McHenry County Blog

Sometimes you have to connect the dots.

This time it’s about what capital spending is being voted on in Illinois and what it is rewarding.

A USA Today story highlighted Chicago State University’s 16% graduation rate after six years.

Only 4% after four years, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Not exactly a model to be emulated.

But reward Chicago State the General Assembly did.

It got $40 million in the new capital bill to build a new campus on the West Side of Chicago.

Some might think that a university that manages to graduate only 16% of its students in six years might not be one deserving of cloning.

Why not clone Northeastern Illinois University? It’s 19% graduation rate was slightly better.

How about much more successful Northern Illinois University, It came in at a 52% graduation rate after six years.

You have to wonder how prepared the students are who are being accepted to these schools.

Chicago State’s and Northeastern’s numbers really raise serious questions.

For reference, Northwestern’s graduation rate is 93%, while University of Chicago is 90%.

University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign has a 82% graduation rate after six years.

Your federal fiscal stimulus money has $1.1 million dollars going to Chicago State. It is part of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008.

Is this anyone’s idea of “building upon success?”

Or is it “throwing good money after bad?”

In 2007 then Chicago State University President Elnora Daniel had to reimburse the university more than $8,600. But only after a state audit criticized spending practices at the university.

President Elnora Daniel explained at a press conference how she mistakenly used the university-issued card instead of her personal card. The explanation was she forgot to change purses or was in a rush at a store.

Daniel’s salary was $241,000 and the Chicago Tribune reported,
“In August 2006, Daniel and her family spent nine days on a Caribbean cruise, as Daniel attended a leadership conference, at a cost of more than $15,000.”

The trustees allowed a provision in her contract for this cruise to be legally paid for by the taxpayers of Illinois.

The trustees just hired Wayne Watson, the retiring head of Chicago’s junior college system, to be Chicago State’s new president a $229,166.

When you hear Democrats say,

at least you have some idea of what that means in Illinois.

The following information about Illinois Stimulus Package projects comes from Oklahoma U.S. Senator Tom Colburn’s office:

• Illinois county to spend $173,824 weatherization grant on eight pickup trucks. Having received $400,000 for a federal weatherization program, Madison County in Illinois will be spending nearly half of it on eight new Ford F-150’s. One member of the county board, Bill Meyer, raised concerns about how fast the county is being forced to spend the money, noting that
  

  “it looks like this is being crammed down our throat.”

  Fellow council member Bruce Malone responded that they have little choice:
  

  “They are saying,
  

  ‘Get out and spend it.’” (61)

  (61) Schmidt, Sanford, “Panel calls for spending stimulus funds on weatherization,” The Telegraph, June 8, 2009.

• Road signs costing $300 each are being placed at construction sites to alert motorists that the project is being paid for by stimulus money. Signs are popping up all across American. In Illinois alone, the signs are expected to cost $150,000, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). According to an IDOT spokesman,

  
  

  “It’s difficult for us to determine how many signs there will be.”(65)

  (65) Erickson, Kurt, “Stimulus money paying for signs announcing funded projects,”

  Bloomington Pantagraph, May 12, 2009.

• Parking lot that no one wants. In Macomb, Illinois, $643,945 was spent on a Prairieview public housing parking lot that no one wants. Many of the residents that the parking lot was supposed to benefit have protested it. Explaining his concern, a local resident said,
  

  “The kids love the grass. We’ve got enough pavement here.”(72)

  (72) Steelman, Lainie, “Parking under protest at Prairieview,” Macomb Journal, June 10, 2009.

• Illinois will spend $350,000 to build a four-person bunkhouse at Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge. (75)

  The median price for a home in Marion, Illinois, the site of the park, is currently $71,000. (76)

  (75) Crab Orchard refuge gets federal stimulus money.” The Southern, April 27, 2009.

  (76) Zillow.com, search for “Marion, Illinois,” accessed June 12, 2009.

• Rather than help welfare recipients obtain jobs and escape poverty, $1 million will be used to study whether 300 people in Chicago are healthier when living in “green” public housing facilities. The study will evaluate whether building green housing is healthier for people and will focus on 300 residents at a Chicago public housing facility. Researchers expect to find that residents living in these more energy-efficient facilities will have much lower healthcare costs. This study will create interviewing jobs.(80)

  (80) Sachs, Peter, “UIC gets $1M grant to study ‘green’ housing,” Chi-Town Daily News, May 08, 2009.

