McHenry County Blog

A new political committee was founded in July.

It’s called Clean Energy Illinois; its chairman and treasurer are both the same individual, a Chicago man named Barry Matchett.

Since August 22, it has taken in at least $67,500 mostly in $10,000 contributions from “renewable” and “wind” energy companies or PACs located in Chicago, Oregon, Texas, Florida and Washington, DC.

Its purpose is “to support candidates for public office who support clean energy.”

Nothing wrong with that.

Perhaps.

But take a look at their website:

The top of the Clean Energy Illinois Political Action Committee web site.

It appears that the “long-term strategy” of this special interest group is to plant windmills all the way to the horizon.

Is that what we want in McHenry County?

Apparently, at least one of our state legislative candidates thinks we do. W

hy else would the Madigan-backed Dee Beaubien, challenging Republican David McSweeney for the 52nd District House seat, be taking money from Clean Energy Illinois to pay an Evanston staffer?

When I went looking for how Clean Energy Illinois is putting its contributions, I found this:

The in-kind contributions from Clean Energy Illinois PAC, which is promoting the installation of windmills.  Nicole Fredricks of Evanston has been assigned to help Dee Beaubien.

So far, no Republicans.

Just House Speaker Mike Madigan’s candidates for the Illinois House – notably including Dee Beaubien.

What set me on this search?

My late father used to say that if something seemed logical in the public arena, it probably was what was happening.

That’s why I found so intriguing an issue raised during last week’s debate between 26th District GOP State Senator Dan Duffy and his Democratic challenger Amanda Howland and, then, between 52nd District Republican State Representative nominee David McSweeney and his Madigan-backed opponent Dee Beaubien.

Not since the 1990s have I heard a debate on this proposal, and at that time, it was designed to thwart pig farms.

Big pig farms.

They generally stink, and people don’t want to be neighbors. (I remember the best sticker of the decade was “Pigs don’t vote.” Windmills don’t either, but apparently, they do fund candidates.)

Amanda Howland

Someone raised a question about affordable housing, and Amanda Howland suggested

“universal building codes.”

Dee Beaubien

Then State Rep. candidate Dee Beaubien brought up the same topic in response to a question about over-regulation of business. Oddly, she cited as a problem,

“… no uniform building code for the state.”

Who would have an interest in imposing a “uniform building code” throughout the state?

A PAC whose commercial interest would be advanced by stripping local citizens and property owners of their say in local land-use policies?

When this post card came from Dee Beaubien, financed by the Democratic Party of Illinois, I wondered where in the district which she seeks to represent she proposed putting windmills. Surely not Barrington Hills, her home town.

It may be time to tilt at windmills, before our legislators in Springfield decide for us whether we will be seeing – and hearing – them in our own neighborhoods.

Apparently “Chainsaw Jack” Franks didn’t have enough lubricating oil to get his bill (House Bill 3884, email addresses of Public Utility Committee members included in linked story) to allow Commonwealth Edison and Ameren to cut any tree it wanted to destroy within 20 feet of any power line…even it it’s in your back yard.

See all those trees beyond the trampoline? Under "Chainsaw Jack" Franks' Com Ed tree destruction bill, all could be cut down.

That means residents and local officials who know how wholesale slaughter of trees along roads and in back yards have at least another week to make their opinions known.

Here is the way that the Illinois Municipal League described the hearing:

“Legislation to authorize utilities to remove vegetation planted within 20 feet of a utility pole or overhead electrical conductor received a ‘subject matter only’ hearing in the House Public Utilities Committee on Tuesday, March 6.

“The IML has concerns with the legislation and was fortunate to have an expert witness, Mike Brunk, testify against HB 3884 (Representative Franks, D-Woodstock). Mr. Brunk is the City Arborist for Urbana, Illinois.

“Mr. Brunk’s testimony informed the Committee of alternative ‘best practices’ to manage vegetation and prevent interference with power lines.

“While the bill was not called for a vote, the members of the Public Utilities Committee expressed an interest in the development of solutions to ensure the protection of public safety and the preservation of electrical service during storm scenarios.”

Yesterday, McHenry County Blog noted that State Rep. Jack Franks’ bill was “headline” bill, that is one, that was put up to garner local press, but never intended to be enacted.

In fact, I quoted a state legislator close to the Illinois Municipal League to the effect that the bill was going nowhere.

Now the proof.

The Ilnois Municipal League logo. The motto is "Educate, Advocate, Empower."

