Nunda Township GOP Meets Candidates

The Nunda Township Republican Central Committee met Tuesday night. Candidates for next year’s GOP Primary Election made pitches, as did representatives for other officials up for re-election. When I arrived, State Rep. candidate Tom Weber has already spoken. He is … Continue reading

Committee Unanimously Approves End to County Board IMRF Pensions

Every member of the Human Resources Committee voted to abolish Illinois Municipal Retirement Pensions for County Board members starting in December. Outside the meeting members expressed the opinion that this will make the IMRF requirement for work logs go away. … Continue reading

$10 Million to Expedite Randall Road Land Purchase Rejected

The McHenry County Transportation Committee rejected the staff proposal to approve spending $10 million to “expedite” right-of-way purchase for an expansion of Randall Road. The article announcing proposal can be found here. Also contained in the article is how $5.7 … Continue reading

The County Board IMRF Question Copy

The following was first published the day before the March 15th Primary Election, but, in view of the County Board meeting of last night, I think it is worth repeating: I have been so inundated that two topics that deserve … Continue reading

The County Board IMRF Question

I have been so inundated that two topics that deserve thoughtful consideration haven’t been covered. One of them is the practice of McHenry County Board members getting pensions. David Stieper and Andrew Gasser brought up the topic during the 2014 … Continue reading

Township Consolidation Dead – Updated with Public Comment

Led by McHenry County Board Chairman Joe Gottemoller, thirteen members tacked the lid on the coffin of the township consolidation movement. During the lengthy public comment period, in which the opponents of township consolidation dominated the podium, County Board members … Continue reading

Joni Smith Sets Fundraiser

Monday, September 21st, is the date set by McHenry County Recorder of Deeds candidate Joni Smith for a $60 5:30 to 7:30 Port Edward fundraiser. Listed on the Host Committee are Phyllis Walters, the current Recorder of Deeds State Rep. … Continue reading

Upcoming Commission Appointments

The McHenry County Board is set to make the following appointments at its next meeting: McHENRY COUNTY HOUSING COMMISSION – Robert Kociecki for a term expiring 04/30/2018 STORMWATER MANAGEMENT COMMISSION – Donald C. Kopsell for a term expiring 11/30/2016 (Kopsell … Continue reading

Raising Elected Officials Salaries – Not!

The Human Resources Committee held a meeting on April 2nd which I attended. The reason was the following agenda item: Discussion on Establishing Elected Officials’ Salaries During public comment time, former Board member Kathy Bergan-Schmidt encouraged members to “drop the … Continue reading

Gottemoller’s Committee Spoils for His Supporters

The last article on McHenry County Board Committee assignments by newly-elected Chairman Joe Gottemoller focused on what those who supported his opponent Jim Heisler ended up. This will look at how the winners were rewarded.  Again requests that were granted … Continue reading

Newcomers on Board Got 3-2 for Winning Chairman Candidate

There are five new members on the McHenry County Board. District 1 – Andrew Gasser District 3 – Don Kopsell District 4 – Chuck Wheeler District 5 – Michael Rein District 6 – Larry Smith The five newcomers split 3-2 … Continue reading

County Board Candidates Making No Campaign Finance Report

A number of candidates for McHenry County Board did not file reports with the Illinois State Board of Elections. Candidates are not required to file such reports unless they bring in or spend $5,000. Among those not meeting that threshold … Continue reading

Five New County Board Members Being Sworn In

Next Monday, five new members will join the McHenry County Board. They were elected in November’s election. The five are spread over five of the six County Board districts. In McHenry County’s southeastern-most District 1, Republican Andrew Gasser topped incumbent … Continue reading

Gasser Defeat of Chirikos Means GOP Controls All Seats on County Board

In District 1 after about 3,150 early and absentee ballots were added to in-person ballot results from last night, newcomer Andrew Gasser of Fox River Grove defeated incumbent Democrat Nick Chirikos of Algonquin by 382 votes. That increased his 169 … Continue reading

County Board May Have No Democrats

There are now two Democrats on the McHenry County Board: Nick Chirikos Paula Yensen With 20,000 absentee and early votes still missing, Republicans are ahead in all districts where Democrats are on the ballot. With three precincts outstanding, candidates for … Continue reading

NWH Endorses Chirikos, Gasser, Gottemoller & Kopsell

The Northwest Herald started rolling out its endorsements Friday. For District 1 on the McHenry County Board, the paper endorsed the incumbent Democrat and the non-incumbent Republican: Nick Chirikos (D-Algonquin) Andrew Gasser (R-Fox River Grove) Odd man out was incumbent … Continue reading

Nunda Township Loses Freedom of Information Appeal on Senior Bus Audit

At the request of Deputy County Administrator John Labjai (now retired), McHenry County Auditor Pam Palmer performed an audit on Nunda Township’s senior bus program. It was financed with a grant administered by McHenry County.  Federal and state money was … Continue reading