McHenry County Blog

In a letter dated December 11th, Nunda Township Supervisor John Heisler submitted his resignation as of January 3, 2013.

The missive, addressed to Trustee James Schlader, read,

John Heisler

“Due to recent events and family responsibilities, I will be unable to complete my current term as the Nunda Township Supervisor.

“I hereby submit my resignation to you effective January 3, 2013.

“Further, I am withdrawing my petition for candidacy for the February 26, 2013 primary election.

“I will make myself available3 for the execution of official documents and transitional discussion through January 3, 2013.”

It is dated one day before a challenge to Heisler’s petition resulted in his being removed from the GOP primary ballot.

Following Schlader’s reading of the letter, the four Township Trustees voted unanimously to accept Heisler’s resignation.

“I know we have had our ups and downs…but I think John’s heart was really in it,” Schlader said.

One of the three remaining candidates for the Republican nomination for Township Assessor, Lee Jennings, moved that Schlader be appointed to Interim Supervisor.

Trustee Tom Palmer pointed out that Schlader was “a good choice” because he was “the senior Trustee.”

After a vote, Schlader said, “Seeing how it’s unanimous I do accept.”

Before the meeting Schlader had explained Thursday was the first day of his retirement after being at th3 same medical supply company for thirty-nine years.

Schlader explained that it was not necessary to make “a whole bunch of changes,” but there would be some. He solicited suggestions from the elected officials at the meeting.

“I will be here at the office tomorrow morning at 8 o’clock.

“I need everybody’s support and I thank everybody here for their support.”

A second candidate for the permanent position is Township Clerk Bridget Provenzano, who will swear Schlader in on Friday.

Kerry Leigh, an Oakwood Hills Trustee, is the third candidate for Supervisor.

John Heisler has filed the required Statements of Economic Interest with the County Clerk for twenty years, but, with his mother dying in hospice care, he didn’t remember to attach a copy of the receipt to his Statement of Candidacy and petitions.

That got him kicked off the ballot Thursday by the Nunda Township Electoral Board.

The Board consisted of Trustee Tom Palmer, who chaired the meeting, Trustee Jim Schlader and former Assistant State’s Attorney David Stone, a Nunda Township resident.

Nunda Township resident Russell Scott, a McHenry resident, bought the complaint against Heisler in a professionally-prepared legal document.

When asked to testify, Scott said, he was “just going over the paperwork and I didn’t think it met the requirements of the State Board of Elections.”

When asked he said he stood on the arguments made in the objection that he filed.

“No one is here on behalf of the candidate,” attorney Scott Puma then announced.

“The objection is basically one of a legal question,” Electoral Board member Stone, an attorney, explained.

The Election Code requires a receipt from the candidate’s Statement of Economic interest to be attached to the petition filing.

Stone noted that the objected had cited three cases “which basically cover every conceivable situation.”

And, their message was that the attachment was a “mandatory requirement.”

“I’m of the opinion that the candidacy of John A. Heisler is invalid,” Stone concluded.

Schlader said he had a copy of from the County Clerk and asked, “Does it have to be attached?”

He said the copy had been “left in his box.”

Stone asked whether he got the copy before or after the filing and Palmer answered, “Well after.”

“I also declare that his petition package is invalid,” Schlader said.

Palmer agreed.

Stone then made a motion to take Heisler off the ballot.

Puma produced a resolution which the Electoral Board members read the document (that’s what the members are doing in the photo above).

After reading it and making a minor correction, the Board adopted the resolution unanimously.

That means the following candidates will be on the ballot for Nunda Township Supervisor:

• Bridgett Provenzano (current Township Clerk and wife of County Board member Nick Provenzano)
• Kelvin Lee Jennings (current Trustee)
• Kerry Leigh (Oakwood Hills Trustee)

Not only has Grafton Township Supervisor candidate Pam Fender had an objection filed against her petitions, but so has one been filed against Nunda Township Supervisor John Heisler’s.

