McHenry County Blog

Lack of inter-connectivity has always been the problem in delivering bus service to the suburbs.  To get from one town to the next, you had to be able to get from your home to the bus stop.

During the 1974 RTA referendum, proponents promised,

“Public transportation, when and where you need it, throughout the region.”

“Right,” I thought then. “Not in my lifetime.”

Now local officials have forged an agreement to allow those living in Crystal Lake (the city, not the zip codes 60012 and 60014) to get to and from home and McHenry and/or Woodstock or anywhere in Dorr Township, plus all combinations thereof.

Here is the county’s press release on the ribbon cutting:

PACE Ribbon Cutting

WOODSTOCK, IL – A ribbon cutting ceremony was held this morning to commemorate the launch of a program to expand Pace Dial-a-Ride services in McHenry County.

The Program, which officially went into service last Saturday, enables registered users to arrange transit trips between the cities of Crystal Lake, McHenry, and Woodstock, and for seniors and people with disabilities the area also includes all of McHenry Township and unincorporated Dorr Township.

McHenry County Board Chairman speaks at a ceremony announcing the expansion of PACE bus service between Crystal Lake, McHenry and Woodstock.

Near the Vietnam War Memorial at the County Administration building, County Board Chairman Ken Koehler provided a few words for the occasion:

“It would be an understatement to say it’s been a very long journey from planning stage to implementation of these services… This project, funded by the Senior Services Grant Commission and the County Transit Grant Program will have immediate impacts to many with limited mobility in the County and will, in the long-term, create positive social and economic impacts.”

The seeds for this service were first planted in 2005, when the County Board approved a Transit Plan calling for the coordination of transit services.

Pace Board Chairman Richard Kwasneski heralded the new service as an example of the kind of coordination that will be necessary for successful transit systems in the future.

Sandra Salgado, McHenry County Board member and Chair of the County’s Senior Services Grant Commission, expressed how happy the Commission members are to see this service provide new transportation options for McHenry County’s seniors.  In late 2007, the Senior Services Grant Commission awarded funds to the McHenry County Division of Transportation to begin a program of coordinated transit services.

Anna May Miller, also a Board member and Chair of the County’s Transportation Committee, shared her enthusiasm for this first step in coordinated, expanded transit services.  The Transportation Committee authorized a Transit Grant Program that provided funding for the service in 2009 using the County’s RTA Sales Tax.

County Chairman Koehler, Pace Chairman Kwasneski, County Board Member Salgado, County Board Member Miller, and McHenry Township Supervisor Donna Schaefer cut the red ribbon over the door of the Pace bus, officially declaring the service up and running.

Sandra Salgado, Anna May Miller, Donna Schaefer, Ken Koehler, Rick Kwasneski cutting the ribbon.

Other attendees at this event included: County Board members Lyn Orphal, Mary Donner, and Mary McCann; Bob Pierce, Dorr Township Supervisor; Don Kopsell, Nunda Township Road District Commissioner; Mayor Susan Low, City of McHenry; Mayor Brian Sager, City of Woodstock; Pace Executive Director T. J. Ross; McHenry County Engineer/Director of Transportation Joseph Korpalski, Jr.; and Pioneer Center President and CEO Lorraine Kopczynski.

Slim advertising have apparently loosened standards for political inserts at the Northwest Herald.

I can’t remember the campaign (one in the Cary area pops into my mind), but a former managing editor pledged that a political insert would no longer be allowed the day before an election.

The Republicans in Nunda Township, labeling themselves “Team Nunda,”
paid for an insert that I didn’t get, but discovered while reading the paper at the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake. The church is located just north of the Algonquin-Nunda Township line, which is Crystal Lake Avenue.

So, it appears the local GOP candidates didn’t waste their money on the Algonquin part of Crystal Lake.

The Team Nunda sign is reproduced on both sides of the three color campaign piece.

Endorsements from

• former State Senator Dick Klemm
• current State Senator Dan Duffy
• State Rep. Mike Tryon
• McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren
• McHenry County board members Ed Dvorak, Mary Donner and Barb Wheeler

are featured on one side.

The other side has endorsements from

• State Senator Pam Althoff
• McHenry County Treasurer Bill LeFew
• McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler
• McHenry County Auditor Pam Palmer
• McHenry County Coroner Marlene Lantz
• Bryan Javor, Young Republicans Chairman

And there’s a big

on both sides.

Not only Algonquin Township, but Nunda Township rolled out campaign literature at the Crystal Lake Expo.

Both were found at the Algonquin Township Republican Central Committee booth, which was right on the first aisle of the exhibition.

The booth looked more like a Nunda Township-sponsored one than one put up by the Algonquin Township folks.

