McHenry County Blog

This is the fourth article on Tuesday’s gambling debate at the McHenry County Board. Click to find who voted how and for Part 1 and Part 2.

Having failed to alter the agenda to allow a Tuesday up or down county board vote on video gambling, Nunda Township’s gambling opponent Barb Wheeler next sought to table the referendum resolution.

This motion was seconded by Ersel Schuster.

As it sat on the agenda, the outright ban was to be considered for 30 days and voted upon the first Tuesday in December.

But that rule can be waived.

Tina Hill asked if the committee was “going to ask to waive the 30-day review (for the gambling ban resolution).”

License and Liquor Committee Chairman John Hammerand related the history of the committee discussion. It started with talk of a ban, then “we decided it would be nice to have the people involved in the decision.”

He said he wanted the county board to have the opportunity to be a leader in the communities, so that municipalities could put similar referendums on the ballot on Feb. 2nd.

“I certainly support the referendum,” he said.

“It’s not my goal to waive the rules,” Hammerand continued.

Cary’s Anna May Miller took the delegate approach:

“I would like to move forward to allowing people with the county weigh in.”

Woodstock’s Hill wondered why there was all the fuss. She listed the number of people in each county board district who would be eligible to vote, 47,923 in all, while there are 200,228 registered voters in McHenry County. That’s not quite 25% of the total living outside of municipalities.

• District 1 – 4,034
• District 2 – 2,340
• District 3 – 11,214
• District 4 – 12,448
• District 5 – 3,254
• District 6 – 14,633

Huntley’s Dan Ryan pointed toward the moral aspect of the issue. He said there was no question from the fiscal point of view:

“Yes, we want the money.”

Ryan voted for a referendum, assuming I would guess that people know what their moral stand on the issue is.

The cost of the referendum also came up. Just under $18,000.

Yvonne Barnes of Cary came down on the trustee side of representation:

“I’m opposed to postponing the vote (on the gambling ban).”

Hammerand re-entered the debate:

“All I’m asking is to have status quo until we have a referendum and let them speak.”

Hill attempted to clarify what would be voted upon. Hammerand seemed to say that a vote on both Tuesday would be acceptable.

Pete Merkel, up for re-election in an unopposed McHenry-Richmond-Burton Township primary, took the trustee approach. He told of two advisory referendums on hot issues which a park board and city council decided to put on the ballot in an attempt to reach consensus.

The votes were 54-46 and 49-51.

No consensus resulted, he noted, supporting the “no advisory referendum” side of the issue.

“That’s why we get paid to make the tough decisions,” Merkel added.

“I’ll bet we’re going to be back here at the end of February with a whole roomful again and we’ll be having the same discussion.

“I think it is a cop out.

“Do we want to do that (have a referendum) with the 2030 Plan, with the public safety building?”

Merkel then pointed out that it was a social issue and questioned whether a “low turnout” primary election would yield a valid reading of public opinion.

Hedging his bet a bit, Merkel concluded,

“I don’t want to say, ‘We don’t want to listen to the people.’”

His vote, nevertheless, was against holding the advisory referendum.

“I totally agree with Mr. Merkel’s position,” Seneca Township board member Ersel Schuster added.

She remembered an advisory referendum that received 80% approval, but was ignored. The subject was whether the county board should require a three-quarters vote to approve conditional use permits.

Bull Valley’s Virginia Peschke agreed.

“I think the referendums should be reserved for asking people if (they want higher taxes).

“This is just government cowardice.”

Sandra Salgado, who like Merkel has not primary opponent, also took the “we can make the decision without voter input.”

“I can’t tell you how aggravated I was when legislators stood up here and said, ‘(You’re) going to make the hard decision.’”

“Obviously, I’m ready to make the tough decision,” Wheeler added.

“You don’t want the people to say you don’t want to hear them. (Let’s) not put the burden on our voters. We are elected to make these tough decisions.”

Also speaking in opposition to a referendum was Yvonne Barnes of Cary.

“I believe as elected officials it is our responsibility to make these decisions.

“This issue affects people throughout the area (county). An advisory referendum does not include (those in incorporated areas) in making the decision.”

Merkel then referred to the provision in the legislation that allows 25% of the voters to petition for a binding referendum.

Hammerand pointed out how extraordinary high that 25% signature requirement is.

“If it is (for) the board to wash out this referendum, I have no objection.”

