McHenry County Blog

An email from Democratic Party activist Terry Koppel to some of his friends about his intention to run for McHenry County Board:

Greetings my friend;

I would like to share with you, my intention to run for County Board in District 6.

There will be many challenges I’ll face during this effort.

I will need to raise a substantial amount of money, for instance.

Since I have a very modest amount of money to live on anyway, I will be unable to offer many of my own resources to the campaign.

Therefore, I will have to enlist a large number of volunteers to help.

I will also face personal challenges as well.

I am currently receiving Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits, and I do not have the money for a car, so I depend upon the very limited public transportation in our county to get around.

This means, while I can get to Harvard, and the portions of North Woodstock and Wonder Lake which are in my County Board District, I will need help from others in order to get to places like Marengo, the western portion of Grafton township and all the rural portions of District 6 (which would be unwalkable anyway).

As well, the clinical depression which is debilitating at times, will prove a challenge during a campaign, as well during service on the County Board should I be elected.

While these personal obstacles will be a challenge, I believe they also provide me with a perspective that few typical candidates for office would have.

I know from personal experience, what a large number of people in our county also know — what it’s like to be dependent upon public services and transportation.

I know what life is like day to day for people who are barely getting by on a fixed income.

I know what it’s like to try to get around on a bus service, with bus routes essentially laid out in the late 70s, when the population of the county was less than half what it is today.

I know, from personal experience, what it is like to be dependent upon the generous yet far from adequate private charities in the county.

And, I know how much more need there is than there are services being provided to address those needs.

I’d like to see more services for those in need, and services designed to offer an easier transition from idleness to productive, contributing member of our communities.

It is my belief and hope that there is room for at least one person in county government who knows what it is like to be in need of those services.

I would also like my campaign to be focused upon a grassroots effort which will enlist activists to work for all Democratic candidates up and down the ballot.

While the absolute objective of running for office is to be elected, I believe there should be larger objectives as well.

Expanding the Democratic Party to a point of

• providing a genuine two party system in this county is one, and
• fighting for those who least can fight effectively for themselves, as well as
• fighting for progressive causes, and
• a balanced county budget

are all objectives which would also be objectives worth fighting for.

After all, if a candidate should have something worth running for, other than just to win an election.

Terry Kappel, 710 St. John’s Rd. Apt. 4, Woodstock, IL 60098

tkappel@hotmail.com

 

The electronic call for opponents of Congressman Joe Walsh to gather in front of his Fox Lake office at noon was answered by what appears to be 30-40 people.

I notice from the appearance of the demonstrators that their age approximates that of those attending Tea Party rallies on Route 14 last year.

Demonstrations were also requested for other Republican congressmen’s offices, for example, Congressman Don Manzullo, who represents much of McHenry County now, and Peter Roskam, who will represent Algonquin Township under the Democrat’s redistricting plan.

McHenry County Demcoratic Party activist Terry Kappel, wearing a CNN tee shirt, was kind enough to share the content of his messages.

Leaving the First United Methodist Church on West Crystal Lake Avenue I saw Democratic Party activist Terry Kappel walking toward town.

Not knowing whether he was knocking on doors or might want a ride, I doubled back to ask.

Kappel was knocking on doors, helping out Lori McConville’s County Board campaign, among others.

As we were talking, Mike Defrancesco from across the street walked over to ask what Kappel was selling. When he found out it was the Democratic Party, he announced his and his wife Sharon’s allegiance and took the literature pack.

Kappel had asked me if I was going to stop over at the Colonial Cafe to see Democratic Party Lt. Governor candidate Sheila Simon.

I had a birthday luncheon that started before the 3 o’clock start time and lasted until after Simon had already departed.

I did hear that about 22 people attended the organizing meeting that Pat Quinn Field Coordinator Gloria Wiekert Of Roscoe had put together.

She told me Simon would be back in the area and told me she would email me when she was coming.

So far I don’t have a photo of the candidate.

Thursday, as I was driving to the Post Office, I noticed a political tee shirted Terry Kappel walking west on Route 14.

You know I had to ask him why he was so attired in Crystal Lake.

Was he going door-to-door for a Democratic Party candidate?

I drove around the block, stopped in a parking lot and asked him.

He was on the way to his chiropractor.

But, our encounter wasn’t a complete washout.

He was wearing the a 16th District “Gaulrapp for Congress” tee shirt with buttons and stickers.

He told me that Independent (that’s what will appear over her name on the ballot in her race against Republican Associate Judge Gordon Graham) judicial candidate Sally Wiggins had found someone going through her garbage.

Now, that was interesting.

I’ve heard of one party’s operatives going through the garbage of campaign offices locally, but never a home. Took me back to J. Edgar Hoover garbage gathering efforts I’d read about.

Wiggins showed up at McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi’s fund raiser last night.

She was working the crowd and even had a young man writing names and phone numbers in a spiral notebook.

I asked to speak with her and she shoehorned me in.

“Tell me about the garbage guy,” I said.

She told me that Saturday morning she saw a man going through the garbage in her can at the end of her driveway.

When she asked him what he was doing, he reply,

“I’m re-cycling.”

“Do you have a re-cycling can?” I asked.

She said she did, but

“He was in by regular garbage.”

Wasn’t it the Laugh-In Naze who said, “Ver-r-r-r-r-y in-ter-r-r-r-r-es-s-s-ting.”

It should be noted that Judge Graham is the one who named a special prosecutor at Bianchi’s GOP primary opponent Dan Regna’s request to investigate whether Bianchi used tax dollars for political purposes.

In related news, the hearing to decide whether a similar prosecutor should be named to investigate whether McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren used tax dollars for political purposes has been postponed. That effort was initiated by Nygren’s primary opponent Zane Seipler.