The objection is that Heisler’s filing is incomplete because he did not attach a receipt from his filing of his Statement of Economic Interest.  This form must be filed by all elected officials or they get removed from office, so Heisler has obviously filed one.  What he apparently did not do is attach a receipt showing that he had filed it.

You can read the objection below. Click to enlarge any image.

If Heisler is kicked off the ballot, that would leave a three-way Republican Primary Election with the following facing off against each other:

• Bridgett Provenzano (current Township Clerk and wife of County Board member Nick Provenzano)
• Kelvin Lee Jennings (current Trustee)
• Kerry Leigh (Oakwood Hills Trustee)

If kicked off the ballot before December 26th, Heisler, like Fender, could run as an Independent.

A presentation about how the McHenry County Board could help residents save 10% or more on electric bills by shopping around was made at the September 9th Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee.

The draft minutes of the committee chaired by John Heisler were so interesting, I thought you might like to read them. The relevant part follows:

Residential Aggregation of Electricity – David Hoover, Northern Illinois Municipal Electric Collaborative (NIMEC):

Mr. David Hoover, from Northern Illinois Municipal Electric Collaborative (NIMEC), joined committee members to provide a presentation on the Residential Aggregation of Electricity.

NIMEC was formed in 1996 in order to take advantage of deregulation. This is a private organization. With the changes in regulations there is a county wide effort to lower individual electric bills. 80% of commercial entities have already changed their service and now they are trying to get the word out to the residential properties. There are advertisements being placed to try to get these residential customers to join various companies, one at a time.

Unfortunately residents have to be cautious, as there are some bad apples out there in this industry. The reputable companies are saving residents approximately 10% in energy savings.

There has recently been a big change to municipal aggregation. They now allow local governments to aggregate their residents to see if they can entice better pricing. In order to do this the local government is required to go to a referendum to see what the constituents want. The next time a referendum can run is in March of 2012.

During the last election cycle, 23 entities went out for referendum, 19 passed. Harvard and Fox River Grove had a referendum pass in their municipalities.

There are a number of municipalities keeping an eye on this issue because of the savings being realized by some of these entities.

Some of the municipalities have seen a savings of up to 23%.

The Aggregation of Electricity allows a city or County to negotiate prices on behalf of their residents.

Mr. Hoover noted that he believes that competition will increase because of the number of people joining the program.

If a resident does not like the program, they can elect to go back to ComEd or negotiate their own cost with their own company. If they go back to ComEd, they would have to remain with them for at least one year. They would also have to coordinate the termination and initiation of service with the two companies involved.

This program would cover all residents and small businesses in the county. Committee members were informed they could “aggregate” with other villages and would then be allowed to collect a “civic contribution” for the County.

This could provide an extra revenue steam for the County. Most of the suppliers involved in this program are willing to negotiate this fee into the contracts. When they aggregate with other villages it provides leverage for collective buying.

The timeline would require that the referendum be on the March ballot. This would require that a resolution be approved by the County Board by their November 15th meeting. Bids would then go out in June with the power changes being made by late summer. The County Clerk would need to be notified by January 3rd in order to get this issue on the ballot.

Information meetings could then be held during the primary season.

Comittee members questioned if a resident from a Municipality, that does not offer this program, could join in on the County’s plan. Mr. Hoover stated he did not believe this could be done, unless they could create some type of two tiered system. He noted they may be able to “opt” in individually. He stated that he would look into this as it would be better if they could create some type of hybrid program.

Everyone is on the same time frame.

Most residents would see a savings of about $175 per year.

The down side of this program is that it would require staff time to work on the referendum process.

Committee members stated that the County should join with some municipalities in order to put bids out for everyone that passes a referendum in the County.

Committee members questioned what the challenges were in the areas where a referendum failed.

Mr. Hoover stated that most failed because of the lack of education on this issue. Committee member stated that they think this is a worthy program to pursue, especially since it means a savings for the residents.

