McHenry County Blog

Before I post the next installment of McHenry County Board-elect Mike Walkup’s thoughts on township government in Illinois, let me point out that someone forged his name on a comment under the first article.

The poster used the email address mikewalkup@gmail.com.  If another email from that address comes, it will be marked as “spam.”

The person posted that Walkup wanted to be County Board Chairman.  Here is Walkup’s reply:

Mike Walkup

“I did NOT send the blog entry on the County Chair position.”I DO NOT want to be the Chair and would refuse to serve if somehow I was magically elected.

“This post should be removed immediately!

“Someone is playing dirty tricks here.”

I have chosen to leave the fraudulent comment up, so you can see the dishonesty of the poster.

It is obvious that there are heated opinions on township government.  Lots of people have no idea what it does–including a neighbor who brought up the subject while I was passing out my precinct letter.

Those who want to run for township office have to file petitions from November 19th through November 26th with the township clerk.  Prior to filing petitions, an economic disclosure statement must be filed with the County Clerk.

The number of signatures is minimal and the pay for some of the offices is quite good.  With unemployment what it is, people with lots of time to knock on doors might snag some really decent paying jobs for a minimal printing expense. For instance the Algonquin Township Supervisor pays $66,655.40 for the first two years and will rise to $69,348.28 in the final year, plus $1,000 for being the Road District Treasurer. (See other Algonquin Township salaries here.

Continuing the Township Government Series – Part 2

ASSESSOR

When I was campaigning for County Board, the most common question by far was “why are my taxes not going down if my property is worth less?”

It is natural to assume that if your tax bill comes from the county and you write your check to the county, that it is the county that is responsible for your assessments.

This is not the case. Assessments are done by local township assessors, of which there are 17 in McHenry County. The county has nothing to say about assessments.  [I have to take issue with this statement.  The County Supervisor of Assessments has the power to equalize assessments on a township-by-township basis and can even drill down farther in the process.  There are Supervisor of Assessments who have assumed the role of the township assessor when the assessor does not do the job.]

When townships were first formed, assessors rode around on their horse or in their buckboard essentially carrying the assessment records in their hatbands. It made sense to have the assessments done in a small area so the assessor could physically get around and develop a familiarity with the relatively small number of local properties.

Today, many townships have tens of thousands of properties and everything is done on a computer. In smaller townships, the assessor is part time and may have another job or a farm to contend with.

Assessments could very easily be handled today by the county government. Cook County has an elected County Assessor.

[I'd like to add some research data that Algonquin Township Assessor Forrest B. Hare developed in the 1970's.  He compared the size of assessing jurisdictions with their margins of error throughout Illinois.  Both townships and counties were included because there are no township assessors in Southern Illinois counties under the commission form of government.  The organization seemed to make little difference from the standpoint of the accuracy of the assessments.

[What the data showed was that jurisdictions with at least 5,000 people had more accurate real estate assessments than jurisdictions that were smaller.

[The findings spurred me to sponsor the multi-township assessor bill.  It allows smaller townships to join together for the function of assessing.]

ROADS

The building on the north side of the Nunda Township Road Commissioner’s complex.

Townships have elected Road Commissioners.

The building on the east side of the Nunda Township Road Commissioner’s complex.

Again, when townships were formed, road repairs consisted of hitching up a buckboard, loading a couple of guys onto it with shovels, filling it with gravel, and going out to fill the potholes.

The building on the south side of the Nunda Township Road Commissioner’s complex.

The wagon was heavy and the horse would get tired. It couldn’t go too far.

$6,500, plus labor, flag pole and planters on the road side of the southern building.

Township road crews only maintain township roads.

They have nothing to do with county, state or federal highways.

As the township grows in population, municipalities take over what used to be township roads, causing a crazy quilt patchwork where township road crews have to travel over municipal roads to get to now disconnected pieces of township blacktop.

The only reason that overall township road mileage tends to stay the same despite growth of municipalities is because of the unincorporated subdivisions that have also been built that have added miles of twisting roads and cul de sacs which continue to be the responsibility of the township.

