McHenry County Blog

Today District 2 candidate Ken Koehler, McHenry County Board Chairman, sent out a postcard, complete with a real stamp, bragging about “being a reasonable voice for you on the McHenry County Board…Over the last nine years.”

The headline over a photo of an unfrozen Crystal Lake asks,

“What has Ken Koehler Done for You Lately?”

The answers?

• Championed low county taxes
• Secured over $500,000 to protect groundwater
• Worked with the conservation district to protect additional open space
• Improved traffic safety and efficiency
• Secured $82 million in State and Federal funds for the Western Bypass

As I was knocking on doors in my Algonquin Township Precinct 7 neighborhood I saw someone had distributed

Protecting our
Crystal Lake
Watershed

door hangers.

The Clear
Choice
for Our
Community

That’s the message on front with Kurtz standing in front of water. I don’t recognize where, maybe Dog Lake on the North Shore.

On the back is a “Dear friends and neighbors” note from Crystal Lake City Councilman Jeff Thorsen

It reads,

“A half century’s effort resulted in best management practices adopted by Crystal Lake protecting the lake’s watershed. Not only are these practices essential to the continued health of the lake, they also protect property surrounding the lake. Trouble, is, most of the watershed is governed by the County and not subject to these practices. The county ignores them.

“The County Board apparently remains blissfully ignorant of the sensitivity of watershed development. Where has our representation been on this issue? It is time for some new direction. It has to come from District 2.

“I witnessed Donna Kurtz stand up to protect our watershed when it was not easy task doing so. Her actions were politically risky, selfless, but most of all, righteous.

“We need representation free of conflicts or personal gain. Someone willing to stand up and fight to protect our lake, our homes, and our neighborhoods. Donna Kurtz is our best hope for County Board in District 2.

“Please vote for Donna Kurtz on Feb. 2nd.

“Jeffrey T. Thorsen”

= = = = =
Click to enlarge any image.

So, who do you think has done more to protect the watershed of Crystal Lake?

Two more county board candidates have filed their conflict of interest forms with the Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water.

That brings the total to 20 out of 27 candidates who have answered the ALAW questionnaire.

74%.  Pretty amazing.

McHenry County Board Distrist Map

District 1 incumbent Yvonne Barnes is one of the recent filings. She has a contested primary election with three candidates—fellow incumbent Anna May Miller, Algonquin Township Highway Commissioner Bob Miller’s wife, and Robert Nowak, neither of which have filed. At the Patriots United County Board Candidates’ Forum, Nowak was the only one of the three to attend.

The second new filer is unopposed District 3 Democrat Lori McConville. District 3 is where the Democrats picked up a seat two years ago when Kathy Bergan Schmidt beat incumbent Nick Provenzano. Provenzano is trying to regain that seat this year. All five Republicans previously filed forms.

That means both non-incumbent Democrats have filled out the form. The other is District 4 candidate Jeff Thirtyacre.

However, the Democratic Party incumbent who is up for re-election, District 5’s Jim Kennedy, has not yet done so. He will be on the ballot this fall whether or not he decides to reveal his potential conflicts of interest. His Democratic Party colleague from District 5, Paula Yensen, not up for re-election this year, has also voluntarily filed the form.

Twenty-seven people want to be elected to the McHenry County Board next fall.

Twenty-one are Republicans, three are Democrats and one is a member of the Green Party.

Although the February 2nd election will decide who will be on the GOP ballot, the Democrats and Greens could appoint people to the ballot after the primary to challenge Republicans in Districts 1, 2 and 6, where Republicans currently face no fall contest.

100% of the Greens have filed (Frank Wedig, running in District 5).

Two-thirds of the Democrats have filed.

Of the twenty-one Republicans, seventeen have filed. That’s over 80%.

So, which Republicans haven’t told us what land they own and what business interests they have?

• District 1 – Incumbent Anna May Miller of District 1 and challenger Robert Nowak.
• District 2 – McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler of District 1. ( All of his opponents have filed their ethics forms with ALAW.)
• District 4 – Incumbent Pete Merkel
• District 5 – Challenger Dave Frederick
• District 6 – Incumbent Dan Ryan

Two-thirds of the non-filing Republican candidates are incumbents.