If you would like to learn more, here is Senator Colburn’s publication.

Other Midwestern examples can be found here.

I wonder if the four-person Crab Orchard bunk house will turn out to be a vacation getaway for the political class, as some state DNR facilities were for Illinois politicians. Goose and duck hunting were the draw for the relatively luxurious state-owned facilities.

= = = = =
Thanks for Respuublica for pointing the way to this story.

Wednesday night I searched all the townships and municipalities in the pork bill passed by the General Assembly and put up an article about how much each township received.

They all got $75,000, but I discovered that three of the largest four—Algonquin, McHenry and Grafton—got more.

I wondered why Nunda got only $75,000, but after running the search engine twice, wrote the article and went to bed.

Nunda Township Democrat Patrick Murfin saw the piece and speculated on why Nunda got less.

He wondered whether Nunda was being punished for trying to “seize leadership in the county party, ” citing Brent Smith’s role in putting together the slate Team Nunda, which rolled to victory in both the GOP primary election and the general election in which Murfin and a running mate were challenging Smith’ wife Joni, who ran first.

(Murfin also wrote a piece on the election, which I referenced.)

So, Murfin reads my article and asks, “What gives?”

Pretty much the same question I asked myself.

Those of you who remember geometry may remember that one can reach the wrong conclusion if one starts with the wrong information.

The next day, I read Pete Gonigam’s First Electronic Newspaper and discovered he had found much more money had be allocated to Nunda than my bleary eyes had spied in House Bill 313.

I dutifully wrote a correction about missing the $175,000.

And, so did Murfin.

He observed, “Maybe Nunda is being rewarded for his increased clout.”

So, nothing unusual about the township pork. The big townships got more than the little townships, just as one would expect.

= = = = =
The photo shows Brent Smith recruiting Neko Olsen for the Young Republicans at last summer’s Nunda Township Picnic.

Congressmen call it “earmarks.”

Illinois legislators call it “member initiatives.”

If it’s in someone else’s part of the country or state, people commonly call it “pork.”

Whatever you call it, here is what Crystal Lake State Rep. Mike Tryon got inserted into the infrastructure or capital budget this year. The bill has not yet been signed.

• Grafton Township – road improvements, $125,000
• Lakewood – road improvements, $200,000
• Crystal Lake – water and sewer, $100,000
• Nunda Township – non-dedicated road program, $175,000
• Algonquin Township – non-dedicated road program, $250,000



• Lake in the Hills – park improvements, $100,000
• Cary Park District – park improvements, $75,000
• Lakeside Legacy – restoration and improvements, $75,000
• Fox River Grove – infrastructure, $50,000

So, Tryon was not the legislator to allocate $75,000 to every township road commissioner.

Since it includes all 17 townships and State Senator Pam Althoff represents all of part of each township in McHenry County, my guess is that it is she, but Althoff declined to specify what she inserted into the budget. She said she would once the bill was signed.

Jack Franks, who has made a career of handing out big checks, has not publicized 2009 state grants public.

The bill in question has major financing coming from neighborhood slot machines where liquor is sold.

sshjIt doesn’t seem that long ago that I was writing about Washington Pork.

In fact, it was last March.

Let’s look at what the two congressional representatives from McHenry County are requesting in the Commerce, Justice and Science budget. (Hat tip to Respublica down Collinsville way.)

Don Manzullo is requesting the following:

• $250,000 – Rockford Crimefighting Technology Initiative
• $250,000 – Communications Equipment for Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department

Melissa Bean wants the following:

• $675,00 – along with Peter Roskam – Atmospheric Detection Equipment For the Northern Illinois Police Alarm System at the Glencoe Department of Public Safety
• $300,000 – Turning Point

666 is the mark of the beast.

In my Wednesday article on township pork, I missed

I did wonder why Nunda Township, the fourth largest township in McHenry County, got only $75,000 of legislative pork from the not yet signed capital bill financed largely by neighborhood slot machines, while Algonquin received $495,000, McHenry $250,000 and Grafton $200,000.

When I read the First Electric Newspaper, a new venture of Columbia Journalism School graduate Pete Gonigam, I saw that he was reporting Nunda’s share as $285,000.

Then I got a project list from Rep. Mike Tryon’s office which listed $175,000 for Nunda Townshp. Let’s see, $75,000 plus $175,000 is $285,000.

Too much of a coincidence.

So I looked at House Bill 313 again and found

It contained the $175,000 I missed on Wednesday night.

So, here’s an article of correction.

