McHenry County Blog

As expected, incumbent Jim Kennedy, he who broke the Republican stranglehold on the McHenry County Board four years ago by defeating incumbent Republican Perry Moy in District 5, has filed for re-election.

A new entrant, Burton’s Bridge )with a Crystal Lake address) resident Lori McConville, has filed in District 3. District 3 comprises all of Nunda Township, which is north of Crystal Lake Avenue, into southern McHenry Township with one Algonquin Township precinct in Oakwood Hills.

District 3 is where McHenry County Democratic Party Chair Kathy Bergan Schmidt scored one of two Democratic Party county board victories last year. She knocked out Nick Provenzano at the same time that District 5 Democrat Paula Yensen beat John Jung. (Both Provenzano and Jung are seeking to regain seats on the county board this year.)

McConville led the successful fight against a commercial business servicing contractors on Route 176 near her neighborhood.

In a 2007 web site statement she described the group she head, Nunda Neighbors, as a “small (but powerful) civic committee.”

This past spring McConville’s name surfaced as a leader of the Nunda Township Open Space Committee referendum. She is listed by the State Board of Elections as the political action committee’s current chairman and treasurer.

Tax fighter Gerry Walsh and his allies fought successfully against the referendum. Later he noticed that the political action committee did not file its campaign disclosure report on time and filed a complaint. No one from Nunda Neighbors showed up for the hearing.

In the case “Gerry Walsh vs. Nunda Neighbors for Open Space,” the State Board of Elections ordered:

“No further action is required other than referral to SBE staff for the assessment of the requisite civil penalty for delinquent filing…”

Filing on the first day was Jeff Thirtyacre. He is seeking election to the county board for the second time for the board in District 4, which consists of most of McHenry Township and all of Richmond and Burton Townships.

= = = = =

Above is one page of the proponents’ Open Space mailing last spring.

In August and September, McHenry County Blog reported on Jerry Walsh’s and William Douglas Mann’s petition attempt to call a special Nunda Township meeting called to obtain a referendum to repeal the Nunda Township Open Space Plan.

A press release has been received from Walsh that tells of their attempt being rebuffed. It appears below:

Nunda Supervisor John Heisler denies citizens’ request for special town meeting

According to township attorney, James Militello, the nine pages of petitions filed by “approximately 67 alleged voters” is “not in compliance with township code….”

The reasons given for denial were stated as

1) “The Petition does not state ‘a special meeting is necessary for the interests of the Township’ and

2) The object of the meeting is not relevant to powers granted to electors under the Township Code.”

It is obvious that Supervisor Heisler is doing all that he can to stop this citizen action aimed at repealing Nunda’s mechanism to increase residents’ future taxes.

Watch their web site for updated postings, and email NoOpenSpaceTax@gmail.com if you would like to join with us in fighting future Nunda Township tax increases through the defeat of the Nunda Open Space Plan.

As readers know, the folks who want McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi out of office have prevailed upon Associate McHenry County Judge to appoint a special prosecutor to probe whether taxpayer resources were used to promote his campaign.

That special prosecutor is following up on leads, McHenry County Blog has learned.

But another front has opened on the issue.

Nunda Township tax fighter Gerry Walsh is taking on Nunda Township Supervisor John Heisler.

Walsh filed a complaint with the Illinois State Board of Elections (ISBE) against the Nunda Township Supervisor Friday.

Walsh says Heisler allowed his Nunda Township office to be used for the Nunda Neighbors for Open Space meetings (a pro-tax increase group) in February and March. Apparently that information was on McHenry County Blog. (I’m not sure if the Nunda Neighbors for Open Space is the same group, Nunda Neighbors, that successfully found commercial zoning on Route 176 west of Burton’s Bridge in 2007.)

“I had planned to ask the Nunda Neighbors rep about how much they paid for the room at the preliminary hearing at the ISBE on September 16 (Walsh vs. Nunda Neighbors),” Walsh emailed me, “but no one showed up. My suspicion is that they are going to plead nolo contendere (no contest) about this election violation.

“The Hearing Officer said that the use of the Supervisor’s office for a campaign meeting was unusual, but a separate issue.

“I handed John Heisler a letter on September 18th asking about how much Nunda Neighbors paid for the use of his office for their campaign meetings.

“As of this morning, he hasn’t responded. That is why I filed the complaint with the Illinois State Board of Elections.”

“The reason I haven’t responded was that the letter was not addressed to me,” Nunda Township Supervisor John Heisler told McHenry County Blog.

“It was addressed to Bridgett Provenzano. I got a copy of a memo he had addressed to my clerk.

“I handed it to my attorney Jim Militello and he advised me that it was addressed to Bridgett, not me, and I need not respond.”