Of the ten Republicans and Democrats now in office running for re-election, sixty percent have now filled out the conflict of interest forms.

There’s still time to file and I’ll more than happy to write an article if addition people decided to reveal their potential conflicts of interest.

From looking at District 3 candidate Nick Provenzano’s fancy Pro-Life post card (see bottom of the liked article), one would think he was the only Pro-Life candidate running.

A post card from Barb Wheeler hopes to clear up any confusion.

But, he isn’t, as McHenry County Blog reported exactly a month ago.

To recap, the candidates endorsed by Illinois Citizens for Life follow

Sheriff – Zane Seipler

County Board

Irene Napier

• District 1 – Robert Nowak
• District 2 – Ken Koehler and Sandra DePaul
• District 3 – Nick Provenzano and Barb Wheeler
• District 4 – No endorsement
• District 5 – Dave Fredrick
• District 6 – No endorsement

Wheeler, like Provenzano is endorsed by local pro-life leader Irene Napier, who heads McHenry County Right to Life.

Personal PAC, probably the most radical and most effect pro-abortion political action committee in the country (they certainly beat me) endorsed

• District 2 – Donna Kurtz
• District 4 – Jeff Thirtyacre (only Democrat whose endorsement is reported on this page)
• District 5 – Tina Hill

Personal PAC actually has a McHenry County agenda, as you can read here.

This was not an investigatory story.  (Hurry.  It won’t be free long.)

Nothing about how the county was looking for a place not near a residential neighborhood…on cheap land…without brick walls and ended up near a residential neighborhood on one of the busiest highways in McHenry County with brick walls.

After Blake Hobson gave Ken Koehler the credit for the new facility, someone named “OakLeaf” wrote the following:

OakLeaf wrote on January 25, 2010 12:44 p.m.

“I think the county could have found a much less expensive place. This is from mchenrycountyblog The folks running for re-election (or, in the case of one seeking to return to the board) who voted to impose the cat tax in order to help pay for new animal control shelter on Route 14 in Crystal Lake follow:

• Ken Koehler, County Board Chairman, Crystal Lake, District 2
• John Jung of Woodstock, District 5
• Tina Hill of Woodstock, District 5
• Anna May Miller of Cary, District 1
• Sandra Salgado of McHenry, District 4
• Barbara Wheeler of Crystal Lake, District 3″

Keely Cat doesn't have to hide from the McHenry County Cat Tax Collector anymore.

It was a coincidence that I wrote a story about the votes on the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax the same day the NW Herald did a two-year retrospective.

And, the Herald didn’t point out the role its approval played in the defeat of Woodstock Republican County Board member Perry Moy by Lake in the Hills Democrat Jim Kennedy.

There are certainly different roles played by the NW Herald and McHenry County Blog.

And, only McHenry County Blog features the best know cat in McHenry County:

The one, the only

Keely Cat

“You should not even have come to the courthouse with these alleged claims.”

That’s how one lawyer familiar with Suzanne Ehardt’s discriminatory firing case against McHenry County and various appointed and elected officials characterized the decision. That decision can be found in full here.

Federal Court Judge Philip Reinhard, a former Winnebago County State’s Attorney, found in McHenry County’s favor, plus the following individuals

• Peter Austin, individually and in his official capacity as McHenry County administrator,
• Kenneth Koehler, individually and in his official capacity as McHenry County board chairman,
• John Jung, Jr., individually and in his official capacity as McHenry County vice-chairman,
• Tina Hill, individually and in her official capacity as McHenry County board member,
• Barbara Wheeler, individually and in her official capacity as McHenry County board member, and
• John Kelly, in his official capacity as McHenry County hearing officer.

McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi’s assistants who won the case are Sarah B. Jansen, Don Leist and Christina Webb.

Ehardt claimed that the Employee Handbook gave her a property interest in her continued employment.

But the judge found,

“…’[n]othing in this manual establishes contractual rights or obligations.’ The ‘disclaimer’ section further states that both employer and employee have the ‘mutual right to terminate their employment relationship at any time for any reason-with or without cause’ Finally, the disclaimer provides that employees, unless otherwise provided in a written contract, are ‘at-will’ and ‘the employee relationship may be terminated at any time with or without cause.’”