Nunda didn’t get a mere $75,000, the same amount the littlest townships got. It is scheduled to get $285,000, the rest compliments to Rep. Tryon.

So, the township total in McHenry County is not the $1.9 million I reported Wednesday.

It’s $2.05 million.

Besides the township road commissioner pork amounting to $1.9 million, cities and villages in McHenry County got some pork, too.

Hebron is going to get $150,000 for “public safety construction and road
infrastructure.”

Pretty broadly defined, wouldn’t you say?

I figure the village board can spend the money on virtually anything they want.

There’s $475,000 for the widening of Miller Road in McHenry and $575,000 for widening Rakow Road in Crystal Lake. Both are county highways.

There’s $700,000 for “all costs associated with Huntersville Sewer Project” in McHenry.

McHenry Township will receive $75,000 for the “construction of a food pantry building.” (Grafton Township got nothing for its food pantry.)

Crystal Lake is getting

• $700,00 for “all costs associated with road infrastructure improvements.”
• $482,000 for “all costs associated with the North Shore Flooding Improvement Project”
• $100,000 for “all costs associated with water and sewer improvements”

Algonquin will receive $100,000 for “all 10 costs associated with roadway, sanitary, sewer, storm sewer, and water main improvements.”

Cary is getting $450,000 for the “Route 14 and Jandus Road intersection 17 improvements.”

The Cary Park District is getting $150,000 for “all costs associated with park improvements.”

The Fox Waterway Agency will be waiting for $1,000,000 for costs associated with capital upgrades to waterway, plus another $500,000 for “reconstruction and shoreline stabilization (Trinski Island).”

$200,000 is earmarked for Fox River Grove for “infrastructure improvements” and $200,000 for “reconstruction and public utility extension project.”

Fox Lake is getting $185,000 for “the construction of a de-icing storage and containment facility.”

And the Fox Lake American Legion Post 703 will get $50,000 for “costs associated with capital improvements to the facility.”

Lake in the Hills is getting three grants:

• 300,000 for “costs associated with park development and improvements”
• $100,000 for “capital improvements for Sunset Park” (In 2007, State Rep. Mike Tryon earmarked $45,000 for the park.)
• $300,000 for park development and improvements”

Huntley’s share is $150,000 for “all costs associated with road and other capital improvements.”

$500,000 is in the bill for Johnsburg for “water and/or wastewater infrastructure improvements.”

Woodstock comes in with $300,000 in the pork sweepstakes. It’s for “road infrastructure improvements.”

And, my home town of Lakewood is even getting $200,000 for “all costs associated with road improvements.”

And, while not a municipality, the Richmond Fire Protection District will get $150,000 for “public safety improvements and construction of a parking lot”

Maybe you can find more McHenry County pork in House Bill 313.

If you do, please let me know so I can share the information more broadly.

inlThe state’s got financial problems right?

Not that you could notice from the infrastructure bill that was passed.

Let’s eavesdrop on two McHenry County legislators discussing what to put in it.

Legislator A: “Let’s give at least $75,000 to every township road commission in McHenry County. They’re powerful people.”

Legislator B: “But, some of them don’t need state money.”

Legislator A: “Hey, no problem. We’ve got plenty.”

Legislator B: “Yeah. It’s coming from those slots we’re going to put in the convenience stores and bars.”

Legislator A: “What should we do about the big townships?”

Legislator B: “We’ll just give them more.”

Legislator A: “Whether they need it or not?”

Legislator B: “Did you really ask that question?”

Here’s the $1.895 million that McHenry County’s 17 township road commissioners are slated to get from the new capital bill:

• Alden – $75,000
• Algonquin – $495,000
• Burton – $75,000
• Chemung – $75,00
• Coral – $75,000
• Dunham – $75,000
• Grafton – $200,000
• Greenwood – $75,000
• Hartland – $75,000
• Hebron – $75,000
• Marengo – $75,000
• McHenry – $150,000
• Nunda – $75,000
• Richmond – $75,000
• Riley – $75,000
• Seneca – $75,000

And, if there were any doubt where $125,000 of Grafton Township’s money came from, click on the part of the bill I have posted. It has a

between Section 663 and Section 664.

I’ve never seen that type of a section before, but staffers probably put a legislator’s name on each section before the numbers were inserted.

