McHenry County Blog

First is was a card (click to enlarge) from a group previously unknown calling itself the McHenry County for Qualified Candidates.

Now the grammatically incorrect language on the post card has been turned into a letter mailed from Carol Stream with First Class postage and no return address.

Same themes.

I’m not going to take the time to re-type the letter, but you can see if below. Click on the image to make it large enough to read.

When candidates like Jack Franks are in trouble, stuff like this starts showing up.

The next mailing from Democrat Jack Franks touts his ability to “stand up to special interests and the COURAGE to vote against EVERY job-killing tax and fee increase.”

Too bad he didn’t have the courage to stand up for Chicago kids in the twenty worst schools and save the taxpayers $240 million a year in the process.

He caved to the teacher unions on that vote.

For longer than Jack Franks has been alive, Chicago’s underprivileged kids have been getting rotten educations. This was a chance, championed by State Senator James Meeks, to see if a different approach–giving vouchers to the parents of such students–would result in a better education.

But Franks didn’t have the courage to buck the teacher unions.

How sad.

On the other side of the mailing Franks says he “is there to stop party leaders every time they try to pass job-killing tax and fee increase,” repeating the pitch on the address side.

But he has voted for the same Boss Mike Madigan six times and refuses to tell people if he will do so next January, if re-elected.

So, why does Franks continue to support “the tax-and-spend politicians who have failed us ,” to put it in his mailer’s words?

All the time he wants people to think he is an independent, when he knows the only Independent on the ballot is a candidate for judge, Sally Wiggins.

Now let’s move on to the mailing sent by a secret group of Jack Franks supporters.  A hatchet job on Franks’ homeschooling Republican challenger, John O’Neill.

The outfit whose name is at the bottom of the post card is “McHenry County Committee for Qualified Candidates (MCQC)”

I checked with both the Illinois State Board of Elections and the McHenry County Clerk and no such entity has filed as a political action committee.

So if anyone is in trouble with the State Board of Elections, it’s this anonymous “pop-up” committee.

When homeschool Dad John O’Neill ran for the McHenry Grade School Board the same tripe was trotted out by the candidate who lost the race for the board.   Homeschoolers, of course, save school districts money, not to mention allow the parents to inculcate their own values. (There were no incumbents in that race.)

The board which “Mismanaged school system (sic) by authorizing substantial pay raises without the funds to pay them” was the McHenry High School District #156 board, not the McHenry Elementary School District #15 board which O’Neill is a member of. Contrary to what is said next to the heading “Math,” O’Neill bears absolutely no responsibility for the excessive raises.

So who wrote this piece deserves a big “L”for LYING.

As far as the Board of Elections complaint goes, I wrote about that Wednesday.  The Franks supporter (yes, I know it was filed by a Franks supporter and will show evidence this weekend) didn’t even show up for the hearing in Chicago.  Gail Wood told the State Board she went to China, but gave less than twenty-four hours notice of her refusal to defend her spurious charge.

If there is some other problem with O’Neill’s campaign finance reporting, the State Board has not contacted him about it, he tells me.

If you wonder what was in the robo-call, read this article.  It refers to Jack Franks having asked for positions from Rod Blagojevich, the man Franks later turned on, but still supported for re-election, as far as anyone knows.

The memo from Franks to Blagojevich’s patronage office can be seen below:

I am delighted to report that Senator Matt Murphy and State Rep. Sid Mathias have sponsored a bill that will crack down on what I have called pop-up committees.

These tax hike committees announce their presence as late as possible.

Sometimes, as in this situation, the political action committees announce their appearance AFTER the election.

Under the bill just passed, the pop-up PACS “created within 30 days before an election must file its (State Board of Election) statement of organization within two days (now, within 5 business days) after its creation and must file the statement via facsimile transmission or electronic mail.”

Most recently, the Grafton Township Republican incumbents used a pop-up committee called “Citizens to Reelect Quality Leaders.”