McHenry County Blog

Just from examining the agenda that newly-installed Management Services Committee Paula Yensen drafted, one could predict that nothing would come of the Monday morning meeting concerning whether the public should be allowed to vote on whether the Chairman of the McHenry County Board should be elected or not.

And, guess what?

Nothing did.

Parenthetically, let me point out that the previous County Board managed to put something probably more important on the ballot before they left office–a tax hike referendum.

So, the public will get a chance to vote on whether their property taxes are increased in April, but probably not whether they will get an opportunity to vote for the next County Board Chairman in 2014.

While 2014 sounds like it is a long way off, for the current insider system of selection of whose hands control County government to be changed in 2014, it has to be approved in April.

And, there is still a chance such a referendum on the ballot.

(Last day to adopt a resolution or ordinance is Tuesday, January 22nd, advised County Clerk Katherine Schultz.)

Committee member Mike Walkup brought up the topic of a special meeting, which takes one-third of the members to call.

Before that, however, Anna May Miller called for more input.

“I still am 110% in favor of allowing the public to weigh in on the subject,” but she said she though more time was needed for citizen comment, e.g., “different focus groups,” including “McCog for municipal perspective.”

“I don’t understand the need for speed on this issue,” she said, pointing out that under 20% of citizens would probably vote in April.

There was discussion of two options, one for a two-year term in which the County Board Chairman candidate would also have to be nominated as a district board candidate.  The other was a four-year term in which the Chairman would not have a vote on the County Board.

Non-member Nick Provenzano was allowed to address the Committee twice.

The first time, he contended County Board candidates “kind of made a grand bargain with the voters” by opposing Democrat State Rep. Jack Franks’ County Executive referendum.

“It was always assumed that we’d follow up immediately.

“I think it’s absolutely a bargain we should fulfill at the next election cycle.

“The decision was to get that to the voters as soon as possible,” he contended.

There was disagreement with that interpretation from member Ersel Schuster, who preferred limiting County Board Chairmen to two terms.

While she said she was “always for the electors being allowed to vote”… she was “totally comfortable with the existing process.

In December, Schuster ran for Chairman, along with Ken Koehler and Tina Hill.  Hill won.

Mike Skala, at his first Committee meeting, told of being told people “wanted change” and “wanted some turnover, fresh ideas, fresh perspectives” when he went door-to-door.

“I’m personally not in favor of it. I think what we have does work,” he said.

“I agree they the voters should need (an opportunity to vote on the issue.)  I don’t think it should be rushed to judgment.”

Anna May Miller suggested that “accountability” of the  Chairman was “the only issue that resonates with the public.”

“We’re trying to do this very quickly,” he said.

“Act in haste, repent in leisure.”

“That’s really right on,” Donna Kurtz interjected.  “It goes back to the problem we’re trying to solve.  The problem is how do I make government more responsive, how do I make it more honest?

“I better dam well sure be sure I’m not making the problem worse.”

But, if I understood her context correctly, Kurtz, referring to the at-large election of the Chairman, said, “Many of us wanted to do that on Day 1 when we took office.”

Advanced earlier by Schuster as a means of making the Board Chairman more accountable was the proposal of putting term limits in the Board Rules.

Assistant State’s Attorney Donna Kelly explained twice that doing so would subject the County to litigation. from not only an office holder who might want to exceed the term limit, but also from voters whose rights to see the person they wanted in office would be curtailed.

Kelly pointed out that neither the State Constitution nor current Illinois law allowed for such term limits for County Board Chairmen.

“Out concern is litigation,” she said.

Skala, who has chaired many a meeting while he was President of the Huntley District 158 School Board, pointed out,

“The way I’m reading the agenda, we couldn’t pass anything even if we wanted to.”

He then pointed out that “it comes down [to] if we have people that want to have a special board meeting to do it.”

Walkup, who carried the ball on the side of having an April referendum, said he though people out to be put on record.

Provenzano took the floor again, saying,

“The fact that you had no resolution on the agenda doomed this proposal.

“The only way to do that is a special election.

“We’ve talked about it for two years.

“There have been numerous public hearings.

“There’s been plenty of opportunity [for input].

“We do have all the answers; some just don’t understand [them].

“We have a four-year term.  Put it on the ballot.

“Let the County Board members vote on it.”

“It’s not something where you just toss a coin and it’s heads or tails,” Kurtz replied. “We could paint ourselves into a very dangerous situation. We could potentially create far worse problems than we have now.”

Closing the debate was non-member, newly-elected Nick Chirikos:

“I respectfully disagree with Mr. Provenzano. Fully a third of this board is new [and] haven’t had the opportunity to weigh in on this subject.”

