McHenry County Blog

Besides the 6 PM meeting at McHenry County College at which the lame duck Board seems destined to renew President Vicky Smith’s contract, there are other meetings people might find of interest.

Each of McHenry County’s 17 Townships will hold annual meetings. They start at 7.

I’ve attended the Grafton Township Annual Town Meeting for the past four times, all of which were action-packed…often with Huntley Police presence.

It probably will be an interesting meeting, but the McHenry County Board might be more interesting.

It also starts at 7 PM.

The bar owners have retained attorney Tom Zanck to lobby County Board members to vote to reverse their prohibition of the video poker/slot machines from bars and restaurants regulated by the County.

My sources tell me that the proponents have about ten votes.

If all 24 members attend the meeting, thirteen votes will be needed to pass the measure.

The vote was 13-10-1 against legislation in late 2009.

That’s if no one abstains or, as they say in the Illinois General Assembly, someone “takes a walk.”

In any event, the last time around the vote was quite close.

Voting in favor of a ban of the video gambling machines in unincorporated areas in 2009 were the following, who are grouped by county board district (those up for election in 2010 are show in bold face type):

District 1

• Yvonne Barnes

District 2

• Jim Heisler

District 3

• Ed Dvorak (retiring)
• Kathy Bergan Schmidt
• Barbara Wheeler

District 4

• Sue Draffkorn
• John Hammerand
• Sandy Salgado

District 5

• Paula Yensen
• Jim Kennedy
• Virginia Peschke

District 6

• Mary McCann
• Ersel Schuster

Voting against the ban, thus in favor of expanding gambling were the following:

District 1

• Anna May Miller
• Bob Bless
• Marc Munaretto

District 2

• Scott Breeden
• Ken Koehler
• Lyn Orphal

District 3

• Mary Donner

District 4

• Pete Merkel

District 5

• Tina Hill

District 6

• Dan Ryan

I’ve been told that the proponents of repeal have only locked up ten votes and the lobbyist of those seeking to reverse the video gaming prohibition, Tom Zanck, is asking if those inclined to vote “Yes” could abstain to lower the number of affirmative votes needed to win the day.

Those wishing to let their Board members know where they stand can call them at the numbers below:

McHenry County Board Districts

District 1

• Robert “Bob” Nowak – Home: 847-977-5516, email – rcnowak@co.mchenry.il.us
• Anna May Miller – Home: 847-639-5112, Work: 847-639-2700, email – ammiller@co.mchenry.il.us
• Yvonne Barnes – Home: 847-516-2719, email – ymbarnes@co.mchenry.il.us
• Nick Chirikos – Home: 847-658-3434, email -nachirikos@co.mchenry.il.us

District 2

• Carolyn Schofield – Home: 815-455-9550, Work: 815-341-2440, email – cdschofield@co.mchenry.il.us
• James L. Heisler – Home: 815-459-1971, Work: 815-459-0171, email – jlheisler@co.mchenry.il.us
• Kenneth D. Koehler – Home: 815-459-7841, email – kdkoehler@co.mchenry.il.us
• Donna Kurtz – Home: 815-788-0632, Work: 815-353-5972, email – dmkurtz@co.mchenry.il.us

District 3

• Nick Provenzano – Cell: 815-355-8540, email – nxprovenzano@co.mchenry.il.us
• Mary E. McClellan – Home: 815-482-5693, email – memcclellan@co.mchenry.il.us
• Michael J. Walkup – Home: 815-477-8978, Work: 815-459-7090, email – mjwalkup@co.mchenry.il.us
• Joseph Gottemoller – Home: 815-382-9940 (Cell), Work: 815-459-5152, email – jxgottemoller@co.mchenry.il.us

District 4

• Sue Draffkorn – Home: 815-653-6057, email -sxdraffkorn@co.mchenry.il.us
• John D. Hammerand – Home: 815-728-0700, email – jdhammerand@co.mchenry.il.us
• Bob Martens – Home: 815-675-6353, Cell: 815-354-9300, email – rmmartens@co.mchenry.il.us
• Sandra Fay Salgado – Home: 815-276-2317, email – sfsalgado@co.mchenry.il.us

