Dan McCaleb
“Do you think the most powerful politician in Illinois would give so much money to an “independent” candidate without expecting anything in return? I don’t either.
“So the decision comes down to this: If you think Madigan is doing a fine job as speaker, vote for Dee Beaubien. If not, McSweeney is the choice.”
The masthead of Don Suber's blog for the Charleston Daily Mail.
Don Surber of the Charleston Daily Mail wrote ten articles of advice after the campaign.
Since some touch on the Joe Walsh-Melissa Bean contest in the 8th Congressional District.
In retrospect, Walsh did what Surber suggests, while Bean didn’t.
I thought they might be of some interest to readers .
Lesson No. 1: Be like Scott Brown and shake hands.
Lesson No. 5: Curb your ideology.
Lesson No. 6: Don’t Go On Fox News.
Lesson No. 7: Relax. (Featuring Joe Ptak and the Northwest Herald’s Dan McCaleb)
The end of January Northwest Herald Editor Dan McCaleb got Lakewood Village President Erin Smith to say that “in the future” Lakewood might be willing to discuss returning its fire protection to the Crystal Lake Fire Department. (The link provided is is not a link to the story; it’s a link to a page that will allow you buy the story for $2.95, if you so desire.)
For as long as I can remember (back to 1958 in McHenry County), Lakewood’s fire protection was provided by Crystal Lake.
But a couple of years ago Crystal Lake proposed a pricing structure that would have eventually eaten up Lakewood’s entire budget,.
While fire protection is important, Lakewood residents also value snow removal, road repair and police protection. Some even want a bicycle path and algae removal.
So the village staff and board did some hard-nosed cost-benefit analysis and concluded that it could start its own fire department, run by a private firm, American Emergency Service Corporation, and save money after the second year.
Lakewood now has begun the fourth year of a five-year contract for privatized service. Twenty-two months are left.
The Lakewood Village Board before it went into Executive Session Tuesday night. From left to right, you see Village Trustees Carl Davis, John Pfeuffer and Gene Furey,Village Clerk Janice Hansen and Village President Erin Smith.
But “the future” mentioned in McCaleb’s column is now.
The rest of the Lakewood Village Board before closing doors on the public to discuss litigation and personnel. From left to right are Village Manager Catherine Peterson, Village Attorney Richard Flood and Village Trustees Kenneth Santowsk, Dorothy Pfeuffer and John Burton.
At the Tuesday before last’s closed session to discuss litigation, the Lakewood Village Board talked about settling the suit with Crystal Lake over disputed non-payment for fire protection service and returning to the fire protection umbrella of Crystal Lake.
Crystal Lake has lost about $750,000 in revenue each year because of Lakewood’s pull-out.
On a 6-1 vote (Jeff Thorsen voting “No”), it has raised its city sales tax rate by 75% at Mayor Aaron Shepley’s behest.
Crystal Lake First Station nearest to Lakewood
Empty stores are everywhere.
Clearly Crystal Lake would love to have Lakewood return to its fire protection foal.
But, unlike the headline on McCaleb’s column, it’s more about the money than the good government goal of shared services.
Bryn Mawr subdivision sign on Route 176 near Route 47
(Logic would say that the Lakewood fire station should serve the subdivision in Crystal Lake that is closer to Route 47 than Route 14.
(Likewise, the Crystal Lake Fire station on Bard Road should be protecting Country Club Additions, Turnberry and other nearby Lakewood subdivisions.
(But, logic doesn’t always work in local governmental relations.)
Lakewood Fire Department on Haligus Road near Route 176
Before Crystal Lake wanted to charge Lakewood residents the same tax rate that Crystal Lake residents and businesses paid. Just as Lakewood residents would pay for Crystal Lake library services.
The city would not recognize that the mix of buildings in Lakewood is markedly different from that in Crystal Lake.
Lakewood does not have much business property. No high rise hotels.
Lakewood does not need all of the equipment that Crystal Lake needs to protect its large corporate structures.
In the past, Crystal Lake officials have failed to understand the concepts of marginal costs and marginal revenue.
The marginal cost of providing fire protection to Lakewood is low.
Any extra revenue is almost pure gravy.
Now, it may not seem fair to some city council folks that homeowners in Lakewood would pay less than those in Crystal Lake.
I can tell you it doesn’t seem fair to me that Crystal Lake gets to keep all my sales tax.
So, where one lives has advantages and disadvantages.
But getting “less” than one wants for something may be worth thinking about.
And maybe Crystal Lake is having such thoughts now that it thinks it has a stretched thin budget.
