McHenry County Blog

An email from Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore:

Linda Moore

Dear Residents of Grafton Township,

Thank you for the honor and opportunity to serve as your Township Supervisor for the past four years. I have really enjoyed working for you and meeting the challenges of the office.

We have accomplished many things for the benefit of the residents, but there are some items on the list of things left to do.

The audits of FY 2012 and FY2013 are well underway and expected to be complete by the end of this month.

In April 2013 the board officially accepted the FY 2011 audit as presented two years ago with nothing untoward found and no changes.

The new board will need to quickly adopt budgets for the township and road district.

Grafton Township will have a nearly fresh start with only one carry over official.

The voters elected newcomer Jim Kearns to serve as your 2013 to 2017 Grafton Township Supervisor.

We have worked together to ensure a smooth transition.

He will be officially in office starting Monday, May 20th.

I wish all of the new and retiring township officials only the best going forward.

I remain available to everyone at 1-847-630-6325.

Please call if you have a question or there is something that I could do to help you.

We can all be proud to say that we are residents of Grafton Township.

Sincerely,
Supervisor Linda Moore (2009-2013)

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.

Called on an emergency basis by Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore, the topic will be finances.

Here’s the agenda:

On February 14th, the board directed the Supervisor to pay $300,000 to the Road District. The Highway Commissioner has recently requested that the Supervisor sign a promissory note for $115,000, which the board has not approved. With the $300,000 payment, the current account balance is negative ($113,866.30). Even with board approval of this promissory note, the board needs to take action today or risk employing
staff we cannot pay and the consequences that would result from this situation.

For these reasons, Supervisor Moore has called an Emergency Grafton Township Board Meeting, 6:00 pm at the Grafton Township Hall.

A. Call the meeting to order.

B. Roll call.

C. Pledge of Allegiance

D. Public Comments

E. Discussion and Action to approve and execute a Road District Promissory Note.

F. Discussion and action to alleviate lack of funds for the township operations.

1. Cancel all transportation service due to lack of funding and redirect all riders to outside services and appeal to the Village of Huntley to pay to Grafton Township its $10,000 grant, now rather than waiting until June.

2. Immediately layoff the assessor’s staff, and supervisor’s staff, except for GA. The status of their health insurance will need to be researched.

OR

3. Rescind the unfunded board action to pay the $300,000 to the Road District and operate on the funds that remain in the township account. In April, request the electors to extend the date to repay the $300,000.

OR

4. The Road District loans the township additional funds.

OR

5. Alternative action.

One of the pieces of literature that I didn’t get around to writing about is Grafton Township Supervisor candidate Pam Fender.

It’s interesting from two points of view.

This is the front of Pam Fender’s literature. It is the positive pitch in the piece.  The irony on this side is is Fender’s backing away from a new township hall, which she promoted while she was Township Administrator before being ousted by Judge Michael Caldwell.

First, it is a combination of a positive pitch for Fender on one side and hit piece about opponents Linda Moore and Marty Waitzman on the other.

Combining positive and negative pitches in the same piece of literature is not a tactic most consultants would advise.

= = = = =
I did point out to Fender that she had violated copyright laws by using photos of Moore and Waitzman from McHenry County Blog. Her volunteers subsequently crossed out the photos.

The back of Pam Fender’s handout has the tape and criticism of opponents Linda Moore and Marty Waitzman.  Waitzman takes a sarcastic hit for being a lawyer. Moore is attached for hiring lawyers, but Fender does not mention that Moore’s Separation of Powers lawsuit was stimulated by the Trustees having unlawfully appointed Fender to take over as many of Moore’s duties as possible.  She does have a good play on words:  “This Township Can’t Take Any Moore.”

The second aspect of the piece is an innovation.

It has sticky tape which can be affixed to a glass door.

And, the glue is very difficult to remove.

Knocking on doors is done to make friends…even when the voters are not home.

The sticky tape, when stuck to storm doors, has made enemies for Fender, according to comments left under at least one previous story.