Look what is on the Illinois Municipal League’s web site:

Senator Link Message on Property Tax Legislation

By Joe McCoy, Legislative Director, IML

State Senator Terry Link has asked the IML to make our membership aware that he has no intention of advancing a PTELL provision opposed by communities across the state. SB 2073, as amended in the House, proposes to prevent non-home rule local governments from capturing inflationary increases through the property tax if the overall assessed valuation within the local government jurisdiction has declined from that of the prior year. Senator Link’s statement is below.

The IML would like to thank Senator Link for his opposition to the House amendment.

Terry Link

Dear friend,

When I introduced Senate Bill 2073, the original intent of the bill was to require the Property Tax Appeal Board to issue a decision within one year from the date the appeal was received.

However, once the bill passed over to the House, Representative Jack Franks signed on as the chief sponsor.

He then amended the measure with house amendment 6, a hostile amendment which essentially limits local municipalities’ authority to levy a tax based on the needs of the community and student population, removing local control.

I am sending this letter to inform you I DO NOT SUPPORT Representative Frank’s amendment.

I will hold this measure in the Senate and make sure it never comes to a vote.

I share your concerns and appreciate your interest in the matter.

The measure is dead on arrival.

You should know that there is another bill in the General Assembly that is similar to Senate Bill 2073.

I recently learned of Senate Bill 2862, which is similar to the amendment Representative Franks placed on my legislation.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to my Springfield office.

Sincerely,

Terry Link
State Senator, 30th Legislative District

In the past there has been tension between Link and Franks.

Not only the Township Officials of Illinois, but the more powerful Illinois Municipal League has lined up against State Rep. Jack Franks’ bill to keep property taxes constant in years when real estate assessments are declining.

Under the way that the 1991 Property Tax Cap works, local schools and other tax districts are allowed to obtain the real estate taxes they extracted last year, plus the increase in the cost-of-living, as defined by the Consumer Price Index.

Since property values consistently exceeded the CPI until the late 2000′s, County Clerks had to cut tax rates in order to make certain that tax districts did not get more than the law (acronym: PTELL) allowed.

That drove tax rates down well below their statutory maximum.

Once assessments grew less that the CPI, with tax districts still asking for what they got last year, plus the inflationary increase, County Clerks complied by hiking their tax rates, which were still under the maximum limit.

Back to the Illinois Municipal League. Here’s what’s on the front page of the organization’s web site:

House Revenue Committee Votes to Take Taxing Power Away from Communities

On October 25, 2011, the House Revenue and Finance Committee voted to adopt House Amendment No. 1 to HB 3793 (Representative Franks, D-Harvard) This legislation amends the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL) to provide that the capped property taxes may not be adjusted for inflation if the total equalized assessed value of all taxable property declines from the previous year.

If this legislation were to pass, it would be an explicit acknowledgment by the General Assembly that local government should not be allowed to raise enough revenue to cover any increase in the cost of providing service. The bill would limit revenue collections without limiting the costs of salaries, pensions, fuel, and other goods and materials necessary to provide public services.

Please contact your Representatives at their Springfield offices and ask them to OPPOSE HB 3793.

As with the Township Officials of Illinois, the Illinois Municipal League lobbying is financed by your tax dollars.

Part-Time Pundit John Bambenek is taking on State Senators who are planning to make it much more difficult for anyone not considered “media” to do in-depth research about what local governments do by passing Senate Bill 1655.

Woodstock Mayor Brian Sager

The Northwest Herald’s Kevin Craver writes about the issue, too.  Craver says that Woodstock Mayor Brian Sager, widely talked of as a Republican candidate for State Representative if Jack Franks steps aside, testified in favor of the bill. (Woodstock, by the way, won’t put McHenry County Blog on its press release list. I have to file a Freedom of Information request to obtain them and, then, they come five or more days after issuance.  Woodstock’s lack of transparency will make an interesting campaign issue should Sager take the plunge into legislative politics.)

With permission, I reprint Bambenek’s column of yesterday below:

In Illinois, Public Accountability is “Vexatious”

by John Bambenek

Illinois has long earned the reputation as one of the most corrupt states in the union and for reasons too numerous to list here.

However, not content to have reached rock bottom, the Illinois Municipal League (a collection of local government officials) and Lord State Senator Ed Maloney have decided to start digging.

This week is Sunshine Week, a week dedicated to promoting the cause of governmental transparency. It should come as no surprise that transparency is needed in Illinois. However, the Illinois Municipal League and Lord State Senator Ed Maloney believes that is the problem, not the solution.

They have introduced Senate Bill 1645 which would allow local government officials to label any individual who files more than 15 Freedom of Information Act requests in a year, or more than 5 in a month, “vexatious”.