Main Crystal Lake Fire Station
Right not the city budget is getting less than “less,” that is, nothing.
That resulted from a misconception of its bargaining position, of thinking Crystal Lake thought it had all the fire protection marbles in town.
Obviously, Lakewood came up with a satisfactory solution.
But, now the two sides are back at the bargaining table again.
And, it appears serious discussions are taking place.
I can’t imagine more isn’t on the table that fire protection. After all, what Lakewood has in place seems to be working well.
There has to be a third leg to the negotiations. Maybe even a fourth leg.
From left to right, Council members Ellen Brady Mueller, Ralph Dawson, Cathy Ferguson, Attorney John Cowlin, City Manager Gary Mayerhofer, Mayor Aaron Shepley, City Clerk Nick Kachiroubas, and Council members Brett Hopkins, Carolyn Schofield and Jeff Thorsen.
I would observe that if Crystal Lake wants to settle the suit, maybe Crystal Lake is not so sure it can win its collection case against Lakewood.
Likewise, if Lakewood wants to settle the suit, maybe Lakewood is not so sure it can emerge victorious.
It’s been my experience when one side of a lawsuit wants to settle, they are nervous about the outcome of their case.
What will the resolution be?
It certainly will be discussed in public if the contract with American Emergency Service Corporation (Lakewood’s fire protection firm) is to be amended. I am not aware that contract changes can be kept out of an open meeting.
And, any lawsuit settlement will have to be at least voted upon in public, while it may be discussed in private by both ruling bodies.
Saturday’s column by Northwest Herald Editor Dan McCaleb started out praising Woodstock for not raising taxes to pay for something planned but not without financing.
McCaleb lays that off against Prairie Grove Grade School District 46′s defeated and retiring board members having extended the contract of Superintendent Mary Fasbender and given her a raise, despite a probably majority against that position when new members are sworn in.
He also points out McHenry County College Board members’ keeping resigned MCC President Walt Packard on the payroll for $200,000 a year for over a year.
The NW Herald editor reminds readers that neither the college nor the Prairie Grove board members would explain their actions.
Friday afternoon I talked to the attorney for the college and asked for whatever statement had been sent the Herald. That was after asking media person Christina Haggerty for the same thing.
Neither managed to get me anything.
So, despite the bright spot in Woodstock, I would conclude that McCaleb is too optimistic about government.
It is not unpredictable.
It is all too predictable.
Certainly that is the case with McHenry County’s very junior College and Prairie Grove Grade School.
If either can hide information from the public each will do and has consistently done so.
When I reference the Northwest Herald, I call it the Northwest Herald.
No reciprocity with the NW Herald’s Group Editor (oops, I see the title is now “General Manager and Executive Editor”) Chris Krug.
He was pleasant enough in person when I talked with him at the McHenry Economic Development Commission’s annual dinner. Even introduced me to NW Herald’s editor Dan McCaleb, whom two days before Christmas had his name in one of my headlines.
In Sunday’s column, (note the link) however, Krug does not identify the subject of his critical comments.
He writes about how Mayor Aaron Shepley “has taken it on the grill for months over the ’75 percent’ increase to the local sales tax in Crystal Lake to fund the Vulcan renaissance.”
Anyone want to Google “Shepley” and “75 percent?”
Use “Crystal Lake City Council” and “75 percent” and one will see I am willing to spread the credit.
Until Krug’s column, McHenry County Blog would have been the only place to look for a relevant source.
I am pleased that the NW Herald has finally informed local shoppers that the Crystal Lake sales tax was hiked 75%.
The rate went up on July 1st, as was reported exclusively until yesterday on McHenry County Blog.
Yesterday was the first time the NW Herald has revealed that fact.
But, Krug gives other clues to McHenry County Blog’s identity:
“The hopelessly myopic, the cat bloggers and those only willing to set down the remote control for a chance to rally behind the status quo have skewered the mayor mercilessly.”
And the columnist completely forgets that the Route 14-Vulcan Lakes Tax Increment Financing district was supposed to finance the Vulcan Lakes makeover.
Only when that didn’t pan out did Mayor Shepley and his city council enact the 75% sales tax for the same purpose.
I don’t want to be too critical of Krug. After all, it is a difficult time to be riding herd over a group of newspapers.
But when I write about him, I will use his name.
And, I haven’t written a lot about Keely cat since McHenry County Blog led the successful fight against the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax.
Guess Krug isn’t a regular reader.
If he were, he might assign a reporter to trying to find out how now-indicted Springfield Republican powerhouse managed,
first, to find the Crystal Lake Tax Increment Financing district and,second, to win the bid with Mayor Richard Daley’s favorite developer, to use Chicago Tribune John Kass’ description.
