Candidates for the McHenry County Board are starting to send out mailings.

I received nothing from District 2 candidates yesterday…or from any statewide candidate, but others got some mail. (Here is the first round of District 1 mail. It’s from the week early voting started.)

But I did get a piece from Ellen Brady Mueller late last week.

Notice the stamp and the address. Someone had to affix the first class stamp. That's more personal than having a mail house use a permit, as is the return address label. And, when was the last time you received mail from a candidate that someone had hand addressed? All three elements show Brady Mueller has volunteers willing to do stuff that most candidates now relegate to a mail house.

On the address side in pretty small print is Brady Mueller’s biography, including her being “well prepared for any issue that comes before her” and that she is “a proven team player.”

She does not mention that she voted for Mayor Aaron Shepley’s 75% city sales tax increase. (I would not either, were I writing the copy.)

She lays out her goals:

• Make rational roadway improvements her #1 priority
• Maintain core services without additional cost to the taxpayers
• Bring new techniques and programs to attract business to the county
• Work collaboratively with all interest parties to implement a ground water protection and conservation program
• Persuade the county to recognize and adopt the Crystal Lake Watershed ordinance. (See critique of county board 2030 Plan for not recognizing the Crystal Lake Watershed Oridinance.)
• Broaden the communications between communities and the entire county board.
• Maintain a good solid working relationship with all the municipalities of the county.

"Ellen is the right person, at the right time, for the right reasons," is the message. The description is catchy and the photo of the candidate in Downtown Crystal Lake really catches her identity with the town. She loves to tell people her family has lived here over 100 years. That seems more than appropriate because she is a long-time city councilwoman.