Today, we have trucks with GPS systems.

The road maintenance function could just as easily be done at the county level.

If we would still like the Road Commissioner to be elected, the office of County Road Commissioner could be established.

As an aside, I should mention that there are 17 counties in Illinois which never had townships.

These are located mostly in the Southern portion of the state and are predominately rural.

They still have local road districts, so that could still be possible even without township organization.

So that’s it.

That is what townships do.

They do not function as local mini-governments for unincorporated areas as is sometimes claimed by their supporters.

They have very limited and specific functions, all of which could be done at the county level or other government levels if we didn’t have the townships.

Nxxt installment: What to do about townships

The Republican Parties in all of the five largest townships in McHenry County seem to have decided or soon will decide to hold primary elections in February, rather than hold caucuses.

Those five are

• Algonquin
• Dorr
• Grafton
• McHenry
• Nunda

Paperwork apparently has to be filed first with a local township official, who is supposed to forward it to the McHenry County Clerk’s Office.

According to the County Clerk’s Office as of mid-Friday afternoon, none of the five has jumped through all of the loops yet.

Salaries have to be set prior to the election, before November 21st, according to Algonquin Supervisor Dianne Klemm.

The legislative intent for the law was so that those running would know what they would be paid, plus, if someone won a primary that the incumbents didn’t like, they couldn’t cut the salary.

Woodstock attorney Robert T. Hanlon was in courthouse this past Wednesday to offer his services pro bono to mediate differences between the Township Trustees and the Supervisor.

Grafton Township Board:  Supervisor Linda Moore, Ancel Glink Attorney before Judge Michael Caldwell upheld her firing by Moore, and Trustees Barb Murphy, Rob LaPorta, Betty Zirk and Gerry McMahon.

There were court appearances in

• the Separation of Powers case that Supervisor Moore brought against the Trustees when they tried to usurp her office’s Executive powers (which the Trustees are appealing),
• the case brought by Highway Commissioner Jack Freund to get Moore to pay bills including one for his wife’s health insurance and
• the suit by Assessor Bill Ottley against Moore for her refusal to pay re-modeling bills.

That’s what the story written by the First Electric Newspaper’s Pete Gonigam said.

Apparently Moore has agreed to try that approach, but when I asked the apparent leader of the Trustees, Rob LaPorta, if it were true that mediation had been agreed to by the Trustees, I received the following email:

“This is not true.

“Neither Moore nor Trustees have agreed.

“This event will not occur.”

When I sent LaPorta’s response to Hanlon for his reaction, he sent me the following reply:

“After making the offer to mediate, the Township Trustees’ attorney indicated verbally that she would recommend it to the trustees.

“Additionally, Mrs. Zirk and Mrs. Murphy appeared willing to embrace mediation.

“Attorney Nelson, who represents Mrs. Moore agreed to the mediation.

“To test Mrs. Moore’s good faith, I asked for a small concession on Mrs. Moore’s part.

“That concession was granted. (The subject of the concession is not for public comment.)

“It is my belief that Grafton Township is in a complete and total state of dysfunction as a result of personal animus arising from prior events.

“As indicated in the E-mail below [above here], it appears that the trustees are not willing to mediate.

“Unless and until the trustees agree to a good faith mediation, there is nothing I can or will do.

“If a special meeting of the Township board is called to address the mediation process, I will attend and then and there present to the trustees and supervisor a proposal outlining the mediation process.

“If approved and later I determine that a particular party is not acting in good faith I will immediately end the mediation.

“My time is too valuable to play games.

This is what attracted my attention to the Springfield Journal-Register article on increasing the efficiency of local government.

Looking at articles in Springfield’s State Journal-Register Sunday, I found one about a Citizens Efficiency Commission that’s looking at township government.

Sangamon County has 52 townships.

There are archaic creatures called Township Collectors that collect the first installment of real estate taxes.

A bit different from McHenry County’s situation with 17 townships and no township collectors.

