McHenry County Blog

To the tune in “My Fair Lady:”

“They said that they would do it, would do it.

“They said that they would do it, would do it.

“And, indeed they did.”

Web page from which one can find the packet of information to be considered at the council meeting.

I notice on the Crystal Lake City Council has followed in the footsteps of the Huntley and Carpentersville School Districts, McHenry County College and the McHenry County board and posted its board packet.

Crystal Lake City Council

Now citizens and other nosy bodies can find out what the council members will be discussing before the meeting.

The link is on this page right between the board agenda and the searchable city council minutes.

One giant step toward transparency.

I have cited Huntley School District 158 as a model of transparency. I did so most recently for all to see at a Crystal Lake City Council meeting when I was perturbed that I could not find the council packet on the internet on the city’s brand-new web site.

I thought I got a favorable response, but last weekend I went looking for the information that the council folks had already received and there was nothing to be found.

Crysal Lake City Council

Asking City Manager Gary Mayerhofer about when it might happen, I was told that staff was ready, but waiting for direction from the council. Based on that representation, I didn’t ask again during the public comment section. If by the next meeting I attend it is not up, I shall, as you would expect, make mention of it again.

In any event, the Huntley School District was the web site I pointed to as what I hoped Crystal Lake would emulate.

But outside of the board packet’s posting, the Huntley School District is no model of transparency, even though outgoing School Board President Shawn Green represented as such.

Why would I say that?

While McHenry County government has been known to reply to a Freedom of Information request in less than 24 hours, the Huntley School District tends to take the pretty much the maximum amount of time allowed by law.

And, in the instance of my search for anyone employed by District 158 with a Special Education Director qualification, as defined by the Illinois State Board of Education, the term “dragging of the heels” is too mild to use.

On Monday, February 8th, I asked for the following:

“One document for each person having a special education director endorsement on their administrator’s certificate, as verified on the State Board of Education web site.”

The same day, FOI Officer Lori Woods replied,

“Are you requesting a copy of their certificate?

“If I can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact me.”

My reply:

“I really don’t care if it the certificate or something referring to the certificate. “

Woods:

“Okay, thanks.  I’ll get working on that ASAP for you.”

My reply:

“The basic question is whether anyone in the district has a certification to be a special ed director.

“I can’t find one.”

On Friday, February 12th, I received this reply from Woods:

“The response to your FOIA regarding documentation of Special Education Director endorsement is attached.

“If I can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact me.”

That certainly is within the five-workday returned turnaround time, but consider the answer from Human Resources Director Lauren Smith that was attached:

The parsed word response of Huntley Human Services Director Lauren Smith. Note that it took her only nine minutes to formulate her answer. Click to enlarge.

Huntley School District Human Relations Director Lauren Smith

“I am not clear how to move forward on this request. Based solely on the question, I cannot provide a document for all persons with an endorsement as a special education director.”

Smith’s parsing of my words reminds me of President Bill Clinton’s:

“I did not have sexual relations with that woman.”

Being the persistent type, I filed a new Freedom of Information request on Friday, February 12th, saying,

“It seems to me that my Special Ed certification request was pretty clear, clear enough to ask the IL AG’s office in an appeal and get a letter sent to District 158 the way one was recently sent to Grafton Township officials.  Instead, for a very brief time (I do not promise to wait 5 days, just to delay until the thought of an appeal enters my head again), let me give you another chance with the re-wording of the question you see below:

“I request all documentation provided by the Regional Superintendents Office or State Board of Education that evidences each district employee who holds or has held a Special Education Director endorsement during the 2009 – 2010 fiscal year, including any employee who was employed by the district in FY 2009 – 2010, and any certificate or copy thereof of in possession of the district that evidences the referenced employees’ holding or having held the referenced endorsement.

“A simple ‘We have no record of any such evidence that a Special Ed Director Endorsement has been held by any of our employees during Fiscal Year 2009-2010′ will suffice, if that is the situation.” (Emphasis added.)

Seven days later, I received this reply:

“The response to your FOIA for Special Education Director endorsement is attached.

“If I can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact me.”

