McHenry County Blog

The annual Pro-Life Pig Roast was held at Irene Napier’s Valley View Road farm northeast of Crystal Lake Sunday and there were candidates galore.

Crystal Lake Tea Party leader Mary Alger and McHenry County Pro-Life Matriarch Irene Napier listen to Congressman Randy Hultgren.

With Governor Pat Quinn’s having just signed the Democrats’ reapportionment bill for for congressional districts, the two incumbents living in the new 14th District showed up.

Joe Walsh, who lives between McHenry and Johnsburg, arrived first.

He worked the crowd, then spoke to it.

Congressman Joe Walsh auctions off golf for four at the Marengo Golf Course.

He and other elected officials were drafted to auction off donated items.

Randy Hultgren, from the DuPage County end of the new 14th District came with his family.

Congressman Randy Hultgren spoke to those attending the Pro-Life Pig Roast.

After speaking to those gathered, Hultgren also became a celebrity auctioneer.

State Senator Chris Lauzen

State Senator Dan Duffy

State Senators Dan Duffy and Chris Lauzen told what was happening in Springfield.

Then, they were also impressed to be auctioneers.

Two people whose names have been mentioned as potential candidates for the Republican nomination for State Representative in the new 64th district, which is divided about 50-50 between McHenry County and Lake County were sighted.

Barb Wheeler making a big point at the Pro-Life Pig Roast.

John O'Neill

Retiring McHenry County Board member Barb Wheeler was in attendance, as was McHenry Grade School and Library Board member John O’Neill.

Democrat State Rep. Jack Franks flattered O’Neill by removing the Spring Grove precincts where O’Neil beat him last year from the boundaries of his newly-drawn 63rd District.

Both are possibilities, as is attorney Joe Gottemoller.  Wheeler and Gottemoller have Crystal Lake addresses.  O’Neill lives in McHenry.

Rich Evans (on the right) discusses a run for Congress in the new 8th District with incumbent Joe Walsh.

A potential candidate for the 8th congressional district is Rich Evans.

A CPA, Evans has contacts in the 8th District, although he now lives in Crystal Lake.

Incumbent 8th District Congressman Joe Walsh is not expected to run for re-election in the new district.

John and Josie Jung.

In addition to Barb Wheeler, three McHenry County Board
members were in attendance:

• John Hammerand of Woodstock,
• John Jung of Bull Valley and
• Nick Provenzano of McHenry

McHenry County Board member John Hammerand spoke with potential District 6 candidate Shawn Green of Coral Township.

A potential candidate for District 6, former Huntley School Board President Shawn Green, attended with his toddler and pregnant wife Angela.

Other elected officials were also chowing down.

Johnsburg School Board member Steve Rooney and State Senator Chris Lauzen converse.

Judge Mike Chmiel

Included were

• McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi,
• Wonder Lake Fire Protection District Trustee Cheryl Hammerand, and
• Johnsburg School District Board member Steve Rooney.

Judge Michael Chmiel was there with his wife, Marie, a former McHenry County Board member.

Newly-named Patriots United Executive Director Maria Rodriguez converses Right to Life McHenry County leader Nancy Cole at the Pig Roast.

Patriots United announced that Maria Rodriguez has been hired as Executive Director.

Out of the ordinary was the appearance of two guys not seeking office,

• physician Arie Friedman and
• former State Rep. candidate Dan Sugrue.

Arie Friedman and Dan Sugrue have a conversation.

After his run against an incumbent Democrat in Lake County last year, Mike Madigan put the woman who beat him in a district with incumbent Republican Sid Mathias.  Any chance that Sugrue could win in the Green Oaks district where he lives is minimal.  He was elected the the village board his past spring, however.

Friedman ran in the 10th congressional district Republican primary against Robert Dold.  He has often spoken in public forms against Obamacare.

All of the women on the Management Services Committee of the McHenry County Board–Yvonne Barnes, Marie Chmiel, Barb Wheeler and Mary Lou Zierer–made negative comments about putting Dick Tracy on the McHenry County Seal.

But, after her committee members had spoken, the discussion continued with chairwoman Tina Hill put in her two cents in favor or Dick Tracy.

At least my excitement got through to one committee member.

McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler suggested that a tractor made “a stronger statement (for agriculture) than corn.”

He also said he like the artwork in submission number 4, a drawing of the top of the old courthouse with stalks of wheat around the sides.

Koehler commented favorably on the conservation-open space themed entrant with a heron in the foreground in a lake and a river or stream behind.

Marie Chmiel said she liked the one with a barn and silo.