The Farm Bureau has weighed in with recommendations that includes cutting the number of townships in half, getting rid of the township collectors and ” further consolidation” of the township assessor function.  (Yours truly sponsored the Multi-Township Assessor law after a statistic study was conducted by Algonquin Township Assessor Forrest Hare which showed that assessing jurisdictions less than 5,000 people were markedly less uniform than those over 5,000.)

In November, 2102, a county referendum created the 23-member advisory group.

State Rep. Jack Franks is even mentioned in the article. He tried his best to take over several of the smaller townships three years ago and had some, but not universal, success.

And this old carnard  is again put forth: “Township government is the closest thing we have to pure democracy in the United States,” Donelan said.

Maybe the “closest,” but not very close.

The budget-setting teeth of Electors at the Annual Meetings were pulled in the early 1970′s when uppity residents of unincorporated roads in Nunda Township set even line-item in the Road Commissioner Leroy Geske’s budget at $1.  They forgot that the Road Commissioner gets paid out of the Town Fund, so he got paid.  I wonder how he did any work.

And, as citizens of Grafton Township have discovered, the Township Trustees won’t put just any resolution on the Annual Meeting agenda.

Since the 1973 fiasco of a caucus conducted by the Algonquin Township Republican Central Committee, McHenry County largest township has allowed voters to decide who GOP candidates for township office shall be.

That was the year that first-term Assessor Forrest Hare was challenged by a young school teacher.

While the caucus looked like a three-precinct primary, after the 3 AM Crystal Lake Community High School Field House results showed the school teacher winning by a handful of votes and even the judges weren’t sure the count was correct, the Central Committee members would not allow a recount.

There was no way to legally force a recount, because the committeemen set the rules.

At that time losers could run as a write-in and Forrest Hare did.

And he won.

The local Republican Party really took a beating as every weekday it was taken to task by Crystal Lake WIVS Radio station owner Mal Ballairs on his morning talk show.

To avoid future similar problems, our State Senator Jack Schaffer and I passed legislation to allow township party organizations to select candidates by citizen votes.

When I brought up the idea at Monday night’s meeting in an Algonquin Township Road Commissioner’s building, only I and Lou Anne Majewski remember the 1973 fiasco.

Precinct Committeemen attending the Algonquin Township Republican Central Committee organization meeting on April 9, 2012.

I was immediately met with the objection of cost.

I couldn’t come up with a figure, but with the low turnout of 19% from both party primaries in March (plus non-partisan only votes on referendums) it’s pretty easy to predict that the turnout will be less when only township officials are on the ballot.

The result will be a high cost per vote, which could be lowered if McHenry County Clerk Kathie Schultz can combine precincts.

The projected expense was really the only argument.

But it was a long discussion.

I pointed out that Democrats could have a field day challenging Republican candidates who had been selected in a secret meeting.

Conversely, Republicans could make hay of any Democratic Party candidates who were not selected at the ballot box, but rather by party bosses.

With township government under attack, I argued, the potential negative publicity would not be helpful.

In the end, all of the Algonquin Township Republican Precinct Committeemen present voted to authorize a primary election next February in which candidates for Township Supervisor, Road Commissioner, Assessor, Clerk and Township Trustees would be selected.

An IRS finding handed down January 31st will surely be the talk of the next meeting of the Township Officials of Illinois.

Use of Grafton Township Road Commissioner Jack Freund's truck has been ruled taxable by IRS.

It says that heretofore fringe benefits, such as the Grafton Road Commissioner’s vehicle and the reimbursement for dinners at the McHenry County Council of Governments, are income for Federal tax purposes.

And, since the state tax code is built upon the national one, probably subject to state income tax as well.

The Internal Revenue Service writes that Grafton Township owes the Federal government $2,030.36 for 2010 for income, Social Security and Medicare taxes.

“Fringe Benefit Issues” is what the Internal Revenue Service investigator was looking at.

