Crystal Lake Library Board Member Rebutts Steve Willson’s Critique

To set this up, here’s Lakewood’s Steve Willson’s observations concerning the deminishing patronage of the Crystal Lake Public Library: Orginally, from Lakewood resident Steve Wilson: Crystal Lake Library Annual Statistical Report Crystal Lake Library recently mailed its “Annual Report” to … Continue reading

Crystal Lake Public Library Circulation Down Precipitously in Last Nine Years

From Lakewood resident Steve Wilson: Crystal Lake Library Annual Statistical Report Crystal Lake Library recently mailed its “Annual Report” to all the families in Crystal. It has lots of pictures and graphics showing statistics on usage for the fiscal year … Continue reading

What Library Districts Did to 2018 McHenry County Real Estate Tax Bills

Here is a comparison of property tax burdens levied by libraries in McHerty County for the last three years. All are library districts, except Crystal Lake’s, which is part of city government and whose levy must be approved by the … Continue reading

Over 1,000 Turn Out for Crystal Lake Kiwanis’ Santa Run

The first Sunday of every December Crystal Lake Kiwanis sponsors a 5k race. It’s called a Santa Run. While that the 2016 race ended with snow,  the weather on the first Sunday of this December was excellent. Last year over … Continue reading

At Tonight’s Second Library Referendum Vote, Four CL Council Members on Ballot

At tonight’s Crystal Lake City Council meeting, there will be seven people allowed to vote on whether a second advisory rererendum to borrow $30.1 million shall be put on the April 4th ballot. Four of them will be on the … Continue reading

What the CL City Council Could Do to Get Rid of the CL Library’s Blagojevich Factor

As bond analyst Steve Willson has pointed out, in his industry those doing business with a government are banned from future business for two years if they make political contribution related to the entity. No such prohibition exists for builders, … Continue reading

Library Board’s Stated Reasons for a Second $30.1 Million Referendum

Tonight at its 7:30 meting at City Hall, the Crystal Lake City Council will consider whether to allow new Library supporters a second chance to obtain a majority in favor of borrowing $30.1 million. In the November election, the vote … Continue reading

CL Library Bond Issue Proponents Seeking Second Referendum Approval Tuesday Night

Not much notice, but the people in favor of borrowing $30.1 million to build a new Crystal Lake Library at the corner of West Crystal Lake and McHenry Avenues are asking the City Council to put another referendum on the … Continue reading

CL Library Outreach Spending: Fall 2015 vs. Fall 2016

McHenry County Blog has filed Freedom of Information request to find out how public relations costs this year, when the bond referendum was being run, compared with last year’s. Below is what was found: Listed below are the amounts spent … Continue reading

Willson CL Library Architect Donating Big Money to Library Referendum Campaign

The following letter from bond analyst Steve Willson, was published originally in the Northwest Herald.  It is re-published below with permission from the author: Questionable Contributions Editor: Many years ago it was common for investment banks to contribute to local … Continue reading

CL City Council Gets Earful from Library Referendum Opponents – Part 1

From a Friend of McHenry County Blog who was at the Crystal Lake City Council meeting Tuesday night: On balance, last night’s CL City Council meeting went well. We [library referendum opponents] had several public speakers during the public comment … Continue reading