Committee members were questioned on how they would like to have this presented to the County Board. It was suggested that a presentation, along with a Resolution be brought forward to the morning meeting in October for consideration. They suggested that the municipalities be invited so they can see the presentation along with the County Board. Mr. Hoover informed committee members that he is meeting with MCCOG representatives regarding this issue. Mr. Austin stated that this is a big topic at the Illinois Managers Association meeting as well.

It was suggested that a Resolution be drafted for this committee to review at one of their next two meetings.

= = = = =
Perhaps this is a way to offset to some extent the rate hike supported by all our local Republican legislators that Governor Pat Quinn vetoed. I am sure some people don’t think I ever agree with Democrat Jack Franks. On this issue, I do.

I went to a township meeting north of Crystal Lake last night in which no one raised his or her voice, no one insulted anyone, people asked sincere questions and heard a proposal to save money.

Getting over before 9, it was a long meeting for Nunda Township, but only because of a presentation by a windmill company and a construction manager.

The regular items of business seemed to take about a minute apiece. I’m talking approval of minutes, bills, stuff like that.

Starting township officials thinking about windmills was the Aurora Township Road Commissioner John Shoemaker, whose windmill will go online within a week, if nothing unforeseen occurs.

What tipped the decision point for Aurora Township was the cost of street lights.

While the energy generated on site will be used on site most of the time and will only offset street lighting costs (for which the township is billed a monthly rate that does not vary with use), any surplus electricity sold to the grid could be used to offset street light costs.

Com Ed is seeking to raise electric rates by about 7%, which was presented as a reason to try to cut electricity.

And, grants seem to be available to offset construction and equipment costs for the first ones applying.

Aurora Township, for instance, asked for almost the maximum amount it thought available from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs–$39,900–and was said to have gotten even more. The program is called the “Solar Energy Rebate Program” administered through the Renewable Energy Resources Program.

Nunda Township had electric bills of $51,900 during a recent twelve month period.

With two windmills annual kilowatt output is estimated at 39,902 by the company selling them, ElectriTech out of Naperville. An average wind speed of 12 miles per hour is assumed.

That’s less than 25% of power Nunda uses, excluding street lights.

Township Supervisor John Heisler said he would hold a hearing after notifying local residents before proceeding.

Other local governments considering buying the 10 kilowatt Bergey windmills are Algonquin Township and the McHenry Township Fire Protection District.

Helping with the pitch was Mark Baum of the construction management company R.C. Wegman. It supervised the Aurora project and would be paid 12% of the cost of construction and the windmills.

The windmills, including installation, are estimated to cost something from $150,000 to $175,000, plus it seems to me the 12% charged by R.C. Wegman for construction management.

That’s what ElectiTech’s Emmit George’s paperwork said.

This is the second half of an article in which Grafton and Nunda Townships are compared as seen through the eyes of courtroom testimony before Judge Michael Caldwell in the Grafton Township separation of powers case.

Speaking later of finances, Heisler said he provided an income statement and a balance sheet every month.

Heisler was asked to compare Nunda to Grafton Township.

“Our levy’s about $1.1 million. The road district is $3.5 to $4 million. I assume Grafton is similar in size to that.” [See this article for Grafton Township financial information.]

Number of employees were requested.

The supervisor’s office has one full- and one part-time employee “and myself,” Heisler said.

The assessor’s office has seven and the road commissioner “18, I think” to service “100 miles of road.”

The Nunda Township Supervisor was asked if he ever “terminated a township attorney.”

DiCianni again objected to “relevance.”

“Overruled,” Judge Caldwell said.

Heisler told of a situation in which a partner in the law firm of the township attorney represented a developer whose subdivision was deemed objectionable by the Township Planning Commission.

The Trustees agreed and passed a resolution.

Heisler said he didn’t have a problem with his township attorney’s colleague representing the developer until the other lawyer “defamed me” in a letter.

“I had to dismiss the law firm. I couldn’t deal with a law firm with a partner who would defame me.”

“Did you obtain board approval before?”

“I didn’t dismiss him. I asked for him for a letter of resignation, which he gave me.”