Here is what 16th District Congressman Don Manzullo is requesting be placed in next year’s Federal budget:

Rakow Road Widening Project in McHenry County

Aerospace Education/R&D Center in Rockford

Sewer System Improvement in Savanna

Flood Mitigation Project in DeKalb County

Keith Creek Flood Control Project in Rockford

Groundwater Protection Program in McHenry County

Manufacturing Technology Program at NIU

Rockford Crimefighting Technology Initiative

U of I Center for Rural Health in Rockford

Technology Upgrades at Rockford College

Autism Independence Program in McHenry County

Rockford West Side Economic Development Initiative

Communications Equipment for Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department

Defense Department Energy Research Project in Rockford

River District Development Initiative in Rockford

Here are the details of the McHenry County projects:

Rakow Road Widening Project in McHenry County

$1 million is requested to help fund the Rakow Road widening project in Crystal Lake and Lake in the Hills, which impacts tens of thousands of motorists every day. This is a major traffic congestion relief project that will go to construction in the Spring of 2010. McHenry County is one of the most congested areas of the country and federal funding is greatly needed to support this important road project that helps not only McHenry County, but the entire region.

Groundwater Protection Program in McHenry County

$280,000 is requested to help fund implementation of the McHenry County Groundwater Protection Program. This program uniquely seeks to address protection of the quantity and quality of the groundwater resources, the sole source of drinking water for all of McHenry County. Information gained from this project will benefit the local governments, the 11-county Regional Water Supply Planning Groups, and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning by providing a more complete description of the available groundwater resources.

Autism Independence Program in McHenry County

$100,000 is requested to help expand the Pathways Program at the Special Education District of McHenry County (SEDOM) to provide assistance for postsecondary students with intellectual disabilities including individuals on the autism spectrum, in partnership with McHenry County College. This project addresses crucial educational goals to close the gap for preparing young adults on the autism spectrum with the necessary social and vocational skills required for living independently.

8th District Congresswoman Melissa Bean’s list is here.

Bean’s projects in McHenry County follow:

Law Enforcement Advocacy Partnership (LEAP)

• Recipient: Turning Point, Inc., located at P.O. Box 723, Woodstock, Illinois 60019

• Description: $300,000 through the Department of Justice’s Juvenile Justice account to the LEAP program to support the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) at the local level. This is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars because LEAP is a collaboration between 15 police departments, the State’s Attorney and Turning Point that provides crisis intervention, emergency shelter, overnight and daily orders of protection, domestic violence training for police, and advocacy in court for domestic violence victims.

Public Safety Communication (McHenry County, IL)

• Recipient: McHenry County, located at 2200 North Seminary Avenue, Woodstock, IL 60098

• Description: $400,000 through the Department of Justice’s COPS Law Enforcement Technology and Interoperable Communications account to McHenry County, IL to improve communication in areas at risk for both manmade and natural disasters, and as a means to protect data exchange between various local entities. McHenry County is in the process of bringing in new computer technology to the Courts, State’s Attorney, Public Defender, Sheriff’s Office and Jail. This technology upgrade is a critical step toward integrating the County’s criminal justice information system, but it will not complete the project. This is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars to complete the interface between law enforcement and the court system, thereby allowing McHenry County to completely utilize the benefits of fully integrated criminal justice system. McHenry County received $94,000 in federal support in FY2008, and has committed over $3,000,000 of its own funding to the Integrated Justice Project.

Village of Johnsburg Wastewater Treatment Facility

• Recipient: Village of Johnsburg, located at 1515 Channel Beach Drive, Johnsburg, IL 60050

• Description: $500,000 through the EPA’s STAG account for Village of Johnsburg to assist with the construction of a centralized wastewater treatment and collection system. This funding would compliment $462,200 that was received in The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008. This is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because an estimated 300,000,000 gallons of raw or partially treated wastewater that is being discharged from failed or failing septic tanks into the Fox River each year. In addition to being one of the nation’s most popular recreational waterways, the Fox River is the primary source of drinking water for some 200,000 people. Improving the quality of its water will also complement ongoing efforts to clean up and restore the ecosystem of the Illinois River, into which the Fox River flows.

Village of Spring Grove Water Main Extension

• Recipient: Village of Spring Grove, located at 7401 Meyer Road, Spring Grove, IL 60081

• Description: $150,000 in the EPA’s STAG account to expand the sewer and water main through the town of Spring Grove, which is 95% comprised of septic systems that are adjacent to a high value aquatic resource. This is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because he septic systems in this area are failing and even with temporary repairs, they can’t keep up with current and proposed infrastructure in the area. The biggest impact the water main extension would have is on the local elementary school, which is in dire need of expansion but can’t proceed without access to the water main. The extension will also increase the number of users on the municipal system and add to the number of hydrants available to a commercial area.