That was because all the township trustee candidates had yard signs. You see Nunda Township Trustee candidate Lee Jennings above.

True, you could see a sponsor’s sign on top, but the six Team Nunda red and white yard signs dominated the booth. Here you see Algonquin Township Trustees Linda Lance and Lowell Cutsforth, both running for re-election, at the booth.

But, back to the literature.

There’s a side with “Team Nunda” candidates listed, even the ones who are not opposed. An “Early voting begins March 16th” is highlighted in pale yellow.

The values the Republicans tout as sharing with constituents are

• Teamwork
• Managed Growth
• Fiscal Responsibility
• Quality Road Maintenance
• Promoting Programs to Assist Residents

The reason for ignoring the two Democratic Party candidates for township trustee who are on the ballot (not phrased that way, obviously):

We have the experience and desire to maintain a strong and secure township government for Nunda Township residents.

The other side of the folded 8½ by 11 inch sheet of paper has a pitch for voting for Team Nunda, a web site address and another reminder of early voting.

Strangely, Township Supervisor John Heisler is missing from the candidates listed on the sign, but he is in the endorsement list. Township Clerk Bridgett Porvenzano is not mentioned at all. Both are unopposed, but so are Township Highway Commissioner Don Kopsell and Assessor Dennis Jagla and they are on the sign.

There’s a panel of endorsements and supporters surrounding and above the 4 by 4 foot sign that first appeared prior to the primary election.
They include

• Dick Klemm, former State Senator
• Dan Duffy, State Senator
• Mike Tryon, State Representative
• Keith Nygren, McHenry County Sheriff
• Ed Dvorak, McHenry County Board
• Mary Donner, McHenry County Board
• Barb Wheeler, McHenry County Board
• Pam Althoff, State Senator
• Bill LeFew, McHenry County Treasurer
• Ken Koehler, McHenry County Board Chairman
• Pam Palmer, McHenry County Auditor
• Marlene Lantz, McHenry County Coroner
• John Heisler, Nunda Township Supervisor
• Bryan Javor, Chairman, McHenry County Young Republicans

Click to enlarge the images.

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For those of you who don’t know much about townships, they perform three basic functions: assessing, road maintenance in unincorporated areas and hand out local welfare, called General Assistance. Crystal Lake is in four townships. The two major ones are Algonquin and Nunda. The horizontal dividing line is Crystal Lake Avenue. The western part of Crystal Lake (west of our home in Lakewood on Meridian Street, in fact, is Grafton Township. The far Northwestern corner is in Woodstock-dominated Dorr Township.)

I spotted my first political signs of the February 23rd Republican primary election yesterday.

They are for “Team Nunda.”

The slate includes unopposed Supervisor John Heisler, opposed incumbent Assessor Dennis Jagla and opposed Trustee candidates

• Tom Palmer (incumbent)
• Joni Smith (challenger)
• Jim Schlader (incumbent)
• Lee Jennings (who unsuccessfully sought appointment)

In addition to the “Team Nunda” 4 by 4 foot sign, each of the candidates on that sign have smaller color coordinated yard signs. You can see them if you click on the picture to enlarge it.

Trustees left off the sign are appointed incumbent Dick Meyers and incumbent Kevin Sarnwick.

Also missing from the sign are unopposed Road Commissioner Don Kopsell and Clerk Bridgett Provenzano.

If someone would like to tell me why which trustee candidates made the slate and which didn’t, I’ll bet that would be an interesting story.

I spotted my first political signs of the February 23rd Republican primary election yesterday.

They are for “Team Nunda.”

The slate includes unopposed Supervisor John Heisler, opposed incumbent Assessor Dennis Jagla and opposed Trustee candidates

• Tom Palmer (incumbent)
• Joni Smith (challenger)
• Jim Schlader (incumbent)
• Lee Jennings (who unsuccessfully sought appointment)

In addition to the “Team Nunda” 4 by 4 foot sign, each of the candidates on that sign have smaller color coordinated yard signs. You can see them if you click on the picture to enlarge it.

Trustees left off the sign are appointed incumbent Dick Meyers and incumbent Kevin Sarnwick.

Also missing from the sign are unopposed Road Commissioner Don Kopsell and Clerk Bridgett Provenzano.

If someone would like to tell me why which trustee candidates made the slate and which didn’t, I’ll bet that would be an interesting story.

Filing for the five Republican township primaries in McHenry County has ended and the major Nunda Township officers have emerged unchallenged, according to Township Clerk Bridgett Provenzano.

That means Supervisor John Heisler, Road Commissioner Don Kopsell, Assessor Dennis Jagla and Clerk Provenzano can relax between now and the February 24th township primary election.

