At the end of the Huntley District 158 school Board meeting, I asked Superintendent John Burkey if President Obama’s speech was going to be shown his students.
His answer was succinct:
A bit different than what is happening in Crystal Lake’s grade schools.
If you play this song while you are reading this article, it would be appropriate.
Johnny Paycheck’s “Take This Job and Shove It” pretty much sums up the message Crystal Lake attorney Joe Gottemoller gave to the Grafton Township Board last night.
Because Supervisor Linda Moore was absent due to having just had a myelogram, only her four political enemies on the township board were at the meeting.
Along with two lawyers, Joseph Gottemoller and Jim Kelly.
And a standing room only crowd.
Prominent Democrats were out in force. Both McHenry County Board member Jim Kennedy and Paula Yensen were in attendance.
Attorney Kelly was dismissed by Moore after she took office, but he’s still working for the four trustees. They voted to pay him “$5,724, the most recent portion of a total amount of $17,963.73 for services after May 18, 2009.”
The township trustees and Kelly went into secret session to discuss the lawsuit (Dan Ziller, Jr., et al. v. John Rossi, et al) that a number of the audience members had brought against the township to stop the building of a new township hall.
But Gottemoller’s resignation was the big story.
Right before the trustees went into Executive Session, he said,
“This will be my last meeting. I have spent a great deal of time and effort on this. Much more than I should have.”
He talked about all the local governments he had had contact with during his legal career.
“I have never been in front of of a board as dysfunctional as this one.”
He told of having had nine calls about the agenda for the meeting. He talked of the problems facing the township.
“I hope some day you will address them.”
He said most calls he had received were from people who were mainly interested in learning how to protect themselves from the other side.
“I don’t want my name to be associated with (Grafton Township).
“You’re spending thousands of dollars on legal fees, $25,000 in attorney fees since May 18th.
“Riley Township spent $500 its last full year.” (Riley is one of McHenry County’s smallest.)
“I hope sometime or other you’ll find a way to talk to each other.
“If we could just focus on the issues and not the personalities, it would be (a lot better).
Before the secret meeting began, Kelly revealed he had told the board in February that he wouldn’t continue as township attorney.
“It’s just outrageous we’re in this condition. I’m working on this issue (the lawsuit) only,” Kelly said.
As I was leaving, one person observed,
“They ought to sell popcorn.”
Tomorrow: What Joe Gottemoller wrote in his resignation letter.
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In the top photo you see attorney Jim Kelly on the left and Joe Gottemoller on the right. The four trustees can be seen sitting at the table in the second picture. Trustee Barbara Murphy is in the foreground. At the left of the photo is Trustee Bob LaPorta. To his left are Trustee Betty Zirk and newly-elected Trustee Gerry MaMahon, elected with newly-elected Township Supervisor Linda Moore’s help, but now on the other side of the political spectrum. All the officials are Republicans. Flanking attorney Jim Kelly in the next photo are prominent Democrats Mike Bissett, his wife, McHenry County Board member Paula Yensen, and McHenry County Board member Jim Kennedy (standing). The larger head shot is of Gottmoller. The smaller one is of Kelly while Gottemoller was explaining his resignation.
Imagine my surprise when an alert Crystal Lake South Elementary School parent emailed me that District 47 was going to allow President Barack Obama to speak to its students on September 8th.
Sure, I’m just too much of a cynic. This pitch to kids has nothing to do with future political campaigns, right?
Right. The same way that politicians’ handing out Halloween candy collection bags right before a November election has nothing to do with their campaigns.
If schools think it is important enough to allow the President to speak to them, he must be important, I’d figure, if I were a kid.
Just from casually listening to the radio during the 1948 presidential campaign, I came up with a question for my mother, then a registered Democrat in Easton, Maryland:
“Why are you and Daddy against the president?”
I certainly must have heard some negative comments from my parents about electing Harry S Truman president.
That was probably my first political utterance. I was six years old. I even remember I was standing next to the washing machine on the back porch.
(And when, after the election, I saw Truman walking across Pennsylvania Avenue from Blair House–where he was staying while the White House was being renovated–in front of the building where I held my first job after grad school, that was a thrill. I was at the curb when he left the crosswalk.)
In any event, the parent emailed me the reply he got from new School Superintendent Donn Mendoza:
“Relative to your first question, here are the parameters we’ve set forth in enabling the streaming of the Educational Address:
“1. Parents have full discretion in having their children ‘opt out’ of seeing the address at school. All schools will provide an alternate location for these students that will have adult supervision during the address.