Nelson probed further into his relationship with the other elected officials.

“Who directs the actions of the township.

Heisler’s reply:

“I’m chairman of the board and CEO. When I came on board we adopted Robert’s Rules of Order and adopted rules we used at the county board.

“That’s how we conduct our meeting.

“I make the day-to-day decisions in the township.

“There are only two authorized to commit Nunda Township for anything, purchasing anything from supplies to a Chevrolet—the road commissioner and the supervisor.”

Heisler added that he “engage(s) an attorney and a CPA firm without approval of the board.”

When DiCianni got his turn at questioning Heisler he asked whether he would include items on the agenda requested by trustees.

“I’d probably discuss it with him and if after (doing so, thought the request appropriate would do so.)”

Concerning paying bills, Heisler was asked if he paid them after his board approved them.

“We have the checks made out.” [I remember Linda Moore's have said she did that, but stopped preparing hers in advance when the board started disapproving some.]

“You’ve never refused to pay a bill approved by the board?” DiCianni continued. “Always?”

“Yes.”

“When the board has questions, you answer?”

“Yes.”

Does Heisler show the trustees financial information?

“Yes.”

“Was Robert’s Rules of Order approved by the board?”

“Yes. I get along with my board. They have a right to say, ‘No.’”

The Trustees’ lawyer asked about the “process by which you and the road commissioner hire an attorney. The practice is that (your) board hasn’t required advice and consent?”

“That’s our practice,” Heisler replied.

Asked about the attorney who was discharged, the answer was, “He resigned. I asked him for his resignation and he did.”

On re-cross examination, Nelson probed Nunda Township trustees had access to the township’s attorney with resulting bills that were paid by the township.

The answer was a big “No.”

“On one occasion (a trustee called) James Militello, Sr., for clarification. I’ve forgotten the issue. When the legal bill came through, it was on there.

“I asked the trustee to abstain from voting.

“No board member is allowed to commit Nunda Trustee (on anything).

Heisler was asked if his township was typical.

As he answered, “Yes,” DiCianni objected for “lack of foundation.”

This time he was sustained.

So, Nelson asked him about the organization he had chaired, the McHenry County Township Supervisors Association.

He said the group met monthly and was informal.

Asked whether he familiarized himself with “operations of the other townships,” Heisler replied, “Somewhat. A great deal of our discussion is around our General Assistance program.”

Laying foundation, I guess.

“Objection. Lack of foundation, relevance,” DiCianni interjected.

“Overruled,” Judge Caldwell quickly ruled.

My notes say that DiCianni next started asking questions.

“When the board asks you questions, you answer them, right?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not familiar with any township that have dysfunctional relationships between the supervisor an trustees?”

“This is not a club where we sit around and always agree,” Heisler replied. “I always vote last so as not to influence board members.”

“When the board passes a policy, you disagree with, you enforce it, (right)?”

It didn’t make my notes, but I’m pretty sure Heisler answered in the affirmative.

The questioning ceased when Heisler said he was unaware of any other townships with township administrators.

After listening to five days of testimony in the Grafton Township Separation of Powers case, why does Rodney King’s famous quote come to mind?

“Can we all get along?”

Obviously, not in Grafton Township.

The question is why not?

Most observers believe the fight is all about the township trustees having lost their leader John Rossi and, with the help of a taxpayer lawsuit in which to-be Township Supervisor Linda Moore was a plaintiff until she took office, the loss of their planned new township hall.

Both Trustees Rob LaPorta and Betty Zirk have testified under oath that is not the reason for the ongoing fight.

Indeed there was this interchange between the Trustees’ attorney, Tom DiCianni, and Zirk on the last day of testimony in the case after Moore attorney John Nelson completed his cross examination:

“The problems you had with Ms. Moore had nothing to do with the town hall, right?”

“Right.”

In today’s article, I’ll lay out testimony on the last day of court proceedings about the conduct of township board meetings.

Betty Zirk was on the stand first.