= = = = =
The photo is from the Nunda Township Republican Picnic.

The update below from Nunda Township’s Gerry Walsh arrived yesterday. Walsh is trying to get a referendum to repeal the Nunda Township Open Space authorization. Here is his web site:

The email follows:

Cal,

The preliminary hearing was today. No one from Nunda Neighbors showed up. It was just the Hearing Officer and me. (Tony is retiring at the end of the month).

They filed their campaign finance report Monday, almost two months after the state mandated deadline of July 20. They have $6.99 left. However, they updated their website last month.

The Hearing Officer will recommend that Nunda Neighbors be cited and fined for non-compliance with state law. The hearing before the State Board of Elections will be at the October meeting in Chicago. I will be there.

Gerry

Successful citizen uprisings have a long history in McHenry County.

Tuesday, two more groups won big victories for their neighborhoods.

Nunda Neighbors, who first fought off a truck depot, now have won a 17-6 zoning victory against those developers who wished to turn their residential area into a strip mall.

Located west of Woodstock, Seneca Township homeowners saw a gravel pit go down to defeat 19-4.

Both had neighborhood sign campaigns and web sites.
(Seneca Township;
Nunda Neighbors.)

As Northwest Herald reporter Kevin Craver pointed out, four of the six votes against what the local people wanted came from the same people:

• County Board Chairman Ken Koehler of Crystal Lake
• Marc Munaretto of Algonquin,
• Mary Lou Zierer, who lives between Marengo and Harvard and
• Dan Shea of Fox River Grove

The two extra, who ignored the Nunda Neighbors’ pleas were

• Sue Draffkorn of Wonder Lake and
• Lyn Orphal of Crystal Lake.

All of the county board members voting in opposition to the local residents pleas are Republican.

It is pretty extraordinary for a county board chairman to be on the losing side of issues. I have not been keeping track, but, besides these zoning issues, Crystal Lake’s Koehler has been in the minority

• on the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax fight,
• banning flash photography and
• the attempt to spend $773,000 more on renovating the old State Farm Insurance building on Route 14 into an animal control shelter.

= = = = =
The head shot is of McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler.

Successful citizen uprisings have a long history in McHenry County.

Tuesday, two more groups won big victories for their neighborhoods.

Nunda Neighbors, who first fought off a truck depot, now have won a 17-6 zoning victory against those developers who wished to turn their residential area into a strip mall.

Located west of Woodstock, Seneca Township homeowners saw a gravel pit go down to defeat 19-4.

Both had neighborhood sign campaigns and web sites.
(Seneca Township;
Nunda Neighbors.)

As Northwest Herald reporter Kevin Craver pointed out, four of the six votes against what the local people wanted came from the same people:

• County Board Chairman Ken Koehler of Crystal Lake
• Marc Munaretto of Algonquin,
• Mary Lou Zierer, who lives between Marengo and Harvard and
• Dan Shea of Fox River Grove

The two extra, who ignored the Nunda Neighbors’ pleas were

• Sue Draffkorn of Wonder Lake and
• Lyn Orphal of Crystal Lake.

All of the county board members voting in opposition to the local residents pleas are Republican.

It is pretty extraordinary for a county board chairman to be on the losing side of issues. I have not been keeping track, but, besides these zoning issues, Crystal Lake’s Koehler has been in the minority

• on the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax fight,
• banning flash photography and
• the attempt to spend $773,000 more on renovating the old State Farm Insurance building on Route 14 into an animal control shelter.

= = = = =
The head shot is of McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler.

McHenry County Board members don’t like listening to people complain about intrusive neighborhood zoning requests.

The Northwest Herald’s Kevin Craver touches on it in this article.

Recently, there was the end run that Fritz Duda dis-annexed from the Village of Barrington Hills. It was the old Alexander MacArthur farm. Alex, who was a leader in the incorporation of Barrington Hills, would not have been pleased at the higher density being proposed under McHenry County zoning laws.

Barrington Hills folks are quite vociferous and effective when they get up in arms about something. Just ask the supporters of the Fox Valley Freeway, more honestly know as the Fox Valley Tollway.

Two other fights are going on that take the time of McHenry County Board members.

One proposes a gravel pit southwest of Woodstock in the Franklinville Road area. Driving through last weekend allowed me to see all sorts of signs.

The other is a threatened trucking operation on Route 176 near Burton’s Bridge. The Northwest Herald story by Craver that I linked to in the previous sentence says the Burton’s Bridge folks convincingly won the first round, but, since the signs are still up, it is obvious they do not think the zoning fight is over.

I also drove by it recently.

What I noticed in both cases is that local residents have their own professionally printed signs and a web site.