A topic subject to a tirade by Trustee Gerry McMahnon at one of the last meetings I attended was the taxability of reimbursements for dinners at the McCOG. [I have to tell you, except for the volume of his voice, he seemed to be making sense.]

But the IRS Specialist disagreed.

The “audit,” for lack of a better term, specifically addressed this topic:

“In 2010, the elected officials and trustees of the Township received a stipend varying from $26 to $40 per month to attend monthly dinners for the McHenry County Council of Governments. The Township does not require these members to attend these meetings. The total amount of stipends issued to all officials and trustees was $1,300 for the year. These stipends were provided under a non-accountable plan.”

If I am interpreting the documents correctly, the Trustees, in toto, will owe taxes on an additional $729 because of the McCog dinner reimbursements.

Road Commissioner Jack Freund had similar $200 of non-accountable reimbursements, Supervisor Linda Moore $253 and Clerk Harriot Ford $118.

Freund was also cited for $3,125.70 which he received for “medical reimbursements made to the elected official. However, there was insufficient substantiation provided to receive reimbursement. Thus, the payment falls under a non-accountable plan.”

Freund was further cited for getting reimbursement for his spouse’s travel expenses. This included $120.56 for a number of meals, plus “a $35 spouse fee for the conference.”

Township Road Commissioner Jack Freund’s Ford F250 pickup truck was the subject of the final finding.

Purchased on December 8, 2010, “for the Road Commissioner’s use. The vehical was inspected by the Specialist and the vehicle is not deemed to fall into the category of a Qualified Nonpersonal Use Vehicle.

“There was no adequate substantiation of business uses v personal use of the vehicle.

“Therefore, the automobile lease value for this vehicle is $7,250 (see tables in Publication 158). As it was used for 23 days in 2010, the calculation is as follows:

• Annual Lease Value = $7250
• Days of Use in 2010 + 23.365
• %7,250 X (23/365) = 456.85

Also targeted by the IRS were meals provided by Assessor Bill Ottley’s office when employees were not away overnight. Called “Day Meals” by IRS Examiner John Lauer, the reimbursements of those and non-overnight meals for Ottley and Moore totaling $369.28 have been deemed taxable.

Also mentioned are uniforms costing $480.01, but detail is not given regarding the employees affected. The report sys that “under an nonaccountable plan” are considered “wages and are treated as supplemental wages”…”reportable as wages on the employee’s Form W-2.”

“It as been determined by the FLSG Specialist that the taxpayer is wiling to correct all the above mentioned isues found during the examination,” one report concludes.

Implications for the 2011 tax year were not addressed in the report.

Linda Moore

“I was instructed to follow the precedent sent by the 2010 audit when amending the 2011 W-2′s,” Supervisor Moore said.

“All taxpayers know they that have to comply with IRS regulations.

“It’s important that township officials are IRS compliant, too, but I don’t look forward to delivering this bad news to my colleagues.”

It is not clear whether the elected officials will have to repay the township the cost of the fringe benefits targeted by IRS.

The State Constitution says that no elected official can earn no more or less than what was set before he or she was elected:

Illinois Constitution Article 7
Section 9 Salaries and Fees
(b)An increase or decrease in the salary of an elected officer of any unit of local government shall not take effect during the term for which that officer is elected.

Some of the documents can be found here.

The second page of Ancel Glink's March daily billing for work done in preparation for the April 13th Annual Town Meeting of Grafton Township electors. Click to enlarge.

The second page of the Ancel Glink March bills for the Annual Town Meeting, which was held April 13th, is the subject today.

Verifying that over 700 Grafton Township residents were registered voters took a lot of time. This picture was taken after the 7 PM meeting was supposed to have started.

First, we finish up March 10th:

• “Correspondence to Pam Fender with memo to board regarding annual town meeting (Keri-Lyn Krafthefer – one quarter of an hour)
• “Complete revisions to resolutions and memorandum; finalize same (Paula Randal – one hour)

There were a few empty seats near the top of the Huntley High School bleachers in the half hour the meeting was delayed to check the over 700 registered voters in.

