McHenry County Blog

It’s been a couple of weeks since the McHenry County Board bucked Chairman Ken Koehler, State Senator Pam Althoff, State Rep. Mike Tryon and those who stand to gain financially from placement of video poker machines in local taverns and restaurants.

It’s time to tell the tale of how McHenry County Establishment got narrowly beaten in that fight.

The vote was close (13-10-1) and my guess is that video poker proponents will try to reverse that vote after new county board members are sworn in, if the people they back defeat anti-gambling incumbents like District 2’s Barbara Wheeler.

Video gambling was the first local issue taken on by Patriots United, the folks who coordinated the Independence Day TEA Party, picketed State Rep. Jack Franks’ office on a cold spring day about his sponsorship of a bill considered pro-abortion and gun control, held a well-attended forum on the Democrats’ health care reform, and co-sponsored with the McHenry County Young Republicans a candidates’ night for 8th congressional district GOP aspirants.

Members attended John Hammerand’s License and Liquor Committee meetings and sponsored a debate between proponents and opponents.

Here are Patriots United video slot machine debate panels, ban proponents on the right, opponents on the left. Opponents, from left to right, are Tom Grey, David Smith and James Blue.

Then, Patriots United had a forum in Woodstock during which video poker machine salesmen debated three social conservatives:

• Tom Grey, the nationally- known Methodist minister who started out in Galena during the time the county board decided to site a riverboat in Jo Davies County and now Field Coordinator and National Spokesman for Stop Predatory Gambling
• Jim Blue, representing Illinois Church Action on Alcoholism and Addiction Problems
• David Smith, Executive Director of the Illinois Family Institute

They urged their members to contact county board members, but that was not what did the trick.

They used this robo call technique I first saw tobacco companies us in lobbying against cigarette tax hikes maybe ten years ago.

Call people, explain the issue and ask if they would like to speak to their county board member.

Since there are four county board members per district, how would that work?

The Illinois Family Institute selected six county board members considered to be approachable on the issue.

They were

• Yvonne Barnes in District 1
• Jim Heisler in District 2
• Ed Dvorak in District 3
• Sue Draffkorn in District 4
• Jim Kennedy in District 5
• Dan Ryan in District 6

From 1,334 to 1,453 calls were made in each district.

From to 649 to 774 of the calls were answered by voters. After the recorded pitch, voters were asked to push a phone button if they wished to be transferred to their county board member.

There were over fifty transfers for all but one district.

From the time my father served on the county board, I can tell you that he never got that many calls on any subject. On some zoning matters, especially the landfill ones, he might have gotten fifty letters. One phone call on a subject was a big number back in the 1980’s.

Getting dozens of calls must have sounded like a tidal wave.

And it was. You can’t find an issue where that many constituents have contacted county board members by phone. Undoubtedly, some of them were friends and supporters of each member.

A little over half of the calls were answered in person; the rest went to answering machines.

Of the six county board members receiving calls, only Huntley’s Ryan, a Sun City resident, voted in favor of allowing video slot machines in establishments serving liquor in unincorporated McHenry County.

Barnes, Kennedy and Ryan are up for election this year. District 6’s Ryan is the only one with GOP primary opposition.

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Check out possible targets for the pro-gambling forces in this post.

When the Illinois General Assembly was first debating legalizing casinos in 1992, Methodist Bishop R. Sheldon Duecker led the fight against them.

In Minnesota in 2005, Bishop Sally Dyck took to the airwaves  in paid ads to oppose a state-run casino in the Twin Cities.  She warned of “hidden costs.”

And in Crystal Lake the announcement you see above appeared in the weekend bulletins and in the bi-weekly newsletter.

It tells of the public hearing in the administrative center north of the McHenry County Jail on Wednesday, October 7th.

News out of the every four year international conference of the United Methodist Church that I didn’t see in the mainstream media is that the 2008 General Conference delegates in Houston rejected liberals’ efforts to endorse homosexual marriage.

Mark Tooley, Executive Director of UMAction and considered an arch villain by church liberals, had this reaction:

“The vote today in affirmation of traditional marriage represents the will of the international United Methodist Church.”

The Christian Post has details about the retention of the church’s position that the practice of homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teaching.”

The delegates rejected a reportedly “majority report,” meaning to this observer that the committee was stacked much like ones in the Illinois General Assembly are. Legislation can get out of such a committee, but can’t get passed by all the members of the legislative body.

The vote was 501-417 to accept the minority report, which also said that “all persons are individuals of sacred worth, created in the image of God,” and that United Methodists are to be “welcoming, forgiving and loving one another, as Christ has loved and accepted us.”

The majority report would have eliminated the ban on noncelibate gay pastors and allowed United Methodist ministers to conduct ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions and included “committed unions” in a section describing the sanctity of the marriage covenant.