“2. Follow-up conversations after the address has been given will center around the importance of education, goal setting, current events, etc.
“3. Building staff will ensure that advocating for or against any political party will not be part of any preliminary or follow-up discussions related to this address.
“Our principals have been made aware of these guidelines and parameters.
“We will not be broadcasting the ‘I pledge’ video” (in answer to the second question).
The “I pledge video” is one in which children are encouraged to pledge “to be a servant of President Barack Obama,” according to one email I received.
Too bizarre. (I didn’t watch it, but if you want to, you can above.)
I emailed Mendoza asking for details and was told,
“Students who will not be participating will remain under teacher supervision in an alternate location within the school.”
I remember my son’s having been one of Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s “campaign managers” at South School, so he might be one who would want to opt out.
And,
“We’ve set up consistent parameters but as you know, all of our schools are different in terms of available space, etc. At the building level, principals are responsible for determining the manner in which students will be supervised during the address.”
I have learned that at my son’s school, the President’s address will be recorded, previewed and “if it does not turn out to be totally focused on student’s educational success and goal setting, we will choose not to show it to our students.”
Fair enough.
If you have concerns, “Contact your child’s principal,” is the advice I would give.
Here’s a bit of what came from the Department of Education (I received this September 1st and its content may have been altered by now.):
PreK-6 Menu of Classroom Activities
President Obama’s Address to Students
Across America
Produced by Teaching Ambassador Fellows, U.S. Department of Education September 8, 2009Before the Speech:
Teachers can build background knowledge about the President of the United Statesand his speech by reading books about presidents and Barack Obama and motivate students by asking the following questions:
- Who is the President of the United States?
- What do you think it takes to be President? To whom do you think the President is going to be speaking?
- Why do you think he wants to speak to you? What do you think he will say to you?
Teachers can ask students to imagine being the President delivering a speech to all of the students in the United States. What would you tell students? What can students do to help in our schools? Teachers can chart ideas about what they would say.
Why is it important that we listen to the President and other elected officials, like the mayor, senators, members of congress, or the governor? Why is what they say important?
During the Speech:
As the President speaks, teachers can ask students to write down key ideas or phrases that are important or personally meaningful. Students could use a note-taking graphic organizer such as a Cluster Web, or students could record their thoughts on sticky notes. Younger children can draw pictures and write as appropriate.
As students listen to the speech, they could think about the following:
- What is the President trying to tell me?
- What is the President asking me to do?
- What new ideas and actions is the President challenging me to think about?
Students can record important parts of the speech where the President is asking them to do something. Students might think about:
- What specific job is he asking me to do?
- Is he asking anything of anyone else?
- Teachers?
- Principals?
- Parents?
- The American people?
Students can record any questions they have while he is speaking and then discuss them after the speech. Younger children may need to dictate their questions.
After the Speech:
Teachers could ask students to share the ideas they recorded, exchange sticky notes or stick notes on a butcher paper poster in the classroom to discuss main ideas from the speech, i.e. citizenship, personal responsibility, civic duty.
Students could discuss their responses to the following questions:
- What do you think the President wants us to do?
- Does the speech make you want to do anything?
- Are we able to do what President Obama is asking of us?
- What would you like to tell the President?
Teachers could encourage students to participate in the Department of Education’s “I Am What I Learn” video contest.
On September 8th the Department will invite K-12 students to submit a video no longer than 2 min, explaining why education is important and how their education will help them achieve their dreams. Teachers are welcome to incorporate the same or a similar video project into an assignment. More details will be released via www.ed.gov .
Extension of the Speech:
Teachers can extend learning by having students
- Create posters of their goals. Posters could be formatted in quadrants or puzzle pieces or trails marked with the labels: personal, academic, community, country. Each area could be labeled with three steps for achieving goals in those areas. It might make sense to focus on personal and academic so community and country goals come more readily.
- Write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president. These would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals.
- Write goals on colored index cards or precut designs to post around the classroom.
- Interview and share about their goals with one another to create a supportive community.
- Participate in School wide incentive programs or contests for students who achieve their goals.
- Write about their goals in a variety of genres, i.e. poems, songs, personal essays.
- Create artistic projects based on the themes of their goals.
- Graph student progress toward goals.
The local expert on stadiums is McHenry’s Steve Stanek. He is a Research Fellow with the Heartland Institute.
When I read in Kevin Craver’s article in the Northwest Herald that the McHenry County Board is thinking of awarding the largest portion of the Federal stimulus bonds to the Woodstock baseball stadium folks, I thought of Stanek and asked for his opinion.
Just in case you are interested, here is the story I wrote the night the Woodstock City Council approved the proposal.
