Time for Watchdogs to Run for Office against Cheerleaders

A letter for the editor of the Northwest Herald, reprinted here with permission of writer Stephen Willson of Lakewood: Run for Office Editor: Our government is supposed to be a system of checks and balances. Locally, that means school boards … Continue reading

State Senate Candidates’ Night – Part 5 – Budget Shortfall

Continuing coverage of the League of Women Voters Candidates’ Night for those seeking State Senate seats looking at answers to the question of  what to do with the State’s budget shortfall. And the candidates had a minute to answer the question … Continue reading

State Senate Candidates’ Night – Part 4 – Real Estate Taxes, Cap or Reduce, How Finance Schools & Libraries

Continuing coverage of the League of Women Voters Candidates’ Night for those seeking State Senate seat looking at answers to the question of whether property taxes should be capped or reduced and “how do you propose to help schools and libraries–two … Continue reading

Jack Franks Files Freedom of Information Requests with School Districts Asking for Seven Years’ Data

McHenry County Board Chairman Jack Franks, having met with some school district officials privately June 6th, has sent our Freedom of Information requests seeking the following information from each school district for 2010 through 2017: The total number of district … Continue reading

Franks Holds Closed Door Meeting with School Leaders

The time was 11 o’clock. The place was the County Administrative Building. The participants had been summoned by McHenry County Board Chairman Jack Frnaks as part of his campaign to convince voters that he had not really promised that their … Continue reading

Franks Replies to School Superintendents’ Counteroffer to Meeting Request

Yesterday, McHenry County Blog published the press release McHenry County Board Chairman Jack Franks released about his invitation to nine school superintendents and board presidents to meet with him on Thursday. The superintendents said a number had scheduling conflicts, but … Continue reading

School Superintendent’s Reply to Jack Franks’ Command Performance, aka, Publicity Pop

McHenry County Board Chairman Jack Franks posted the following press release after it was published in the Northwest Herald. Franks asked for a meeting right after property tax bills would be received. Problem with that is Franks would have had … Continue reading

Strategy for Taking Control of School Boards Back from the Teachers’ Union

Commenter Swampbuggy offers this sage advice for how to cut property taxes: Right now the Teacher’s Union has discovered that you can run teachers for the school boards and then call all the parents and union members to come out … Continue reading

Palatine School Board Conflict of Interest Article Catches Attention for CL High School Board Similarity

Crystal Lake High School Board Members Set Relatives’ Salaries A Friend of McHenry County Blog read an article in the Daily Herald concerning the conflict of interest in having relatives of school employees negotiating their salaries. Having relatives of school … Continue reading

NWH Points Out District 155 High School Board Candidates Endorsed by Teacher Union

In its article on the Crystal Lake High School District 155 Board election Friday, the Northwest Herald did something I have not seen done before. It identified which candidates were endorsed by the teacher union. In my precinct letter, I … Continue reading

Rauner Comments on Chicago,Cook County Property Tax Bills; Silent on Bill That, If Signed, Would Hike School Taxes Outside of Chicago

From Governor Bruce Rauner: Statement from Governor Rauner on Property Tax Bills  SPRINGFIELD – Governor Rauner issued the following statement as many homeowners throughout Illinois face a deadline today to pay property taxes: “Illinois residents are being hit with record … Continue reading