March 11th, Ancel Glink billed three hours:

• Research and correspond on annual meeting agenda issues and requirements for same (Paula Randall – half an hour)
• Continue work on resolutions related to annual town meeting; revisions to memo regarding same; review board packet and agenda (and) respond to correspondence from Acting Clerk” (Krafthefer – one hour)
• Revise memo to town board; prepare resolution accepting conveyance of property (Scott Puma – one hour)

Waiting for the meeting to start, some studied the handout from the opponents of building a new township hall or buying and remodeling an old Huntley factory buildling. Others chatted.

March 16th, there was only a quarter of an hour billed. Krafthefer answered a question about the annual town meeting, but the bill does not say who asked it.

And still more people were wating to be checked in.

March 18th, Krafthefer had an inquiry, again from a person unrevealed, about the minutes and the annual meeting. In addition, she “advise(d) on proposed town meeting agenda (and) research(ed) issue regarding annual financial report.” Still again, the person to whom the advice was given remains secret.

After the bleacher seats were filled, people fended for themselves and brought in chairs that were grouped around small tables in the hall.

March 19th, only a half hour was billed by Krafthefer. She “review(ed) statutory provisions regarding annual financial statement (and) prepare(d) correspondence regarding same and regarding annual town meeting.”

Huntley Police Chief John Perkins confers with Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore prior to the start of the Annual Town Meeting.

March 22nd saw more work by the main Township Attorney “on unwind materials for annual meeting in preparation for establishing agenda for annual town meeting,” plus review(ing) and respond(ing) to inquiry regarding annual town meeting agenda.” Is the fourth instance where Krafthefer didn’t manage to identify who made the inquiry?

The Haligus Road property that the previous Grafton Township Board under th leadership of John Rossi purchasded from the Village of Lake in the Hills. Electors at the Annual Town Meeting voted to sell it for a minimum of $99,500 after giving the LITH Board first refusal.

March 23rd saw billing Grafton Township for two and three-quarters hours to

• “Continue work on 4 resolutions for annual town meeting
• “Confer with attorney for Lake in the Hills regarding Halligus Road property
• “Work on issues related to unwind of land transactions
• “Confer with Assessor regarding same
• “Review background material regarding property transfers
• “Review annual town meeting minutes from 2009.”

Lake in the Hills Attorney Rich Flood

Pat Coen, the Grafton Township Road Commissioner's Attorney

On March 24th, two phone calls were made by Krafthefer to fellow attorneys, one to Patrick Coen, the Road Commissioner’s attorney, and the other to Rich Flood, Lake in the Hills’ legal counsel. No way to know how long the phone calls were, but the bill was a quarter of an hour for each or $46.25 per call.

March 29th was a light day, too. Krafthefer billed $92.50 for a half an hour to “review correspondence from Patrick Coen regarding issues related to unwind; work on issue regarding Haligus Road property.

Grafton Township Road Commissioner Jack Freund's Attorney Pat Coen confers with Grafton Township Trustees' Attorney Keri-Lyn Krafthefer. Apparently, the time billed for conferring with Coen during March was inadequate to reach agreement on what should occur at the Annual Town Meeting.

March 30th saw two Ancel Glink attorneys billing Grafton Township. Krafthefer put in three-quarters of an hour to “finalize materials in preparation for special meeting to establish agenda for annual town meeting” and Randall billed 3¾ hours to “work on resolutions relating to Haligus Road property.

March 31st, finally, the end of the month and the daily billings. Krafthefer drafted a revised annual town meeting agenda and sent it to newly-appointed Township Clerk Harriet Ford, as well as reviewed the referendum question relating to the financing for the town hall. She also worked on language for the Haligus Road transactions and reviewed the the proposed list of surplus property.

And, all of that took just time time normally billed for two phone calls, a half an hour.

Grafton Township Assessor Bill Ottley attended the Annual Town Meeting.

Randall spent two hours reviewing and preparing the draft resolutions, plus holding “conferences with Assessor (Bill) Ottley and staff.” This time Ottley’s name was spelled correctly.

