McHenry County Blog

Lack of inter-connectivity has always been the problem in delivering bus service to the suburbs.  To get from one town to the next, you had to be able to get from your home to the bus stop.

During the 1974 RTA referendum, proponents promised,

“Public transportation, when and where you need it, throughout the region.”

“Right,” I thought then. “Not in my lifetime.”

Now local officials have forged an agreement to allow those living in Crystal Lake (the city, not the zip codes 60012 and 60014) to get to and from home and McHenry and/or Woodstock or anywhere in Dorr Township, plus all combinations thereof.

Here is the county’s press release on the ribbon cutting:

PACE Ribbon Cutting

WOODSTOCK, IL – A ribbon cutting ceremony was held this morning to commemorate the launch of a program to expand Pace Dial-a-Ride services in McHenry County.

The Program, which officially went into service last Saturday, enables registered users to arrange transit trips between the cities of Crystal Lake, McHenry, and Woodstock, and for seniors and people with disabilities the area also includes all of McHenry Township and unincorporated Dorr Township.

McHenry County Board Chairman speaks at a ceremony announcing the expansion of PACE bus service between Crystal Lake, McHenry and Woodstock.

Near the Vietnam War Memorial at the County Administration building, County Board Chairman Ken Koehler provided a few words for the occasion:

“It would be an understatement to say it’s been a very long journey from planning stage to implementation of these services… This project, funded by the Senior Services Grant Commission and the County Transit Grant Program will have immediate impacts to many with limited mobility in the County and will, in the long-term, create positive social and economic impacts.”

The seeds for this service were first planted in 2005, when the County Board approved a Transit Plan calling for the coordination of transit services.

Pace Board Chairman Richard Kwasneski heralded the new service as an example of the kind of coordination that will be necessary for successful transit systems in the future.

Sandra Salgado, McHenry County Board member and Chair of the County’s Senior Services Grant Commission, expressed how happy the Commission members are to see this service provide new transportation options for McHenry County’s seniors.  In late 2007, the Senior Services Grant Commission awarded funds to the McHenry County Division of Transportation to begin a program of coordinated transit services.

Anna May Miller, also a Board member and Chair of the County’s Transportation Committee, shared her enthusiasm for this first step in coordinated, expanded transit services.  The Transportation Committee authorized a Transit Grant Program that provided funding for the service in 2009 using the County’s RTA Sales Tax.

County Chairman Koehler, Pace Chairman Kwasneski, County Board Member Salgado, County Board Member Miller, and McHenry Township Supervisor Donna Schaefer cut the red ribbon over the door of the Pace bus, officially declaring the service up and running.

Sandra Salgado, Anna May Miller, Donna Schaefer, Ken Koehler, Rick Kwasneski cutting the ribbon.

Other attendees at this event included: County Board members Lyn Orphal, Mary Donner, and Mary McCann; Bob Pierce, Dorr Township Supervisor; Don Kopsell, Nunda Township Road District Commissioner; Mayor Susan Low, City of McHenry; Mayor Brian Sager, City of Woodstock; Pace Executive Director T. J. Ross; McHenry County Engineer/Director of Transportation Joseph Korpalski, Jr.; and Pioneer Center President and CEO Lorraine Kopczynski.

Carolyn Schofield

At election night’s Crystal Lake City Council meeting, City Councilwoman Carolyn Schofield, elected last year, took the lead in getting a resolution on the agenda at tomorrow night’s meeting asking for recognition of the city’s Watershed Ordinance by county government.

You may remember that both Ellen Brady Mueller and Donna Kurtz made something of that issue during their campaigns for a District 2 slot on the fall county board ballot.

From a resident of the watershed’s perspective, it is so, so difficult to understand that the McHenry County Board has thus far not figured out how important protection of our lake’s watershed is to local residents.

You would think they might have figured that out when a citizen uprising killed the minor league baseball stadium at McHenry County College.

After all, half (that’s right, half) of the entire county board represents parts of Crystal Lake. With all residents of the Crystal Lake Park District having access to the lake, how can one explain why the board has not taken action already.

