Joe Gottemoller Elected County Board Chairman

Joe Gotemoller

Joe Gottemoller

By the time the McHenry County Board conducted its vote for the last Chairman to be selected by its members’ votes, there only two of the original five courting votes remaining as candidates–

  • Joe Gottemoller and
  • Jim Heisler

both of Crystal Lake.

Gottemoller won 15 votes, while Heisler got 9.

Gottemoller ran for Chairman two years ago in his freshmen year when he received his own, plus newcomers Carolyn Schofield’s and Mike Skala’s support in a contest that put Tina Hill in the top seat.

Schofield nominated and Skala seconded Gottemoller’s nomination.

This time he retained that original support and picked up the votes of thirteen others.

He won the support of all of Hill’s first ballot coalition from two years ago, except that of Heisler and Mike Walkup.

Gottemoller also received the support of all of those remaining of the 2012 Ken Koehler coalition but Yvonne Barnes, who nominated Heisler.

All three of the remaining Ersel Schuster 2012 supporters went for Heisler.

There was consensus for Vice Chairman.

Barnes, who nominated Heisler for Chairman, was selected on a unanimous vote.  Michele Aavang, a Gottemoller supporter, nominated her seatmate.

Taking the chair, Gottemoller said,

“It is an honor and a humbling experience…I know this has been an interesting two weeks.

He said he made only one promise to each County Board member:

“I said I would do the best job I could.”

McH Co Bd posed 12-14 1He listed topics and goals the new Board will have to consider:

  • re-organization of committees and County Board rules to prepare for the election of the County Board Chairman in an at-large election in 2016
  • committees being the fact researching bodies, not the County Board as a whole after something comes out with the approval of a committee.
  • shorter agendas (“I believe a thousand page agenda is too long.  When we have that kind of an agenda, nobody can prepare [for the meeting].”)
  • the budget, which has been flat, except for new growth for three years, may not be able to continue on that course.  Gottemoller pointed out the the Courthouse roof is leaking and he doesn’t want to have to remove mold.
  • Highways so that companies and farmers can get their products to market.  Mentioned specifically were
    • the intersection of Randall and Algonquin Roads
    • an intersection for I-90 and Route 23
    • the extension of  Route 53 in Lake County
  • whether to continue with the ICE detainee jail program (“We have to talk to our new Sheriff Prim.”)

Gottemoller announced the following will comprise the Committee on Committees:

  • District 1 – Anna Miller
  • District 2 – Ken Koehler
  • District 3 – Nick Provenzano
  • District 4 – Sue Draffkorn
  • District 5 – Mike Skala
  • District 6 – Mary McCann

Last time, Hill named no men to the committee.

Those voting for Gottemoller follow:

  • Michele Aavang
  • Sue Draffkorn
  • Joe Gottemoller
  • John Jung
  • Ken Koehler
  • Don Kopsell
  • Bob Martens
  • Mary McCann
  • Anna Miller
  • Bob Nowak
  • Nick Provenzano
  • Michael Rein
  • Carolyn Schofield
  • Mike Skala
  • Larry Smith

Those supporting Heisler, who was nominated by Donna Kurtz:

  • Yvonne Barnes
  • Diane Evertsen
  • Andrew Gasser
  • John Hammerand
  • Jim Heisler
  • Tina Hill
  • Donna Kurtz
  • Mike Walkup
  • Chuck Wheeler

Comments

Joe Gottemoller Elected County Board Chairman — 16 Comments

  1. 16 plus 9 equals 25.

    Re: “Last time, Hill named no men to the committee.”

    Neither has Joe.

    Males maybe but not men.

    We do have men on the Board but they were not chosen.

    Joe needs weak people around him.

    I did not hear any comments about reducing expenses – I only heard projects which require more money.

  2. All I can say is if you planned on moving out of McHenry County, you may want to expedite the schedule.

    Population is decreasing, assessments are down one third and businesses are closing every day.

    Just like Joe tried to ram through the UDO with little or no debate, he will now be able to attempt to ram through whatever the “money” people want.

    I pray the voters watch closely.

    The voters lost a strong representative when they voted out Schuster.

    Her replacement is about as pro-tax increase as they come.

    He actually believes there is not end to the development Ponzi scheme.

  3. It will be interesting to observe if any of the Heisler supporters get a Chairmanship.

    Joe stated he made no promises – betcha Miller keeps Transportation!

    Why is McCann standing alone?

  4. Maybe McCann didn’t want to stand next to a real conservative…

    The McHenry County voters sent some good people to the board but clearly there is still work to be done.

    Hopefully this board will be more productive than the last.