Now, Human Resources Director Smith has discovered,

It took twelve days to get this answer. Click to enlarge.

Very interrresssting.

“Upon review of certified staff members, including administrators, there is not an employee as of this date with a Director of Special Education endorsement.”

Ver-r-r-r-y in-ter-r-r-r-r-es-s-s-t-ing, as the Laugh-In Nazi would say.

Not that I think Green had any knowledge of the games his staff was playing, but I would point out this answer was received the day after Green praised the district’s transparency.

It was not received before I got fed up at not having receiving a timely answer to my question of February 8th, though.

I would suggest the kiddie games evident above are unworthy of a local government aspiring to be known as a “model of transparency.”

= = = = =

The 800 number of the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access folks is 877-299-3642, by the way.  Complaints may be filed by email.  The email address is PublicAccess@AtG.State.IL.US.

You can see the vote scheduled for a Superintendent contract as item 14.1 tonight on the agenda in the online board packet.

See page 5 here.

John burkey, Superintendent of Huntley School Disrtrict 158

After having made the school teachers’ contract public on its web page, wouldn’t you think the District 158 might do the same for the highest paid employee?

Sorry. You’d be disappointed.

There is no disclosure of the contract expected to be approved for John Burkey tonight..

How’s that for transparency?

At the last board meeting, Controller Mark Altmayer had this to say about transparency in Huntley;

“We definitely pride ourselves on being transparent.”

There is certainly a disconnect between words and deeds.

It certainly does not help increase voters trust of government.

Meanwhile at the McHenry County Young Republicans county board candidates’ forum at 1776 last night, District 3 candidate Craig Steagall, who runs Woolf Distributing told of how he had built his company from $1 million to $60-65 million before “Obamoconics” sent his company into a downturn.

“Business dropped 25-35%,” he said.

What happened to high salaries?

“If a person made more than $50,000 a year, you got cut 20%.

“In one year, we did not lose one employee until one decided to got to New Orleans to work on an oil rig.”

That’s how a sizable firm in McHenry County coped with the economic downturn.

Tomorrow night, the public will see how one of McHenry County’s largest employers copes.

Of course, taxes haven’t gone down 25-35%, have they?

The Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water has received its first completed conflict of interest form from a county board member not up for election.

Her name is Virginia Peschke and she represents District 5.

In addition, another candidate for a District 2 seat—Sandra DePaul—has climbed aboard the ethics bandwagon.

That means all three District 2 challengers

• Donna Kurtz
• Ellen Brady Mueller
• Sandra DePaul

have indicated their willingness to follow the transparency trail, while the two District 2 incumbents,

• Ken Koehler, County Board Chairman
• Lyn Orphal

have not yet taken the plunge to informing their constituents of potential conflicts of interest.

The Patriots United candidates’ forum for county board candidates tonight at 7 (6:30, if you want to talk to candidates ahead of time) at McHenry County College ought to be interesting if the candidates—mainly incumbents—who have not yet filled out the ALAW form are asked to explain why they have not done so.

Of the ten incumbents up for re-election sixty percent have not taken the effort to fill out the questionnaire.

15 of 27 candidates, however, have completed the form.

Can’t you just see last minute mailings pointing out who doesn’t want the public to know the possible conflicts of interest they might have?

There are 27 people running for the McHenry County Board.

As of now, over half the candidates have filled out questionnaires aimed at identifying potential conflicts of interest–14 in all.

Might this be an indicator that those wanting to serve on the board have discovered voters don’t trust their public officials.

The latest two to submit the Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water are

• Crystal Lake City Councilwoman Ellen Brady Mueller, running as a Republican in District 2
• Former McHenry County Board member and Vice Chairman John Jung, running in District 5

Ellen Brady Mueller

Brady Mueller becomes the second candidate to submit the form to the Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water. The first was fellow challenger Donna Kurtz.

County Board Chairman Ken Koehler and fellow incumbent Lyn Orphal have thus far ignored the ethics questionnaire, which ALAW asked the county board to enact before the February 2nd primary election.  Challenger Sandra DePaul has, as well.