Here’s what Stanek has to say:
“I could quote dozens of economists and public policy researchers to show how bad it would be for the County Board to grant this greedy, self-serving request for $15 million of stimulus bonds for that baseball stadium. But I will instead quote the owners of a professional sports team:
“‘The financial issue is simple, and the city’s analysts agree, there will be no net economic loss if the Sonics leave Seattle. Entertainment dollars not spent on the Sonics will be spent on Seattle’s many other sports and entertainment options. Seattleites will not reduce their entertainment budget simply because the Sonics leave,’ the Soncis said in the court brief.” — Seattle Times, Jan. 18, 2008, regarding the NBA’s Super Sonics trying to break their stadium lease to move to another city.
“Imagine: The owners of the Seattle Super Sonics said, under oath in federal court, that Seattle would suffer no economic harm if the team were to leave the city. These same owners, when arguing for huge taxpayers subsidies for KeyArena in Seattle, said the team would bring tremendous economic benefits. But of course, when they made those claims, they were not under oath in a court of law.
“When I read about this request for stimulus bonds in the (Northwest) Herald this morning, I said to myself,
‘You’d think these people would have learned from the MCC baseball stadium fiasco.’
“But then I realized this has nothing to do with good economics or benefiting the community.
“This has to do with benefiting a handful of people with lots of money and friends in high places in this county, and with making a handful of people who cast themselves as community leaders feel good about themselves.
“I am especially disgusted with the McHenry County Community Foundation. I contacted them with information about how bad it is to use subsidies to support such facilities, and I received assurances this would be entirely privately funded. (See this article.)
“Now $15 million of stimulus bonds that have been made available by the government could go to this baseball team.
“To those few local officials who might actually care about benefiting the community, I say this would be a terrible waste of resources.
“Economic studies overwhelmingly conclude sports teams return virtually nothing to the economy and sometimes actually hurt the overall economy.
“That money could be loaned far more effectively to other businesses — businesses that have been in this county for years, paying every nickel of tax local government officials can squeeze from them.
“If they don’t believe me about the overwhelming agreement among researchers about how bad such proposals are, maybe they’ll believe this:
’With most empirical issues there’s lots of debate. Does the minimum wage cause unemployment? There’s lots of debate about that issue. Here there’s no debate.’ — Vanderbilt University economist John Siegfried regarding economists against sports subsidies, quoted in Boston Globe, March 19, 2006.”
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All the photos were taken at the Woodstock City Council meeting when the proposal was approved 6-1. Top right, pointing at the plan for the stadium is Mark Houser, the man who refused to identify himself when he walked out of a secret meeting with the McHenry County College board. The MCC plan eventually died, of course. Below are Frontier League Commissioner Bill Lee and baseball team promoter Pete Heitman. The crowd that attended the Woodstock City Council meeting is seen at the bottom.
I would note that now the Democrats have two issues upon which to beat county board Republicans about the head–the upcoming Ridgefield train station vote and the baseball stadium bond vote.
Remember the
direct mail piece the Democrats put out last fall (click to enlarge) ?
I am sure the Dems will top this piece, if the county board allocates more than half of the bonds allocated for private enterprise in McHenry County to the Woodstock baseball stadium.
And think of the mailing that could be made to every small business in McHenry County:
Couldn’t get a loan last year?
The McHenry County Board could have helped you, if (you fill in the blank).
In case you have forgotten how good the “Monopoly” piece was, talk a look at
McHenry Dems Attack Republican Monopoly
Democrats Go for Republican Vulnerabilities – 1
Democrats Go for Republican Vulnerabilities – 2
Democrats Go for Republican Vulnerabilities – 3
Democrats Go for Republican Vulnerabilities – 4
County Board Plans to Buy Land to the North
The McHenry County State’s Attorney is obviously out to convey the message that if you drive while you are drunk and get arrested, you will be prosecuted and convicted.
This is the latest press release:
McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office Wins Another Difficult DUI Case
McHenry County State’s Attorney, Louis A. Bianchi, is pleased to announce a recent victory of another DUI offender.
Assistant State’s Attorney’s Robert Malen and Demetrios Tsilimigras won a DUI jury trial in the matter of People v. Craig Miller. The jury deliberated for only one hour.
This was a challenging case because the defendant refused all field sobriety tests and refused a breathalyzer.
Sheriff’s Deputy Stan Myk stopped the defendant on Roberts Road near Maple Street in Island Lake for his erratic driving which caused the deputy to make an evasive move to avoid a head-on collision.
