McHenry County Blog

There remain two vacancies on the seven-member Crystal Lake Park Board after write-in candidate Michele Hartwig for only 17 votes.

Crystal Park Board election results show write-in candidate Michele Hartwig did not received enough votes to win a four-year term.

To win a seat, Hartwig had to get as many votes as signatures she would have had to gather to qualify to be on the ballot.

That’s 103 in the case of the Crystal Lake Park Board.

However, those elected, plus those not up for election could decide to appoint Hartwig or anyone else to the

• four-year and
• two-year

vacancies for which no one was elected.

No one filed as a write-in for the two-year term.

Vote for Donald Duck, the original angry bird.

Somehow I don’t think this is an official Mickey Mouse tee shirt.

I loved the articles that Mike Royko used to write after elections about write-in candidates.

Mickey Mouse was always got some votes but my favorite Disney character, Donald Duck, usually got fewer votes than Mickey. (Donald Duck!)

No more.

Besides the fact that Mike Royko is dead, there’s no source material on the canvass reports anymore.

So many people apparently were disenchanted with the political process that only people (REAL people, not cartoon characters) who register their intention to run are allowed to get votes.

Oh, you can write your own name in or Mickey Mouse’s and plenty of people do, but they don’t get revealed to the public.

Too much work, I suppose.

There are those who have officially registered to run as write-ins, however.

You can see their names and the offices they seek below:

Official write-in candidates for the April 9, 2013, election.

Two villages have write-in candidates:

• In Lakemoor, Kimberly Beach is running for Mayor.
• In McCullom Lake, Tony Coznor is running for Village Trustee.

Leo Tibbitts, Jr., is running for Trustee in the Hebron-Alden-Greenwood Fire Protection District.

There are two library districts with write-in candidates for Trustee:

• Monica Leccese for the McHenry Library Board
• Susan Suchar for the Nippersink Library Board

Michele Hartwig is running for the Crystal Lake Park Board.

There are four running for school board seats as write-ins:

• Vickie Marconi for Prairie Grove School District 46 Board
• Mischelle Yantis for Prairie Grove School District 46 Board
• Timothy Hying for McHenry High School District 156 Board
• Jennifer Read for Richmond-Burton School District 157 Board

Your vote for Mickey Mouse won’t be counted in Illinois anymore.

There are some people who care about government enough to try to win election through a write-in.

Gone are the days of being able to write yourself or Mickey Mouse in and have such a vote counted.

First the General Assembly force people to register their intentions the week before.

Then two weeks before.

Now we’re up to about two months before.

In fact, the deadline passed last Thursday.

And, one vote isn’t enough to get one elected. Write-in candidates must obtain the same number of valid votes as the number of signatures they would have had to gather had they petitioned to get on the ballot.

The full McHenry County ballot has not yet been published, but I can think of one district that continually issues bonds without a referendum–the Crystal Lake Park District–for which no one filed for one vacancy. (The West Beach House was built without voters having been asked to approve it.)

Here are the people who have stepped forward to ask for write-ins:

WRITE-IN CANDIDATES

CONSOLIDATED ELECTION
APRIL 9, 2013

VILLAGES

• Village of Lakemoor President – Kimberly Beach, 28623 Wagon Trail Rd., Lakemoor
• Village of McCullom Lake Trustee – Anthony “Tony” Koczor, 4704 Parkview Dr., McCullom Lake

FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT (FPD)

• Hebron-Alden-Grenwood FPD Trustee – Leo C. Tibbits Jr, 9614 St. Albans St., Hebron

LIBRARY DISTRICT

• McHenry Library Trustee – Monica Leccese, 7112 Mohawk Dr., McHenry
• Spring Grove Trustee – Susan Sucher, 2315 Falcon Ln., Spring Grove

PARK DISTRICT

• Crystal Lake Commissioner – Michele Hartwig, 9705 S. Muirfield. Lakewood

SCHOOL DISTRICTS

• School District 46 Board Member – Vickie Marconi, 2515 Willow Creek Rd., Prairie Grove
• School District 46 Board Member – Mischelle Yantis, 3714 Overland Rd., Crystal Lake
• School District 156 Board Member – Timothy Hying, 2107 Olde Mill Ln., McHenry
• School District 157 Board Member – Jennifer Read, 3406 Forest Ridge Dr., Spring Grove

Five seats are up at the Crystal Lake park Board in April’s election.

The Crystal Lake Park Board in October, 2012.

Terms are expiring for

• Deborah Gallagher
• Jerry Sullivan
• Angel Collins
• Caroline Bachour-Chemaly
• Thomas Aquilina

But there are only three people running for the Park Board:

• Angel Collins
• Caroline Bachour-Chemaly
• Thomas Aquilina

That means two people can gain office through write-in campaigns.

Park District Executive Director Jayson Herbster informs me that it took 103 signatures to get on the ballot.  That means it would take 103 write-in good votes to gain a seat on the Park Board.  103 people would have to put an “X” in the box and write one’s name on the line.

Thursday, February 7th, is the last day a person may file a notarized Declaration of Intent to be a write-in candidate with the proper election authority.

Joe Rosner

No surprise there, of course.

The only write-in I can remember that succeeded was that of Algonquin Township Assessor Forrest B. Hare in 1973.

Homeowners for Hare put on a good campaign, which was opposed by the local Republican Party Establishment.