However, there does appear to be a spirited contest for township trustee in the offing.

With the death of Township Trustee Walt Romanus, the Nunda Township Board appointed former Township Clerk and McHenry County Board member Dick Meyers as his replacement last week.

Those running for township trustee follow in alphabetical order:

• Kelvin (Lee) Jennings, who applied unsuccessfully for the Romanus vacancy
• Dick Meyers, appointed incumbent
• Thomas Palmer, incumbent
• Kevin Sarnwick, incumbent
• James Schlader, incumbent
• Joni Smith

Four will emerge as primary winners.

Nunda Township runs north from Crystal Lake Avenue in Crystal Lake into the southern part of McHenry north of Bull Valley Road. Its western boundary goes north from the middle of Crystal Lake. The Lake County line is its eastern boundary.

Democrats could caucus in mid-January and name opposing candidates.

If so, it would be much like the state Democrats, who are now backing away from U.S. Senator Dick Durbin’s suggestion to hold a special election to select President-elect Barack Obama’s replacement.

Why hold an election to select the party’s candidate when an appointment is so much less dangerous?

Filing for the five Republican township primaries in McHenry County has ended and the major Nunda Township officers have emerged unchallenged, according to Township Clerk Bridgett Provenzano.

That means Supervisor John Heisler, Road Commissioner Don Kopsell, Assessor Dennis Jagla and Clerk Provenzano can relax between now and the February 24th township primary election.

However, there does appear to be a spirited contest for township trustee in the offing.

With the death of Township Trustee Walt Romanus, the Nunda Township Board appointed former Township Clerk and McHenry County Board member Dick Meyers as his replacement last week.

Those running for township trustee follow in alphabetical order:

• Kelvin (Lee) Jennings, who applied unsuccessfully for the Romanus vacancy
• Dick Meyers, appointed incumbent
• Thomas Palmer, incumbent
• Kevin Sarnwick, incumbent
• James Schlader, incumbent
• Joni Smith

Four will emerge as primary winners.

Nunda Township runs north from Crystal Lake Avenue in Crystal Lake into the southern part of McHenry north of Bull Valley Road. Its western boundary goes north from the middle of Crystal Lake. The Lake County line is its eastern boundary.

Democrats could caucus in mid-January and name opposing candidates.

If so, it would be much like the state Democrats, who are now backing away from U.S. Senator Dick Durbin’s suggestion to hold a special election to select President-elect Barack Obama’s replacement.

Why hold an election to select the party’s candidate when an appointment is so much less dangerous?

As I mentioned before, township officials get paid really well.

Especially in comparison to municipal officials.

Not to mention school board, park board and miscellaneous special districts, where there is no compensation except

When Cary School Board member Chris Jenner made his pitch for people to run for local office, however, he didn’t list townships as a government whose officials are up for election next spring.

So, why do people run for public office?

Most of the posts up next spring don’t pay anything.

“Public service” is often mentioned as a reason for running for office and that is undoubtedly a motivation for some, maybe many.

But it was put more crassly by the guy who taught the first campaign school I attended.

I remember he was from the Republican National Committee. Unfortunately, I can’t remember his name.

There were three reasons people run for office, he said, and all started with the letter “P:”

• Power
• Prestige
• Pecuniary

The first two are obvious. I took the last one to mean pay, but, given Chicago’s long history of political corruption, money obviously does not have to be limited to pay.

Looking at just the salaries for Nunda Township, you can see why people might want to hold the offices.

Right now, the pay is

• Supervisor – $64,350
• Highway Commissioner – $81,990
• Assessor – $70,875
• Clerk – $12,700
• Trustees – $150 per meeting

But, raises are in the offing for those elected next April.

• Supervisor – $66,900
• Highway Commissioner – $85,230
• Assessor – $73,700
• Clerk – $13,200
• Trustees – $156 per meeting

And, they are scheduled to increase about 4% per year.

Incumbent Supervisor John Heisler and Road Commissioner Don Kopsell have picked up petitions to run for re-election.

Already in Nunda Township two people are passing petitions for township assessor. Incumbent Dennis Jagla will be challenged again by Alan Weaver. Weaver ran as an independent in 2005 after Republicans didn’t slate him.

When Walt Romanus died recently a name from past political contests—Dick Meyers—came up as his replacement. He has gotten nominating petitions, as have incumbents Kevin Sarnwick, Jim Schlader (who ran for county board in the GOP primary), Tom Palmer. Lee Jennings, who applied unsuccessfully for the Romanus vacancy, is also gathering signatures.

So far, incumbent Township Clerk Bridgett Provenzano has not picked up a packet of petitions.

