McHenry County Blog

The tradition of highway contractors contributing to political campaigns undoubtedly goes back decades, probably to the building of the first roads like the construction of Route 47 north of Huntley that Henry Marlow told me was built with horses.

Is it evil for a company doing work for county government contribute to campaigns of those in power?

Are there untoward implications?

Campaigns obviously cost money and not many significant ones are run on small contributions.

Even ones with significant volunteer effort, such as 8th Congressional District Congressman Joe Walsh’s, required well over $100,000.

You can make the value judgments, if you wish.

And, if you do, please think of how campaigns costing tens of thousands of dollars and growing each year the Post Office raises the cost of direct mail, should be financed.

You know that adequate space is not available in local newspapers to allow candidates to send out press releases and expect them to get published. Those days of when newspapers were willing to publish such campaign material ended shortly after my campaign for McHenry County Treasurer in 1966.

With big money being spent in McHenry County on Rakow Road’s widening and the Western Bypass’ construction, I thought it might be interesting to look up campaign contributions from those doing the work on the projects.

Today we look at contributions from Rakow Road contractors.

My original intention was to look at recent contributions, but so many older ones popped up in my search of the Illinois State Board of Elections

I started with Rakow Road. After all, it had a rainy, everyone-under-the-tent commencement ceremony recently.

The McHenry County Transportation Department send me documents for three contractors on Radow Road:

• Patrick Engineering of Lisle
• Mathewson Right of Way Company from Frankfort
• Jorgensen & Associates of Lake Villa

Surveying company Jorgensen made no contributions I could find.

Mathewson Right of Way Company, whose job seems to be to work through the land acquisition process for road projects, made the following political donations.

Here’s the $5,500 given to Ken Koehler’s campaign fund:

• 1-19-7 $550
• 2-11-8 $500
• 4-8-9 $500
• 11-27-9 $500
• 4-10-10 $1,000
• 9-20-10 $1,000
• 3-14-11 $1,000

In addition, State Rep. Mike Tryon received $250 on 8-4-10.

Algonquin Township Road Commissioner Bob Miller’s campaign fund also received a 10-17-10 check for $500. His campaign committee filing with the Illinois State Board of Elections filing notes that his wife, County Board member Anna May Miller, is financed by the PAC. Miller is head of the County Board’s Transportation Committee.

Patrick Engineering’s donations are grouped below by recipient.

The McHenry County Republican Central Committee received regular contributions during the middle of the last decade:

• 7-1-4 $1,000
• 7-10-5 $1,000
• 7-1-6 4 $1,000
• 7-23-7 $1,000

My search found McHenry County Board member Ken Koehler got $3,300:

• 1-19-7 $550
• 2-11-8 $500
• 4-27-9 $500
• 11-27-9 $500
• 8-24-10 $250
• 9-20-10 $1,000

Former McHenry County Board Chairman, now-State Rep. Mike Tryon was another recipient:

• 12-11-3 $250
• 6-22-4 $500

So was State Senator Dan Duffy. He got $250 May 28, 2008.

McHenry County Recorder of Deeds Phyllis Walters was the wife of the man Rakow Road is named. Jim Rakow used to be McHenry County Highway Superintendent, although he was not when these contributions were made:

• 10-4-99 $160
• 10-5-2000 $240
• 9-26-1 $250

The Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission gave preliminary approval to Metra’s proposed Ridgefield Train Station, but conditioned it on making multi-million dollar road improvements recommended by city engineering firm Patrick Engineering.

The improvements, most overdue, according to Patrick engineers Ryan Westrom and Chris DeRosia, would include signals at Country Club and Hillside Road, plus Market and Ridgefield Road next to the Union Pacific railroad tracks. In addition, suggested improvements at McConnell Road and Country Club were requested. Finally, the motion asked that Metra make whatever improvements would be necessary for commuters to be able to get out of the parking lot on the 9,360 vehicle per day Country Club Road.

“If improvements are made, they will accommodate the traffic we projected,” Westrom told the commissioners.

The engineering firm, starting from scratch, projected that about 36% of the station’s commuters would come down Country Club Road from the north, 41% down Hillside Road and 22% from north of the site across the tracks through Downtown Ridgefield. Do the math and you see that 77% is predicted to come from the same side of the tracks where the 17.5 acre station will be located.