The defendant admitted that he was departing from a local bar. This was the defendant’s second DUI offense.
We are proud of our Assistant State’s Attorney’s.
This is the second successful DUI prosecution in 2 weeks where no breathalyzer result was admitted into evidence.
I’ve been trying to find out if Huntley School District 158 Superintendent John Burkey takes his vacation.
The article you see is what piqued my interest. It said Burkey was in China for eight days. It sparked this article:
Burkey gets a full month (20 work days) of vacation each year, “exclusive of weekends and legal holidays,” according to his contra
It seems to me a reasonable question to ask and get an answer as to whether he was “working” on the taxpayers’ dime for his junket (for which the district paid only registration) or on an officially recognized vacation, that is, using up some of his 20 days of vacation.
When I first asked, this was the result:
I rephrased my question to ask how many days vacation Burkey took in FY09 and FY10.
The reply came recently:
“In response to the number of vacation days taken each month in FY09 and FY10:
Information on how specific days by District employees are accounted for is exempt from disclosure per 5ILCS 140, Section 7(b, “information, that, if disclosed, would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy…”
So, taxpayers.
You don’t have a right to know if your school superintendent used up any vacation days in June to visit China or wherever.
MoveOn.org scheduled a demonstration in Fox River Grove at 7:30 last night.
It’s pretty dark then. Looks like some people showed up before dusk.
Jon Heideman was kind enough to send me some pictures of the event.
And, some commentary.
“During the hour that we stood there random people driving by stopped to show their support of the Government’s not taking over our Health care.
“In total there were 10 people that stopped on our side to show support.
“The only thing that the Move ON.ORG group received were honks, thumbs down and the occasional middle finger.
“I know not one passerby stopped to show support about their position or join their vigil,” Heideman wrote.
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The photos are show in the order I received them.
Know what you see above?
It’s the bottom of the spreadsheet sent me by the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office showing how much money has been spent on outside lawyers since September 1997 because of the 1993 murder of Morris and Ruth and the subsequent arrest, conviction, appeal, etc., of Gary Gauger. Here’s a summary of the case on the web site of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern Law.
McHenry County State’s Attorney Gary Pack prosecuted the case, convicting Gauger. He was sentenced to death by Judge Henry Cowlin on January 11, 1994.
Northwestern University Law Professor Lawrence C. Marshall agreed to appeal the case to the 2nd Appellate Court. Here’s what the Center says,
“In an unpublished opinion written by Judge S. Louis Rathje, with Judges Robert D. McLaren and Fred A. Geiger concurring, the court held that the statements were the fruit of an arrest made without probable cause and therefore should not have been admitted at the trial. Without the confession.
“McHenry County State’s Attorney Gary W. Pack had no choice but to drop the charges, and set Gary free.”
Pack, the article continues, didn’t accept the reversal and kept suggested Gauger was guilty of the crime.
In 1997, the Feds in Wisconsin indicted Outlaw motorcycle gang members for the murder. One plead guilty in 1998. Another was convicted in 2000.
In something of an understatement, the Center writes,
“Pack’s position was severely undermined” by the arrests.
In 2002, Governor George Ryan pardoned Gary Gauger. The pardon was based on innocence.
As readers know, Gauger sued McHenry County and the deputies who interrogated him and lost the case.
Some have suggested the jurors in the recent trial, many in my age bracket, might have been thinking they as taxpayers would have had to pick up the tab, if the found in Gauger’s favor.
But the figures above show that $1,218,662.49 of our tax money has already been spent. The amount spent is actually almost $531,000 higher, but that amount has been reimbursed to county government from insurance companies like Insurance Company of the West (ICW) and includes $103,869 from Lloyds of London. (ICW is the firm who got stuck with paying $5 million to Indeck, the gas generating company that wanted zoning near the intersection of Routes 176 and 47. Needless to say, ICW is not inclined to pay voluntarily and is being sued by the county for further reimbursements of legal expenses.)
Below are the amounts spent by year. This information was provided pursuant to a Freedom of Information request. (The county’s fiscal year actually runs from Dec. 1st through Nov. 30th, but I have used the year in which eleven of the months fall for simplicity’s sake. Numbers have been rounded up to the nearest dollar. The first number represents legal fees, the second miscellaneous expenses.)
All of the above seems to have resulted from legal work performed by James Sotos and his associates.
In addition, there was $158,098 paid to the law firm of Zukowski, Rogers, Flood and McArdle from 2004 though July of 2009.
The trial was in August, so the total cost to taxpayers is not complete. And, there will undoubtedly be an appeal.