District 5

• Tina Hill – Cell: 815-347-4222, email – trhill@co.mchenry.il.us
• Paula Yensen – Home: 815-404-3918, email – peyensen@co.mchenry.il.us
• John Jung, Jr. – Home: 815-338-6201, email – jpjung@co.mchenry.il.us
• Michael Skala – Home: 847-669-3804, Work: 815-337-5550, email – mjskala@co.mchenry.il.us

District 6

• Michele Aavang – Home: 815-648-4210, email – mraavang@co.mchenry.il.
• Mary T. McCann – Home: 815-568-1061, email – mtmccann@co.mchenry.il.us
• Diane Evertsen – Home: 815-943-3298, Work: 815-943-3298, email – dxevertsen@co.mchenry.il.us
• Ersel Schuster – Home: 815-338-2207, email – ersel@sbcglobal.net

Several new members have said they will vote as their perceived their constituents feel.

Precinct Map of Dorr Township

Earlier I calculated and posted the percentage turnout in the February 2nd Republican primary election for each precinct in

• Algonquin Township
• Grafton Township and
• Nunda Township

The figures are not for the percentage that voted in all primary elections; rather, they show the percentage of people who voted in the Republican primary.

The GOP turnouts were poor this year, even in the best precincts.

It used to be that Charlie Nelson and I would compete to see who could get the highest turnout. It would always be above 40% and was nearer 50% some years.  This year, only 24.2% turned out in our Algonquin Precinct 7 primary election.

No more.

Surely there are TEA Party folks who would like to see if they can influence votes at the ballot box.

Look at Dorr Township. County Board member Virginia Peschke did best—just under 25%.

The next best was Tom Zanck’s at 20.1%.

County Board member Tina Hill, on the ballot in a three-way race was next with 18.5, closely followed by former County Board member John Jung, seeking to recapture the seat he lost to Democrat Paula Yensen two years ago. 18.2% of his precinct voted in the Republican primary election.

Newly-elected McHenry County Circuit Clerk Katherine Keefe saw 14.1% of her precinct take a GOP ballot. McHenry County Sheriff’s candidate Zane Seipler pulled 13% to the polls.

All the rest of the precincts—seven in all—but Tom Harding’s are vacant. Harding got 10% opting for a Republican ballot.

Unlike other townships with Republican township officials, I see none as precinct committeemen.

Lots of room for improvement in Dorr Township.

• Dorr 1 – (10%) Tom Harding
• Dorr 2 – (11%)
• Dorr 3 – (10.4%)
• Dorr 4 – (10.8%)
• Dorr 5 – (13.3%)
• Dorr 6 – (13.5%)
• Dorr 7 – (18.5%) Tina Hill
• Dorr 8 – (10.6)
• Dorr 9 – (14.1%) Katherine Keefe
• Dorr 10 – (13%) Zane Seipler
• Dorr 11 – (18.2%) John Jung, Jr.
• Dorr 12 – (20.1%) Tom Zanck
• Dorr 13 – (5.3%)
• Dorr 14 – (24.9%) Virginia Peschke

Remember, if a precinct does not have a name after it, there is no elected precinct committeeman. (The office is “precinct committeeman,” even if the person holding it is a woman.)

So, if you are interested in filling a vacancy by appointment, drop me an email and I’ll pass the information on.

From left to right are seen the 2010-2012 McHenry County Republican Central Committee leadership: Chairman Mike Tryon, Secretary Glenda Miller, Vice Chairwoman Kathy Kuchta and Treasurer Fred Wickham.

The leadership team of the McHenry County Republican Central Committee will be the same as it has been the last two years.

Mike Tryon addressing committeemen after his re-election as chairman.

State Rep. Mike Tryon of Crystal Lake continues as Chairman.

Vice Chairwoman will be McHenry’s Kathy Kuchta.

Harvard’s Glenda Miller will be Secretary.

Fred Wickham, who won a contest two years ago will again be Treasurer.

Likewise there was no contest for 8th Congressional District State Central Committeeman. All present voted for Barrington Township’s Gene Dawson.

With the empty precincts added in, pursuant to passage of a motion earlier in the night, Dawson received 10,134 votes in his attempt to turn back a challenge by the Schaumburg Township Committeeman, Michael Adelizzi.

In the race for the 16th Congressional District Committeemanship, the race was more interesting.

Cal Skinner made a pitch for Joe Wiegand, pointing out that he had never seen incumbent Dave Syverson during the past two years since he had joined the Central Committee for the third time. He said that Wiegand’s lack of a public office gave him the time to do much more than a state senator could.

