McHenry County Blog

A second message has come from Nunda Township Trustee Mike Shorten:

“Thanks for the response yesterday.

“Between efforts Wednesday and yesterday over 16,000 sand bags have been created, but the need is still great as the Fox River in not expected to crest until sometime on Saturday.

“If you have time

• this afternoon/evening or
• any time on Saturday,

they need willing and able volunteers to help with the process of making bags and loading them on to pallets for delivery to residents and any amount of time that you can donate will make a huge difference in the efforts.

“We need people that can lift but also need those who can just help tie the bags closed one they are filled.

“IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO HELP, please forward this message to your friends/family/neighbors that live in the area and that will be help enough.

“No need to call just go to the highway department offices at 3518 Bay Rd. in Crystal Lake, IL. Mike Lesperance, who will be sworn in as the new Highway Commissioner on May 20th is managing the efforts.”

And the Fox River is continuing the rise, as you can see from the U.S. Corps of Engineers Algonquin Dam data below:

= = = = =
Photos were sent by Mike Shorten and Cindy Lesperance.

Three votes behind was where Rob Parrish found himself after all the absentee and early ballots were counted.

And, after a Discovery Recount he requested and paid for, the results were the same.

He was still behind “Iron Mike” Lesperance by three votes.

No changes were discovered in the count for Nunda Township Supervisor either.

Lee Jennings won 945-934, a eleven vote margin over Bridgett Provenzano.

Now we have two Nunda Township Republican Primary candidates who just barely lost asking for Discovery Recounts.

Road Commissioner Rob Parrish and Supervisor candidate Bridgett Provenzano.

Mike Lesperance won the nod to represent the the GOP on the ballot for Highway Commissioner.

Lee Jennings won 945-934, just eleven votes.

More than the three votes that Lesperance bested Parrish by, but close by anyone’s standards.

Because the margins are so close, State law allows a run through the computers of the ballots in a relative small percentage of precincts.

Parrish picked Nunda precincts 1, 10, 15, 16, 18, 20 and 21 to see if any machine mistakes had occurred.

Provenzano selected Nunda Nunda 1, 10, 17, 19, 20, 21 and 24.

Note that they are not all the same.

Mike Lesperance – 892 votes.

Rob Parrish – 889 votes.

Three votes difference.

So, what’s the loser to do?

Illinois law allows for a discovery recount when elections are this close.

And Parrish has asked for one.

The ballots for Nunda 1, 10, 15, 16, 18, 20 and 21 will be run through the machine again.

= = = = =
Bridgett Provenzano has also filed for a discovery recount.

Both Grafton and Nunda Townships had vibrant contests for Road Commissioner.

In Grafton Township Road District employee Tom Poznanski, who is the Township’s Republican Party Chairman, won a convincing battle with Robert Dvorak.

In Nunda Township the race was close.

Really close.

Two challengers with extensive experience in private enterprise faced off against incumbent Road Commissioner Don Kopsell.

Both beat him convincingly.

Both “Iron Mike” Lesperance and Rob Parrish beat the incumbent convincingly.

But Lesperance edged Parrish out by four votes.

Those are the votes cast early and absentee.

They will be added to the results you will be able to read here or on the McHenry County Clerk’s election return web site.

To gauge the impact such votes will have take a look at the totals by township:3

• Dorr – 36
• Grafton – 458
• Nunda – 406
• Algonquin – 202

I’m informed that Nunda Township Board Commissioner candidate Rob Parrish and Grafton Township Supervisor candidate Linda Moore had absentee ballot campaigns.

Look what I found distributed by the Crystal Lake Tea Party:

REMINDER OF TOWNSHIP ELECTIONS ON TUESDAY. THIS IS THE CLOSEST GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATION WE HAVE. BE SURE TO VOTE!

For what it is worth here are my personal recommendations for Nunda Township (of which I am a resident)

• Road Commissioner: Rob Parrish
• Supervisor: Bridgett Provenzano
• Clerk: Angela Koscavage

Township Polling places:
http://mchenry-il.connect.clarityelections.com/ElectionPollingPlaces.aspx

Letter from Irene Napier in support of Pro-life candidates in Algonquin Township:

Dear Pro-Life Supporter,

I was going to sit this election out, but two Pro-Lifers running for Algonquin Township Trustee are being slandered.

One is Melissa Sanchez, a 22-year old recent college grad (who has a job already!). Melissa, from Lake in the Hills, took a bus to the Pro-Life Washington demonstration three years ago and ended up meeting the young man she is going to marry. She is running with Larry Emery of Crystal Lake.

The key issue is pay raises voted for by three incumbent Trustees—Dan Shea and Lowell Cutsforth, plus Linda Lance, running for Township Clerk.

Both Melissa and Larry are being accused of voting to raise their own salaries.

The absurdity of the falsehood being spread is obvious when you think about it.

How could two candidates who are not in office have voted to raise their own salaries?

Such a “Big Lie” approach has been used successfully in politics before.

Shame on us if we let it work next Tuesday, when the Republican primary election is held.

What kind of a world do we live in when supporters of politicians spread outright lies about a recent retiree and a young woman inspired to try to improve things by entering public service?

Shouldn’t we be encouraging people like her and her friend Larry Emery, another Pro-Lifer, to stay involved in a political process that most of us would rather ignore because it is so often so dirty?

To summarize, there are three people on the ballot who voted to raise township salaries:

•         Dan Shea running for Trustee
•         Lowell Cutsforth running for Trustee
•         Linda Lance running for Clerk

There is one candidate, a current Trustee, running for re-election who led the fight to cut salaries

•         a Pro-Lifer named Russ Cardelli.

And there are the two candidates opposed to higher salaries who are being lied about

•         Melissa Sanchez
•         Larry Emery

Finally, a well-known Pro-Lifer named

•         Chuck Lutzow

is running for Township Clerk against a woman who voted to raise salaries.

Vote as you please, but please vote.

Irene Napier

Here it is election eve and I’m trying to catch up on mailings that have been done and other information that I have received.

Here’s the post card that Nunda Township Road Commissioner Rob Parrish has mailed out.

First there was a sticker on the masthead of the Northwest Herald paid for by Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore. It was published on the first day of early voting and urged people to do so.

Sunday, the team of Nunda Township Supervisor candidate Lee Jennings and Nunda Township Road Commissioner candidate “Iron Mike” Lesperance had the sticker.

Monday, it was Nunda Township Road Commissioner candidate Rob Parrish’s turn.

The question I have now is whether any candidate will buy a sticker on Tuesday.

I invite all the candidates in contested township races in McHenry County to share their mailings with readers.

The latest to send one in is Nunda Township Supervisor candidate Lee Jennings.  He is running against Bridigett Provenzano.

When I looked at the address side, I see there is a sample ballot recommending the nomination of the following candidates:

• Lee Jennings for Supervisor
• Susan Jennings for Clerk
• Mike Lesperance for Road Commissioner