Ehardt also asserted, according to the decision,

“that she had a property interest in her job created by a county ordinance which provides, in pertinent part, that a department head such as plaintiff may not be dismissed unless the liaison committee approves and that any such dismissal must be pursuant to the procedures in the employee handbook.”

But the judge found,

“the ordinance relied on by plaintiff contains no substantive limitations on terminating an employee. The language relied on by plaintiff is merely a matter of procedure.”

Ehardt claimed, again according to the decision,

“a violation of a constitutionally protected liberty interest where the state actor is the employer, a plaintiff would have to show that the defendant called into question her good name, reputation, honor or integrity in a way that makes it virtually impossible for the employee to find new employment in her chosen field.’

But the judge concluded,

“plaintiff’s barebones allegations are insufficient to plead a claim for a denial of a liberty interest. Herreference to “disparaging remarks,” along with the allegation that she has been “ unable to obtain a [similar] position,”are conclusory and too sketchy to provide defendant with adequate notice of her claim.”

An individual claim against John Kelly, in his official capacity as McHenry County hearing officer was filed. The judge characterized it as a claim about “a denial of due process based on the previously alleged property interest in continued employment combined with an alleged ’sham’ post-deprivation hearing conducted by Kelly.”

Ehardt claimed denial of equal protection under the law.

Judge Reinhart did not agree because

“…plaintiff does not set forth allegations sufficient to state a claim for a violation of equal protection. She merely alleges that other department heads ’similarly situated’ were ‘alleged’ to have engaged in rude and unprofessional behavior but were not terminated. She does not provide specific factual allegations that touch on the elements of discriminatory effect and intent as required…”

A number of counts in the suit were “based on the allegations that plaintiff had an enforceable employment contract with the County,” the Judge wrote.

“In this case, plaintiff’s claim fails as there is no enforceable employment contract based on the allegations and the materials attached to the complaint,” he concluded.

The next claim the Judge explains is this:

“plaintiff alleges a tortious interference with a business relationship. According to the allegations, plaintiff had a business relationship with the County as an employee and these defendants were aware of, and interfered with, that relationship by causing her to be terminated in violation of the ordinance.”

He disagrees, saying,

“…plaintiff’s claim fails as she has not alleged any third-party interference. Alleging interference by various county board members, who act on behalf of the County, is insufficient. Further, plaintiff has not alleged a prospective business relationship that was prevented from coming to fruition, nor does she have a reasonable expectation of continued employment in light of her at-will employment status.”

Keely Cat takes a dim view of those county board members who wanted to send out the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax Collector. (He also takes a dim view of people who wake him up to take his picture to illustrate a story like this.) Catkins still can't understand why they thought he couldn't take care of any rabid bat that might penetrate the Skinner household. The bugs he has hunted are no longer around and, if he could get out of the sun porch, he knows that chiprats would be no problem.

Now that the primary election is but a week away, I’m going to give you a chance to read my article on the McHenry County Board’s 2007 defeat of the Republican Cat Tax.

The folks running for re-election (or, in the case of one seeking to return to the board) who voted to impose the cat tax in order to help pay for new animal control shelter on Route 14 in Crystal Lake follow:

• Ken Koehler, County Board Chairman, Crystal Lake, District 2
• John Jung of Woodstock, District 5
• Tina Hill of Woodstock, District 5
• Anna May Miller of Cary, District 1
• Sandra Salgado of McHenry, District 4
• Barbara Wheeler of Crystal Lake, District 3

The original February 21, 2007, article follows. For some reason Google has removed the original photographs, even though I paid extra to keep the up.

11 Republicans, 1 Democrat Kill McHenry County Republican Cat Tax

If you ever think that your voice can’t make a difference in local government, think again!

Both opponents and proponents of the Republican Cat Tax mentioned they had been lobbied by their constituents.

And some of them used language (“Cat Tax Collector”) that made me know that McHenry County Blog readers had been spreading the word.

The McHenry County Board, stacked 23-1 in favor of the Republican Party, defeated the cat tax backed by County Chairman Ken Koehler (he called it a “fee”) and nine other GOP county board members.

The motion to eliminate the cat tax from the revision of the animal control ordinance passed 12-10 on a motion by Lyn Orphal, seconded by Mary Lou Zierer. Perhaps Republicans have been this split on a board vote before. I don’t follow it closely enough to know. It must be a rarity, however, for a county board chairman not to get his way.