45 hours billed to prepare for the April 13th Annual Town Meeting during March.

Below you can see a summary of which attorneys billed how much for this “Annual Town Meeting” part of the $36,432.14 Ancel Glink bill to Grafton Township for March of 2010.

The summary of Ancel Glink's March bill for 45 hours of "Annual Town Meeting" work. Click to enlarge any image.

McHenry County Blog has some thoughtful thinkers.

One has posted the comment below under the last article.

Grafton Township Board, from left to right, Trustees Gerry McMahon, Betty Zirk, Rob LaPorta, Barb Murphy and Superviosr Linda Moore.

Certainly people are talking about abolishing Grafton Township.   Two trustees have told me that might even favor the idea. I found one at last night’s meeting who had inquired how to do it by petition and referendum.

Grafton Township Road Commissioner confers with his attorney Pat Coen about how to unwind the deal that had the Road District buy the township hall in order to find money to build a new township hall on Haligus Road. Now, at least Trustee Gerry McMahon wants to keep the money, have township voters who attend the April 13th Annual Meeting legally authorize the purchase of the Haligus Road property from the Village of Lake in the Hills, then sell that land, using both sources of money to buy and remodel a vacant building to house township offices other than the Road District's. Township electors on April 13th will have the last word. The effort would nullify any results from the court-order referendum this fall about proceeding with the new $3.5 million *over $5 million with interest) township hall

I asked Road Commissioner Jack Freund how abolishing the township would affect his operation.

His basic answer was that it wouldn’t. That’s because the Road District is a separate municipal corporation.

And the Assessor’s Office?

Well, someone has to do the work. It might end up under county jurisdiction. After all, the County Supervisor of Assessments is charged with assessing all property.

What would happen to Assessor Bill Ottley and his employees?

Since Ottley has the most uniform assessments in McHenry County (the last time I looked), he would undoubtedly head up the operation.

Where would the office be?

Probably right where it is or in some other area space rented by the county. Ottley could probably even find a great deal in this economy.

Another possibility occurs to me.  The bill I sponsored back in the 1970′s to create the office of Multi-Township Assessor could be modified to allow for the election of such an official from a neighboring township, plus Grafton Township.  An analysis by then-Algonquin Township Assessor Forrest Hare convinced me that bad (defined as having a large margin of error) assessments were much, much more likely to occur in townships with less than 5,000 people than those larger.  The reason, I believe, is that larger townships could afford a full-time assessor.  I guess the still existing township board would handle the bill paying and oversight functions.

Then, there’s the other services that Grafton Township provides.

For starters, people should know that virtually all such services were permitted by law at the request of township officials trying to justify their existence.

Townships have only three mandated functions:

• Maintaining some local roads
• Assessing property
• Administering General and Emergency Assistance

All the rest are add-ons.

However, let’s say bus service for seniors and the handicapped is considered by the community to be necessary.

I would note that senior bus service is provided by the Road Commissioner in Algonquin Township. The same could happen in Grafton Township, if Freund were amenable to the idea.

Gus Philpott, in his Woodstock Advocate, suggests there may be a much cheaper way to provide transportation services to seniors and the disabled. Subsidize taxis and handicapped equipped vans. Or subsidize PACE, I would add.

Since most of the service is provided Huntley residents, the village itself could even assume the responsibility.

Bingo can be run by any entity. The same with helping with handicapped vehicle hangers and handing out batteries for hearing aids.

The food pantry is already off on its own. The subsidies of the past are over, if not accounted for.

The General and Emergency Assistance is minimum. I believe one of the last year’s of former Grafton Township Supervisor John Rossi’s administration is was about $12,000. I guess the area would operate the same way the one-third of Illinois counties do now. There are no townships in Southern Illinois.

Compare that to the $16,000 in legal bills for Ancel, Glink last month.

When would the township go out of business if such a referendum were put on the ballot and passed?

I can’t tell you. I think I remember some provision that says elected officials serve out their terms.