The Algonquin Township Republican Central Committee held a caucus that looked like a primary election. Polling places in Crystal Lake, Cary and Algonquin, as I remember.

All the ballots were brought to Crystal Lake Central High School for counting, which was not completed until maybe 3 AM.

The margin was close.

When Hare asked the judges if they thought the results were correct, he didn’t get a resounding “Yes.”

No recount was allowed and incumbent Hare ran a write-in campaign.

He posted an overwhelming victory, probably in the 2-1 range.

Joe Rosner, who put forth his name so Democrat Jack Franks would not run opponent-free, refused to take campaign contributions, so his exposure to potential voters was limited.

Still there were 1,001 write-in votes.

Under the relatively new election rules, votes for only registered write-in candidates can be counted.

Rosner received 296 of the 1,001 write-in votes cast.

Others were cast for 2010 Franks’ opponent John O’Neill, even though he was urging people to write-in Rosner.

The billboard you see below popped up on Route 20 southeast of Union Road.

Ir promotes the write-in candidacy of Joe Rosner, who is running against Democrat Jack Franks.

This billboard appeared on Route 20 southeast of Marengo recently.

A press release from Joe Rosner:

Joe Rosner

Joe Rosner Announces His Write-In Campaign for State Representative

Joe Rosner, Hebron Township author and small business owner, announces candidacy for the Illinois General Assembly, 63rd District Representative.

Joe Rosner has announced he is a write-in candidate to represent the 63rd District of the Illinois House of Representatives. Rosner, a political newcomer, small business owner, and humanitarian has lived in the 63rd Representative District since 1993 and in rural Hebron Township for the last 12 years.

Rosner believes that we are all called to serve our state and country in different ways and at different times in our lives and is prepared to serve the citizens of the 63rd District and the State of Illinois.

He includes

• helping feed the homeless,
• regular blood platelet donations,
• fostering abused and abandoned dogs,
• service as a volunteer disaster worker,
• altruistic kidney donor,
• Vietnam-Era Army volunteer, and
• children’s safety instructor

as evidence of his long commitment to public service.

He looks forward to people sharing their ideas and concerns regarding the issues facing Illinois. Most notably, the mounting financial and ethics crisis that threatens to ruin our state as a place to raise a family or run a business.

“Jack Franks and his boss Michael Madigan are not the solution to our problems,” Rosner says.

“They are the problem.”

If elected, Rosner has promised his first vote will be to end Madigan’s 30-year reign as Speaker of the House.

Acknowledging an up hill fight, Rosner points out that he would not be the first write-in candidate elected to the General Assembly and that 11 members of Congress have won by write-in, including current Senator Lisa Murkowski.

He brushes off the cynical notion that “You get the government you deserve.”

“We deserve better and we can have it,” he claims.

“Fill in the oval. Write in my name and let Jack Franks and Michael Madigan know we’ve had enough.”

Find out more about Joe Rosner. Visit his website, www.JoeRosner.Info.

Joe Rosner

Here’s State Rep. write-in candidate Joe Rosner’s take on the United States Constitution as found on his campaign web site:

Joe’s Take on Our Constitution -

In my opinion, the Bill of Rights is among the most precious gifts bestowed upon us by the Founders.

All of these ten amendments require the others in order to be effective.

You cannot allow one to be degraded without degrading them all.

Like other Americans who have served in the United States military, I took an oath to protect and defend our Constitution. I have never regretted taking that oath and I will never retract it.

Therefore, when considering my support or opposition to any legislation, my first question will not be; “Is it needed?” or “Can we pay for it?” but rather, “Is it Constitutional?”

Rosner is running against Jack Franks, a Democrat who has voted for Mike Madigan for House Speaker six times.

Joe Rosner

State Rep. write-in candidate Joe Rosner has a page on his web site that lists the violations of the United States Constitution which he believes incumbent Democrat Jack Franks, an attorney, has violated.

The Jack Franks image that Joe Rosner uses on his web page.

The Sixth Amendment – Trial by jury and rights of the accused; Confrontation Clause, speedy trial, public trial, right to counsel.

Attorney Jack D. Franks has been known to ask for a body attachment while a defendant was walking up to the judge’s bench.

Body Attachments are court orders very similar to warrants of arrest that are issued in criminal cases.

If you owe money or are suspected of owing money to a client of Attorney Franks he may ask that you be arrested, handcuffed and taken to jail.

Questions about record keeping at Attorney Franks’ law firm leave open the possibility that people who have made payments on schedule suffer humiliation and loss of freedom until they can prove they’re not deadbeats.

A Body Attachment orders and directs law enforcement officers to seize the body of the person named in the order and hold that person in custody pending further orders of the court.

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More tomorrow.

Joe Rosner

State Rep. write-in candidate Joe Rosner has a page on his web site that lists the violations of the United States Constitution which he believes incumbent Democrat Jack Franks, an attorney, has violated.

His Second Amendment observation is reproduced below:

The Fourth Amendment – Protection from unreasonable search and seizure.

The Jack Franks image that Joe Rosner uses on his web page.

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Jack Franks doesn’t think this applies if you’re a high school athlete.

Without cause or suspicion, athletes can be forced to provide samples of their bodily fluids for drug testing.

Joe will seek to have this bill overturned.

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More tomorrow.