The 11 Republicans voting to kill the Republican Cat Tax follow. (Those in bold face type are on the ballot.)

• Yvonne Barnes of Cary, a newcomer
• Sue Draffkorn of Wonder Lake
• Randy Donley of Union
• Ed Dvorak of Crystal Lake
• John Hammerand of Wonder Lake
• Mary McCann of Woodstock, just elected
• Lyn Orphal of Crystal Lake
• Nick Provenzano of McHenry
• Daniel Ryan of Huntley, just elected
• Dan Shea of Fox River Grove
• Mary Lou Zierer of Marengo

Newly elected Democratic Party member Jim Kennedy of Lake in the Hills joined this majority of voting Republicans (two were absent) to kill the cat tax.

Get down, Catkins. I’m writing a story.

Don’t worry, you’re safe now from the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax Collectors.

Relax.

I’ll scratch your chest and neck later.

Those voting in favor of the Cat Tax ordinance, which would require rabies inoculation, plus the fee (which even a supporter slipped and called a “cat tax”), couched their arguments primarily toward being fair to both dog and cat owners, plus getting ahead of the spread of cat rabies, which is in Pennsylvania.

Those voting in favor of imposing the Cat Tax Hike were all Republicans. Their names follow (those on the ballot shown in bold face type):

• Ken Koehler, County Board Chairman, Crystal Lake
• Marie Chmiel of Crystal Lake
• Mary Donner of Crystal Lake, just elected
• John Heisler of Crystal Lake
• Tina Hill of Woodstock
• John Jung of Woodstock
• Anna May Miller of Cary
• Virginia Peschke of Woodstock
• Sandra Salgado of McHenry
• Barbara Wheeler of Crystal Lake

= = = = =
Here, minus Chairman Ken Koehler, are those who attended the Cat Tax County Board meeting. (Click to enlarge.)

Koehler is pictured in profile on top, while Lyn Orphal, the Crystal Laker who made the motion to kill the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax is just below.

Keely cat is shown relaxing after the death of the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax Collector ordinance.

Remember hearing about how forest fires sometimes jump fire breaks that are intended to contain them.

That may have happened late last week with the Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water’s conflict of interest ordinance.

Originally presented to the McHenry County Board in December, the draft ordinance was shipped off to the State’s Attorney’s Office for review.

The review came back with some good points, along with some trivial ones.

And the number of county board candidates voluntarily filing the form kept increasing. Here’s who have filed so far:

• District 1 – None
• District 2 – All but Ken Koehler, that is, Sandra DePaul, Donna Kurtz, Ellen Brady Mueller and Lyn Orphal
• District 3 – Everyone of them! Veronica Armstrong, Nick Provenzano, Craig Steagall, Barbara Wheeler and Karen Tynis
• District 4 – Sandra Salgado and Jeff Thirtyacre (Democrat)
• District 5 – Tina Hill, John Jung and Frank Wedig (Green).  Incumbent Jim Kennedy and challenger Dave Frederick have not yet filed the form.
• District 6 – All but incumbent Dan Ryan, that is, Richard Draper, Diane Evertsen, Mary McCann and Vic Narusis.

Since there is no deadline, candidates or public officials can still download the conflict of interest form, fill it out and send it in.

Indeed ALAW did not even ask candidates to fill out the ethics form; it did have a questionnaire on issued of interest, however, the results of which can be found here for the twelve county board candidates who completed it.

As you can see more candidates filled out the ethics statement than filled out the issue questionnaire.

Along the way, every candidate for sheriff has answered the conflict of interest questionnaire.

And, two incumbent county board members not up for election have completed it. One, Republican Virginia Peschke, the other, Democrat Paula Yensen.

Crystal Lake Councilwoman Carolyn Schofield

Late last week, however, the first municipal official sent in answers.

She is Crystal Lake City Councilwoman Carolyn Schofield.

What’s that all about?

She just got elected.

Does this portend an issue in the Crystal Lake city elections next spring?

Will Schofield introduce an ordinance to make completing the conflict of interest form a requirement for elected and appointed city officials, as well as city consultants?

Unlike the County of McHenry, the City of Crystal Lake is a Home Rule unit of government.

What’s that mean?