Jack Schaffer spoke for Syverson, explaining that he was a respected leader on the Republican State Central Committee.  He added that Syverson had been in Congressman Don Manzullo’s Sunday School class.

Tom Zanck supporting Joe Wiegand's candidacy.

After Schaffer, Tom Zanck asked if he could second Wiegand’s nomination and was granted that wish.

“I don’t agree with Cal Skinner on anything, but I agree with him on Joe Wiegand,” he said. Zanck said he had worked with Wiegand in the campaign to defeat the establishment of a Kishwaukee Water Authority and praised his imagination, thoroughness and initiative.

A not-so-secret ballot was taken instead of a roll call, resulting in Syverson getting 4,054 votes and Wiegand 2,554.  (Because each precinct committee had the number of Republican votes cast in his precinct, the way people voted had to be known to the canvass team.)

After the vote Chairman Tryon asked if anyone wanted to switch to the winner and Dan Shea and Patrick Collins did, leaving the tally at 4,347 to 2,261.

Adding in the precinct totals of precincts where no vote was cast, Syverson ended up with a margin of 11,428. The total vote of precincts not represented because the elected committeeman did not show up or because no one ran for precinct committeeman was 9,342 votes.

15,950 people voted in the GOP primary in Congressman Don Manzullo’s part of McHenry County, but only 6,608 of them had elected precinct committeemen present at the meeting.

That means there is plenty of room for volunteers. If you would like your name passed on, you can email McHenry County Blog. The email is on the upper left hand side of this page.

Mike Tryon hand microphone to Jack Schaffer, who chaired gubernatorial winner Bill Brady's McHenry County campaign.

Schaffer, who chaired Bill Brady’s McHenry County campaign, told the party representatives that Brady was leading Kirk Dillard by 246 votes by Brady’s count.

“We think Brady will be the winner,” the former Central Committee Chairman said.

Brady is expected to be in Chicago shaking hands at the Union Pacific train station Friday morning and do a fly-around on Monday. The closest landing will be in Rockford.

Extolling the virtues of his candidate, Schaffer said, “His family is from Central Casting.”

Describing his principles, his spokesman described them as “solid.”

Schaffer also said that he his answers frustrate the media.

When asked a question about social values, he says,

”I am who I am.“

Then, he starts talking about the problems of the day.

“We stand at the brink,” Schaffer said. “The demographics are running against us. We have a chance. The Democrats have done everything for us but raise money…and Blagojevich is still working for us.

“If we can’t prevail this year, I don’t know when we ever will again.

“I won’t say, ‘It’s now or never,’  but you guys will all be as old as I am when we get the next chance.”

Republican County Board candidtes, from left to right, Nick Provenzano, Diane evertson, John Jung, Tina Hill and Donna Kurtz.

John O'Neill, who is a candidate for state representative against Democrat Jack Franks, makes pitch for attendance at his corn beef and cabbage Bull Valley Country Club fund raiser Monday, March 15th.

Tryon then introduced the county board candidates in attendance and let state representative candidate John O’Neill make a pitch for his March 15th corn beef and cabbage fund raiser at the Bull Valley Country Club.

Young Republican President Bryan Javor announcing he would not be running for re-election.

McHenry County Young Republican President Bryan Javor took the opportunity to announce he was not running for re-election, but, pointing to the county board candidates,  instead “would work to get these guys elected.”

Then, Tryon headed back to Springfield for session on Thursday.

He had left 1 PM Wednesday afternoon to drive up to Woodstock.

McHenry County Republican Party Chairman (and State Rep.) Mike Tryon formed a political action committee separate from the Central Committee.

I thought you might find the contributors and expenditures of interest. They are included in the PAC’s campaign disclosure filing this month.

The price to join the group of inside advisors seems to be $500, although more seems to be welcome.

Here are the contributors:

• Algonquin Township Highway Commisisoner Bob Miller’s PAC – $500
• State Rep. Mark Beaubien’s PAC – $500
• Alliance Contractors Inc – $1,000
• Robert Boncosky – $500
• Randy Donley – $395.20
• Blake Hobson – a $500
• Howard Green Company, Cedar Rapids, IA (John Smith’s Smith Engineering was acquired by HR Green) – $500
• Human Resource Techniques Inc, Algonquin Karla Dobbeck is its president) – $500
• Innovative Component Sales Inc, Huntley (Mike Skala is its president) – $2,500
• Kathleen Kuchta – $500
• Donald Lewis – $500
• Madsen Sugden and Gottemoller – $500
• Marc Munaretto – $500
• Gary Overbay – $500
• Tom Zanck – $500

About $3,500 of the money raised has been spent on “Roundtable Breakfast Meetings” at Crystal Lake’s 1776 restaurant and Richard Walkers Pancake House. I’ve been told candidates were “vetted” at some such meetings.

