The five-member Grafton Township Board had only Trustees Barbara Murphy, Betty Zirk and Gerry McMahon in attendance Thursday night.

With Township Supervisor Linda Moore in Texas for her daughter’s college graduation and Rob LaPorta also absent, the meeting was relatively short and peaceful.

Newly-elected Township Supervisor Jim Kearns sat in the back row looking at the Board packet. To his right is Dan Ziller, Sr.

No one raised his voice or went off on a rant. Trustee Gerry McMahon even sat facing the audience.

Unlike the outgoing McHenry County College Board, the old Township Board, chaired Thursday by Barbara Murphy, spent much of the meeting deferring to their successors, referring several times to newly-elected Independent Supervisor Jim Kearns, who was sitting in the back row.

The Road District’s budget, for example, was not passed, even though that was the wish of outgoing Road Commissioner Jack Freund.

“The new Board comes in on the 20th,” Trustee Betty Zirk, the only member of the Board to seek and win re-election.

When it came time for to consider the bills, Zirk had a list of those to exclude. They included

Betty Zirk

• $2,644.68 charged to a BMO Harris credit card (postage, telephone, equipment maintenance, travel expenses, etc.)
• $864.20 for J.A. Jetchmark, Ltd.
• $475 for McHenry County Council of Governments dues
• $295.60 for printing to Total Point of Video, Inc.
• $24,162.50 billed for legal fees by Moore attorney John Nelson
• $39,007.89 billed for legal services from March, 2012, through March, 2013, by Moore attorney Ottosen Britz Kelly Cooper Gilbert & DiNilf

The Trustees’ law firm, Ancel Glink, however, was paid $5,747.48.

“In order to meet the payroll next week, I don’t think we can pay any bills,” Zirk said.

Zirk also mentioned that Township Road Commissioner was owed $7,161.20 to cover health insurance for his wife.

“He could get it cheaper by getting it through his wife’s than through the Township,” she explained.

The motion approving the bills noted that they would be paid when money was available.

Grafton Township Assessor Bill Ottley, Road Commissioner-Elect Tom Pozanaski, a Grafton Township Highway Department employee, Road Commissioner Jack Freund and Township Clerk Harriet Ford.

As outgoing Township Assessor Bill Ottley was leaving after the bills were approved, he was thanked for his service for the last four years. The sparse audience applauded.

Ottley reminded them that he would be around through December, when his term expires.

“And you, too, Jack,” one of the Trustees added.

Zirk then talked about how audit expenses should be allocated. She suggested Public Assistance pay 5% and the Road District 35%.

Freund objected to the number she suggested, saying, “I’ll pay 25% like I’ve always been paying.”

Trustee Gerry McMahon suggest a compromised of 28%. Freund did not agree.

After some discussion, Zirk suggested asking the auditor how much time he spent on the Road District budget and the matter was deferred.

As the meeting was drawing to a close, Murphy said,

“There’s a part of me that is worry for the way things ended up. I regret that.”

Part of the audience at Thursday’s meeting.

A letter from the forensic auditor was read in which he detailed Moore’s refusal to sign the engagement letter and a payment until ordered by Judge

He also said he was unable to obtain original copies of the warrant lists.

Township Clerk Harriot Ford pointed out the documents were on the web site.

“I look forward to things moving on a real positive way,” she said shortly before the meeting adjourned.

Also in the audience was newly-elected Township Assessor Al Zielinski.

A press release from Linda Moore:

Grafton Township Clerk Harriet Ford Fails to Include Supervisor’s Agenda Item to Propose Tax Cutting Resolution

Linda Moore

At the December meeting of the Grafton Township Board, Supervisor Linda Moore proposed keeping taxes constant, but Trustees LaPorta, Murphy and Zirk voted in the maximum taxes without a public hearing.

In order for a local government to collect about the same as last year, its levy must be pretty close to the amount collected last year. That figure is called the “extension.”