John Jung

In District 5, former county board member John Jung has now filled out and sent in the form. The only incumbent in the district, Tina Hill, did so earlier. Challenger Dave Frederick has not.

The Management Services Committee referred the ALAW-suggested language to the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office. Here is the story about the State’s Attorney’s reply.

There will be a candidates’ night Friday at 7 at McHenry County College sponsored by Patriots United.  Candidates will start arriving about 6:30, if you want to talk to them ahead of the forum.

At the McHenry County Board’s Management Services Committee this morning, the members received a January 8th memo from the State’s Attorney’s Office on the Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water’s proposal to require county officials to reveal

Here’s what Assistant State’s Attorney wrote about ALAW’s proposal:

“…there is a paragraph discussing the “Violation of this Ordinance”, both (a) and (b) cannot be implemented by the County Board.

(a) Any person who knowingly violates any provision of this Act commit~ a Class A misdemeanor, provided that such person has not been convicted of any prior offense under the terms of this Act and shall be ineligible for, or shall forfeit, his or her office or position of employment as the case may be.

(b) Any person who violates any provision of this Act after having been previously convicted of an offense under this Section, commits a Class 4 felony and shall be ineligible for, or shall forfeit, his or her office or position of employment as the case may be.

The County Board is not the legislature and can only exercise those powers granted to it by the legislature. The County Board cannot make an ordinance violation subject to a misdemeanor or a felony. It can only be an ordinance violation.

There are a couple of administrative questions raised:

Section 6(b) – It would require the Public Official to file a revised disclosure statement within thirty days following any event that would require a change in any information or disclaimers contained in the statement or disclaimer on file with the County Clerk. This is currently required once a year. If the proposed ordinance was adopted, this could cause a lot of additional work for the County Clerk

This one seems well worth the added burden on the County Clerk’s Office.

If the public and fellow board members would not be interested in the purchase of property by a board member potentially just prior to re-zoning, when would they want to know?

After a potential conflict of interest had occurred?

Another workload problem is also brought up:

Currently, the state already mandates a “Disclosure of Economic Interests”. By enacting this proposed “McHenry County Economic Interests and Conflicts of Interest Disclosure Ordinance”, it would seem as though both the state and county forms would have to be completed and filed with the County Clerk. Again, this increases the workload of the County Clerk. It would cause a duplicative workload, and fail to adhere to the “green” effort the County is attempting to institute.

The information requested, of course, is not duplicative.

The current form is known by those who file it as the “None, None, None” form. It reveals virtually nothing, as a review of the forms filed by county board members has demonstrated to me.

During World War II, my father was Executive Secretary of the Tri-State (Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey) Canners and Packers Association. In that capacity, he was often on Capitol Hill, bringing members to testify before Congressional Committees. He told me of talking to the high priced lawyer the national association had retained.

“Cal, there are two kinds of lawyers in the world. Those who tell you why you can’t do what you want to do and those who tell you how to do it.”

The McHenry County Board in a light moment, sans Chairman Ken Koehler, who is seated to their right.

If the McHenry County Board wants to improve its collective reputation, the message could be sent to the State’s Attorney’s Office to figure out a way to implement the guts of this conflict of interest proposal.

If the penalty for violation is too strict, then lower the penalty.

Transparency is the goal and a determined effort ought to be made to identify and reveal potential conflicts of interest before they become an actual conflict.

Of course, for that to happen, a majority of the members would have to want to change the current way of doing business.

My guess continues to be that current county board members will be insulted that anyone would question their integrity.

Even if they should be, they should realize McHenry County residents live in the Chicago media market and are bombarded weekly with tales of corruption in Chicago, Cook County and State government.

That leads to a suspicious electorate, as I suspect the TEA Party movement, the formation of Patriots United, which is sponsoring a county board candidates’ forum Friday night at MCC. Candidates will be there at 6:30. The event starts at 7.

Maybe someone will ask each candidate if he or she has voluntarily filled out ALAW’s conflict of interest questionnaire, and, if not, why not?