He then attempted to amend the resolution motion to require a county board vote after the February 2nd primary election.

Tina Hill seconded the motion, “even though we’re probably on different sides of the issue.”

The attempt failed on a voice vote.

Yesterday, McHenry County Blog published a little of the unfocused situation surrounding the county board’s debate on gambling, as well as the roll call showing who was up for election this time around.

Today, I’m going to tell you what I saw from a civics classroom point of view.

From the beginning District 3 county board member Barb Wheeler has been ready to vote to ban video gambling in the unincorporated part of McHenry County.

She made that very clear in the License and Liquor Committee.

British Member of Parliament Edmund Burke took a position similar to Wheeler’s and several of her colleagues. He epitomizes the “trustee model” of representation. Some might refer to the role as a “statesman.”

Burke’s most famous quote of justification was to the electors of Bristol in 1774:

“Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.”

My quick research indicates he lost the Bristol seat six years later.

Here’s how Wikipedia explains the different concepts of representation:

“The trustee model of representation is a model of a representative democracy. Constituents elect their representatives as ‘trustees’ (or ‘entrust’ them) for their constituency. These ‘trustees’ have sufficient autonomy to deliberate and act in favor of the greater common good and national interest, even if it means going against the short-term interests of their own constituencies. The model provides a solution to the problem uninformed constituents who lack the necessary knowledge on issues to take an educated position.“This model parallels the delegate model of representation, which is a model in which the representative is a tribune of the people.”

I have to admit on issues that I did not campaign on I tended toward the delegate model in my representation in the Illinois House of Representatives.

If the people of McHenry County wanted something, I would more likely than not be presenting that viewpoint in the General Assembly during my sixteen years there. I conducted mailed polls to gain a sense of the electorate in addition to putting out my listening post in public places.

On financial issues, I tended toward the trustee model, especially for those from the educational community hell bent on having me vote for a high income tax, most of the proceeds of which would end up in Chicago and Downstate. I cut my teeth doing cost-benefit analysis at the United States Budget Bureau right after grad school in public administration (probably called “policy analysis” now).

The debate on whether there should be an advisory referendum on gambling brought the various concepts of representation into focus like I have not seen them previously on the county board.

Part 3 tomorrow.

When the Illinois General Assembly was first debating legalizing casinos in 1992, Methodist Bishop R. Sheldon Duecker led the fight against them.

In Minnesota in 2005, Bishop Sally Dyck took to the airwaves  in paid ads to oppose a state-run casino in the Twin Cities.  She warned of “hidden costs.”

And in Crystal Lake the announcement you see above appeared in the weekend bulletins and in the bi-weekly newsletter.

It tells of the public hearing in the administrative center north of the McHenry County Jail on Wednesday, October 7th.

As we were on our vacation to the Intermountain West the last part of June, my family was amused at my taking photos of gambling signs and machines.

Look at the difference in the British Petroleum gas station sign in Minnesota, seen at the left, and the one just across the South Dakota border to the right. (Click to enlarge any image.)

Under the capital construction plan McHenry County’s Pam Althoff and Mike Tryon supported, there will be five slot machines (euphemistically called “video poker machines”) in all sorts of establishments that have liquor licenses.

Think your neighborhood convenience store.

No longer will people have to travel to the Elgin casino to lose their paycheck.

I found my first shot machines at a Wisconsin truck stop where we ate at the Happy Trails Roadside Dinner. (To my surprise, there was nothing about Roy Rogers.)

They were located in a little room between the gas station and convenience store and the restaurant.

One was called

My son thought it was neat.

The slot machine looked just like the video games younger kids play.

In the hall near the lottery stand was a machine I haven’t seen since the Caribbean cruise we took about seven years ago.

There, the

game was in the ship’s casino.

Clearly, it was a gambling device, luring people by showing racks of quarters which could, oh so easily, be swept into the tray for you to take home.

We found the same kind of machine, albeit jammed, at the Dixie Truckers Stop south of Bloomington on I-55.

It was called

there and can be seen sitting to the left of the other slot machines.

Governor Pat Quinn is about to break ties to his party’s liberals and sign this massive expansion of gambling bill on Monday.

I believe I have read that this expansion will make turn Illinois into the biggest gambling state in the United States of America.

Somehow, with our sordid history of corruption, that seems appropriate.

I don’t suppose calls to Quinn’s office would make any difference now that he has announced his deal with the devil, but, if you feel strongly about protecting the weakest among us, please give him a call.