Too much from me. Here’s the reader comment:

“Dear” Grafton Township Elected Officials and “Hired” (more like appointed) Employee(s),

The money you are so droolingly intent on spending for Your WANTS not NEEDS is OTHER PEOPLE’S money.  It’s not your private little world and check book.  It doesn’t matter if you are taxing $5 or $200 dollars, you are still taxing.

Stop trying to grow what some people consider a no longer needed layer of govt. BIGGER.  In Grafton, it would make sense to allow other govt. entities to absorb most or all of what Grafton does.

There are plenty of places for bingo, food pantires, meeting rooms, yada yada yada and they are spread across Grafton Township – not just in Huntley.  Certain types of transportation services can be worked out with local Taxi companies eliminating the need to own vehicles/buses, pay for gas, labor, insurance, upkeep, schedulers, etc.

If you absolutely MUST MUST MUST have Grafton Township’s name on such things instead of cooperating with others, then RENT them.  The events would still be called Grafton Township Bingo but it doesn’t require a multi million dollar building and loan interest.  I repeat, it’s far cheaper than a multi-million building and loan interest.

Trying to recreate the wheel and sliced bread in this case sure seems to be  ego driven.  The way it’s being handled reminds me of Washington DC/Chicago tactics.

NOTE:  Huntley isn’t a small place anymore.  Have the elected and “hired” people not noticed? Perhaps when it was small, there was a dream in someone’s mind to make the Township more important, provide missing services, and so on.  That was then.  ”We” aren’t living in “then” anymore.  Grafton Twp. elected officials and “hired” employees, are YOU still living in the “then” in the “dream”?  If so, as one movie character once succinctly said “Snap out of it!”

Is someone looking to have their name engraved on a room, a program, ………….a political ballot?

The Huntley-centric Grafton Township Board reached out to the northeast corner of the township to select a Lakewood woman as township clerk.

Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore swears in newly-appointed Grafton Township Clerk Harriet Ford.

On a 5-0 vote, the board voted for Harriet Ford.

Grafton Township Clerk applicants Joan Citro, Harriet Ford and Kristy Borchart raise hands when asked by a board member to identify themselves.

Ford edged out Kristy Borchart and Joan Citro, both of Huntley. Citro was disqualified because she had not voted in a Republican primary election.

The appointee had to be a Republican because Dina Frigo had been elected running as a Republican.

Ford was sworn in immediately after the meeting adjourned by Township Supervisor Linda Moore.

After being appointed Township Clerk, Harriet Ford thanked the trustees and stopped briefly to confer with Rob LaPorta.

Ford has served six years on the Glendale Heights-Bloomingdale Grade School Board, was Bloomingdale Village Clerk for eight years, is President of the NISRA Foundation and is on the Grafton Township Food Pantry Foundation Board.

She used to handle public relations for Del Webb and previously did similar work for Grafton Township.

In other business the trustees voted 4-0 after a secret meeting with their attorney (with Linda Moore abstaining)

“to direct the attorney to act as directed in closed session relating to the Moore vs. Grafton Township litigation,”

which turned out to be Linda Moore’s separation of powers suit against the four trustees.

Township Assessor Bill Ottley gained approval to purchase a new computer software program from Elgin’s Cirone Computer Consulting, which also serves McHenry, Nunda, Dorr, Marengo, Richmond and Coral Townships.

The cost was $58,800 spread over two years with a 15% a year maintenance fee (just under $9,000, as Trustee Betty Zirk pointed out) starting in the second year.

In other things computer, Township Administrator Pam Fender recommended the hiring of Leading IT Solutions, which she said was a member of “our Chamber of Commerce,” as well as Woodstock’s.

The board agreed, with Trustee Rob LaPorta saying, “This should be the only authorized person to work on township computers.”

Gerry McMahon

“Except for my office at home,” Supervisor Moore interjected.

“If you incur a bill, don’t expect us to pay it without prior approval,” Trustee Gerry McMahon said.