Because there is some growth, a tax district could actually raise its levy a (the county assessor says about one-quarter of one percent for the county as a whole) tiny bit without raising bills on last year’s taxpayers.

Last year the extension for the combination of the Grafton Town Fund and the General Assistance Fund was $1,070,637.

The levy passed in December for this coming year was $1,102,142.00.

So, unless something is done quickly, Grafton Township taxpayers will have to come up with an extra $31,505 more.

Now, the Grafton Township Board of Trustees has been denied a second chance as a result of the Clerk Harriet Ford.

Supervisor Linda Moore requested the following item on Thursday’s agenda posted by the Clerk:

Resolution to authorize the Supervisor to amend the Levy to last year’s extension.

As I understand the process, there is a short window of opportunity after the County Clerk’s Office decides what the tax rate will be and how much taxes will be extracted from taxpayers’ pockets.

In that perhaps less than a week’s time frame, a district may make a last minute change.

For these reasons, Supervisor Linda Moore has posted a separate agenda. This agenda will give Trustees Zirk, LaPorta, McMahon and Murphy another opportunity to adopt last year’s taxes to match the amount received last year.

If a resolution authorizes the Township Supervisor Moore to lower the levy to last year’s extension (pretty much the amount collected), Grafton Township taxpayers could actually have seen a small tax cut because the amount to be collected would be shared by not only the taxpayers of last year, but the new taxpayers of this year.

The meeting will start at 7:30 pm at the Huntley Park District.

It is my understanding every tax district could make such last minute changes.

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The story about what Dianne Klemm is doing can be found here.

Here’s what the Grafton Township Trustee’s law firm Ancel Glink had to say about the Thursday night meeting about mediating legal disputes:

Grafton Township Trustees Barb Murphy, Rob LaPorta, Betty Zirk and Gerry McMahon.

Statement From Trustees through their Attorney.

<Requested to be Read Into the Minutes and to the Public by The Grafton Township Clerk>

August 2, 2012 1: 55PM

It is with disappointment that the Grafton Trustees are not be able to attend this evening’s special meeting as called by Supervisor Moore for the purpose of exploring a mediation solution.

While the Trustees are open-minded to engaging in mediation, neither they nor their attorneys were contacted about their availability for a meeting tonight by Ms. Moore, and this meeting was noticed without consideration of their unavailability.

Our attorney attempted to schedule a conference call with the mediator and John Nelson yesterday to select a date when all parties could participate, which is the usual process for scheduling a mediation session, but Mr. Nelson never returned her phone call.

She attempted to contact Mr. Nelson and themediator again today to establish a mutual date for mediation, but Mr. Nelson never returned her call and the mediator was unavailable.

However, she did notify both of their offices that she and the trustees were not available for tonight’s meeting.

We will continue to try to select a elate when all parties are available for mediation and will be happy to participate at that time.

Tom Poznanski

Monday night Grafton Township Party Central Committee Chairman Tom Poznanski told me that he favored letting the voters decide who the Republican Party candidates for township office would be.

This is the third cycle during which partisan candidates have run for office.

For the first, eleven years ago, the Central Committee held a caucus.

In 2009, the Party decided on a primary election at which Linda Moore beat out the incumbent John Rossi by a couple dozen votes, while re-electing three out of the four incumbent Trustees from the Rossi years.

The fourth Trustee elected was Gerry McMahon. He was supported by those behind Moore, but quickly switched sides and became Moore most vociferous critic.

Moore has been isolated on the Township board which she chairs, having to go to court to keep the Trustees from usurping her executive branch functions.

The Trustees have appealed Judge Michael Caldwell’s decision.

A primary challenge to Moore is a certainty.

Grafton Township Trustee Gerry McMahon expresses his disdain for constituents by facing away from them. Here he points at ally Trustee Rob LaPorta.

Grafton Township Trustee Gerry McMahon is known for not facing the audience.

