The McHenry County Board’s Finance & Audit Committee has recommended fulfilling an Andy Zinke pre-election press opportunity to convert squad cars to Liquid Propane Gas.
The vote on a three-year contract (with additional [unspecified] option years) is scheduled for Tuesday, May 6th’s 9 AM County Board meeting.
Reading agenda item (2b(2)), I tried to put myself in the place of a new Sheriff, who will take office in December.
Would I want the County Board to impose such a restriction for what might be my entire term of office?
The answer was, of course, “No.”
Finance Committee minutes note that Donna Kurtz and Nick Provenzano pointed out that new leadership was coming to the Sheriff’s Department.
Bill Prim
I reached out to Republican Bill Prim for his opinion and received the following email:
“If I were to look to an alternative fuel source I look to CNG, compressed natural gas.
“It’s less expensive, the price is stable, availability is high and private industry moving in that direction.”
This is the second three-year contract for the Sheriff’s Office which will be considered at Tuesday’s meeting.
The first has to do with a contract with the U.S. Marshal’s Service which increases the daily payment from $85 to $95, while the actual cost has been advanced as $131.38 per day by jail consultant John Summerill.
Why put this on the agenda now?
It is what only 6 months until a new Sheriff comes in.
Sounds like Bill Prim already has knowledge of a more cost efficient alternative.
“Why put this on the agenda now?”
Because they’re trying to screw Bill. The strategy is to saddle him with enough terrible contracts so that he will take the heat for the fallout.
Speaking of terrible contracts, also on the agenda is the new contract with the US Marshals for housing federal detainees.
Box 18 on the cover sheet for the contract (http://mchenrycountyil.iqm2.com//Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=4&ID=3359&MeetingID=2373) provides that the contract also applies to ICE.
Does this mean that the housing of ICE detainees will also be governed by this contract, or is that a separate deal?
If so, I ask again, why would the US Government give McHenry County $95 per prisoner per day when it only has to pay Kenosha $70? They won’t.
The rate disparity in this contract effectively means that the federal business is going to dry up, the ICE wing is going to be shut down, and that there will be massive layoffs in the jail.
Every corrections officer at the jail should walk into Nygren’s office and ask Zinke why his parting gift to the force is the certainty of layoffs.
And every corrections officer who likes their job needs to show up to the County Board meeting on Tuesday and use the public comment portion of the meeting to express their disagreement with this terrible contract.
Great catch on ICE being included in the contract!
I will be interested in seeing what else we can expect to see from the Nygren/Zinke Regime, as they loose their power.
Should the County Board now be looked into? .
What they are doing is as plain as the nose on your face.
We all want McHenry County to be uplifted and not torn down.
Is Zinke and others “THAT” upset that Bill Prim won the primary.
They are trying to pass everything the old Regime wanted so when Prim gets elected they can say something negative.
You can see already that Prim is looking out for the citizens !!!
Mark you are absolutely 100% right.
No one has heard from Zinke.
Is he too busy at the shredding machine.
I wonder how many documents are being shredded?
I would like to know the cost of the leasing program…also, what if the kits are improperly installed ? ( I know they will be trained at $2500 )
I would hate to be involved in an accident with a squad that has a improperly compressed bomb it.
The board says ” The Sheriff Dept. is wanting to convert 20 squad vehicles to multi energy use in order to reduce the effects on air quality by utilizing a cleaner ( AND SOMETIMES CHEAPER ) burning fuel source ” You better KNOW it’s cheaper !
I smell something rotten in McHenry County with this HURRY UP, pass this bill decision, and it’s not gas.
Yeah, let’s spend more money and screw ( Thank you, Mark) Bill Prim..what a nice parting gift from Zinke !
mark and voter, if they are worried that Harrison will not have enough signatures on his petitions, you had better bet, all kinds of things will will be shredded.
Bill, Looks like you might have to put a new shredder in your budget !
Boy and I thought Chicago politics were bad.
At least they are sneaky about doing things.
McHenry it is “right in your face” wrong decisions to hurt the County and too bad.
A bad call on the Ethics decision and now this.
What else?
That is o.k. because the new appointees will find a way to correct things that the old Regime want to destroy before they leave and hurt the citizens .
Did everyone check out the Northwest Herald…
Zinke Will Not Contest Sheriff’s Election Results……
I hear those shredding machines gearing up !
Too funny.
Nygren and Zinke trying to plant one more poisonous seed behind as they try to flee Dodge.
I can bet those shredding machines will be going all night til December.
Can the computers be wiped clean of all previous business?
…4, 3, 2, 1… cue the black helicopters.
Jeez you people are funny
Buzz,Come on out to Prim’s May 13th Kick Off Celebration .
Love to meet cha.
As for some of the members of County Board, all of that popcorn has gone to their heads.
Clearly, this decision demonstrates that they are not capable of making decisions…
What exactly is the impeachment process?
Time to have some individuals removed from their roles as Board members.
I’m with you Duncan
In typical fashion of the way things have been run in McHenry County these last 20 yrs.
it looks like “someone” promised the ones who would convert the cars a political favor and they have to get that done before the new, more level headed, intelligent, straight, and accountable Sheriff takes over.
Boy do we need a housecleaning of the county board!!!
Has anyone told Zinke AND the county board that propane gas skyrocketed this winter and that there was a shortage in Wisconsin this winter?!
$6 a gal in some places.
There needs to be a total audit of the sheriffs dept. keep a close watch on how every board member votes.
I shall publish the roll calls.
Funny, Proud.
The first thing I thought of was the shortages this winter.
Not knowing much about this subject, I didn’t speak.
(A daughter in another state had to opt out of propane for her furnace last winter. It was cheaper to use space heaters. This is the kind of thing that normal people are suffering through while TPTB run our country into limbo.)
P.S. I figured liquid propane mentioned in the story and gas propane were different animals. lol Kind of like chili?
Kind of cool when you can waste tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to sabotage your political opponent!
CP, but now it falls on the County Board.
They should wait and also there should be some type of ruling that when new positions come all new business should be put on hold.