Richard Walkers Pancake House

• 8/12/2009
• 8/12/2009
• 9/15/2009
• 10/23/2009

1776

• 8/30/2009
• 9/8/2009
• 9/14/2009
• 10/12/2009
• 10/23/2009
• 12/2/2009
• 12/9/2009

In addition utilities have been paid at the campaign office and a camcorder purchased for the Young Republicans.

The fund has $11,800 in the bank.

Remember the 1,500-foot broadcast town which was to bring McHenry County College $6 million?

McHenry County Blog broke the story March 1, 2008, that the MCC board was being approached by BMB Communications Management’s John Maguire to build a broadcast tower.

That was the meeting during which former MCC President Walt Packard to keep me from taking more pictures through the wire mesh safety windows of the board room. They wrapped the room in plastic.

The MCC Board also broke the Open Meetings Law by forcing taxpayers and media out of the building before it was over.

Eleven months later (Feb. 2, 2008), BMB issued a press release announcing it wanted to build a 1,500-foot tower on college property, MCC would get $6 million for 3.6 acres, the release said. (Note, the college did not issue the press release; the company wanting to lease the land did.)

How high is 1,500 feet?

Taller that the Sears, oops, Willis Tower, which tops out at 1,450 feet. You can see the height of the Eiffel Tower and the existing 300-foot FM aerial superimposed above on Chicago’s skyline.

Tonight at the MCC board meeting, after suggesting the board might want to go into secret session to discuss real estate, the board, in open meeting, heard that local BMB attorney Tom Zanck had called with regard to that broadcast tower.

Zanck conveyed the information that BMB’s tower experts had determined that the FAA would likely not approve of what BMB had proposed.

Similar information has reached my ears from local pilots.

“It is likely, according to their experts, that the FAA would not approve the tower as proposed.”

The attorney said the board could use due diligence to ask BMB’s experts to provide greater clarification.

“If you do nothing, Zanck can exercise (a clause to get out of the deal.”

“We knew going into this (was unlikely to be approved),” board member Barbara Walter said. “There is no sense in going on. I’d just let them out.”

When she added,

she drew laughter in the room.

“Let them do their thing and let them out of it,” Board President George Lowe added.

Later in the hall, Lowe said that the tower he had seen in Oklahoma had three television broadcast towers. Previously, Maguire had only talked about one.

With only councilman Richard Ahrens voting in opposition, the Woodstock City Council approved a special use permit for gravel mining across Route 14 from Centegra Hospital down to Lily Pond Road.

A privately financed minor league baseball stadium promoted by Mark Houser and Peter Heitman will be built northeast of Lake Shore Drive and Route 14.

The third of the threesome who showed up at a secret meeting of the McHenry County College Board in March of 2007, Frontier League Commissioner Bill Lee, only to duck out the back door of the board room, was also present for Woodstock’s public meeting.

The stated plan is to have baseball games starting in May of 2010, but when the council was discussing how the 38 acres to be occupied by the stadium would be conveyed to the city ownership if a stadium were not completed within five years of approval of the rezoning, Houser asked for an extra five months.

If a stadium is not completed by May of 2014, the city would get the parcel.

So, two years if all goes well and five if there are hitches.

In the meantime, Merryman Aggregates will be mining gravel, stockpiling enough each year to provide what the firm thinks it can sell.

Tom Zanck, attorney for the proposal, and others kept calling the operation by other names, e.g., “aggregate extraction.”

Members of the newly renamed McHenry County Defenders, now, the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County complained of the fast track for the re-zoning. The report from the McHenry County Soil and Water Conservation District had just arrived Monday and had not been reviewed by city staff.

Those wishing to slow down the approval process pointed out that it should have been ready before the Planning Commission had reviewed the petitioners’ plan.

Right before the vote, starting at 12:42 AM, Mayor Brian Sager read the report’s executive summary.