Republican Party primaries will be held in Algonquin, Dorr, Grafton, McHenry and Nunda Townships. The Democratic Party has not requested that primaries be held to select candidates in any McHenry County Township.

= = = = =
The source of my “Three P’s” motivation for running for office?

Republican National Committee campaign veteran Ray Humphreys in a campaign school at Illinois College in Jacksonville.  Humphreys had been a West Virginia state representative, elected in 1950,  and ran for congress in 1936 and 1938.

As I mentioned before, township officials get paid really well.

Especially in comparison to municipal officials.

Not to mention school board, park board and miscellaneous special districts, where there is no compensation except

When Cary School Board member Chris Jenner made his pitch for people to run for local office, however, he didn’t list townships as a government whose officials are up for election next spring.

So, why do people run for public office?

Most of the posts up next spring don’t pay anything.

“Public service” is often mentioned as a reason for running for office and that is undoubtedly a motivation for some, maybe many.

But it was put more crassly by the guy who taught the first campaign school I attended.

I remember he was from the Republican National Committee. Unfortunately, I can’t remember his name.

There were three reasons people run for office, he said, and all started with the letter “P:”

• Power
• Prestige
• Pecuniary

The first two are obvious. I took the last one to mean pay, but, given Chicago’s long history of political corruption, money obviously does not have to be limited to pay.

Looking at just the salaries for Nunda Township, you can see why people might want to hold the offices.

Right now, the pay is

• Supervisor – $64,350
• Highway Commissioner – $81,990
• Assessor – $70,875
• Clerk – $12,700
• Trustees – $150 per meeting

But, raises are in the offing for those elected next April.

• Supervisor – $66,900
• Highway Commissioner – $85,230
• Assessor – $73,700
• Clerk – $13,200
• Trustees – $156 per meeting

And, they are scheduled to increase about 4% per year.

Incumbent Supervisor John Heisler and Road Commissioner Don Kopsell have picked up petitions to run for re-election.

Already in Nunda Township two people are passing petitions for township assessor. Incumbent Dennis Jagla will be challenged again by Alan Weaver. Weaver ran as an independent in 2005 after Republicans didn’t slate him.

When Walt Romanus died recently a name from past political contests—Dick Meyers—came up as his replacement. He has gotten nominating petitions, as have incumbents Kevin Sarnwick, Jim Schlader (who ran for county board in the GOP primary), Tom Palmer. Lee Jennings, who applied unsuccessfully for the Romanus vacancy, is also gathering signatures.

So far, incumbent Township Clerk Bridgett Provenzano has not picked up a packet of petitions.

Republican Party primaries will be held in Algonquin, Dorr, Grafton, McHenry and Nunda Townships. The Democratic Party has not requested that primaries be held to select candidates in any McHenry County Township.

= = = = =
The source of my “Three P’s” motivation for running for office?

Republican National Committee campaign veteran Ray Humphreys in a campaign school at Illinois College in Jacksonville.  Humphreys had been a West Virginia state representative, elected in 1950,  and ran for congress in 1936 and 1938.

Nunda Township County Board member Mary Donner convinced NASA Education’s John Blanchard, whose organization is on Route 31 just up the hill from Terra Cotta, to send some veterans to help sand bag Orchard Heights.

NASA Education employees and those of two other Blanchard companies headed to the Orchard Heights subdivision to join Mary Donner and Nunda Township workers.

Under the leadership of Township Road Commissioner Don Kopsell, they filled sand bags so that local residents could do what they could to save their homes from the rising Fox River.

The township had just purchased “The Sandbagger” on Monday, April 1st, for about $18,000

The Sandbagger is a machine that is loaded with sand and then through 4 pour spouts Blanchard’s team is able to produce bags filled with sand, which are then tied off and stacked for the local home owners to use

It was taken to Riverside Drive in McHenry.

Bayview Beach was also at risk.

Wednesday afternoon the river was rising at approximately 2 inches an hour.

“This isn’t something that can be finished in an hour or two, but will be ongoing for quite a while until the water starts to subside,” Blanchard said.

Kane County supplied approximately 120,000-130,000 bags. McHenry County only had about 20,000-30,000 bags on hand, requiring Nunda Township to go out and purchase additional bags from an outside source.

NASA Education is a Crystal Lake-based, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive workforce and community reintegration services for U.S. veterans who are displaced, disabled, homeless or otherwise in transition.

For more information, contact Amy Johnson at 866-338-4968.

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Pictures from NASA Education. They are of the effort of prepare sandbags to protect Orchard Heights homes in McHenry, Illinois. The two people whose faces can be seen in almost the lowest photo are NASA Education President John Blanchard and McHenry County Board member Mary Donner.