Today’s “Message of the Day” was found on a Four Colonies subdivision lawn in Crystal Lake.
It says,
What kind of an anti-socialist is this?
One who likes Jimmy Buffet.My son was five or six and had done something egregious in the car. I had admonished him.
We were listening to Veggie Tale Christian songs and had just parked at Borders. He was teary-eyed, if not sobbing.
The song talked about our God being a God of second chances. (Third, fourth, fifth, ad infinitum, of course.)
“If God gives second chances, why can’t you?” he asked, much too sincerely.
I caved on whatever he wanted.
This is what came to mind after sleeping on an article I wrote about Huntley School District 158’s do-over on the bidding of salt melt.
What could be simpler that bidding 3,072 fifty pound bags of salt melt?
I looked at the “Notice,” however, and couldn’t find the amount desired listed. The specifications are not posted. You have to call to get them. Lorie Woods, District 158’s Community Relations Coordinator, got me the bid specs. Here’s the addendum issued August 19th. Both are signed by Director of Operations and Maintenance Douglas Renkosik.
In any event, below is the summary of the bids (click to enlarge), which are in the board packet for Thursday night school board meeting:
The bids came in and Greve Construction was low among the four companies that made submissions:
The full text of what happened can be found online in the board packet. It begins at page 15 of 355 online pages. That’s where I found the bid submissions seen above. Relatively easy to find, considering the lack of links to various parts of the board packet, as the McHenry County College Board packet has.
TruGreen provided a written protest of Greve Construction’s bid, citing its not being in compliance with the bid spec. Read it first and, then, guess what happened.
Here’s the protest in the board packet (click to enlarge):
“TruGreen has filed a formal protest regarding the low bidder. The formal protest states:
“Upon information and belief, the awarded Bidder does not meet the qualifications set forth in the bid notice, specifically that said Bidder is not actively engaged in the work specified in the bid (emphasis in the original). TruGreen was contacted by Bidder prior to the bid to get information about suppliers and pricing for ice melt products which we believe was because of Bidder lack of knowledge and/or experience in procuring products.”
Administrators recommended not only throwing Greve’s bid out, but TruGreen’s and all the others as well. Read why for yourself below (again, click to enlarge):
The report says that none of the bidders included five references.
I’m not sure who is being given a second chance here…maybe all of the bidders.
Coincidentally, a Jim Greve was a former Huntley District 158 school board member, who after leaving the board, I believe, received contracts and/or business as Greve Construction from the Huntley district.
If TruGreen’s bid is rejected and all bids thrown out, this will not be the first time the board threw all bids when Greve’s bid was protested.
Greve was recommended to be the low bidder for a snow removal contract a few years back.
There was one big problem.
The administration’s math was wrong and when the math calculations were corrected Greve was not the low bidder. Moore Turf Care was and David Moore’s wife, now Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore, who ran unsuccessfully for school board a year and a half later.
Was the real low bidder awarded with that snow removal contract?
Not the first time around. The bidders were given a second chance.
Board President Mike Skala pushed for a complete rebid and, with his board majority, won the day. I was at the meeting when Jim Greve publicly thanked Mike Skala and the other retiring board members after Skala was narrowly defeated for re-election in the 2007 election.
School district officials typically bemoan how they don’t get enough bidders.
You would think that snow melt would be an easy contract to let.
Maybe because, if you are like TruGreen, you are likely to put time into jumping through all of the bid process hoops and can have your bid thrown out, along with the bidder who you protested didn’t meet the specs.
Of course, the report says none of the bidders met the specifications. None submitted five references.
We’re talking four truckloads of ice melt here. $30,000+ worth of business. It would seem ready-made for someone just getting into business. A beginner wouldn’t have five references.
The idea behind competitive bidding is to have a level playing field, to maximize the number of bids.
What the Building Committee might ask is how something as simple as a bid for ice melt can have a “discrepancy between the bid specification and the bid advertisement,” as highlighted in the reason for rebidding which is reprinted in the image above.
This also points out how, for performing as simple a service as providing bags of ice melt, school administrators have created bureaucratic barriers for competition by including the requirement for submitting
“a list of no less than five (5) clients, from five different companies, for whom they have successfully procured the specified type of products within the last three years.”
No applicants just entering the business need apply, I guess.
In this state of licensed guilds (more people licensed than in any other state the last time I checked), I’m surprised the Illinois General Assembly hasn’t licensed suppliers of salt and salt melt, especially after the salt supply problems last year.
Huntley has a purchasing chain of command consisting of three administrators, complete with administrative assistants. One would think that team could get the bid advertisement to match the bid specification.