Ellen Brady Mueller

Donna Kurtz

My prediction is the resolution will pass without dissent Tuesday.

If that doesn’t convince the county board to follow the not-as-strict-as-it-could-be watershed protection ordinance, the next step, it would seem to me would be to invite those twelve county board members to a meeting of the city council.

Who are they?

District 2

• McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler (R)
• McHenry County Board Vice Chairman Jim Heisler (R)
• Lyn Orphal (Lost the primary to Donna Kurtz) Both R’s.
• Former Lakewood Village President and Crystal Lake Park Board President Scott Breeden (R)

Crystal Lake Avenue is the dividing line between District 2 and District 3.

District 3

• Barbara Wheeler (R)
• Kathy Bergan Schmidt (D)
• Ed Dvorak (retiring) (R)
• Mary Donner (R)

District 5

• Tina Hill (R)
• Virginia Peschke (R)
• Jim Kennedy (D)
• Paula Yensen (D)

District 5 comes into the Crystal Lake area from the Northwest (Ridgefield) and the Southeast.

So, what’s the resolution ask for?

“That the Mayor and City Council request the Regional Planning Commission include the Crystal Lake watershed and its regulations in the list of watersheds that exist within McHenry County in the 2030 Comprehensive Plan document.”

The resolution points out that the lake’s watershed is 6.39 square miles of which 3.69 square miles are within the City of Crystal Lake.

In an interview with the Daily Herald, Sun City McHenry County Board member Dan Ryan blamed his refusal to disclose personal financial information requested by the Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water and low turnout in his retirement community.

“It infringed on individual privacy too much,” was what he told a reporter.

Regrets?

“Absolutely not,” he told the Daily Herald. “I don’t care if it cost me my office. I have principles.”

District 6 incumbent Daniel Ryan, sitting second from the right of the photo was the only candidate who either has not filed the ALAW conflict of interest form or committing to doing so. From left to right you see Richard Draper, Diane Evertsen, Victor Narusis, Dan Ryan and Mary McCann,

At the Patriots United County Board Candidates’ Forum, Ryan received decidedly tepid applause when he said he was not going to fill out the ALAW form.

Ryan was similarly resistive when the Illinois Family Institute, in conjunction with Patriots United made phone calls to him, among others, seeking people to call Ryan in favor of a ban on video gambling. When he figured out who had stimulated the 50-some calls, Ryan called IFI, telling the person who answered the phone that he would call them every time someone called him.

Ryan voted to allow video poker in rural bars and restaurants.

The conflict of interest form, which asks for property ownership and business relationships, was completed by 20 of 27 candidates in the February 2nd primary election.

Ryan was the only incumbent who lost who failed to fill out the form.

District 1’s Yvonne Barnes and District 2’s Lyn Orphal, both of whom sent ALAW the answers to the financial questions asked, also lost.

The other four Republican candidates in Ryan’s District 6 voluntarily turned in their questionnaires. (Those who did not volunteer for the financial exposure can be found here.)

With regard to the Sun City turnout question, the precinct voting returns for Ryan’s Grafton Township Precinct 15 showed these returns:

• Ryan – 107
• Evertsen – 71
• McCann – 55
• Draper – 33
• Narusis – 33

These totals are not the final precinct totals. The finals will show more votes, perhaps many more because lots of folks in Sun City are out of town this time of year and Ryan made a determined effort to solicit absentee votes.

It should be noted, however, that the McHenry County Clerk’s web site shows Ryan receiving 272 votes for precinct committeeman.

It will be interesting to see the final totals to compare his precinct committeeman total with those votes he received to retain his county board seat.

Here’s what happened to those county board candidates who did not send in a completed ALAW ethics form.

McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler

McHenry County College Board Trustee Donna Kurtz

McHenry County Board Chairman is running a solid second place with only four precincts not reporting.

Leading him by about 150 votes is McHenry County College Board member Donna Kurtz.

