“Undervote” for Governor Very Small in Boone, DuPage, Kane & Lake Compared to McHenry

Yesterday, it was pointed out that a good number of votes in McHenry County did not show up in the race for Governor. Bruce Rauner won McHenry County with the following results: A Friend of McHenry County Blog found the … Continue reading

Eliminating a Sanitary District, DuPage County Style

The Daily Herald had an article last Tuesday about the DuPage County Board’s efforts to eliminate the small Highland Hills Sanitary District. It’s located near Lombard, supplying water and collecting sewage for about 465 homes and businesses. (Lake in the … Continue reading

McHenry County Government Has Third Highest Average Salary

The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform has calculated average salaries paid by Illinois county governments. McHenry County came in third highest: Ten Counties with the Highest “Average Salary” for Employees … Continue reading

Looking for the Beef in Jack Franks’ Latest Consolidation Bill

Andy Shaw of the Better Government Association bragged that Jack Franks’ bill that would allow the McHenry County Board to do what the DuPage County Board had done with regard to governmental consolidation deserved “a shout out.” I remember Franks’ … Continue reading

More Leaving Chicago Metro Area Than Any Other in Midwest

A Bloomberg News analysis of Census data shows that the Chicago Metropolitan Area is losing a higher percentage of its residents than any other Midwest metropolitan area. The time period was between July 2013 and July 2014. The loss was 69/100 … Continue reading

Maybe There’s a Need for an Affirmative Action Officer in the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office

When non-Establishment candidate for the office of McHenry County Sheriff Bill Prim speaks, he usually talks about the excessive overhead at the Department being run by his opponent Andy Zinke. Often the Affirmative Action Officer is brought up as a … Continue reading

RTA’s Al Jourdan and Don Totten Remind Suburbanites What’s at Stake

It took Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown to point it out, but there are some high regional stakes in the fight over who controls mass transportation in the metropolitan area. The same fight occurred in 1974 and in the early … Continue reading

Is DuPage County a Portent of Property Taxes to Come?

This was in the Daily Herald Tuesday: “DuPage County homeowners can expect to pay more property taxes to school districts and other local governments, even though land values continue to plummet. “The overall value of land in DuPage decreased last … Continue reading

Pensions And Health Beneifts Show Up in DuPage County Board Races

In a post, the candidate reveals, “There are now EIGHT Republican candidates in THREE separate districts throughout DuPage County that publicaly support this initiative led by Rafael Rivadeneira for DuPage County Board. “The YouTube pitch from DuPage count Board candidate … Continue reading

DuPage County Board Chairman Endorses Chris Lauzen for Kane County Post

A press release from Chris Lauzen, Republican candidate for Kane County Board Chairman: DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin Endorses Chris Lauzen for Kane County Board Chairman Aurora, IL (March 2, 2012): State Senator Chris Lauzen announced today the endorsement … Continue reading

Where Are We As Far as Real Estate Taxes Go?

The Tax Foundation has some remarkable work comparing property tax burdens across the United States. Want to know what part of the country to look at for retirement, if cutting your property taxes is one of your goals? Take a … Continue reading

Message of the Day – Court Reporter Fail

I was looking at the transcript of the Elgin hearing conducted by Barbara Flynn Currie and her reapportionment committee. Here’s testimony that had me laughing out loud: MR. PEICKERT: I’m Bob Peickert, P-e-i-c-k-e-r-t. I’m a resident of Elmhurst and the … Continue reading

The County Officials’ Sweetheart Pension Plan McHenry County Passed Up, Including GA Roll Calls

Yesterday I wrote about how Winnebago County’s board had decided they, as part-time employees didn’t deserve to have pensions. Today, the Sunday Chicago Tribune has a front page article by Christy Gutowski, Joe Mahr and Joseph Ryan entitled, Quite a … Continue reading