Using this discrepancy to throw out all the bids seems strange because the board has granted itself wide discretion. See the wording seen below in the bid notice. The bid advertisement can be read here.
“The Board of Education of Consolidated School District No. 158 reserves the right to reject any and all bids or parts thereof, to waive any irregularities or informalities in the bidding procedures and to award the contracts in a manner serving the best interest of the school district.”
In other words, the Huntley school board could award the contract to TruGreen.
Of course, District 158 could also give Greve Construction the contract.
But the Huntley School Board seems to believe in second chances.
Maybe former chief finance person Stacie Talbert was correct when she wrote in December. 2007:
“No procurement policy exists.”
16th District Congressman Don Manzullo has announced a Sunday, September 20th, noon -2 Town Hall meeting on health care at McHenry County College’s conference center.
Ironically, liberals have announced a similar session eleven days before. The McHenry County Democratic Party is actively promoting it.
Manzullo’s press release follows:
Rep. Manzullo to Hold Health Care Town Hall Meeting Sept. 20 at McHenry County College
[CRYSTAL LAKE] Congressman Don Manzullo (R-Egan) will continue to seek the opinions of northern Illinois residents on the all-important issue of health care reform when he hosts his eighth health care town hall meeting Sept. 20 in Crystal Lake.
The meeting is open to the public and will be held from 12 to 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20 in the multi-purpose room (large gymnasium) in Building A at McHenry County College, 8900 U.S. Highway 14, Crystal Lake. Doors will open at 11:30 a.m. on the east side entrance to the building. The closest parking lot is Lot B.
Manzullo will spend the first 25-30 minutes of the meeting explaining the health care reform proposals before Congress, his concerns with H.R. 3200, the alternatives he supports to make health care coverage more affordable and accessible to Americans, and the legislative outlook for passage.
The remainder of the meeting will be spent taking questions and comments from his constituents (speakers will be limited to 1 ½ minutes each).
Because the primary objective of the meeting is for Manzullo to hear from the people he represents, speakers will be limited to residents of the 16th Congressional District of Illinois, which includes about two-thirds of McHenry County. Signs will not be allowed into the building.
The MCC town hall will be Manzullo’s eighth town hall meeting in northern Illinois this summer.
Nearly 2,000 residents attended Manzullo’s previous town hall meetings in Sycamore, Oregon, Elizabeth (2 meetings), and Rockford (3 meetings).
To view clips of Manzullo’s previous town halls, visit Congressman Manzullo’s YouTube page at http://www.youtube.com/user/repmanzullo
8th District Congresswoman Melissa Bean has held no non-fee for admission Town Hall meetings in McHenry County or anywhere else. She did appear at a McHenry Chamber of Commerce luncheon (price $25), about which an attendee provided observations
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Congressman Don Manzullo is seen prior to the Patriots United meeting on health care on top, at an Oregon Town Hall meeting in the center and you can see the line to get into one of his Rockford Town Hall meetings.
A pollster for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Schillerstrom called yesterday afternoon.
Schillerstrom is DuPage County Board Chairman.
The pollster wanted to know if I would vote for Schillerstrom for governor.
I told her, “No.”
She didn’t ask why, but, if she had I had an answer.
I would have told her that I was really disturbed that he balanced his DuPage County budget by getting most of his county’s state senators to vote to triple my RTA sales tax.
The bill that eventually passed, after an amendment (allowing collar county board’s to use the quarter of a percent sales tax offer of free road money for collar county boards to be diverted to public safety purposes) was added.
That allowed Schillerstrom to forego an already-on-the ballot countywide referendum to raise sales taxes one-quarter of one percentage point for law enforcement to fill his budget hole. (Winnebago County passed such a referendum in 2002.)
Schillerstrom’s intervention was so egregious that he was taken to the wood shed by Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna at the Decatur state convention last June.
That made Schillerstrom hopping mad.
It stung so much most DuPage County Republicans walked off the convention floor.
Later my wife and I got a letter from Schillerstrom about it.
Schillerstrom let his state senators take the heat.
He got “free money.”
How ironic that one of them, Kirk Dillard is also running for the Republican nomination for governor.
But, the pollster was onto her next question. No time for an explanation on my part.
She asked if I would be more likely to vote for Schillerstrom if I knew I knew he had lowered property taxes seven ten years in 10 years.
I told her, “Yes.”
Would I be more likely to vote for Schillerstrom if I knew he had cut $200 million in wasteful spending?
I told her, “Yes.”
The final question was whether I would be more likely to vote for Schillerstrom if I knew DuPage County had passed “comprehensive ethics reform.”