In his summation, Sager reported that 41 citizens had contacted him prior to the council meeting had been “strongly in favor.” One was distinctly opposed and two others wanted to make sure certain questions were answered.

Ahrens opposition centered on the far eastern parcel in the proposal.

It fronts on Lily Pond Road, which is where the gravel trucks would leave the property.

Ahrens thought the highest and best use would be something other than the county fair and exhibitions.

Several members had made lists of pros and cons. The pros obviously were considered more persuasive for the six voting in favor of the re-zoning. (Except for the mayor, they are listed in alphabetical order. Picture are in seating order, from left to right with the exception of Ahrens.)

Mayor Brian Sager
Councilwoman Julie Dillon
Councilwoman Maureen Larson
Councilman RB Thompson
Councilman Mike Turner and
Councilman Ralph Webster

But they didn’t agree with the proposal without placing upwards of 50 conditions, a couple of which were strongly disputed by the petitioners.

One was the citing of a state law which said that the city could impose a ticket tax.

When Houser objected, city attorney Richard Flood pointed out that they could take it out, but this council could not bind future council in such a matter. And, since it was in the state law anyway putting it in the document did not harm to the petitioner.

Houser finally agreed.

More contentious was a city proposal which would allow levying an extraction tax. Merryman wanted his surety bond used first, if something were not done which he had promised. It turns out the city wanted to hold his business responsible for any infrastructure failures of the baseball promoters as well, which the council must have thought unfair, because they limited the liability to the mining operation.

Several times, Mayor Sager said that he didn’t want to end up with the problems that Woodstock’s neighbor to the east, aka, Crystal Lake, had with Vulcan Lakes.

Merryman did not propose a pit going beneath the water table and he proposed reclaiming the land as he moved from one part of the property to the next.

Ahrens, Thompson and Turner are running unopposed for re-election.

= = = = =
On top you can see Equity One’s Mark Houser explaining his and partner Peter Heitman’s baseball stadium proposal. Below is Frontier League Commissioner Bill Lee on the right and Heitman on the left. A shot of some of those attending the meeting follows. Mayor Brian Sager is seen directly below with dissenting Councilman Richard Ahrens below him to the left. The council members voting from the proposal are from left to right on the top row, RB Thompson, Maureen Larson and Mike Turner. On the next row you seen Ralph Webster on the left and Julie Dillon on the right. Mark Houser talks to his attorney Tom Zanck directly below. Woodstock City Attorney Richard Flood is below right. At the bottom is another picture of the audience, this time from the back of the room. All photos may be enlarged by clicking on them.

With only councilman Richard Ahrens voting in opposition, the Woodstock City Council approved a special use permit for gravel mining across Route 14 from Centegra Hospital down to Lily Pond Road.

A privately financed minor league baseball stadium promoted by Mark Houser and Peter Heitman will be built northeast of Lake Shore Drive and Route 14.

The third of the threesome who showed up at a secret meeting of the McHenry County College Board in March of 2007, Frontier League Commissioner Bill Lee, only to duck out the back door of the board room, was also present for Woodstock’s public meeting.

The stated plan is to have baseball games starting in May of 2010, but when the council was discussing how the 38 acres to be occupied by the stadium would be conveyed to the city ownership if a stadium were not completed within five years of approval of the rezoning, Houser asked for an extra five months.

If a stadium is not completed by May of 2014, the city would get the parcel.

So, two years if all goes well and five if there are hitches.

In the meantime, Merryman Aggregates will be mining gravel, stockpiling enough each year to provide what the firm thinks it can sell.

Tom Zanck, attorney for the proposal, and others kept calling the operation by other names, e.g., “aggregate extraction.”

Members of the newly renamed McHenry County Defenders, now, the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County complained of the fast track for the re-zoning. The report from the McHenry County Soil and Water Conservation District had just arrived Monday and had not been reviewed by city staff.

Those wishing to slow down the approval process pointed out that it should have been ready before the Planning Commission had reviewed the petitioners’ plan.

Right before the vote, starting at 12:42 AM, Mayor Brian Sager read the report’s executive summary.

In his summation, Sager reported that 41 citizens had contacted him prior to the council meeting had been “strongly in favor.” One was distinctly opposed and two others wanted to make sure certain questions were answered.

Ahrens opposition centered on the far eastern parcel in the proposal.

It fronts on Lily Pond Road, which is where the gravel trucks would leave the property.