Spring Valley Democrat Frank Mautino has gotten Senate Bill 349 onto the House floor.

It would put slot machines where liquor is served, fraternal organizations, veterans’ clubs and truck stops.

Incredibly, no state senator opposed the bill. The vote was 55-0.

Mautino’s LaSalle County has, of course, a vibrant history of illegal gambling.

If this bill is passed, we’ll soon look like South Dakota.

And I’m not talking carving the heads of jailed ex-governors into the cliffs of Starved Rock, which might rival Mount Rushmore with proper publicity.

Or some part of gang-controlled Chicago the Illinois Office of Tourism could market as our “Badlands.”

The Shell station you see here is in Sioux City, South Dakota.

When Penny Pullen and I visited there in September two years ago, we found a casino behind a convenience store which one could enter through the local McDonald’s.

Right past a Ronald McDonald Happy Meal sign.

Your town could be Potterville, too.

But, don’t worry.

It’s for the kids, doncha know?

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

McHenry County has a vibrant history of gambling.

Sheriff Ed Dowd seized the slot machines in Algonquin in a very public raid while I was in college in the early 1960’s. When they were destroyed, there was no accounting for the money they held.

One summer in the mid-1060’s, the Illinois Crime Commission held hearings in the then-county board room, which was located on the big room on the eastern part of what is now Woodstock City Hall.

My mother and I were fascinated by the map of Crystal Lake showing the places people could place bets and how the bookies rented space on the second floor of the Pinemoor on the street behind the Congregational Church and Catholic Churches.

In fact, it was the arrest of Pinemoor owner Harry Schnell, our Republican precinct committeeman, for being the keeper of a gaming house that spurred my father to run for precinct committeeman against him. Dad won in 1966, the same year I became McHenry County Treasurer.

Harry was quite a likable guy and made good thin pizza. One can still buy it at the Pinemoor in the “V” of the Crystal Lake Plaza.

And then there was the guy who repaired the slot machines. His last name was Sam Smunk, I believe. Somehow my father met him. He was standing in the old driveway when I stopped by. That’s how I met him. He told Dad he delivered $1,000 a week to both judges in McHenry County.

$1,000 a week.

Pretty big money, wouldn’t you say?

And, of course, there is the story I’ve told of how the gangland victims got patched up on the top floor of the old county poor house. It’s now called Valley Hi.

So, McHenry County has a vibrant history of corruption.

More recently, during the 1990′a, the McHenry County Board voted to support a floating casino in the Chain of Lakes.

For a cut of the take.

That was all on the up and up, of course.

So, maybe people shouldn’t be surprised that McHenry County legislators voted to expansively gambling…massively.

This would be for legal gambling, of course, not illegal gambling.

So, let’s follow the voting history of the gambling expansion bill, House Bill 2651.

State Representative Mike Tryon has said he favored the capital construction bill. He never made a secret of it.

And, the only financing package on the table was more gambling.

So, it didn’t surprise me when he voted for the gambling expansion shell bill. on May 20th. (A “shell” bill is one a title and usually nothing else. Without content, it does nothing.)

The other state representative representing McHenry County, Mark Beaubien, voted in favor of the shell bill, too. He is on House Minority Leader Tom Cross’s leadership team and Cross has been favorable to expanding gambling.

State Rep. Jack Franks,voted against House Bill 2651 in its benign form.

House Bill 2651 passed 80-29-1 on May 20^th.

I never heard State Senators Pam Althoff or Bill Peterson talk about the subject, but on May 31^st, the senate passed the bill 32-18-5.

This was not a shell bill.

How did our two Republican state senators vote?

Pam Althoff – Yes

Bill Peterson – Yes

What did they vote for?

Three new casinos, slot machines at racetracks. Stuff like that.

The crunch vote came in the Illinois House on what is called “concurrence.” The changes made by the senate get an up or down vote.

But, there wasn’t such a vote.

Instead there was a motion to table the senate amendments.

Here is how McHenry County’s three state representatives voted on a motion to kill the legislation:

Mike Tryon – No

Jack Franks – Yes

Mark Beaubien – No

The bill bill was tabled on a vote of 59-52 with McHenry County’s two GOP state representatives voting to keep it alive.

So, it appears there is three “gambling men” and one “gambling woman.”

Those representing McHenry County supporting gambling expansion:

Pam Althoff, Bill Peterson, Mark Beaubien and Mike Tryon.