After questioning Zirk about the dire condition of township finances, Moore attorney Nelson asked the twelve-year trustee about how meetings were conducted by her first township supervisor, Millie Ruth.

“Things went smoothly,” Zirk explained, saying they lasted an hour to an hour and a half.

“When Mr. Rossi was supervisor, he was in charge, wasn’t he?” Nelson continued.

“No, he wasn’t,” she replied. “He was in charge but he had trustees watching over him. I helped him with the book work…I was making the deposits for him.”

“Whatever Mr. Rossi wanted, you found you wanted?” Nelson asked.

“Not all the time.”

Nelson asked for an example and a date, saying, “We’ll look in the minutes and check it out.”

“We didn’t always agree. We’d negotiate and make things work out.”

You will remember what I would call the “list of horribles” in which Zirk outlined her problems with Moore. [See “Another 'Linda Moore Must Go' Day in Woodstock.”]

I think it safe to say that Grafton Township meetings are contentious.

Enter Nunda Township Supervisor John Heisler.

While Grafton Township is located in the southwestern part of Crystal Lake and points west and south to Huntley, Nunda comprises northern Crystal Lake to southern McHenry along the Lake County line.

Heisler is a veteran public official, having served eight years on the county board and being in his 10th year as township supervisor. A CPA, he audited public entities as far back as the 1960′s when he audited my books when I was McHenry County Treasurer.  He’s examined banks for the Federal government and he was also a finalist for the position of Auditor General for the State of Wisconsin.

To say that he is a “respected public official” is an understatement and, as you will see, Judge Michael Caldwell wanted to hear what he had to say.

Nelson pitched him a softball first, asking him to describe a typical meeting.

Heisler said they “last less than an hour,” unless there is “a teaching opportunity or a program or levies.”

He was asked who prepared the agendas.

“I do.”

He said he bases those agendas on what he knows is coming up or should be considered and that he considers requests from other elected officials.

“The meetings are primarily to approve the bills,” he said.

Nelson asked Heisler “the procedure with providing information to trustees.”

This drew an objection concerning relevancy from DiCianni.

Nelson pointed out in asking for injunctive relief, “testimony from an experienced supervisor” could be useful.

Judge Michael Caldwell’s ruling:

“Objection overruled.”

Heisler said he gave his trustees “three or four days to come in and review invoices.”

“During office hours?” Nelson inquired.

“I ask them and they do.”

“Who prepares the budget?”

“Those same three department heads prepare their budgets and submit it to me.”

Heisler explained that there have been “work sessions” on the budget.

He also prepares the tax levies.

“I prepare the tax levies for the entire township. We have a public hearing and they’re approved thirty days after the posting.”

= = = = =

More tomorrow.

Thanks to a friend of McHenry County Blog, I can offer the following take on what happened at Nunda Township’s Annual Town Meeting:

I thought I’d fill you in on the outcome of the Nunda Township Annual Meeting.

Aside from the formalities of the standard Annual Meeting Agenda (there were some interesting comments from Supervisor John Heisler at the beginning of the meeting relative to general assistance funds… mainly they will likely be depleted by October), the big question on the agenda was with regard to the Nunda Open Space Plan and a question put forth as to whether or not to put an advisory question on the November Ballot which would allow the voters to express whether or not they favored repealing the Nunda Open Space Plan.

I wish I had brought my digital recorder or had taken better notes, however below is a quick summation of a couple of key points made during the meeting:

Douglas Mann put the motion forward to discuss the question and admitted that while the question was advisory he called the plan a plan to tax the residents of Nunda Township.

In his remarks he referred to page 13 of the Standards and Procedures which indicates that “Cost, availability and willingness of the seller will be the standards that guide the Township Board in acquisition” and that references to Hydric Soils or other water related issues would not be guiding factors when purchasing properties.

Former Nunda Trustee, Kevin Sarnwick, asked a series of questions of Supervisor John Heisler relative to the Open Space Plan.  Among the answers, it was revealed out that the township could not accept land donations without an Open Space Plan.