Ahrens thought the highest and best use would be something other than the county fair and exhibitions.

Several members had made lists of pros and cons. The pros obviously were considered more persuasive for the six voting in favor of the re-zoning. (Except for the mayor, they are listed in alphabetical order. Picture are in seating order, from left to right with the exception of Ahrens.)

Mayor Brian Sager
Councilwoman Julie Dillon
Councilwoman Maureen Larson
Councilman RB Thompson
Councilman Mike Turner and
Councilman Ralph Webster

But they didn’t agree with the proposal without placing upwards of 50 conditions, a couple of which were strongly disputed by the petitioners.

One was the citing of a state law which said that the city could impose a ticket tax.

When Houser objected, city attorney Richard Flood pointed out that they could take it out, but this council could not bind future council in such a matter. And, since it was in the state law anyway putting it in the document did not harm to the petitioner.

Houser finally agreed.

More contentious was a city proposal which would allow levying an extraction tax. Merryman wanted his surety bond used first, if something were not done which he had promised. It turns out the city wanted to hold his business responsible for any infrastructure failures of the baseball promoters as well, which the council must have thought unfair, because they limited the liability to the mining operation.

Several times, Mayor Sager said that he didn’t want to end up with the problems that Woodstock’s neighbor to the east, aka, Crystal Lake, had with Vulcan Lakes.

Merryman did not propose a pit going beneath the water table and he proposed reclaiming the land as he moved from one part of the property to the next.

Ahrens, Thompson and Turner are running unopposed for re-election.

= = = = =
On top you can see Equity One’s Mark Houser explaining his and partner Peter Heitman’s baseball stadium proposal. Below is Frontier League Commissioner Bill Lee on the right and Heitman on the left. A shot of some of those attending the meeting follows. Mayor Brian Sager is seen directly below with dissenting Councilman Richard Ahrens below him to the left. The council members voting from the proposal are from left to right on the top row, RB Thompson, Maureen Larson and Mike Turner. On the next row you seen Ralph Webster on the left and Julie Dillon on the right. Mark Houser talks to his attorney Tom Zanck directly below. Woodstock City Attorney Richard Flood is below right. At the bottom is another picture of the audience, this time from the back of the room. All photos may be enlarged by clicking on them.

When we last left yesterday’s article about the “first we say we will, then we say we won’t” activity of McHenry County College board members and top employee President Walt Packard, two security officers had completed their assigned task to block the view from the hall inside the boardroom.

The room was wrapped up like a son’s Christmas gift to his mom using whatever wrapping material was available.

Shortly thereafter I went to the bathroom.

As we were standing at urinals, the younger of the two security guys informed that I would have to leave the building, that only employees (and, he may have said students) were allowed inside after ten o’clock.

I asked him about the non-employees in the board room and he told me that he had been told they were all college employees.

I informed him that was not the case.

We both made our way out into the hall where Town Crier editor Iris Bryan, Kim Willis and Jane Collins were talking outside the boardroom, waiting for the board to adjourn.

The officer who had previously been securing the visual privacy of the Broadcast Tower Proposers then proceeded to inform us that we would have to leave the building.

“After 10 o’clock everyone who is not an employee has to leave the building…The campus is closed after 10 o’clock to everyone who isn’t an employee,”

he repeated as various of the women pointed out the presence of the non-employees on the other side of the masked windows.

“If you are not a student or employee you can’t be in the meeting,” are what my notes say he said next.

By then we had learned his name was William Schultz.

He was a pleasant enough young man sent to do what whoever called him from inside the room (at least once President Packard) told him to do.

He had been on the job two weeks.

I reminded Schultz that he had told me that all in the board room were college employees. I pointed out that attorney Tom Zanck was certainly not a college employee.

It didn’t matter.

Iris Bryan was livid.

And she should have been.

I have know Iris for over 40 years. At one point she worked for my father’s weekly newspaper, The Star Reporter.

I have never seen her as angry.

As I said, she should have been.

The public cannot be evicted from a hall outside a secret meeting because they have the right to see the board go back into open session and observe any action, even if it is merely to adjourn.

Now, those of you who have been reading McHenry County Blog for a long while will remember my eviction from the Prairie Grove very Grade School during a secret meeting at which I was also taking pictures through the window.