Democrat Jack Franks seems to be the only anti-gambling vote representing McHenry County.

When the riverboat casino bill first passed, the House had not one Republican vote for it.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

McHenry County has a vibrant history of gambling.

Sheriff Ed Dowd seized the slot machines in Algonquin in a very public raid while I was in college in the early 1960’s. When they were destroyed, there was no accounting for the money they held.

One summer in the mid-1060’s, the Illinois Crime Commission held hearings in the then-county board room, which was located on the big room on the eastern part of what is now Woodstock City Hall.

My mother and I were fascinated by the map of Crystal Lake showing the places people could place bets and how the bookies rented space on the second floor of the Pinemoor on the street behind the Congregational Church and Catholic Churches.

In fact, it was the arrest of Pinemoor owner Harry Schnell, our Republican precinct committeeman, for being the keeper of a gaming house that spurred my father to run for precinct committeeman against him. Dad won in 1966, the same year I became McHenry County Treasurer.

Harry was quite a likable guy and made good thin pizza. One can still buy it at the Pinemoor in the “V” of the Crystal Lake Plaza.

And then there was the guy who repaired the slot machines. His last name was Sam Smunk, I believe. Somehow my father met him. He was standing in the old driveway when I stopped by. That’s how I met him. He told Dad he delivered $1,000 a week to both judges in McHenry County.

$1,000 a week.

Pretty big money, wouldn’t you say?

And, of course, there is the story I’ve told of how the gangland victims got patched up on the top floor of the old county poor house. It’s now called Valley Hi.

So, McHenry County has a vibrant history of corruption.

More recently, during the 1990′a, the McHenry County Board voted to support a floating casino in the Chain of Lakes.

For a cut of the take.

That was all on the up and up, of course.

So, maybe people shouldn’t be surprised that McHenry County legislators voted to expansively gambling…massively.

This would be for legal gambling, of course, not illegal gambling.

So, let’s follow the voting history of the gambling expansion bill, House Bill 2651.

State Representative Mike Tryon has said he favored the capital construction bill. He never made a secret of it.

And, the only financing package on the table was more gambling.

So, it didn’t surprise me when he voted for the gambling expansion shell bill. on May 20th. (A “shell” bill is one a title and usually nothing else. Without content, it does nothing.)

The other state representative representing McHenry County, Mark Beaubien, voted in favor of the shell bill, too. He is on House Minority Leader Tom Cross’s leadership team and Cross has been favorable to expanding gambling.

State Rep. Jack Franks,voted against House Bill 2651 in its benign form.

House Bill 2651 passed 80-29-1 on May 20^th.

I never heard State Senators Pam Althoff or Bill Peterson talk about the subject, but on May 31^st, the senate passed the bill 32-18-5.

This was not a shell bill.

How did our two Republican state senators vote?

Pam Althoff – Yes

Bill Peterson – Yes

What did they vote for?

Three new casinos, slot machines at racetracks. Stuff like that.

The crunch vote came in the Illinois House on what is called “concurrence.” The changes made by the senate get an up or down vote.

But, there wasn’t such a vote.

Instead there was a motion to table the senate amendments.

Here is how McHenry County’s three state representatives voted on a motion to kill the legislation:

Mike Tryon – No

Jack Franks – Yes

Mark Beaubien – No

The bill bill was tabled on a vote of 59-52 with McHenry County’s two GOP state representatives voting to keep it alive.

So, it appears there is three “gambling men” and one “gambling woman.”

Those representing McHenry County supporting gambling expansion:

Pam Althoff, Bill Peterson, Mark Beaubien and Mike Tryon.

Democrat Jack Franks seems to be the only anti-gambling vote representing McHenry County.

When the riverboat casino bill first passed, the House had not one Republican vote for it.

When I heard that statewide junior college associations were discussing a casino is Danville, the proceeds of which would go to junior colleges, I was so surprised I couldn’t print here what I thought.

Who could have such a stupid idea?

Yes, I know I tell my son not to use that word, but sometimes it fits.

Education is about meritocracy, not about luck.

Are these junior college association folks as far off mission as the McHenry County (Junior) College Board with its majority’s lust to build a minor league baseball stadium?

Well, guess what?

State Rep. Bill Black of Danville has introduced House Bill 4581.

The veteran Republican’s legislation would site a new casino is an area that sounds suspiciously like his hometown.