Hill said nice things about the one which seemed to me to be the busiest. It had a multistory factory in the background, two story houses, waves indicating water and a barn and silo in the front.

“That’s a good idea, but you don’t seen any factories like that,” she said.

I had mentioned that the current flag gives homage to townships, which probably is not deserved since local newspaper don’t even assign a reporter to cover their meetings. I suggested that a diagonal line depicting the Chicago & Northwestern (now Union Pacific) Railroad line from Fox River Grove through Harvard could be used as a dividing line, if Dick Tracy were not selected.

“What would be great would be if you could follow Cal’s idea and work in the train,” Koehler added later.

“It would be a shame to abandon completely Dick Tracy. Cal is 100% right. It’s a huge marketing tool for the county.

“I think the tourism people should really jump on that.

Committee member Pete Merkel came in the committee room after the McHenry County Seal discussion.

So, it seems as if the county seal will end up looking like it was created by a committee.

I guess that’s appropriate because it will have been created by a committee.

Some previous McHenry County Seal Posts:

1. Sealed With A Dis
2. The Great Seal Of McHenry County Not Great Enough
3. McHenry County Eye Candy
4. McHenry County Seal Makeover Makes The News
5. Baseball, Hot Dogs, Community College, and County Seals
6. The Passive-Aggressive State of Illinois Seal
7. How To Create An Official Seal – Part 1: The Mechanics
8. How To Create An Official Seal – Part 2: Credentials
9. Another Great McHenry County Seal
10. Best Option Re Final Candidates For New McHenry County Seal
11. The McHenry County Seal Slaughter

All of the women on the Management Services Committee of the McHenry County Board–Yvonne Barnes, Marie Chmiel, Barb Wheeler and Mary Lou Zierer–made negative comments about putting Dick Tracy on the McHenry County Seal.

But, after her committee members had spoken, the discussion continued with chairwoman Tina Hill put in her two cents in favor or Dick Tracy.

At least my excitement got through to one committee member.

McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler suggested that a tractor made “a stronger statement (for agriculture) than corn.”

He also said he like the artwork in submission number 4, a drawing of the top of the old courthouse with stalks of wheat around the sides.

Koehler commented favorably on the conservation-open space themed entrant with a heron in the foreground in a lake and a river or stream behind.

Marie Chmiel said she liked the one with a barn and silo.

Hill said nice things about the one which seemed to me to be the busiest. It had a multistory factory in the background, two story houses, waves indicating water and a barn and silo in the front.

“That’s a good idea, but you don’t seen any factories like that,” she said.

I had mentioned that the current flag gives homage to townships, which probably is not deserved since local newspaper don’t even assign a reporter to cover their meetings. I suggested that a diagonal line depicting the Chicago & Northwestern (now Union Pacific) Railroad line from Fox River Grove through Harvard could be used as a dividing line, if Dick Tracy were not selected.

“What would be great would be if you could follow Cal’s idea and work in the train,” Koehler added later.

“It would be a shame to abandon completely Dick Tracy. Cal is 100% right. It’s a huge marketing tool for the county.

“I think the tourism people should really jump on that.

Committee member Pete Merkel came in the committee room after the McHenry County Seal discussion.

So, it seems as if the county seal will end up looking like it was created by a committee.

I guess that’s appropriate because it will have been created by a committee.

Some previous McHenry County Seal Posts:

1. Sealed With A Dis
2. The Great Seal Of McHenry County Not Great Enough
3. McHenry County Eye Candy
4. McHenry County Seal Makeover Makes The News
5. Baseball, Hot Dogs, Community College, and County Seals
6. The Passive-Aggressive State of Illinois Seal
7. How To Create An Official Seal – Part 1: The Mechanics
8. How To Create An Official Seal – Part 2: Credentials
9. Another Great McHenry County Seal
10. Best Option Re Final Candidates For New McHenry County Seal
11. The McHenry County Seal Slaughter

Yesterday, I started the tale of how Tina Hill’s Management Services Committee considered citizen-submitted suggestions for a new McHenry County Seal.

I told of my relaying Heck of a Guy blogger Alan Showalter’s suggestion that the center of the seal be the face of Dick Tracy, drawn by cartoonist Chester Gould in Bull Valley.

Cutting this old guy to the quick was county board member Barb Wheeler’s opening comment:

“With all due respect to the elderly…”

Now, I readily admit that Dick Tracy has had a long professional career. 77 years.

Wheeler’s relegation of Dick Tracy to the dustbin of McHenry County history made my quaking hands shake so much I didn’t get down what she said about her children and Bugs Bunny.

Bugs Bunny, by the way, is younger than I am.