The door-to-door literature is the only promotional material I have seen.

Fender seems to have no signs and no direct mail. Perhaps she has campaigned in the Crystal Lake precincts of Grafton Township, but I have seen no evidence of such an effort.

In a low turnout election such as tomorrow’s will be, however, any candidate can win if they have identified their supporters and get them to the polls.

Linda Moore’s early voting reminder that was affixed to the top of the front page of the Northwest Herald Tuesday.

First there was a sticker on the masthead of the Northwest Herald paid for by Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore. It was published on the first day of early voting and urged people to do so.

Lee Jennings and “Iron Mike” Lesperance bought Sunday’s Northwest Herald sticker.

Sunday, the team of Nunda Township Supervisor candidate Lee Jennings and Nunda Township Road Commissioner candidate “Iron Mike” Lesperance had the sticker.

Nunda Township Road Commissioner Rob Parrish’s day-before-the -election sticker on the NW Herald.

Monday, it was Nunda Township Road Commissioner candidate Rob Parrish’s turn.

The question I have now is whether any candidate will buy a sticker on Tuesday.

Here is what apparently is the last of Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore’s mailings. She is running against Pam Fender, who apparently has no direct mail, and Marty Waitzman who has sent one post card that I have seen and published.

On the second day this week in which Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore appeared on the front page of the Northwest Herald in an unfavorable light, Moore used a previous headline to promote her efforts to cut spending.

The text of Moore’s letter on the post card follows:

“Cutting waste isn’t just a slogan.

“Four years ago, before I assumed office twelve workers on staff.

“Grafton had a part-time Township Supervisor who balanced another full-time job.

“Then I became Township Supervisor and brought change.

“After the first seven weeks as Supervisor, I made no cuts to township services, but paid eight less employees.

“Since then, the township bus services have even improved at these reduced staffing levels.

“Cutting waste and pursuing lower taxes hasn’t made me popular with the trustees of the board, but it’s what I believe in.

“Please help me continue to work hard for lower taxes in Grafton Township.”

The back of the mailing has as its graphic a paper cutter cutting the word “spending.”

Don’t know what order this mailing from Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore arrived, but it seems to have hit.

It could be called a comparison piece. Naturally, the person paying for it comes off better than ones who did not. Pam Fender and Marty Waitzman aspire to replace Moore.

The address side of Linda Moore’s comparison piece continues on her theme of lowering taxes.

Linda Moore compares herself with opponents Pam Fender and Marty Waitzman.

There two now candidates using postmen (women) for their precinct workers in Grafton Township:

• Linda Moore
• Marty Waitzman

The third candidate for the Republican nomination for Township Supervisor is Pam Fender.

I shall be posted mailings that candidates or other supply me between now and Tuesday’s election so you can get a sense of this part of the campaign.

Here’s is the first Waitzman piece I have seen:

The address side of Marty Waitzman’s first piece of direct mail. Although early voting is promoting, this arrived on February 22nd with early voting ending on the 23rd.  Waitzman dresses in a suit on this side.

The back of Marty Waitzman’s direct mail piece.  A more informal Waitzman is shown here.

Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore has dropped a second direct mail piece in her campaign to gain the Republican nomination for the post she now holds.  She is running against Pam Fender and Marty Waitzman.

Linda Moore presses her campaign message that re-election will lead to lower real state taxes.

Linda Moore points out that she cut the Supervisor’s staff by 50%, took surplus money out of checking accounts and put it into money market funds, ran re-cycling programs for electronic goods and paid for senior citizen programs with private sponsorship.

Here is the first campaign mail for the Grafton Township Supervisor’s race.

It is from incumbent Linda Moore.

The address side shows the Grafton Township Hall that four of the current Trustees didn’t think was good enough. It would have been replaced with a new building costing over $5 million had Linda Moore not defeated John Rossi four years ago.

The back of this Linda Moore mailing has a letter in which she chides Township Trustees for “outright insults and childish behavior.”