Running last is incumbent Lyn Orphal.

Neither of the other woman challengers, Crystal Lake City Councilwoman Ellen Brady Mueller and Sandra DePaul are close enough to overtake Koehler, who has a 500-vote lead over Mueller

Here the results reported at 9:20:

Just got back from my polling place at the Main Beach House.

Any thoughts that disgusted voters would storm the ballot boxes turned out to be nonsense, at least looking only at the paper ballots. Of course, I could be pleasantly surprised when the electronic, absentee and early votes are folded in late tonight.

Only 102 people cast paper ballots in my Algonquin 7 precinct, which has over 400 registered voters. 137 cast paper ballots in Algonquin 19, a larger precinct on the north side and east of Crystal Lake.

Here are the results for McHenry County Board (two to be nominated, candidates are listed in ballot order):

Donna Kurtz

Algonquin 7

• Orphal 14
• Koehler 14
• Kurtz 57
• Mueller 18
• DePaul 24

Algonquin 19

• Orphal 12
• Koehler 36
• Kurtz 50
• Mueller 25
• DePaul 23

Donna Kurtz, who worked the precinct herself, had a weekend “I’ll protect the watershed” mailbox hanger and had my endorsement wiped out the opposition, getting 57 votes. The most any candidate got was 61 (Congressman Don Manzullo and yours truly, both running unopposed).

Despite having someone go door-to-door in Algonquin 7, McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler only got 14 votes.

The woman with nothing but a yard sign campaign—Sandra DePaul—actually came in second with 24 votes.

In Algonquin 19, the results were similar, except that Koehler did much better.

Kurtz scored 50 votes, while Koehler came in second with 36. Two candidates were 11 and 14 votes behind, Crystal Lake City Councilwoman Ellen Brady Mueller and Sandra DePaul.

Adding the two precincts together finds Koehler running second, but Mueller and DePaul within striking distance.

Remember, these are not the final results…just a sample of two of 35 precincts.

= = = = =

With five precinct reporting at 8:30, Koehler seems to be running a solid second.

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.

When I heard of the $1,000 a year that McHenry County Board members can use to get reimbursement for county board-related expenses, it perked my interest.

Would goodies be found as they are with the Chicago Aldermen’s much larger expense accounts?

Here’s what I received when I filed a Freedom of Information request for Fiscal Year 2009, which ended November 30th. As you can see, it’s pretty obvious that the spreadsheet provided contains some reimbursements beyond the $1,000.

In fact, I learned it contains all of the expense rreimbursements to county board members, except mileage for driving to and from meetings.

What seems most significant is the large number of county board members that took no reimbursements.

McHENRY COUNTY BOARD EXPENSE REIMBURSEMENTS – FY 2009

Randy Donley

• $188.10 for 342 mile trip for 3-30-9 Rural Community Economic Development Conference
• $94.33 for hotel/food for Rural Comm Econ Dev Conf

John Hammerand

• $38, McCog (McHenry County Council of Governments) Dinner September 23

Tina Hill

Tina Hill

• $742.19 2009 National Association of Counties Conference 3-7 thru 3-10
• $28.05 Comcast broadband meeting 2/26/09
• $161.28 Rural Economic Development Seminar
• $841.12 NACO 3/7-3/10  Wash DC
• $32 March McCog Mtg 3
• $35 McCog May 27, 2009
• $34 McCog June 26th dinner
• $30 McCog Meeting July 2009
• $125 EDC Dinner Sept 17
• $38 McCog Dinner Crystal Lake 9/23/09
• $31 October McCog Dinner Mtg
• $32 November 18 McCog meeting