F.A.S.T. Solutions Initiative

• Recipient: McHenry County, located at 2200 North Seminary Avenue, Woodstock, IL 60098

• Description: $250,000 through the Department of Education, Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FISPE), or the Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Training and Employment Services to fund the F.A.S.T Solutions Initiative. This program is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars because it will provide flexible and sustainable workforce training in a “boot camp” format which is designed to provide intensive, short-term occupational training in specific fields identified by employers through their participation on the McHenry County Workforce Investment Board (WIB).

Miller Road Widening (McHenry County, IL)

• Recipient: McHenry County Department of Transportation, located at 2200 North Seminary Avenue, Woodstock, IL 60098

• Description: $500,000 from the Transportation, Community and System Preservation (TCSP) account in the FY10 Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) budget to widen Miller Road from Illinois Route 31 to River Road. This funding would compliment $6,839,000 that was received in SAFETEA-LU and The Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 for improvements to Miller Road. This is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because by widening Miller Road from Routes 31 to River Road in McHenry, Illinois to four lanes, existing and projected traffic demands would be met well into the future for this heavily traveled north-south thoroughfare in eastern McHenry County.

And, in Barrington, we have the following being requested by Congresswoman Bean:

Ultra-Wide Coverage VIS/NIR Sensor for Force Protection

• Recipient: Goodrich ISR Systems Barrington, located at 550 West Northwest Hwy, Barrington, IL 60010

• Description: $2,850,000 from Navy, Research and Development, RDT&E, Force Protection Advanced Technology (Line 16, PE# 0603123N) for the Ultra-Wide Coverage VIS/NIR Sensor for Force Protection. This is for developing, integrating and demonstrating a new visible/near infrared sensor that would be used for airborne persistence surveillance. The advanced sensor technologies will be incorporated to include high resolution, high quantum efficiency, very large format visible / near IR detectors coupled with high fidelity, geo-spatially accurate optics. These technologies will be integrated into a comprehensive surveillance system suitable for manned, or unmanned, and long endurance missions.

Wide Area Sensor for Force Protection (Targeting)

• Recipient: Goodrich ISR Systems Barrington, located at 550 West Northwest Hwy, Barrington, IL 60010

• Description: $2,050,000 from Navy, Research and Development, RDT&E, Force Protection Advanced Technology (Line 16, PE# 0603123N) for the Wide Area Sensor for Force Protection (Targeting). This is for developing the wide area sensor program to build a deployable day/night, wide-area, persistent surveillance system to provide real-time surveillance for combat troops in theater. These technologies will be integrated into a comprehensive surveillance system suitable for manned, or unmanned, and long endurance missions.

Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital

• Recipient: Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, located at 450 West Highway, Barrington, IL 60010

• Description: $72,500 through the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Account for the Breast Cancer Center at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital. This funding is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars because it will support the development of a centralized digital mammography reading station at the Breast Care Center “headquarters” on the Advocate Good Shepherd campus, so the hospital’s radiologists have the equipment and capacity they need to read and interpret a rapidly growing volume of screening and diagnostic mammograms.

Today, no long shots but the one below.

Even it has signs you can read:

Stop
the
Beltway
Bandits!

Party
like
1773

BO’s promises
→ My
Money

OBAMA
CONGRESS
‘THIEVES’

STOP SPENING
MY GRANDKIDS
FUTURE INCOME!

The yellow one you can’t read behind the yellow one you can says,

We’ll concentrate on individual signs, most of which were homemade.

This one says,

Next you can see the signs (click to enlarge any photo):

We can read three signs in this photo.

The same

appeared on the backs of three children.

GOVT. TRILLIONS $=
SLAVERY 4 U.S. PEOPLE
STOP RECKLESS SPENDING!

Other stories that might be of interest:

Noon TEA Party Biggest Demonstration in McHenry County History at Route 14 and Main Street

Algonquin Area Residents TEA Party on Route 62

TEA Party Moving Down to Cary

Obama Supporters Object to My Sense of Humor

Message of the Day – ATM, NOT

A Letter from Libertarian Party Chair Dave Brady and More Crystal Lake TEA Party Pictures

Memorializing Chicago Tribune TEA Party Coverage

TEA Party Montage with Beatles’ “Tax Man”