How Affordable Housing Works

A letter to the Northwest Herald, reprinted with permission of its author, Steve Willson: Affordable Housing My Foot! Regarding the recent story in the Northwest Herald (Woodstock’s Prairie View Apartment Community Changes Hands; February 12, 2019). I’ve been in the municipal bond … Continue reading

Continued Discussion on School Consolidation

In the “Here we go again” category is consolidation of schools. These comments by Lakewood’s Steve Willson stimulates me to re-post the analysis I did seven years ago under his reflections: I’m so tired of this “consolidate the schools” argument. … Continue reading

Township Opponent Offers Gradualist Approach to Abolition

In reply to Steve Willson’s comments on State Rep. David McSweeney’s bill to allow voters to abolish their township government through a petition and referendum process, commenter “KnownExtremist” offers the following: I do have an opinion on townships and I … Continue reading

Pessimistic Outlook for Northern Illinois University

Stimulated by a Northwest Herald editorial extolling the future of Northern Illinois University, Lakewood bond analyst Steve Willson penned the following: NIU’s Decline Is Inevitable On September 20, 2018, the Northwest Herald ran an editorial (“Our View:  NIU enrollment declines not irreversible or … Continue reading

Steve Willson’s Reply to Anonymous Commenter’s Charge of Lying about Randall Road’s Capacity

Commenter “Pro” wrote: “Figures from the McHenry County Division of Transportation show that, even at rush hour, traffic on Randall Road at Algonquin does not exceed capacity, nor has traffic on that part of Randall grown in more than twelve … Continue reading

Steve Willson Does County Board’s Homework on Randall/Algonquin Road Intersection

An analysis of the need for improving the intersection of Randall and Algonquin Roads by bond analyst Steve Willson, a resident of Lakewood: Randall/Algonquin: How Big and How Much? The decision as to whether or by how much the Randall/Algonquin … Continue reading

Costs and Benefits of Expanding MCC Facilities

From Lakewood bond analysis Steve Willson: The Most Basic Question About the MCC Capital Project All of the arguments made by administration at MCC to justify the science labs/health careers labs project fail to address THE most fundamental question: Will … Continue reading

Rebutting the MCC Rebuttal on $34 Million Project – Part 3

Below is Part 3 of the rebuttal from Lakewood bond analyst Steve Willson’s critique (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) to the “Corrections” paper about the critique issued by anonymous McHenry County College officials: Rebuttal to MCC’s “Corrections in Response to McHenry County … Continue reading