Ken Koehler

• 

  Ken Koehler

  $436.80 Wash DC Mtg w/Lobbyist

• $193 Paratransit/Fed Lobby/Strat Plan Dec 2008
• $76.50 Springfield Meetings Jan 2009
• $57.20 K.Koehler
• $255 DCA Lobbyist 3/2-4,2009
• $37 transportation mtg 2/17/09
• $38 EDC 2/19/09
• $12 CMAP 3/24/09
• $71 Amtrak/Rockford 3/25/2009
• $43 Integrated Justice Mtg Luncheon
• $45.25 Lakewood Issues Luncheon
• $43 Transit Grant Program Luncheon
• $129 PACE Pilot Project
• $28 Randall Rd., City CL Mtg
• $53 CMAP2030 Chicago
• $34 Public Safety Bldg Mtg
• $50 MCEDC Issues
• $26 RWSP, Chicago Water Issues
• $24 Valley Hi Issues Koehler, Dvorak
• $44 ISSSoftware Issues Koehler, Austin, Wallis
• $47.25 MCEDC Issues Koehler, Austin, MCEDC reps
• $84 Valley Hi long range Koehler, Austin, Revere reps
• $27.50 2030 plan w/Eldridge
• $47.25 Meeting w/Lobbyist – Ferguson
• $12 RTA – cab fare

Lyn Orphal

• $34 June 24th McCog Dinner

Ersel Schuster

• $173.28 Rural Community Econ. Dev. 03/04-03/05
• $64 McCog June and July reimbursement

Barb Wheeler

• $91.71 Housing Forum refreshments

Paula Yensen
$30 McCog reimbursement
$30 Feb McCog reimbursement
$34 McCog Dinner 6/24/09 3
$30 McCog July 2009
$20 MCCD Class-Creating Thriving Communities

McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler

McHenry County Board member Lyn Orphal

There’s a five-way race for two seats in the Crystal Lake-Lake in the Hills District 2.

The incumbents are County Board Chairman Ken Koehler and Lyn Orphal.

Challenging them are three women:

• Sandra DePual, a member of the Regional Board of School Trustees
• McHenry County College Board member Donna Kurtz
• Crystal Lake City Councilwoman Ellen Brady Mueller

McHenry County Regional Board of School Trustee Sandra DePaul

If one were to handicap this race, Sandra DePaul would be coming in last place…just because she is the only candidate who is virtually unknown as a result of the low profile position she holds.

So, what’s up with the Northwest Herald’s endorsement of DePaul, along with the perfectly predictable endorsement of Koehler.

Let’s begin by making the perfectly reasonable assumption that the primary goal of the paper is to get Koehler re-elected.

To do that one must split the opposition.

If two women were running against Koehler, he might have some trouble.

But with five women…split the vote evenly and just over 20% of the vote is enough to win.

McHenry County College Board Trustee Donna Kurtz

Let’s agree that it won’t be split even.

Orphal, although able to manage to put out a letter to Republican voters the same day Koehler early this week, is the more vulnerable of the two candidates. Even though in her second term, she does not have a lot of name identification.

So, with Kurtz charging hard and Brady Mueller having quite noticeable signs, how to pull votes to perhaps the least known of the female candidates?

Endorse her along with Koehler.

That will pull some votes to DePaul that otherwise would go to one of the better known women.

Crystal Lake City Councilwoman Ellen Brady Mueller

Koehler will probably get more than enough of the combined vote to win. Surely being chairman of the board, he ought to be able to do that.

He will remember how a strong-charging Leslie Root managed to beat out then-County Board Chairwoman Dianne Klemm, however. In that contest, Mike Tryon was on the ballot. He and Root beat Klemm.

In this race, I can’t point to the second candidate who could beat Koehler.

One final thought.

The Northwest Herald also managed to pick two people who hd not filled out the ALAW conflict of interest questionnaire. The only candidate in District 1 to have done so when the endorsement appeared was Donna Kurtz.  Now, all but Koehler have answered ALAW ethics form, not because they were forced, but voluntarily.

From left to right are Sandra DePaul, Lyn Orphal, Ken Koehler's empty seat, Ellen Brady Mueller and Donna Kurtz. They were participating in Patriots United county board candidates' forum.

In the Patriots Unity county board candidates’ forum Friday night, the only candidate in District 2 who did not come was County Board Chairman Koehler.