“It’s cute and it would definitely add some entertainment, (but) it’s not professional, not stately enough for a seal.”

Dick Tracy “not professional?”

The nerve of that youngin!

Dick Tracy is nothing, if not professional.

Her comments came after comments from the not-so-elderly-as-I McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler, whose father was a Dick Tracy fan when the family moved to Crystal Lake.

“We knew where Dick Tracy was from.”

“With all fairness to Cal, we don’t often agree, but…”

His appreciation for the role Dick Tracy could play came out so fast I couldn’t get his exact words, but my pen did reengage with the back of the agenda when he said,

“There’s a a lot of great possibilities.”

I think he was thinking about using Dick Tracy to market McHenry County, something that apparently has not occurred to the McHenry County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Koehler did say, “Dick Tracy could be part of (a quadrant-designed) seal.”

Marie Chmiel, who is retiring and suggested that her opinion didn’t count, didn’t mention Dick Tracy in her list of favorites.

“The one with the courthouse looks very nice, but I like the different segments.

“It’ll give it notoriety, but personally I don’t think we should go with a cartoon character. I don’t think it should be strictly agriculture…or conservation.”

“Hire a consultant to do it,” was Chmiel’s final advice.

“Notoriety?”

The word’s definition certainly does not fit Dick Tracy:

“The quality or condition of being notorious”

Notorious:

“Known widely and usually unfavorably.”

Dick Tracy “notorious?”

Maybe to Flattop or The Brow.

But calling Dick Tracy “notorious” is akin to calling U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald “notorious.”

And, Fitzgerald is only considered notorious by those whom he indicts and their friends.

(And, yes, I know Chmiel was talking about Chester Gould’s drawing, not the character’s character.)

County board member Yvonne Barnes belonged to the cut and paste faction.

“I like bits and pieces of a number of them. I’d like to see a combination.”

Later, Barnes said she wanted a seal which would reflect “current McHenry County and reflect what it will look like 10-20 years from now.”

“We’re trying to recruit.”

Her favorite was the one with the factories, homes, barn and silo and water.

Continued tomorrow.

Yesterday, I started the tale of how Tina Hill’s Management Services Committee considered citizen-submitted suggestions for a new McHenry County Seal.

I told of my relaying Heck of a Guy blogger Alan Showalter’s suggestion that the center of the seal be the face of Dick Tracy, drawn by cartoonist Chester Gould in Bull Valley.

Cutting this old guy to the quick was county board member Barb Wheeler’s opening comment:

“With all due respect to the elderly…”

Now, I readily admit that Dick Tracy has had a long professional career. 77 years.

Wheeler’s relegation of Dick Tracy to the dustbin of McHenry County history made my quaking hands shake so much I didn’t get down what she said about her children and Bugs Bunny.

Bugs Bunny, by the way, is younger than I am.

“It’s cute and it would definitely add some entertainment, (but) it’s not professional, not stately enough for a seal.”

Dick Tracy “not professional?”

The nerve of that youngin!

Dick Tracy is nothing, if not professional.

Her comments came after comments from the not-so-elderly-as-I McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler, whose father was a Dick Tracy fan when the family moved to Crystal Lake.

“We knew where Dick Tracy was from.”

“With all fairness to Cal, we don’t often agree, but…”

His appreciation for the role Dick Tracy could play came out so fast I couldn’t get his exact words, but my pen did reengage with the back of the agenda when he said,

“There’s a a lot of great possibilities.”

I think he was thinking about using Dick Tracy to market McHenry County, something that apparently has not occurred to the McHenry County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Koehler did say, “Dick Tracy could be part of (a quadrant-designed) seal.”

Marie Chmiel, who is retiring and suggested that her opinion didn’t count, didn’t mention Dick Tracy in her list of favorites.

“The one with the courthouse looks very nice, but I like the different segments.

“It’ll give it notoriety, but personally I don’t think we should go with a cartoon character. I don’t think it should be strictly agriculture…or conservation.”

“Hire a consultant to do it,” was Chmiel’s final advice.

“Notoriety?”

The word’s definition certainly does not fit Dick Tracy:

“The quality or condition of being notorious”

Notorious:

“Known widely and usually unfavorably.”

Dick Tracy “notorious?”

Maybe to Flattop or The Brow.

But calling Dick Tracy “notorious” is akin to calling U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald “notorious.”

And, Fitzgerald is only considered notorious by those whom he indicts and their friends.

(And, yes, I know Chmiel was talking about Chester Gould’s drawing, not the character’s character.)

County board member Yvonne Barnes belonged to the cut and paste faction.