Now, I learn that a Belvidere Township Trustee has the same disdain for his constituents.

Other similarities to Grafton Township include the Board’s desire to buy a building, the old Eagles Club.

It sounds a lot like the old Grafton Township Board before Linda Moore defeated John Rossi.

Belvidere Township Supervisor Pat Murphy and Trustees Debbie Carlson, Bill Robertson, Bob Turner and Paul Zeien seem to have an edifice complex. (A condition in which public officials want to have their names affixed in bronze so people can see who was responsible for it construction or purchase.)

The Board wanted to offer $150,000, but were backed down by constituents.  The building later sold for $60,000 Boone County Board member Cathy Ward wrote in the Rockford Register-Star.

Ward reports on the budget meeting at which no public comment was allowed.

One of the questions someone would have asked was,

“Why didn’t you significantly lower the levies to reduce our taxes when you have more than enough cash on hand to pay projected bills for more than two years?”

That’s probably a question that could be asked of many township boards, such as last year’s Nunda Township Board, sans Supervisor John Heisler, who was not at the budget-setting meeting.

Unlike in Grafton Township, the entire board is unified. A $3.7 million Town Fund was approved, along with a $6.2 Road and Bridge Fund.

The column points out that many consider the amounts “dangerously bloated with projected expenditures that have never been spent in past years and simply cost Belvidere Township residents more in taxes and keep adding to township carry-over funds.”

Ward was joined by Pat Mattison, Bill Wolf and Max Newport, good government guys from the time I served Boone County in the Illinois House of Representatives, joined with Ward and Don Sattler is signing on to the guest column.

The column ends with the information that petitions for next year’s elections will be available in August.

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Thanks to Boone County Watchdog for pointing me to this story.

A press release from Grafton Supervisor Linda Moore:

GRAFTON TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES ADDICTED TO LEGAL FEES

Grafton Township Trustees Gerry McMahon, Betty Zirk, Rob LaPorta and Barbara Murphy.

Supervisor Linda Moore said today that the Grafton Township Trustees,

• Rob LaPorta
• Betty Zirk
• Barbara Murphy
• Gerald McMahon

appear to be addicted to spending taxpayer monies for legal fees.

Supervisor Moore clarified there is only one lawsuit pending between her and the trustees.

That lawsuit started when Moore was unlawfully evicted from her township office while the township board tried to usurp her duties by the unlawful appointment of a town administrator, Pam Fender.

Those problems were aggravated by the failure of Attorney Keri Lynn Krafthefer to leave when Supervisor Moore fired her.

Judge Michael Caldwell ruled in Moore’s favor on all of those issues.

The total cost of the litigation to date is $400,426.00.

Of that amount, $347,194.28 was paid to the trustees’ attorneys and $53,231.72 was paid to Supervisor Moore’s attorney.

Linda Moore

“Why are they appealing every order Judge Caldwell entered against them?” Supervisor Moore asked.

The attorneys’ fees on appeal will be astronomical.

Moore clarified that her current petition and motion are filed in the existing lawsuit and are directed at further attempts by the trustees to do her job.

“Keep in mind,” Moore said, “…the trustees have filed these same kinds of motions against me in the case already.

“The fees in these straight forward requests will be much more reasonable than the trustee’s appeal,” Moore added.

“I am raising issues that the cancelling of a township credit card has no basis other than harassment,” Moore opined.

“You only need to watch one of our meetings online to get a flavor of the abuse I receive at the hands of the trustees.

“Why else do they refuse to pay for the Huntley Police to be there?” Moore asked.

“They say I am too tough and unbending,“ Moore said.

“My answer is that I stopped the waste of taxpayer’s monies of $5 million plus, for an unnecessary new town hall.

“If I was not this tough, Trustee Gerry McMahon’s screaming and the board’s monkey shines would have driven me from office long ago.

“I am not going anywhere.”

Bill Ottley

Linda Moore

There were two cases involving Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore in Woodstock this morning.