Besides District 3′a Craig Steagall, who is seeking one of two slots on the McHenry County Republican ballot in the February 2nd primary election, District 2 challenger Donna Kurtz has submitted answers to a questionnaire which the Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water wishes McHenry County officials to file annually.  The Kurtz press release.  Answers to the questionnaire can be found here on the ALAW web site.

DONNA KURTZ SUPPORTS PROPOSED ECONOMIC DISCLOSURE ORDINANCE

Crystal Lake, IL – Donna Kurtz, candidate for District 2 -
McHenry County Board, thinks McHenry County can be a leader in Illinois by setting new standards that insure public service comes without improperpersonal gain. According to Kurtz “It is time for all elected and appointed officials in Illinois to show that they will never use their position of public trust to benefit themselves.”

Kurtz supports the intent of the proposed Economic Disclosure Ordinance.

This ordinance would encourage public officials to fully disclose their financial interests and to be accountable for the on-going accuracy of these disclosures. This process creates transparency so conflicts of interest are public information.

Kurtz encourages other County Board candidates and incumbents to join her
in making financial disclosures that will comply with the spirit of the newly
proposed ECONOMIC INTERESTS AND CONFLICT OF INTERESTS DISCLOSURE ORDINANCE.

See enclosed attachment to review Kurtz’s signed economic disclosure agreement.

Contact:

Donna Kurtz, Candidate for District 2 – McHenry County Board

815-353-5972, donna_m_kurtz@yahoo.com

www.donnakurtz.com

On District 3 McHenry County Board candidates’ web site, Craig Steagall outlines his goals, if elected.

They are interesting, especially, the ethics, transparency and creation of email surveying capabilities, so I thought I would share them with you below:

Craig’s Goals

Craig Steagall will bring his more than thirty-five years of business and management success to the McHenry County Board. In addition to his experience, Craig is a lifelong resident of the county who has some very specific and achievable policy goals:

1.  Increase Transparency. Craig will push for electronic storage of documents to permit citizens immediate and open access to these public documents (and providing assistance to those without Internet access.)  This will eliminate the need for many Freedom of Information Act requests, save the taxpayers money, make county government more efficient and providing the taxpayers with open, transparent government.

2.  More Power to the Taxpayers. Craig will promote the greater use of technology, including the creation of e-mail surveying capabilities so that the voters of District 3 in McHenry County will be able to provide input on important issues brought before the County Board.  Example, video gambling in unincorporated areas, I would be able to report where the voters of my District stood on the issue.

3.  Adoption of “Best in Class” Ethics Ordinance.
It’s time to restore the people’s faith in their government — no county board member should be in a position to benefit financially as a result of their elected position.

4.  Better Strategic Planning. Craig will work to instill a better strategic planning process for the county board — in which strategic goals are set for each fiscal year, and county board members are required to publicly report on their progress in achieving these goals at the end of each year.  The voters will only benefit from this “report card” for local government.

5.  Better Inter-Governmental Cooperation. Craig will push for better working relationships between the county board, local municipalities, non-profits and private employers.  Better cooperation will allow us all to work toward a better county in which to work and raise our families.

You read what the Woodstock Independent, the Northwest Herald and the Daily Herald want to know about and from candidates. Here’s what the Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water are interested in learning about those running for the McHenry County Board:

ALAW County Board Candidates Survey: 2010 Primary Election

Please, indicate yes or no in the box to the right of the question.

A. Land Use

1. Have you personally attended any of the Regional Planning Commission meetings or subcommittee meetings on the 2030 Comprehensive Land Use Plan?

2. Have you read the proposed 2030 Land Use Plan?

3. Do you think the makeup of the 2030 Regional Planning Commission was a balanced representation of the residents of the county?

4. Do you agree that new development should be located where infrastructure exists, to minimize the extension of new roads, utilities and services, and protect farmland and water recharge areas?

5. If elected, will you support funding permanent protection of agricultural land and the agricultural industry in the County?

6. Do you understand that new rural development costs more for the extension of infrastructure (roads, water, sewer and services) than it brings to the County in taxes and that those extra costs are passed on to the existing taxpayers?