“I like bits and pieces of a number of them. I’d like to see a combination.”

Later, Barnes said she wanted a seal which would reflect “current McHenry County and reflect what it will look like 10-20 years from now.”

“We’re trying to recruit.”

Her favorite was the one with the factories, homes, barn and silo and water.

Continued tomorrow.

Tina Hill was kind enough to remind me Sunday that her Management Services Committee would be considering candidates for McHenry County Seal yesterday morning.

I made it in time and was asked to sit in the empty press session, where visitors usually sit, Hill told me.

When public comment time came, I got up and made my pitch for Dick Tracy for County Seal.

Apparently, the contest didn’t make it on the General Election ballot. All that campaigning for nothing.

Being a fictional character, Dick Tracy couldn’t even sign up to be a write-in candidate.

Gone are the days of votes for Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck that Mike Royko used to report after every election.

The Chicago and Springfield pols got tired of the ridicule and required people vote for real people who wanted to be voted for.

So, all those write-ins a week ago were wasted, folks.

As in, not counted.

Admitting that the current county seal, based on the state seal is “boring,” I plunged ahead.

I told the all-female attending committee members that I had been trying to think of something that would represent McHenry County for McHenry County Blog, but couldn’t come up with anything better that Dick Tracy. I pointed out that Crystal Lake blogger Alan Showalter of Heck of a Guy blog had come up with the idea.

I pointed out that the State of Illinois Tourism folks had paid $2,000.

I suggested that international publicity would result from putting Dick Tracy on the county seal. It could be the centerpiece of a tourism campaign.

The Illinois Department of Tourism paid $2,000 to get the rights to use Dick Tracy’s image in a poster saying,

I suggested that $2,000 a year might end up being a good tourism expenditure, considering I’d heard the county gives the McHenry County Convention and Visitors Bureau $150,000 a year.

And, by selling the county seal and related Dick Tracy merchandise, county government could probably recoup the cost of licensing.

Why the county could even open a web store.

But, the state tourism poster was advertising a now-closed museum in Woodstock and, as committee member Mary Lou Zierer put it,

“I connect Dick Tracy with Woodstock. If we’re going to have a county seal that designates a certain town in the county, I like the old courthouse. I think a combination of the new and old would be good to have.”

During my pitch, I pointed out that Chester Gould had told me (or maybe I didn’t mention my source) that his inspiration for Gravel Gertie and B.O. Plenty came when he was driving past the old Crystal Lake Dump on Virginia Street Road. It’s now covered with gravel trucks and a row of storage units.

And as soon as I saw former Supervisor of Assessments Stanley Cornue after I was elected county treasurer I thought he looked like Pruneface. (Don’t you wonder what kind of a fight led Gould to make him a villain in his cartoon strip?)

In any event, the committee was shown all the entries from the public.

Dick Tracy was shown first because Alan Showalter sent it in first.

Continued tomorrow.

Tina Hill was kind enough to remind me Sunday that her Management Services Committee would be considering candidates for McHenry County Seal yesterday morning.

I made it in time and was asked to sit in the empty press session, where visitors usually sit, Hill told me.

When public comment time came, I got up and made my pitch for Dick Tracy for County Seal.

Apparently, the contest didn’t make it on the General Election ballot. All that campaigning for nothing.

Being a fictional character, Dick Tracy couldn’t even sign up to be a write-in candidate.

Gone are the days of votes for Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck that Mike Royko used to report after every election.

The Chicago and Springfield pols got tired of the ridicule and required people vote for real people who wanted to be voted for.

So, all those write-ins a week ago were wasted, folks.

As in, not counted.

Admitting that the current county seal, based on the state seal is “boring,” I plunged ahead.

I told the all-female attending committee members that I had been trying to think of something that would represent McHenry County for McHenry County Blog, but couldn’t come up with anything better that Dick Tracy. I pointed out that Crystal Lake blogger Alan Showalter of Heck of a Guy blog had come up with the idea.

I pointed out that the State of Illinois Tourism folks had paid $2,000.

I suggested that international publicity would result from putting Dick Tracy on the county seal. It could be the centerpiece of a tourism campaign.

The Illinois Department of Tourism paid $2,000 to get the rights to use Dick Tracy’s image in a poster saying,

I suggested that $2,000 a year might end up being a good tourism expenditure, considering I’d heard the county gives the McHenry County Convention and Visitors Bureau $150,000 a year.

And, by selling the county seal and related Dick Tracy merchandise, county government could probably recoup the cost of licensing.

Why the county could even open a web store.

