Jack Franks Still Running for State Rep. – Part 7

Sunday, May 15th, Gonigam reported, “Franks qualified that saying he’d give up the Rep. race if the Committee can pick another candidate who’s both ‘electable’ and holds a political outlook consistent with his own.” But Franks hasn’t pulled out of the … Continue reading

McSweeney Bill to Inventory Governments Whose Boards Are Appointed by County Boards Advances

A press release from State Rep. David McSweeney: House Committee Advances Cullerton-McSweeney Bill to Promote Local Government Consolidation Springfield, IL…The Illinois House Counties and Townships Committee today approved a proposal to help reduce the number of units of local government … Continue reading

Jack Franks Kicks Up “Hornet’s Nest”

Rich Miller of Capitol Fax has a story about Saturday’s State Journal-Register story about Jack Frank’s effort to damage McHenry County Board members by stimulating a Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund investigation of whether they qualify. “As we’ve discussed before, Rep. … Continue reading

IMRF’s Probe of County Board Members Going Statewide

There was an article in Saturday’s State Journal-Register about Sangamon County Board members in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund pension system. The county board included one Democratic Party member, Tony DelGiorno, an attorney who is trying to unseat appointed State Rep. Sara … Continue reading

Sangamon County Board Gets IMRF Spotlight

Veteran political reporter Bernie Schoenberg of the State Journal-Register has picked up the county board member pension story. The issue was started by McHenry County by State Rep. Jack Franks, who is polling to see if he should run for … Continue reading

County Board Doesn’t Seem to Understand Separation of Powers

Having read Kevin Craver’s article about the changes in the County Board’s rules after the 2016 at-large election of a McHenry County Board Chairman, I have concluded that were we in the 1770’s most members would have been Loyalists to … Continue reading

Effingham County Ahead of McHenry County in Transparency

Adam Andrzejewski, the driving force behind Open the Books, was in Effingham recently promoting transparency. According to the Effingham Daily News, the Effingham County Board came in for praise: Andrzejewski recognized the Effingham County Board as a unit for promising … Continue reading

Mike Skala Decides to Serve on Both Huntley School and County Board Despite “Incompatabilty”

I missed the Northwest Herald article about newly-elected McHenry County Board member Mike Skala deciding to stay on the Huntley District 158 School Board until after a suit with contractors is settled. And, it seems that former McHenry County College … Continue reading

Will County GOP Chairman Tells Why County Taxes Are Low

I asked for a Will County take on Democrat Jack Franks’ claim that Will County taxes were lower than McHenry County taxes and Republican Party Chairman Edward Ronkowski sent me the following email: “In a nutshell, Will County taxes are … Continue reading

Lawrence County Publisher Calls for Delay in Education Sales Tax Hike

Although primary election voters approved the imposition of a one percentage point sales tax hike in Lawrence County, former State Rep. now Sumner Press Publisher Roscoe Cunningham is calling for a delay in the county board’s imposing it. “While changing … Continue reading