7. Do you support creation of the Hac-Ma-Tac National Wildlife Refuge in the county?

B. Water Resources

1. Would you oppose any land use change that would exceed a locally recharged aquifer’s capacity?

2. If elected will you enforce use of the SARA – Sensitive Aquifer Recharge Areas map developed by the County Water Resources Department, as a determining factor in every land use change decision?

3. Do you support redistributing groundwater from water-rich areas to areas that have over drawn their groundwater?

4. Do you think that McHenry County will be able to get water from Lake Michigan?

C. Transparency in Government

1. Would you support a requirement that all elected or appointed county officials make up-front disclosures of any financial or other interest in any real property in the County?

2. Do you support a requirement that all elected or appointed county officials make up-front disclosures of their interest in any business entity doing business with the county?

3. Do you believe that public officials should disclose whether they provide professional services to any unit of government to which they are elected or appointed?

4. Do you agree that all scheduled meetings agendas and minutes, including committee and sub-committee, should be posted on the County web site?

5. Do you agree that all McHenry County Board meetings should be video recorded and posted on the County web site?

D. Short Answer. Only the number of words indicated will be published in the response report. (please add a page if you need more room, but remember that we can only print the number of words indicated. Thank you.)

1. What role do you think the County should play in planning for growth? (50 words)

2. By protecting agricultural lands and soil resources, groundwater and its natural recharge can also be protected. What will you do to provide that protection? (50 words)

3. What does the County get from its annual contract with the McHenry County Economic Development Corporation and is it a good investment of taxpayer money? (50 words)

4. Who do you consider to be your constituents and how do you intend to communicate with them to ensure your positions honestly represent them? (50 words)

5. Please provide a personal statement about what you intend to accomplish, if elected to the County Board, and/or provide additional information regarding any of the “ / no” yes answers given above. (100 words)

Answers are due January 11th.

A press release from State Rep. Mike Tyron about the signing of his online government information bill, House Bill 35, is below.

Meanwhile, Springfield’s State Journal-Register had some fun at his expense by pointing out that his salary was not yet posted on the data base run by the Illinois Department of Central Management Services.

Governor Commends Tryon’s Work on IL Transparency and Accountability Portal

Crystal Lake…Today, Governor Pat Quinn hosted a bill signing ceremony highlighting several key transparency reforms including a new law spearheaded by State Representative Mike Tryon (R-Crystal Lake) to create the Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal. Rep. Tryon joined the Governor, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Speaker of the House Michael Madigan and the members of the Illinois Reform Commission.

During the ceremony, Governor Quinn announced the signing of House Bill 35 (Public Act 96-0225), introduced by Rep. Tryon to create the Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal. The transparent website, Accountability.Illinois.gov, will detail nearly every financial transaction within state government and show taxpayers how their money is being spent. The legislation was suggested to Rep. Tryon by Americans for Prosperity, a grassroots activist organization leading the charge for transparency in Illinois and throughout the nation.

“I applaud the Governor for signing this bill and taking the first step to make Illinois government more honest and transparent. Especially during an economic recession, it is absolutely crucial that we show taxpayers where state government is spending each and every dollar. For too long, the culture of secrecy has dominated Springfield and pay-to-play politics has been the norm,” Rep. Tryon said.

Specifically, the Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal will provide the public with direct access to:

• state employees’ salaries
• state expenditures
• tax credits
• tax breaks and
• state contracts

“With the widespread corruption of our former Governor, public trust in state government is at an all-time low. It’s time to open up the checkbooks of state spending and hold elected officials accountable for how they spend taxpayer money,” Rep. Tryon said.

Rep. Tryon believes the Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal will ultimately reduce the number of Freedom of Information Requests that the state must process. Additionally, it will be a deterrent to employee discrimination and ghost pay rolling.

“Currently, Illinois is known as one of the most politically corrupt states in the nation. AFP already has a proven track record of leadership in transparency reform, including state level reform in Kansas and Oklahoma and strong support for the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act. Illinois will soon become a national leader in transparency,” said Joe Calomino, state director for Americans for Prosperity.

The Governor also signed into law legislation supported by Rep. Tryon to strengthen the process by which Freedom of Information Act requests are processed, and created a new website putting state boards and commissions online called Appointments.Illinois.gov.