” signs at troubled intersections.

In the fall veto session, Duffy voted against using red light cameras as “speed” cameras.

Senate Bill 965 allows a special feature on the red light cameras to be switched “on”, which in turn allows the cameras to monitor the speed of automobiles as they pass by.

The cameras will then issue tickets to cars driving over the speed limit.

The ticket goes to the car, not to the driver. In debate on the Senate Floor the Senator spoke out against the legislation saying,

“I’m against this big brother piece of legislation.”

The 14th of December, appointed State Rep. Kent Gaffney received a thousand dollar check from Exelon, the parent company of Commonwealth Edison.

That’s more than a little interesting since he did not vote for the electric rate increase bill.

Right before the vote, Gaffney got $1,500 from Ameren, the electric company out of St. Louis that serves Southern Illinois.

The previous contribution of $1,000 or more to Gaffney was from Citizens to Elect Tom Cross.

Gaffney, is, of course, a former long-time staff member for Cross and Cross did vote the the electric rate hike bill.

And it is no big secret that Cross is helping Gaffney’s election effort.

He has Nicholas McNeely as campaign manager. McNeeley told me he was being paid by the House Republican Organization, which is controlled by Cross. He emailed me to tell me of his duties on November 3rd.

Also assisting Graffney in at least a press release writing and distribution.capacity is Garrett Hill.

Looking at fund raising efforts for Gaffney’s challengers, Danielle Rowe has no contributions that meet the $1,000 reporting threshold in December, which David McSweeney has raised $11,000 this month.