This would then allow them to summarily reject any and all FOIA’s filed by that person.

There is no judicial review of this designation nor any right to appeal.

You see, us taxpayers who want to know more about our government are annoying so they want to be able to shut us down.

To give you an idea of what kind of politician Lord State Senator Ed Maloney is, he earlier this year was embroiled in a controversy for sponsoring legislation that would require all homeschoolers to register with the government.

His stated purpose was that he was worried that people who homeschool their kids were not accountable to any government officials. You read that right, he views his job as enabling government to hold private citizens accountable for their private conduct.

The bad news is that SB 1645 has already passed out of the Senate Executive Committee (the committee where “important” legislation is considered and fast-tracked) by a 10-4 margin. Disappointly, this included two Republican Senator votes (John O. Jones and Luechtefeld). We can just call this coalition the “Pay up and shut up” Coalition for their support of the public’s right to know.

Interestingly enough, the Illinois Legislature does not publish committee votes without a FOIA (would that be “vexatious” too?).

Apparently 10 Senators believe that the public has a right to know what their tax dollars are being spent on… as long as they don’t want to know too much about how they are being spent.

In a rush to get this bill passed and out the door, Lord State Senator Ed Maloney forgot to put a press exemption so the media won’t be labeled vexatious too. It is a humorous twist to an extremely dangerous law.

Freedom of Information Act laws were passed in the wake of Watergate and, oddly, there is no real requirement for government bodies to give taxpayers and voters information on what the government is doing.

Without these laws, the public would lose a significant tool to force governments to disclose how their money is spent.

Apparently, disclosure of these records is a problem for these government officials at the Illinois Municipal League.

During the hearing, many mayors and other local officials took their sob stories to the Legislature and whined:

• “It costs too much”,
• “it takes so much staff time”, and
• “the taxpayers have to foot the bill for these troublemakers”.

At the same time, this same group opposes Senate Bill 37 which would require units of local government to publish financial information and other documents online thus sparing the expense of FOIA’ing these documents to begin with.

In a state known for corruption, anyone contemplating keeping more records under seal because someone is “too nosey” in how their tax dollars should be spent should be rendered politically radioactive.

It certainly does tell us the level of regard they hold voters in (i.e. not much). However, we shouldn’t expect much better from Chicago Democrats. After all, where do you think the President learned his dedication to transparenct from. His colleagues in the Illinois Senate.

= = = = =
Here is the exception for the media:

“For the purposes of this definition, a request made by news media shall not be considered a vexatious request for records when the principal purpose of the request is (i) to access and disseminate information concerning news and current or passing events or (ii) for articles of opinion or features of interest to the public.”

Crystal Lake City Hall

The line most in keeping with McHenry County Blog’s philosophy was uttered by State Senator Pam Althoff Tuesday night to crowd of about thirty people in the Crystal Lake City Hall:

“Government is a participatory sport…There is a responsibility on your part.”

Town Hall Meeting at Crystal Lake City Hall.

She had proceeded statement near the end of an hour and a half meeting by saying,

“If you need to find us, we’re not hard to find.”

Mike Tryon thinks the poor economy will force government to contract.

State Rep. Mike Tryon pointed out that he received about 500 emails the week the legislature considered the pension reform bill near the end of the session.

Turn around time?

One to two days people in the audience verified.

But, as Althoff pointed out,

“We don’t always make the right decision on things. Be patient. We’re learning.”

Earlier Tryon commented, “It’s hard to face you guys.”

“Sometimes it takes this kind of a crisis. Then people like you get more engaged and hold us responsible,” Althoff added.

Talk about having fewer governments was led off by Wonder Lake township government opponent Bob Anderson.

The threat re-emerged in a comment by Tryon toward the end of the meeting:

“I think what we’re about to see in this economy is the contraction of government.

“Government’s not going to reform government. The economy is.”

He pointed to his own business need to economize. He has cut the number of employees from 21 to 13.

Crystal Lake Councilman Ralph Dawson added his experience at the Illinois Municipal League Convention in Chicago last week:

“It’s terrible out there. Government has to cut themselves.”

Pam Althoff explaining money is not the answer to better education.

Althoff, who held a Chicago fundraiser in conjunction with the convention, revealed that attendance was down 15%.

When I arrived a bit after the seven o’clock starting time former teacher Althoff was explaining the tremendous amount of money that state taxpayers have pumped into local schools without appreciable change in test scores.

Her point?

Money isn’t the answer.

Not for profit providers of services subsidized by the state were addressed by Tryon in his opening remarks.

“If we tell you we’re going to pay you, we should pay you.”

More tomorrow.