Zoning change opponents in Burton’s Bridge may have the public relation advantage because the proposed truck depot will dump more traffic on a road a lot more people take than the rural roads near the proposed gravel pit.

The biggest route 176 sign is a banner that says “NO ZONING CHANGE” in bright red letters on top. The bottom gives an internet site called WWW.NUNDA-NEIBHBORS.COM. It’s at least 12 feet long and probably 4 feet high.

Next to it is what looks like a 4 foot by 4 foot sign with an arrow pointing across the road to the property that the opponents obviously believe will affect their subdivision of homes adversely.

Above the red arrow are these words: “NO ZONING CHANGE.” The “NO” is also in red.

And, there are five small flags flying on top of the smaller sign—in different colors. So besides the motion of the flags attracting commuters’ attention, there is enough color so that even most colorblind guys can see something.

But, that’s not all signs put up by the Nunda Neighbors.

There’s another sign with six flags waving in the wind.

It says,

I didn’t get the top of another sign in the frame, but I think it was on the other side of one of the flag waving signs mentioned above. The message is

Then, in a rectilinear box,

Red arrows point up next to the “Traffic Up, Accidents Up” message and across Route 176 to the proposed truck depot under “No Zoning Change.”

There are some professionally printed yard signs, too.

In yellow letters surrounded by blank ink one can see the words,

above black letters on a yellow background saying.

I didn’t look closely, but I think on the other side is this message:

in black letters on yellow and I didn’t get a good view of what’s underneath (perhaps someone can fill in the blanks in a comment from its picture from this mystery side of the two-sided sign)

And, I saw one final sign. It relates to the Congregational Church that replaced Burton’s Bridge School, with that elementary school district went belly-up and was absorbed by Crystal Lake’s District 47.

It says,

In the future, what I saw west of Woodstock.

McHenry County Board members don’t like listening to people complain about intrusive neighborhood zoning requests.

The Northwest Herald’s Kevin Craver touches on it in this article.

Recently, there was the end run that Fritz Duda dis-annexed from the Village of Barrington Hills. It was the old Alexander MacArthur farm. Alex, who was a leader in the incorporation of Barrington Hills, would not have been pleased at the higher density being proposed under McHenry County zoning laws.

Barrington Hills folks are quite vociferous and effective when they get up in arms about something. Just ask the supporters of the Fox Valley Freeway, more honestly know as the Fox Valley Tollway.

Two other fights are going on that take the time of McHenry County Board members.

One proposes a gravel pit southwest of Woodstock in the Franklinville Road area. Driving through last weekend allowed me to see all sorts of signs.

The other is a threatened trucking operation on Route 176 near Burton’s Bridge. The Northwest Herald story by Craver that I linked to in the previous sentence says the Burton’s Bridge folks convincingly won the first round, but, since the signs are still up, it is obvious they do not think the zoning fight is over.

I also drove by it recently.

What I noticed in both cases is that local residents have their own professionally printed signs and a web site.

Zoning change opponents in Burton’s Bridge may have the public relation advantage because the proposed truck depot will dump more traffic on a road a lot more people take than the rural roads near the proposed gravel pit.

The biggest route 176 sign is a banner that says “NO ZONING CHANGE” in bright red letters on top. The bottom gives an internet site called WWW.NUNDA-NEIBHBORS.COM. It’s at least 12 feet long and probably 4 feet high.

Next to it is what looks like a 4 foot by 4 foot sign with an arrow pointing across the road to the property that the opponents obviously believe will affect their subdivision of homes adversely.

Above the red arrow are these words: “NO ZONING CHANGE.” The “NO” is also in red.

And, there are five small flags flying on top of the smaller sign—in different colors. So besides the motion of the flags attracting commuters’ attention, there is enough color so that even most colorblind guys can see something.

But, that’s not all signs put up by the Nunda Neighbors.

There’s another sign with six flags waving in the wind.

It says,

I didn’t get the top of another sign in the frame, but I think it was on the other side of one of the flag waving signs mentioned above. The message is

Then, in a rectilinear box,

Red arrows point up next to the “Traffic Up, Accidents Up” message and across Route 176 to the proposed truck depot under “No Zoning Change.”

There are some professionally printed yard signs, too.

In yellow letters surrounded by blank ink one can see the words,

above black letters on a yellow background saying.

I didn’t look closely, but I think on the other side is this message:

in black letters on yellow and I didn’t get a good view of what’s underneath (perhaps someone can fill in the blanks in a comment from its picture from this mystery side of the two-sided sign)

And, I saw one final sign. It relates to the Congregational Church that replaced Burton’s Bridge School, with that elementary school district went belly-up and was absorbed by Crystal Lake’s District 47.

It says,

In the future, what I saw west of Woodstock.