To obtain read only access to township financial records, Fender reported would cost $2,446 for the hardware and $1,200 for installation. She said that if the township signed an annual contract with Leading IT Solutions for $3,656, the $1,200 would be included.

The firm charges $75 per hour.

Discussion of using the township bus to bring seniors and the disabled to the April 13th Annual Town Meeting was a bit contentious with Township Attorney Keri-Lyn Krafthefer suggesting applications that would indicate the time a request for a ride was made.

Reading the agenda item, which talked of serving “regular” riders, Moore asked, “How can we discriminate against irregular riders?”

Various suggestions were made.

“One thing we shouldn’t be doing is picking this to death,” McMahon said.

Grafton Township bus loads up after the 2009 Annual Town Meeting.

Attorney Krafthefer observed,

“We don’t want to end up with any political discrimination suit?”

“If it’s impossible to create an audit trail, maybe we shouldn’t do it,” Trustee Rob LaPorta said.

Trustee Barb Murphy pointed out that the bus was used two years ago.

“But not last year,” LaPorta said.

Moore suggested perhaps Senior Service Associates and Faith in Action might provide rides for people who wanted them.

After a bit more discussion, LaPort said,

“This appears to be creating more trouble than it’s worth,”

and the meeting moved on.

Township Attorney Keri-Lyn Krafthefer with Township Administrator to her left.

The reason I went to the meeting was that preparing the agenda for the Annual Town Meeting was on the agenda.

But, it was a non-started.

The township attorney said she wasn’t prepared because no one had asked her to do anything on the agenda.

That strikes me as a bit odd, considering the effort that was made to make certain the order entered concerning the taxpayer suit filed by Dan Ziller, Jr., et al, would not preclude moving ahead on things like buying the Haligus Road property and having the Township Road District buy the Grafton Township Hall.

Indeed, McMahon expressed the desire to word questions put to the Township Electors in a format in which they could ratify past actions found illegal by Judge Michael Caldwell and the 2nd Appellate Court.

Talking about the Haligus Road property, which Krafthefer said she had just received new information on from Lake in the Hills the afternoon of the meeting, McMahon said, “Ratify and sell it on the open market.”

“I didn’t have any information about Haligus Road until this afternoon,” she said.

Krafthefer did not reveal what new information she had learned, despite being repeatedly asked by Moore, but it was Lake in the Hills Attorney Richard Flood.

Krafthefer did, however, allowed as how she “could provide an educational statement.”

“We need to legally fix things,” she added.

“Couldn’t we ask to have acceptance, Yes or No?” McMahon asked.

“Those are the two choices,” the attorney replied.

“We don’t need to think that everything has to be undone,

” McMahon continued. “Get a second set of electors to approve it.

“That’s what I want.”

Dorr Township Hall

The following petition has been filed with Dorr Township Clerk Kathleen J. Schlapp by the requisite number of township voters:

From:  The Undersigned Dorr Township Electors

Re:  Request that the township clerk place an item on the township’s annual meeting agenda

We, the undersigned Dorr Township electors, request that Clerk Kathleen J. Schlapp place the following on the Dorr Township’s published April 13, 2010 annual town meeting agenda:

For consideration and approval by township electors:  that the Citizens Planning Committee [CPC] present its September 2009 findings and recommendations asking the electors to vote on the following CPC recommendations:

That the Dorr Township Board be directed to:

1. rebate not less than one million ($1,000,000.00) dollars in unrestricted funds to Dorr Township taxpayers in 2010;
2. ONLY for the Assessor & staff, that more office space be provided at the town hall; and
3. that a 600 T. salt dome be constructed at the garage site @12322 Davis Rd., Woodstock and existing structures be rehabilitated to comply with state, local and federal code.

OR, in the alternative:  Request for an advisory referendum

That the Dorr Township Board certify an advisory question to the McHenry County Clerk so that it is placed on the next regularly scheduled township election:

Shall Dorr Township rebate not less than one million ($1,000,000.00) dollars of unrestricted township funds to township taxpayers?