The effort of Karen Bowman, now school board president, to lower the Venetian blinds while in a fit of rage was even funnier than Packard’s moving the American Flag to block my view of the power point presentation by the BMB high tower folks.

At least this time the person who accompanied me to the door This time wasn’t armed. (Considering what happened at NIU, carrying a firearm probably should be a requirement for college security officers.)

That incident led to this memorable wanted poster, a creation of Heck of a Guy blog’s Allan Showalter, who lives north of Crystal Lake.

Iris and I were certainly the only two people in the building who were in on the formation of McHenry County College. Iris was in charge of publicity for the April 1, 1968 referendum campaign and I assisted her. My father called the meeting to organize the committee that successfully proposed the ballot question that was passed. I know I was at the meeting and I’ll bet Iris was also.

So, she and I have as much stake in this college as any of the current board members or employees.

She was angry. Here is what she wrote for her Town Crier.

I was more amused at how the dysfunctional group of people running things behind the blocked windows had managed to negate any good will they achieved when they posted the board packet on the internet so taxpayers, as well as MCC employees could see the material that the board members would consider Thursday night.

Needless to say, I filed a complaint with both the McHenry County State’s Attorney and the Illinois Attorney General.

When we last left yesterday’s article about the “first we say we will, then we say we won’t” activity of McHenry County College board members and top employee President Walt Packard, two security officers had completed their assigned task to block the view from the hall inside the boardroom.

The room was wrapped up like a son’s Christmas gift to his mom using whatever wrapping material was available.

Shortly thereafter I went to the bathroom.

As we were standing at urinals, the younger of the two security guys informed that I would have to leave the building, that only employees (and, he may have said students) were allowed inside after ten o’clock.

I asked him about the non-employees in the board room and he told me that he had been told they were all college employees.

I informed him that was not the case.

We both made our way out into the hall where Town Crier editor Iris Bryan, Kim Willis and Jane Collins were talking outside the boardroom, waiting for the board to adjourn.

The officer who had previously been securing the visual privacy of the Broadcast Tower Proposers then proceeded to inform us that we would have to leave the building.

“After 10 o’clock everyone who is not an employee has to leave the building…The campus is closed after 10 o’clock to everyone who isn’t an employee,”

he repeated as various of the women pointed out the presence of the non-employees on the other side of the masked windows.

“If you are not a student or employee you can’t be in the meeting,” are what my notes say he said next.

By then we had learned his name was William Schultz.

He was a pleasant enough young man sent to do what whoever called him from inside the room (at least once President Packard) told him to do.

He had been on the job two weeks.

I reminded Schultz that he had told me that all in the board room were college employees. I pointed out that attorney Tom Zanck was certainly not a college employee.

It didn’t matter.

Iris Bryan was livid.

And she should have been.

I have know Iris for over 40 years. At one point she worked for my father’s weekly newspaper, The Star Reporter.

I have never seen her as angry.

As I said, she should have been.

The public cannot be evicted from a hall outside a secret meeting because they have the right to see the board go back into open session and observe any action, even if it is merely to adjourn.

Now, those of you who have been reading McHenry County Blog for a long while will remember my eviction from the Prairie Grove very Grade School during a secret meeting at which I was also taking pictures through the window.

The effort of Karen Bowman, now school board president, to lower the Venetian blinds while in a fit of rage was even funnier than Packard’s moving the American Flag to block my view of the power point presentation by the BMB high tower folks.

At least this time the person who accompanied me to the door This time wasn’t armed. (Considering what happened at NIU, carrying a firearm probably should be a requirement for college security officers.)

That incident led to this memorable wanted poster, a creation of Heck of a Guy blog’s Allan Showalter, who lives north of Crystal Lake.

Iris and I were certainly the only two people in the building who were in on the formation of McHenry County College. Iris was in charge of publicity for the April 1, 1968 referendum campaign and I assisted her. My father called the meeting to organize the committee that successfully proposed the ballot question that was passed. I know I was at the meeting and I’ll bet Iris was also.

So, she and I have as much stake in this college as any of the current board members or employees.

She was angry. Here is what she wrote for her Town Crier.

I was more amused at how the dysfunctional group of people running things behind the blocked windows had managed to negate any good will they achieved when they posted the board packet on the internet so taxpayers, as well as MCC employees could see the material that the board members would consider Thursday night.

Needless to say, I filed a complaint with both the McHenry County State’s Attorney and the Illinois Attorney General.