Discussion also covered the monetary requirements to finance a countywide campaign for Board Chairman.

“I agree with some who have said [candidates would be ]self-funding millionaire or millionaire backing or special interest [financing, such as] developers,” Walkup said.

Newly-elected McHenry County Board Chairman attended about three-fourths of the discussion.

State Rep. Jack Franks may be the leading Democrat in McHenry County, but his support among other Democratic Party activists isn’t sufficient to get other leading Democrats to support his referendum to switch from a weak Executive to a strong Executive form of county government.

I’m not terribly surprised, given I never saw him at the meetings of the Democratic Party Central Committee I attended.  (That was two years ago.  Maybe he goes now.)

In the County Board debate on whether to put a competing referendum on the ballot that would allow voters to elect the County Board Chairman, as is the case in nearby Kane, DuPage and Winnebago Counties, three prominent Democrats spoke out in opposition to the Franks’ position.

In the Public Comment period on August 17th, District 1 County Board candidate Nick Chirikos.said, “I question Mr. Franks’ timing.

“I think the voters of McHenry County deserve a better opportunity.”

He went on to say that there was a “possibility even misrepresentation in the manner in which the petitions were collected.”

When asked later if he opposed the referendum’s passage, he said, “I am opposed to it.”

Later in the meeting, District 3 Democrat Kathy Bergan Schmidt, a former head of the Party Central Committee, lashed into Franks’ proposal:

“I, for one, will be out there urging people to vote against this Trojan Horse referendum that was certified yesterday.”

Paula Yensen, wife of the current Party Chairman Mike Bissett, agreed with Schmidt when her time to talk came.

“I’m in concurrence with Kathy Bergan Schmidt’s opposition [to the County Executive form of government].

“It gives unlimited power to that position.

“A countywide race for that position would be very expensive,” she said, pointing out that it cost $100,000 in Kane County.

“I do not support Mr. Franks’ referendum.”

Still thinking about the implications of the McHenry County GOP interview committee’s decision to reject Tonya Franklin’s offer to run a high energy campaign against 7-term incumbent Democrat Jack Franks.

Today Jack Franks is sighing a big “Whew.”

The reason?

The gift given freely by the McHenry County Republican Central Committee for the third time in four elections.

Once by then-Chairman and County Treasurer Bill LeFew and twice now by Chairman and State Rep. Mike Tryon.

Until this morning I was just focusing on the potential impact of legislative campaigns elsewhere in Illinois.

That’s not quite right.

I did point out that the manpower-starved Central Committee with Precinct Committeeman vacancies all over McHenry County would benefit from an infusion of Tea Party supporters for Tonya Franklin.

Rather than all of those energetic folks going to Wisconsin to support a cause not yet espoused by Republicans in Illinois, some of them might be working Tonya Franklin, if she were running for state rep.  (This is so reminiscent of how Illinois Republicans, led by Governor Jim Thompson, missed the Reagan Revolution.)

But most of my thoughts had been focused on Jack Franks’ traveling all over the state trying to ingratiate himself to Democrats running for state rep and state senate.

You know, trying to make sure Mike Madigan remains House Speaker and John Cullerton Senate President.

But that’s no problem for the Republican-dominated McHenry County.

“Hakuna Matata.”

And, along the way Franks would picking up chits for whatever statewide office he wants to spend his $450,000 war chest on.

Are Republicans willing to wait for Franks to make such an exit from the 63rd District?

“Hakuna Matata.”

Another thought popped into my head this morning.

The leaders of the Republican Party probably don’t know it, but Jack Franks has gone to go door-to-door for candidates other than himself.

Four years ago, for instance, he campaigned actively for Mary Margaret Maule in the McHenry-dominated District 4.  Franks had no opponent then.

Maule is coming back for a second try this year.

“Hakuna Matata.”

Franks has already contributed to the campaign fund of District 6 Operating Engineers’ member Ryan Heuse, so he has a stake in his winning.

“Hakuna Matata.”

Six years ago, Franks campaigned actively in McHenry County for Melissa Bean against David McSweeney. We know how that turned out.

No opponent then.

What did it take to turn Melissa Bean out of office?

Tea Party candidate Joe Walsh.

We wouldn’t want to try that approach again, though, would we?

“Hakuna Matata.”

If Franks is really interested in running for County Board Chairman (look for article about his robo-call survey on the subject later today), he might take the freedom of having no worries and campaign for Nick Chirkos in District 1.

Goodness knows that Republican incumbent Bob Bless has about as many problems as he can juggle.

“Hakuna Matata.”