Here is another part I gleaned from the Confessing Movement web site:

“It was evident that the vote of the African conferences was crucial. One African delegate was heard to remark, ‘Today we saved the church.’

“Another said, ‘This is why we are here.’”

A resolution was approved, however, authorizing the development of educational resources and materials on the effects of homophobia and heterosexism, the discrimination or prejudice against lesbians or gay men by heterosexual people.

In a blow for the church bureaucracy, four bishops will be eliminated with the merger of conferences. There has been talk that Illinois will end up with just one conference.

Here is what the Confessing Movement in the United Methodist Church reported:

“One significant action that was taken would refigure the formula for determining Episcopal areas. Practically speaking, this would reduce the number of bishops in the United States by four. Funds saved in the reduction would be used to help establish new Episcopal areas overseas, where the church is growing. Those who opposed the action argued the U.S. needs bishops to lead the church into growth. The answer was that the presence of a bishop has almost nothing to do with whether the church is growing.”

Checking Google news at 8 AM for “gay marriage” and “Methodist,” I see only three mainstream articles and one is about a protest the day after the matter was voted upon.

How could anything show the Leftstream media’s bias better?

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Neither of these marriages took place in a Methodist church. They are used for illustrative purposes only.

News out of the every four year international conference of the United Methodist Church that I didn’t see in the mainstream media is that the 2008 General Conference delegates in Houston rejected liberals’ efforts to endorse homosexual marriage.

Mark Tooley, Executive Director of UMAction and considered an arch villain by church liberals, had this reaction:

“The vote today in affirmation of traditional marriage represents the will of the international United Methodist Church.”

The Christian Post has details about the retention of the church’s position that the practice of homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teaching.”

The delegates rejected a reportedly “majority report,” meaning to this observer that the committee was stacked much like ones in the Illinois General Assembly are. Legislation can get out of such a committee, but can’t get passed by all the members of the legislative body.

The vote was 501-417 to accept the minority report, which also said that “all persons are individuals of sacred worth, created in the image of God,” and that United Methodists are to be “welcoming, forgiving and loving one another, as Christ has loved and accepted us.”

The majority report would have eliminated the ban on noncelibate gay pastors and allowed United Methodist ministers to conduct ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions and included “committed unions” in a section describing the sanctity of the marriage covenant.

Here is another part I gleaned from the Confessing Movement web site:

“It was evident that the vote of the African conferences was crucial. One African delegate was heard to remark, ‘Today we saved the church.’

“Another said, ‘This is why we are here.’”

A resolution was approved, however, authorizing the development of educational resources and materials on the effects of homophobia and heterosexism, the discrimination or prejudice against lesbians or gay men by heterosexual people.

In a blow for the church bureaucracy, four bishops will be eliminated with the merger of conferences. There has been talk that Illinois will end up with just one conference.

Here is what the Confessing Movement in the United Methodist Church reported:

“One significant action that was taken would refigure the formula for determining Episcopal areas. Practically speaking, this would reduce the number of bishops in the United States by four. Funds saved in the reduction would be used to help establish new Episcopal areas overseas, where the church is growing. Those who opposed the action argued the U.S. needs bishops to lead the church into growth. The answer was that the presence of a bishop has almost nothing to do with whether the church is growing.”

Checking Google news at 8 AM for “gay marriage” and “Methodist,” I see only three mainstream articles and one is about a protest the day after the matter was voted upon.

How could anything show the Leftstream media’s bias better?

= = = = =
Neither of these marriages took place in a Methodist church. They are used for illustrative purposes only.

Immediate past Northern Illinois Conference of the Methodist Church Joesph Sprague was infamous for supporting the homosexual agenda.

Until this week, I have not seen evidence that his successor Hee-Soo Jung was following in his footsteps.

Now, The Institute of Religion and Democracy has published an article that indicates Jung led “a pro-homosexual worship service for United Methodists in Fort Worth” for the 2008 General Conference.

There was no mention of this when Bishop visited the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake.

Immediate past Northern Illinois Conference of the Methodist Church Joesph Sprague was infamous for supporting the homosexual agenda.

Until this week, I have not seen evidence that his successor Hee-Soo Jung was following in his footsteps.

Now, The Institute of Religion and Democracy has published an article that indicates Jung led “a pro-homosexual worship service for United Methodists in Fort Worth” for the 2008 General Conference.

There was no mention of this when Bishop visited the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake.

This button was found at the Pheasant Run annual conference of Northern Illinois Conference Methodists on June 9th.

All the liberals were wearing them.

One evangelical wrote in

above the

lettering on the original button.

Here’s what it says in the Bible:

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”

What was the point being made?

This button was found at the Pheasant Run annual conference of Northern Illinois Conference Methodists on June 9th.

All the liberals were wearing them.

One evangelical wrote in

above the

lettering on the original button.

Here’s what it says in the Bible:

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”

What was the point being made?