Now, that would be as worthy of a front page story as was the article revealing that Bill Cellini was involved in the Vulcan TIF development group back on December 15, 2006.
And one that puts the short one into context, which follows.
Finally, I would never have thought Krug would stoop so low as to refer to my visual disability in a negative way.
Yes, I am myopic.
My vision is about 20-400 before my extreme nearsightedness is corrected by trifocals to 12-20.
And, yes, that is my idea of a joke.
I readily admit to being pretty single-minded, but not shortsighted, when someone is trying to raise my taxes, whether it be through a TIF tax shift, a property tax hike with or without a referendum (as was the case with the Krug-supported McHenry County College minor league baseball stadium) or a 75% sales tax hike where we do most of our shopping.
Having said that, I have and shall reiterate another way to finance the making of Vulcan Lakes a recreational area Tuesday night at the Crystal Lake City Council meeting.
Every improvement in Crystal Lake does not require a new tax hike.
When I reference the Northwest Herald, I call it the Northwest Herald.
No reciprocity with the NW Herald’s Group Editor (oops, I see the title is now “General Manager and Executive Editor”) Chris Krug.
He was pleasant enough in person when I talked with him at the McHenry Economic Development Commission’s annual dinner. Even introduced me to NW Herald’s editor Dan McCaleb, whom two days before Christmas had his name in one of my headlines.
In Sunday’s column, (note the link) however, Krug does not identify the subject of his critical comments.
He writes about how Mayor Aaron Shepley “has taken it on the grill for months over the ’75 percent’ increase to the local sales tax in Crystal Lake to fund the Vulcan renaissance.”
Anyone want to Google “Shepley” and “75 percent?”
Use “Crystal Lake City Council” and “75 percent” and one will see I am willing to spread the credit.
Until Krug’s column, McHenry County Blog would have been the only place to look for a relevant source.
I am pleased that the NW Herald has finally informed local shoppers that the Crystal Lake sales tax was hiked 75%.
The rate went up on July 1st, as was reported exclusively until yesterday on McHenry County Blog.
Yesterday was the first time the NW Herald has revealed that fact.
But, Krug gives other clues to McHenry County Blog’s identity:
“The hopelessly myopic, the cat bloggers and those only willing to set down the remote control for a chance to rally behind the status quo have skewered the mayor mercilessly.”
And the columnist completely forgets that the Route 14-Vulcan Lakes Tax Increment Financing district was supposed to finance the Vulcan Lakes makeover.
Only when that didn’t pan out did Mayor Shepley and his city council enact the 75% sales tax for the same purpose.
I don’t want to be too critical of Krug. After all, it is a difficult time to be riding herd over a group of newspapers.
But when I write about him, I will use his name.
And, I haven’t written a lot about Keely cat since McHenry County Blog led the successful fight against the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax.
Guess Krug isn’t a regular reader.
If he were, he might assign a reporter to trying to find out how now-indicted Springfield Republican powerhouse managed,
first, to find the Crystal Lake Tax Increment Financing district and,second, to win the bid with Mayor Richard Daley’s favorite developer, to use Chicago Tribune John Kass’ description.
Now, that would be as worthy of a front page story as was the article revealing that Bill Cellini was involved in the Vulcan TIF development group back on December 15, 2006.
And one that puts the short one into context, which follows.
Finally, I would never have thought Krug would stoop so low as to refer to my visual disability in a negative way.
Yes, I am myopic.
My vision is about 20-400 before my extreme nearsightedness is corrected by trifocals to 12-20.
And, yes, that is my idea of a joke.
I readily admit to being pretty single-minded, but not shortsighted, when someone is trying to raise my taxes, whether it be through a TIF tax shift, a property tax hike with or without a referendum (as was the case with the Krug-supported McHenry County College minor league baseball stadium) or a 75% sales tax hike where we do most of our shopping.
Having said that, I have and shall reiterate another way to finance the making of Vulcan Lakes a recreational area Tuesday night at the Crystal Lake City Council meeting.
Every improvement in Crystal Lake does not require a new tax hike.
In a recent column Northwest Herald Editor Can McCaleb came up with a great opening:
“Mother Nature dumped a boatload of snow on us early Friday.
“Later in the day, Gov. Rod Blagojevich dumped a load on us of a completely different nature.”
In a recent column Northwest Herald Editor Can McCaleb came up with a great opening:
“Later in the day, Gov. Rod Blagojevich dumped a load on us of a completely different nature.”
Latest Posts