But, the state tourism poster was advertising a now-closed museum in Woodstock and, as committee member Mary Lou Zierer put it,

“I connect Dick Tracy with Woodstock. If we’re going to have a county seal that designates a certain town in the county, I like the old courthouse. I think a combination of the new and old would be good to have.”

During my pitch, I pointed out that Chester Gould had told me (or maybe I didn’t mention my source) that his inspiration for Gravel Gertie and B.O. Plenty came when he was driving past the old Crystal Lake Dump on Virginia Street Road. It’s now covered with gravel trucks and a row of storage units.

And as soon as I saw former Supervisor of Assessments Stanley Cornue after I was elected county treasurer I thought he looked like Pruneface. (Don’t you wonder what kind of a fight led Gould to make him a villain in his cartoon strip?)

In any event, the committee was shown all the entries from the public.

Dick Tracy was shown first because Alan Showalter sent it in first.

Continued tomorrow.

I had seen little to indicate that Crystal Lake-Lake in the Hills Democrats were putting on any kind of a campaign for Jill Wawhinney and any campaign for Anita Harmon for county board before Sunday. for county board before Sunday. Neither participated in the party primary process; both were nominated by the Democratic Party Central Committee.

On the way to church I saw yard signs for both planted in the yard utilized by the McHenry County Peace Group for its 2007 Gala 4th of July Parade float non-entry.

The day before, I saw the first 4 by 4 foot Jim Heisler sign at the intersection of West Crystal Lake and Dole Avenues. He also has regular sized yard signs.

Heisler is an incumbent Republican against whom the two women are running.

The other Republican candidate, Scott Breeden, was nominated to replace Marie Chmiel, who is retiring. Breeden retired last year as Crystal Lake Park Board President. Previously, he service as village president of Lakewood.

Breeden has yard signs and some cartops.

I had seen little to indicate that Crystal Lake-Lake in the Hills Democrats were putting on any kind of a campaign for Jill Wawhinney and any campaign for Anita Harmon for county board before Sunday. for county board before Sunday. Neither participated in the party primary process; both were nominated by the Democratic Party Central Committee.

On the way to church I saw yard signs for both planted in the yard utilized by the McHenry County Peace Group for its 2007 Gala 4th of July Parade float non-entry.

The day before, I saw the first 4 by 4 foot Jim Heisler sign at the intersection of West Crystal Lake and Dole Avenues. He also has regular sized yard signs.

Heisler is an incumbent Republican against whom the two women are running.

The other Republican candidate, Scott Breeden, was nominated to replace Marie Chmiel, who is retiring. Breeden retired last year as Crystal Lake Park Board President. Previously, he service as village president of Lakewood.

Breeden has yard signs and some cartops.

When I was up at the County Administrative Building, I asked the county clerk’s office to look at those who had filed write-in candidacies for the February 5th primary elections.

You’ll remember that our democracy-limiting state legislators made any last minute write-in campaign illegal.

One was from Algonquin CPA Richard Evans. He has announced his intention to seek the GOP nomination for county auditor.

When Ruth Rooney resigned, seeing that the county board was seeking someone with a CPA, he applied. Even though he was a Republican precinct committeeman, he did not get the nod. And, that’s probably too polite a way to describe the brushing aside of his qualifications and those of County Board member Marie Chmiel, also a CPA and GOP committeeman.

The person who won the office appointment and subsequent fall election is Pam Palmer. She was Rooney’s assistant.

Challenging Palmer and on the ballot—so he has a chance of winning—is Crystal Lake attorney Richard Kelly.

I even saw some campaign signs, usually, but not always, next to Bianchi for State’s Attorney signs.

The Northwest Herald reported that Kelly’s candidacy was supported by McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi.

Speculation for the reason for Bianchi’s support was Palmer’s revealing she had approved vouchers to pay for the reception for Bianchi’s swearing in, for meals when his staff worked overtime and for candy handed out in area parades.

Of the three, only the candy seemed unusual, but I don’t know if the sheriff’s office paid for any candy distributed or whether it came from Keith Nygren’s ample campaign fund.

And the expenditure was obviously approved by Palmer’s office or it would not have been paid.

I have a Freedom of Information request that I’ve been meaning to file since then, but have not gotten around to submitting. Have to try to remember to do that tomorrow.

Tomorrow, the write-in candidacies for precinct committeeman.

= = = = =
Driving toward Huntley and to Woodstock, the only signs I saw were for McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi. In Woodstock, there were a few for Richard Kelly. Both Bianchi and Kelly have regular yard signs and 4 by 4 foot ones. Look closely at the two pictures with signs and you’ll be able to find them. Click to enlarge the images. The head shot is of McHenry County Auditor Pam Palmer.