Members expressed frustration that none of the roads were under city jurisdiction. The engineering report said current traffic volumes merited signals on both ends of Market Street in Downtown Ridgefield.  And, one at Tartan Drive and Ridgefield Road by 2015.

Consensus was expressed that commissioners wanted to protect Ridgefield residents and business owners, although none are located within Crystal Lake city limits.

Motions to change the zoning from Estate Residential to Semi-Public and Public Use passed 5-0, as did a motion to approve how Metra proposed to meet the city’s Watershed Ordinance.

A motion from former City Councilman Dave Goss to approve a Preliminary Planned Unit Development, contingent on staff recommendations and road improvements suggested by Patrick Engineering passed 3-2.

Metra’s presentation suggested that property values around train stations generally increased with the prediction being that farmland north of the station site on Country Club Road would “have development pressure…(with) higher density development, higher land values.”

Goss voted against his own motion, based on his belief that the commuter station would lower property values in Ridgefield. He was joined by Commission Chairman Jeff Greenman.

Commissioners Don Batastini, Vince Esposito, Alan Skluzacek voted in the affirmative, although Esposito had said earlier, “I don’t think a train station that size needs to be out there.”

When the issue reaches city council on April 6th, a three-fifths approval vote will be needed, according to Metra’s local attorney Joe Gottemoller.

Earlier, Gottemoller had argued that the new traffic generated by Metra “is very small.” He noted that none of the improvements recommended by the traffic consulting firm, for example improving Market Street, were on McHenry County’s Five-Year Plan.

During the public comment period Chris Conway from Hillside road worried about increased garbage on the road and its taking more than the ten minutes it now takes her to get out of her driveway.

“We kind of feel there’s some insider trading going on on this property,” speaking for herself and neighbors.

The property is half owned by McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler.

Also speaking was Craig Steagall, land owner across the tracks from Koehler’s land.

He questioned the traffic experts traffic projections. Earlier he had hired his own traffic consultant and presented results to the city council.

“How did 84 Lumber get in there without making those improvements?” he asked.

Steagall also asked how the decades-old agriculture zoning for the former Flowerwood nursery property got changed to industrial through “a zoning map correction.” (Later Planning and Economic Development Director Michelle Rentzsch confirmed that what Stegall said was correct.)

“There’s been an allegation I’m on my high horse because of a sour land deal,” he continued, telling of how Metra approached him to buy 12 acres and how Alexandra Lumber was considering purchasing 20 acres prior to purchasing 84 Lumber’s abandoned yard. Steagall then pointed out that under the discussions he had had with Metra to buy land south of the tracks, he and his partner would have had to put in $500,000 to a million for infrastructure improvements, a cost burden he considered unreasonable.

Steagall compared Metra’s planned station to

• “Health Care—Start over,”
• “the Bridge to Nowhere” and
• “the Cornhusker Kickback.”

Speaking also of the Lily Pond Road station, which will be built on donated land, Stegall concluded,

“It’s Metra stations for all our friends.”

Another man asked if people, especially McHenry County College students and employees would have walking and biking access.

“Would it be good service to the college.”

No one from McHenry College offered public comment.

“What prevented Metra from putting the station on the south side of the tracks,” another person asked.

In rebuttal, a factoid came out that was interesting.

Over 60% of the people using the Pingree Road Station are from Lake in the Hills.

Replying to Steagall, Gottemoller said, “Sour grapes. That’s a political item that we don’t have anything to do with.”

Rick Mack, representing Metra, explained that 15 trains would come down the track each morning and that the Lily Pond Road Station (called East Woodstock) was put on the south side of the tracks so most cars using it wouldn’t have to cross the tracks.

He explained that capacity throughout McHenry County was being expanded, pointing to all the empty land between Woodstock and Harvard.

“This is an entire upgrade, not just to address today,” Mack continued. Earlier, it had been pointed out that train storage would be moved from Crystal Lake to north of Woodstock, that there was no room to store additional trains in Crystal Lake.

“All of these improvements are interconnected.”

Traffic concerns were widespread among the commissioners.

Greenman said,

Jeff Greenman

“We’re going to trust the county to do what it needs to do and trust the state to do what it needs to do.

“There are so many interdependencies, so many ‘what if’s’

“It’s a huge risk.”

At the end of the meeting, Goss thanked the city council “for standing up for the traffic study.”

Metra had asked to use its own traffic consultant, but that was rejected by the council in favor of one on the city’s approved list.