I told her, “Yes.”
Do you see television and radio ads coming out of this survey?
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The photo of DuPage County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom comes from the Young Republican Candidates’ Bar-B-Que held in Barrington Saturday, August 11, 2009.
The McHenry County Peace Coalition, the Student Peace Action Network and Pax Christi will sponsor a health care forum at McHenry County College on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009, at 7 PM.
Speakers will be
According to press release,
“The event will include an overview of the current health care system and provide a better understanding of the health care crisis facing Americans. Borris will address the need for reform in the health care industry to assist small business owners, Dr. Snyder, a volunteer organizer with HCAN, has studied the various bills in Congress and he will dispel many myths circulating throughout the country and explain how the reform legislation will impact U.S. residents. Gaudette will explain how the public can have a say in the outcome of this pending legislation in Congress.
“The event is part of SPAN’s Current American Issues Information Seminar Series. SPAN is made up of students promoting peace nationally and locally through action and education. The event is co-sponsored by Pax Christi and the McHenry County Peace Coalition.”
“The college is located at 8900 U.S. Hwy. 14, Crystal Lake. The event is free and open to the public.
For more information, contact the MCC Student Activities Office at (815) 455-8772.”
The last time a controversial subject was presented at MCC–the Illinois Minutemen’s presentation of Ohio Sheriff Daniel Beck–protesters were relegated to the opposite side of the building.
And, signs and all sorts of other things were not allowed, as you can see from the sign.
Crystal Lake Police were out in force. Protesters were relegated to a parking lot facing Route 14 on the Northwest side of the MCC building complex.
Here’s what is on the poster:
“America’s health care system is a disaster causing vast amounts of suffering and unneeded expense.
“Now is the time to work together to correct its’ many flaws, however myths perpetuated by the health industry itself appear to be derailing this process by creating confusion in the public discourse.
“We have assembled a panel of experts to help sort fact from fiction.
“Jane Hansen who holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BA in economics from Wellesley will begin the evening by presenting an overview of the current health care system. This will provide a better understanding of the present health care crisis facing our country.
“David Borris, proprietor of Hel’s Kitchen Catering, will address the need for reform in the health care industry to assist small business owners.
“Dr. Hal Snyder is a volunteer organizer with Health Care for America Now who has studied the various bills in Congress. He will dispel the many myths circulating throughout our country and tell the truth about the reform legislation and what it will do for us.
“Illinois Director of Health Care for America Now, John Gaudette, will explain what’s happening in Congress and how we can have a say in the outcome.”
“If you have questions regarding the pending legislation in Congress, please join us.”
At the McHenry County Democratic Central Committee meeting at the Farm Bureau building in Woodstock on Wednesday, Mark Freund told those gathered that he was going to run for county clerk.
“We need more Democrats in McHenry County,” he said.
Freund is Financial Secretary of Carpenters Union 2087, which has its headquarters on North Williams Street in Crystal Lake.
He lives in from Woodstock.
Kathie Schultz is the Republican incumbent McHenry County Clerk.
So far Freund has gathered about 100 signatures on his petitions. He will need 370.
Every place you see rows of crops where you don’t expect them, know that it’s a tax dodge for a developer or a land speculator.
Farmed land of more than ten acres gets a really hefty property tax break.
This was taken hearing toward Route 53 on the Chicagoland’s Northwest Tollway.
There will be demonstrators in Fox River Grove Wednesday evening, but not until after rush hour is over. MoveOn.org.
Here’s what popped into my computer when I went to the web site.
Wednesday, 2 Sep 2009, 7:30 PM
We Can’t Afford to Wait Public Action NOW Vigil – 5 miles away
Rt. 14 at Lincoln Avnue22 registered participant(s) (20 maximum) Event is full
Rt. 14 at Lincoln Avenue
Fox River Grove, IL, IL 60021Directions: Take Route 14 (Northwest Highway) until you reach Lincoln Avenue in Fox River Grove. Lincoln is just southeast of the Fox River.
Hosted by Marylou Nunamaker
Description The corner of Rt. 14 and Lincoln Avenue in Fox River Grove is wheel chair accessible. It is near a railroad station, so we must be aware of the train tracks and the train traffic around this area.
If anyone decides to hold placards across the street where home bound car (but not train) traffic might be more likely to see a sign, please take some pictures and send them to McHenry County Blog.
Certainly it will be hard for some readers to grasp, but three of the four Republican legislators representing McHenry County voted for the tax increases on beer, wine, liquor, candy, soft drinks, etc., not to mention putting slot machines in every location with a liquor license.