It means the Crystal Lake City Council and other Home Rule cities have more power than county government.

The standard explanation of what a Home Rule government can do is anything the General Assembly doesn’t say it can’t do.

If Schofield, the newest member of the city council, follows decides to make a variation of the ALAW ordinance mandatory in Crystal Lake, the debate could turn quite interesting.

Since city Councilwoman Ellen Brady Mueller is running for county board in District 2, she might get elected. She certainly is in the top three in the sign war.

If elected, I imagine she would resign from the council. If so, a replacement would have to be selected.

Might the council require applicants for the possible vacancy to answer the conflict of interest questions first?

Whether or not the city council passed such a requirement, any council member could let it be known that he or she would not support a candidate who did not fill out the form.

Yes, ALAW has started something that could get very, very interesting.

Looking for something else, I found a summary of the Daily Herald’s endorsements in McHenry County’s Republican primary.

All the incumbents were endorsed. When the paper couldn’t find enough incumbents running, it endorsed incumbent Republicans who were defeated by Democrats two years ago.

It appears the Daily Herald doesn’t think there is reason for any voter unrest in McHenry County.

But it does remind me of Dan Walker political operative and Department of Transportation Rest Stop Inspector Gary Fears.  In 1976, my intern Art Sternberg, then a Lakewood resident, now a Chicago lawyer, examined Fears’ time cards to make sure he didn’t take more time off for politics than he had coming in vacation and personal days off.

And off the public payroll came Fears.

At the time Springfield Republican Bill Cellini’s group got money to build a new Downtown hotel next to the new convention denter, Fears got money to build a Holiday Inn in Collinsville, my failing memory tells me.

At one point Walker ally State Rep. Hal Byers said that Fears wanted to know why I disliked him so much.  Since I had never met Fears, I had and have no animosity toward him.  I just thought if Dan Walker were going to have political operatives they should be on his political payroll, not my constituents’.

I don’t know whether it was then or later, that someone, maybe Byers, told me that Fears was a member of “the Incumbent Party.”  He supported whoever was in power.

Maybe the Daily Herald is a member of the Incumbent Party, too.

McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler (R-Crystal Lake) talking to McHenry County Young Republicans at 1776.

When I saw the envelope with Lakewood Village President Erin Smith’s name and office on it and no return address, I was surprised.

Still, I live in Lakewood, I figured she might be writing the community about the SportsPlex about which I have severe qualms. So far, no written explanation of what is planned has been mailed to residents, although the winter newsletter was in the mail when I went to the early December board meeting to inquire how the village could afford to subsidize the developer to the tune of a million dollars.

Lakewood residents have good reason to be leery when a village board gets big ideas that cost money.

After all, I and other Lakewood residents ended up paying hundreds of dollars per year to pay off the Red Tail Golf Course bonds that the village board had promised me, former village Trustee Roger Reid and attorney Jim Bishop the golf course would never “cost me a dime.” (Lakewood residents will still be paying for those bonds this year because the golf course does not make enough money to pay for operating expenses and its “mortgage.”)

When I opened the envelope, it was information about the proposed Route 47 and 176 sports complex development.

But not how it would affect Lakewood residents.

Rather, it was about the village president’s support of McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler’s re-election.

Lakewood Village President is seen talking to constituents in a crowded Meridian Street home.

Village President Smith bases her endorsement on her interaction with Koehler on SportsPlex matters:

“He has provided his support as we meet with the Illinois Department of Transportation, along with state and federal legislators regarding this strategic development.

“We have a long way to go before we’re ready to approve development at this intersection, and I am confident that Ken Koehler will support our efforts every step of the way.”

Crystal Lake City Councilwoman and District 2 county board candidate Ellen Brady Mueller speaking to Patriots United candidates' forum.

Smith goes on to point out that Koehler knows

“the importance of intergovernmental
agreements and cooperation,”

but last Wednesday night at the Young Republican’s 1776 candidates’ forum, Koehler opponent Ellen Brady Mueller took the county board to task for not requiring development on Crystal Lake’s watershed to meet the standards of Crystal Lake’s Watershed Ordinance.

In the proposed 2030 Plan, which Smith praises in the endorsement letter, the county does not propose to let Crystal Lake’s well-researched lake watershed protection rules to take precedent.