Or, heaven forbid, even get involved in District 2 County Board races, where the Democrats will be trying to knock of County Board Chairman Ken Koehler using alleged conflict of interest charges.

Already Jim Roden, who fought Metra‘s attempt to buy property in Ridgefield that Koehler half-owned

And, Roden went to the C0unty Board meeting last week to call out Koehler for his son’s being head of a housing entity that could benefit from County action.

But McHenry County Republicans have little or no interest in making sure Jack Franks stays in his district.

“Hakuna Matata.”

In discussing what I consider an abrogation of Republican Party responsibility to make sure that Franks has an opponent, one person pointed out that Republican Barb Wheeler has no opponent and maybe a deal has been cut to reciprocate.

While possible, I don’t think that’s the reason for making Jack Franks happy for the rest of his life, to paraphrase the Disney song.

The Better Government Association includes a short article on McHenry County Board member Bob Bless in its half page report in the Chicago Sun-Times today.

You can find the story on the BGA web site here.

Reprinted with permission, it’s entitled,

A heaping mess for Mr. Bless

These days, McHenry County Board member Robert Bless must feel cursed.

An attorney and cop in addition to being a Republican politician, consider the trouble he’s in:

• The agency that regulates lawyers is investigating Bless over misconduct allegations including, among other things, money scammed from a client who also was his mistress, according to court records.
• The woman is suing him in Cook County Circuit Court.
• Prosecutors have questioned people in front of a grand jury about some of the same things.
• And the Cook County sheriff’s office, where Bless works as an officer, is trying to fire him for, among other things, allegedly not reporting that he has outside employment.

As one person familiar with the situation relayed, “You have a guy who basically had an unblemished record . . . and all of a sudden it’s fire and brimstone raining hell and fury.”

It’s a convoluted situation, and it’s still unfolding. Details continue to emerge, including revelations the ex-mistress pleaded guilty years ago in an insurance fraud scheme.

Voters might be the final jury.

Bless is up for re-election this fall.

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Four Republicans and one Democrat are contesting for four seats on the McHenry County Board in District 1.  The Democrat is Nick Chirikos.

Here’s how the GOP primary in which four candidates–Yvonne Barnes, Robert Bless, Anna May Miller and Robert Nowak–turned out:

Chirikos received 876 votes.

District 1′s boundaries have spread west into Lake in the Hills, as you can see below:

With long-time McHenry County Board member and Ken Koehler opponent Marc Munaretto deciding not to run for re-election, the Republican Party will present four people who have served on the Board to the electorate.

Three are current incumbents:

• Anna May Miller
• Robert Bless
• Bob Nowak

Yvonne Barnes seeks a come back, having served on the Board until she lost the 2010 primary election to Robert Nowak.

All of the Republicans are from the northern part of District 1 with Miller and Barnes being from Cary and Bless from Fox River Grove.

They will face Democrat Nick Chirikos in the general election.

At least one candidate in each McHenry County Board district.

The rumor mill was right.

An article has already been run on District 1′s Nick Chirikos.

In District 2 there are two challengers, Jim Roden and Jim Kennedy.

District 3 will have incumbent Kathy Bergan Schmidt joined by Prairie Grove School Board member Lori McConville. The latter lost her previous race for County Board.

A re-run will occur in District 4. Mary Margaret Maule will be on the ballot. In 2006, Maule came within 652 votes of beating Sandy Salgado.

In the firth district, only incumbent Democrat Paula Yensen will represent the Democratic Party.

The biggest effort will be made in District 6, where former McHenry County College Board President Scott Summers had deserted the Green Party to run for County Board as a Democrat. Summers ran for State Treasurer and Congress on the Green Party ticket. On the MCC Board, he and Crystal Lake’s Donna Kurtz publicly opposed the building of a minor league baseball stadium before the Crystal Lake City Council, which led their being censured by their fellow Trustees.

He will be joined by Ryan Heuser of Marengo and former Huntley Village Board member Jayant Kadakia. Kadakia ran out of the money in his re-election bid in Huntley and his recent effort to gain appointment to that Board lost on a 3-3 tie.

Saturday Fleming Road was dedicated as a Scenic Drive.

First there was a Pledging of Allegiance to the Flag.

Speaking at the event was District 5 McHenry County Board member Tina Hill, who read Robert Frost’s “The Road Less Traveled,” as the wind blew her hair and into the microphone.

When it came time to uncover the sign, the designated women needed help from one of the tall men.

Time for the formal shots.

Now is the time to drive the roads of Bull Valley. The daffodils are blooming beautifully.

After the sign was uncovered, it was off to the Woodstock Country Club for a reception.

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Photos by Mary Moltmann.