The tax hikers and gambling expansion supporters are State Senator Pam Althoff and State Representatives Mark Beaubien and Mike Tryon (seen above from left to right).
All three voted to hike taxes on alcoholic beverages.
But, not to worry, at the same time they gave the liquor license holders the right to put five slot machines in their stores and taverns to make up for the inevitable lost revenue, at least that’s my take.
Here are the tax increases:
And, as the media has been concentrating on, candy without flour will be subject to the full sales tax now.
Not to mention soft drinks.
That will include Mayor Aaron Shepley’s 75% Crystal Lake City sales tax increase.
They will all argue (Althoff, Tryon) the tax dollars and slot machine money will go for a good cause–roads, bridges, schools, Chicago State University’s $40 million new West Side of Chicago campus, etc.
No, come to think of it, they probably will not defend the $40 million in pork for State Senator Rickey Hendon.
When the Candy Mom came home from Sam’s Club last night with a big box of KitKat, I looked at the ingredients and saw “flour.”
That meant she did not have to buy it before the new tax on candy went up.
She should have bought the almost pure sugar candy you see in the First Methodist Church of Crystal Lake’s Vacation Bible School-purchased paper mache bowl.
The other two legislators, one a Republican and one a Democrat, voted, “No.”
The Democrat, of course, is State Rep. Jack Franks.
The Republican is newly-elected State Senator Dan Duffy.
Incidentally, the Northwest Herald article on the tax hikes today, did not reveal who voted how, but some commenters did.
Just noticed McHenry County Blog has passed the 7,500 article milestone. Over 1.75 million visits to the web site since October, 2005.
I hope I have managed to live up to what’s under the masthead:
“This is a journal of news and opinion designed to bring to light matters of public interest and to encourage public participation in the governmental process. Emphasis will be on McHenry County, but Illinois state news will be covered.”
23,000 have tried to figure out who this Cal Skinner guy is. I’ll make it easy for you. Below is most of what is published there:
Cal Skinner
Retired Republican state representative (73-81, 93-01). Began government career in the U.S. Budget Bureau (before it was called the Office of Management and Budget). Served as McHenry County Treasurer (66-70). Ran for GOP nomination for Congress in 1980. Ran for State Comptroller in 1983. Ran as Libertarian Party candidate for Governor in 2002. Web site archived by Library of Congress here. Won/loss record for public office is 19 and 4. Bachelor’s degree in economics from Oberlin College. Master’s degree in public administration from the University of Michigan. Graduate of Crystal Lake Community High School.
Don’t know why, but when Google’s Blogger hosting system went into its second version, folks started finding it difficult to post comments.
My article on the second $25 Melissa Bean not-at-all a Town Hall meeting at the McHenry Country Club elicited the following comments:
From Blogger Liberty Watchman:
“Bean’s a real profile in courage, isn’t she? Sure she likes pod-casts; voters can’t give feedback via a pod cast.
I’ve written on her (Lake Zurich) Town Hall cowardice.
From Jes:
“Bean, Durbin and the rest of those ‘representatives’ of WE THE PEOPLE, the PEOPLE who voted them into office, deserve some answers from them. They are COWARDS, plain and simple.
“Keep contacting them. Fax them, call them, and most of all walk into their office. [Do not send mail. Bean told one constituent it takes 90 or more days to get through the anthrax check.]
“I’ve done that with my rep Beaubian, and got a phone call a week later from his wife! She tried to convince me that his pro-choice votes were good for the community he represents.
“I don’t think so, and I’ll campaign for anyone who runs against him, who follows the Republican Platform, or conservative values. We can’t continue being in the middle of the road .. and getting run over.
“I’m sorry I put a Beaubien sign in my yard. Never again!
“WE HAVE AWAKENED!!!”
I don’t know whether the two commenters are planning to run for Republican precinct committeeman, but they should.
Here’s how:
Filing dates are different from those in the 2007 article. October 26 – November 2, 2009, are the dates.
If you are not currently a precinct committeeman, I recommend you file during the afternoon of the November 2nd.
As I have written previously, the Establishment prefer to have as many empty precincts as possible, so they can be filled with friends who may or may not do anything during election time. Filing early gives the powers that be the opportunity to find someone to run against a newcomer.
More information, including which precincts currently have no precinct committeeman (both Republican and Democrat) and which ones have appointed committeemen, who, most likely, do not live in their precincts (making the precinct effectively an empty precinct for filing purposes because one has to live in a precinct to run in it), can be found here.
Any questions, email me. The address is way down on the right hand side of the page.