So, when Smith praises Koehler for his protection of “open space, groundwater and historic areas,” I must admit the groundwater protection part so far seems to have missed the Crystal Lake watershed, the protection of which is so important to the 420 homes in my Country Club Additions subdivision (located between the lake and the Crystal Lake Country Club).

I figure if one is going to promise to protect groundwater, one should start where one lives and that’s Crystal Lake in Koehler’s case.

The Crystal Lake area has half the 24 county board members representing parts of it.  Districts 2, 3 and 5 ought to be watching out for the interests of Crystal Lake.

So, when you see one of those 12 county board members, ask them why the 2030 Plan ignores the protection of Crystal Lake.

And, as I read the map, it appears that Smith lives in District 5, rather than Koehler’s District 2.

The letter from Smith does not say who paid for it.  When I called her, she verified that  she wrote the letter, but, when asked if she paid for it, said

“I did not.”

The problem for whoever mailed it, if that “whoever” is a political action committee, is that  state election disclosure law says it has “to be identified by the payor.”

Looking out at the Lakemoor crowd, speakers would have seen this on the left side of the hall.

OK, so it’s still January.

This is a veiw of the right hand side of the room from the stage.

Nevertheless the approaching 500 people who showed up at the Operating Engineers Local 150 Lakemoor Banquet Hall was impressive.

On the dias were, from left to right, county board candidate Nick Provenzano, McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren, McHenry County Right to Carry Association President Lou Rofrano, McHenry County Sportsman Association's Lee Lexow, 8th Congressional District candidate Joe Walsh, the Illinois State Rifle Associations' Mike Weisman and IllinoisCarry.com's Valinda Rowe.

On the dias were, from left to right, county board candidate Nick Provenzano, McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren, McHenry County Right to Carry Association President Lou Rofrano, McHenry County Sportsman Association’s Lee Lexow, 8th Congressional District candidate Joe Walsh, the Illinois State Rifle Associations’ Mike Weisman and IllinoisCarry.com’s Valinda Rowe.

Below is a press release explaining what happened at the meeting:

McHenry County Right to Carry Association Holds Packed Town Hall Meeting

McHenry County Right to Carry Association President Lou Rofrano outlines the group's goals.

Lakemoor, IL – McHenry County Right to Carry Association, MCR2CA, held its inaugural Town Hall Meeting Thursday night, January 21st, 2010 at the Lakemoor Banquet Hall with over 475 attendees crowding the standing room only venue.

Second Amendment supporters gathered to hear a panel of guest speakers discuss the Right to Carry and how to bring this right to Illinois. “The citizens of Illinois deserve the same right to personal self protection as those currently enjoyed by the citizens of 48 states in the Union” said Lou Rofrano, President, McHenry County Right to Carry Association.

Rofrano welcomed the crowd, introduced the panel and explained the mission and objectives of the MCR2CA:

Mission:
The McHenry County Right to Carry Association is a non-partisan group of like minded individuals dedicated to advancing the right to carry for the citizens of Illinois.

Objectives:
1. The McHenry County Right to Carry Association will work to educate Illinois citizens in the benefits of the right to carry in the state of Illinois.

2. The McHenry County Right to Carry Association will work to inspire individual citizens and members to actively work for advancing the right to carry in Illinois in 2010.

3. The McHenry County Right to Carry Association will work to educate individuals and community organizations in the safe handling and responsibilities associated with the legal use and ownership of firearms.

4. The McHenry County Right to Carry Association will inspire the highest levels of good citizenship, safety and adherence to all local, state and federal laws.

McHenry County Board candidate Nick Provenzano addresses the crowd.

Nick Provenzano, County Board candidate discussed how he led the fight to pass the “Pro-2nd Amendment Resolution” at the McHenry County Board. “Through Chairman Ken Koehler’s leadership this resolution passed the County Board unanimously” stated Provenzano, who is also a member of the MCR2CA Board of Directors.

Provenzano also announced “If I am honored to be elected to the County Board, I promise you tonight that I will take another resolution back to the board supporting our right to carry and together we will send a message to the county, state and the city of Chicago that enough is enough, we want our constitutional right to carry – right here in McHenry County”.

= = = = =

Photos by Ryan Provenzano

RyanProPhotos ryanprophoto@hotmail.com