Several homeowners indicated that their wells had run dry and they had been forced to dig a deeper well as the aquifers had been reduced as a result of development.

Democrat Candidate for County Board Lori McConville, who also serves on the Nunda Township Planning Commission and is President and Chairman of Nunda Neighbors for Open Space spoke against having the question on the ballot.

Gerry Walsh, one of the advisory question proponents, questioned Ms. McConville’s credibility, noting that he was scheduled to appear in front of the Illinois Election Commission with regard to an infraction related to campaign finance filing against Nunda Neighbors tomorrow.  McConville’s argument was that her involvement was based out of concern for the quantity and quality of water available to township residents.

Also speaking in support of the Open Space Plan among others were County Board Member Kathy Bergen Schmidt and Nunda Township Planning Commission Chairman Ders Anderson.

Among the supporters many discussed the failed tax referendums and how they would, eventually, when the timing is right, win approval.

During one of her Remarks, Kathy Bergen Schmidt identified as the same Gerry Walsh who served as a Trustee in Roselle back in the 90′s.

Debate lasted for nearly an hour and the final vote was 31 in favor of letting the voters voice their opinion and 47 against.  I did note that there were many people that chose to abstain from the vote.

I voted in favor of putting the question on the ballot; while the referendum was advisory, it would have given the voters another chance to express their opinion on the document that they approved of, but not enough to fund, and it would have given the proponents that would want to see taxes raised on Nunda residents the opportunity to promote the value of the plan and build their case for their next attempt at the tax increase.

No winners or losers here, I guess.

Nunda Township resident Gerry Walsh filed a complaint with the Illinois State Board of Elections complaining that a political group had been allowed to meet at the Nunda Township building without paying a fee.

A final order has been entered in the case with the State Board finding

“That the complaint was not filed on justifiable grounds.”

The State Board dismissed the case, which Walsh could have appealed to McHenry County Circuit Court, but, apparently, did not.

Heisler told me any Nunda Township was welcome to meet in the township hall.

In one of the first county board fund raisers of the year, McHenry County College Board member Donna Kurtz gathered supporters at The Cottage at the corner of Crystal Lake Avenue and Brink Street Thursday night.

Kurtz is running to replace either incumbent County Board Chairman Ken Koehler or member Lyn Orphal in the early February Republican primary election.

Crystal Lake City Councilman Jeff Thorsen introduced the candidate.

“I am very, very, very enthusiastic supporter of Donna Kurtz,” he said. “We need someone with her honesty and integrity in county board government.”

Kurtz said she was inspired by her mother former State Rep. Rosemary Kurtz’ concern for environmental protection and former State Rep. Cal Skinner’s fiscal conservativeness. Rep. Kurtz defeated Rep. Skinner in the 2000 GOP primary election.

“As many of you know, the world goes full circle.”

Kurtz said she running for the board of directors of a $260 million organization, McHenry County government.

Reflecting on her service on the McHenry County College Board, Kurtz said it had taught her this lesson:

“You gotta do your own research. Everyone’s got their own agenda.”

She didn’t say she was reflecting on her support of building a minor league baseball stadium on college property and, then, changing her mind with the announcement being at the Crystal Lake City Council meeting the night re-zoning was being discussed, but that might be a good guess.

“My courage was driven by my thought I couldn’t stand not to do the right thing,” she stated.

Besides Thorsen, City Council members Carolyn Schofield and Brett Hopkins were in attendance, as were park board members Mike Walkup and Richard Sexton.

McHenry County Recorder of Deeds Phyllis Walters, who actually lives in District 2 in the tiny bit of Algonquin in the district was also in attendance, as was Nunda Township Supervisor John Heisler.

Members of A-LAW, the Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water were in attendance. The group recently proposed strict potential conflict disclosure rules for county elected and appointed officials.  The Alden Road Alliance was also represented. District 3 county board candidate Craig Steagall, who actively opposes the location of the proposed Ridgefield Metra station on Country Club Road, also was present.

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