At least it would be competitively bid.

Thanks, former State Senator Peter Fitzgerald, for bringing back that idea from Greece.

But, it would not designate the profits to junior colleges.

It should be noted that Black is a former community college administrator, so the junior college association’s talk still might end up in Black’s bill.

When I heard that statewide junior college associations were discussing a casino is Danville, the proceeds of which would go to junior colleges, I was so surprised I couldn’t print here what I thought.

Who could have such a stupid idea?

Yes, I know I tell my son not to use that word, but sometimes it fits.

Education is about meritocracy, not about luck.

Are these junior college association folks as far off mission as the McHenry County (Junior) College Board with its majority’s lust to build a minor league baseball stadium?

Well, guess what?

State Rep. Bill Black of Danville has introduced House Bill 4581.

The veteran Republican’s legislation would site a new casino is an area that sounds suspiciously like his hometown.

At least it would be competitively bid.

Thanks, former State Senator Peter Fitzgerald, for bringing back that idea from Greece.

But, it would not designate the profits to junior colleges.

It should be noted that Black is a former community college administrator, so the junior college association’s talk still might end up in Black’s bill.

It’s the Christmas season and my wife has been watching “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

So, when I looked at the editorial illustration accompanying Thursday’s Chicago Sun-Times’ editorial endorsing the massive expansion of gambling, I recognized its inspiration.

When the euphemistically called “Riverboat” bill was passed amid outright lying on the house floor, not a single Republican voted for it.

I was so proud of House Republicans. (I was in remission at the time.)

That vote played to the Democrats stereotype of being the party of sin.

And, Democrats got a bonus by legalizing casino gambling.

They got more people who could call themselves “victims.”

Legitimately. They became addicted to gambling.

But, anyone who has any knowledge of Nevada politics knows the hold that the gambling industry has on state politics. The legislators don’t want to be overheard by anyone in Nevada, but at least one told the truth to a McHenry County resident at a legislative convention.

And, anyone with a brain knew that, in a state a corrupt as Illinois, gambling—not “gaming”—interests would end up controlling state politics.

Even House Speaker Mike Madigan has figured this out. Now, he’s for much stricter control, but has not taken that giant step and called for forbidding gambling interests from making political contributions.

Hey. He knows his followers want to be rewarded for their votes by more than a road here and a school there.

Look at who gave money to Republican legislative leaders Frank Watson and Tom Cross after the 2002 election debacle.

Look what large contributor is slotted to get slot machines at his racetrack.

How many years before slot machines are in off-track betting parlors like the between the hospital and the Catholic Church on Bull Valley Road in McHenry?

How soon until every gas station has casino slot machines inside like South Dakota?

Now we have chicken-hearted legislators who want to spend more money, but are afraid to raise taxes.

Generally, they want to spend it on good things, roads, schools, etc.

But they don’t want to see “hit pieces” in the mailbox saying they voted for a tax hike.

But, tell me.

If gas taxes increased in Illinois, would anyone notice?

The price of gasoline can go up or down 20 cents in 24 hours.

Why aren’t suburban and Downstate Republicans demanding that the sales tax on motor fuel be used to repair and widen roads? Illinois is one of the few states that levies both a motor fuel and a sales tax on gasoline. (Actually, the sales tax is on the price of the gasoline and the sales tax. A tax on a tax.)

House GOP Leader Tom Cross actually suggested using the sales tax on MFT to subsidize mass transit.

What an absurd suggestion for the leader of car driving Republican suburbanites and Downstaters!

No surprise when his 1992 legislative House classmate, now Governor Rod Blagojevich, agreed. He could figure out how vulnerable that would make anyone outside of Chicago.

So, maybe enough Democrats and Republicans are ready to cast a vote to turn Illinois into Potterville.

Even some in McHenry County, I’d be willing to bet.

Our children may still be able to hang signs above their doors saying,

but they will be living in Potterville, Illinois.

= = = = =
The Shell Station Casino is is Souix City, Iowa. The “It’s a Wonderful Life” sign is above the door between our entryway, called the “Echo,” and our home. It’s there all year round. Keely Cat was interested in why I was out there when I took this picture. Chick on the photo to enlarge it if you want to see the sign better. The books on the stairs are the ones I’ve read since coming back from Disney World, where I got through 1400 pages while on the journey there and back, waiting, usually in line, and slacking off in the room trying to get rid of a bad cold.