Not much happened in either except setting new court appearance dates.

In one, Moore was seeking sanctions (a contempt of court ruling) against the four Trustees who lost their attempt to usurp the power of the Chief Executive Officer in a lengthy trial before Judge Michael Caldwell.  (See articles about the decision:  Part 1 & Part 2.)

John Nelson continues to represent Moore, while Ancel Glink’s Thomas DiCianni continues to represent Trustees Betty Zirk, Rob LaPorta, Barbara Murphy and Gerry McMahon.

Actions after that decision by the four from the Township’s legislative branch to limit Moore’s executive power led to attempt to gain punishment from the Court.

In Judge Thomas Meyer’s courtroom, Assessor Bill Ottley was suing Moore to get her to pay bills to remodel his office.  As I understand Moore’s position, she is arguing that Ottley is trying to string out various aspects of the project to avoid going out for bid.

The case was originally before Judge Caldwell, but Ottley attorney Mike Poper successfully moved for a change of venue, that is, another judge to hear the case.

Nelson represents Moore in the Assessor’s case.

Image and text taken from the April 21, 2010, article.

The misdemeanor battery charge lodged against David Moore, Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore’s husband, have been delayed two weeks so the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office can respond to new evidence introduced by David Moore’s attorneys, John Nelson and Dan Mengeling.

The additional evidence includes videos of township meetings.

The physical altercation took place after a township meeting when David was attempting to video tape a conversation between Trustee Gerry McMahon and others.

You an read the police report here.

Today Grafton Supervisor Linda Moore’s husband David Moore is in criminal court on October, 2010, battery charges.

Trustee Gerry McMahon points at David Moore while he is taping the meeting.

Concurrently, Moore’s attorney John Nelson in the Separation of Powers case she won is asking for indirect criminal contempt findings against Trustees Rob LaPorta, Betty Zirk, Barb Murphy and Gerry McMahon.

Up to six months behind bars or a fine is requested, the paperwork says.

Here’s the part of Judge Michael Caldwell’s court order which Moore contends that the Trustees violated:

The issue is about the use of a Township credit card that was in existence prior to Moore’s taking office.

The Township Trustees voted not to pay bills incurred through use of the credit card and to cancel the card.

Also bought up was the Trustees’ voting for Moore to return a sound system bought for use at the Annual Town Meeting and at bi-monthly bingo games.

Read the text comparing Moore’s actions to the $53 million embezzlement in Dixon, Illinois:

“Deliberately and willfully violating the terms of this Court’s injunction” are the “red meat” words on the page.

That’s what this press release from Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore says:

Township Trustees to File 3rd Appeal

Township Trustees Gerry McMahon, Rob LaPorta, Betty Zirk, and Barbara Murphy voted at last week’s regular board meeting to take a third trip to the Appellate Court.

In 2009 they appealed the Ziller v. Rossi case injunction against building a new town hall and lost.

In 2011 they appealed a court order to appoint the township attorney and won.

Now, they are appealing the permanent injunction put in place last week by Judge Caldwell in the Moore v. Grafton Township court case.

The case was filed by the supervisor after the trustees illegally

• changed the locks on her office,
• prevented her from fulfilling her statutory duties and without authority,
• hired Village of Huntley Trustee Pam Fender to do the work of the township supervisor.

Caldwell also enjoined Attorney Krafthefer of Ancel-Glink from acting as the Township Attorney.

Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore and Trustees Rob LaPorte, Barb Murphy, Betty Zirk and Gerry McMahon.

At the April 12, 2012 board meeting the trustees again refused to pay the bills from

• the township auditors, the CPA who prepares IRS filings
• a financial consultant
• a printing company
• the Huntley Police

Supervisor Moore said, “Because the money is in the budget and the bills are proper, it is their duty to pay these vendors.

“They cannot afford to waste the taxpayers’ money on more lawsuits so that these bills get paid.”