  5. The new chairman needs to be watched VERY closely-by board members and the voters.

    Several board members need to be watched as well.

  6. The Committee on Committees was carefully chosen to include Board Members who have drained the public’s purse for their own benefit, their overpaid salaries and perks (e.g. take a look at Mike Skala’s), and whatever way they can position themselves for monetary gain.

    They’ve done little in their current committees to demonstrate an interest in representing the people of McHenry County by keeping spending down.

    Their histories makes them the perfect choice to do Joe’s dirty work.

    Agree with “Questioning On” – bet Miller will keep Transportation.

    Also, will watch Mike Skala’s rise.

  7. Cal,Yvonne Barnes actually nominated Jim Heisler.

    I seconded Yvonne’s nomination of Jim Heisler for McHenry County Board Chairman and was proud to do so.

  8. @HadEnough: That may be your opinion, but the opinion of a plurality of voters in their districts is otherwise.

    It reeks of sour grapes to start whining about elected officials this short after the election.

    If you honestly believed they had character problems, you should have done a better job getting your preferred candidates elected.

  9. Rawdogger: Unfortunately we do not have county wide elections for board members.

    As a consequence we all pay the price for ignorant voters elsewhere in the county.

    Why did D-6 throw out a conservative and replace her with a “pave over the county” and “fill it with rooftops” guy?

  10. Here are my complete thoughts on our county board: (Ironically, I found this gem in an online article on Chemtrails.)

    …”Corruption is evident throughout government, police, media, banking and corporations alike.

    “When the need arises they rally to protect each other and close ranks to hide the evidence behind an impenetrable veil of secrecy.

    “People’s protests are ignored, promises are broken, bonuses paid, expenses claimed and life at the top continues unabated.

    “Meanwhile, ordinary people are losing their jobs, their homes and their privacy. …”

  11. @connecting dots: apparently the view is no better from the second row than it was in the back.

    Your Ad Hominem attacks on fellow board members is pretty sophomoric, and ironically self defeating.

    Clearly, the committee on committees is not going to behave as you wish they would, so you ham-handedly try to emasculate their characters?

    You do see the conundrum, right?

    They’ll behave as they wish, despite your histrionics.

    That doesn’t make them less men; it makes them more.

    And, frankly, this has nothing to do with gender.

    There could have easily been women appointed.

    And there would have been if there was a female in any district who had been more strident in their support for the chair than those appointed.

    I’m in the cheap seats, and even from here I can see the struggle and machinations of the TP caucus trying to infiltrate and take over the larger, more moderate Republican Party in McHenry County.

    Perhaps you’ll get there.

    Perhaps not.

    Whoever crafted the Barnes-as-vice-chair compromise executed deft politics, and perhaps that set you up for 2016 to take the chair by popular vote.

    But I doubt it will be that easy for you.

  12. Newsflash, it only takes one squeaky wheel to get the job done.

    No need for a TP caucus.

    It helps to have a majority, but it is not necessary to make County Government more conservative.

    It looks like we have more than enough squeaky “TP” wheels representing our county now to make some much needed changes.

    Remember that Jonathan Gruber guy?

    The Obamacare architect?

    Yes, the man who called all of the Democrats stupid?

    Yes, well realize the TP NEVER fell for that Obamacare disaster.

    Quite a few moderate Republicans did though.

    So, what exactly are you saying about the TP?

    They are actually smarter than the average Democrat and Republican.

  13. Gottemoller took the position that representing a power plant adversarial to the health, safety, and wellbeing of the citizens of a village within McHenry County did not violate Public Officer Prohibited Activities Act (50 ILCS 105/3 (from Chapter 102, par.3)), and we must assume that his ethical analysis of future situations will be similar.

    The power plant zoning variance was to be rewarded by a board of Oakwood Hills, which is a subsection of this County.

    So technically the County Board would not vote at that juncture.

    But if the power plant achieved the zoning status sought, it would have put McHenry County in the defensive position of needing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees to fight this incursion by a for-profit entity which would have commanded free access to a huge percentage of the available groundwater of the entire county (and beyond).

    Further, the property value devaluation projected for homes within a five mile radius of the plant would have lowered tax revenue for the county (even net factoring-in the taxes projected to be paid by plant) so all citizens in the rest of McHenry County would have ended up subsidizing this massively profitable private business (Gottemoller’s client).

    Gottemoller also represented a similar unsuccessful power plant incursion attempt in the late 1990’s, and heard all the data about water usage then, so he cannot claim ignorance of the fact that such clients’ narrow interests would damage every single citizen in McHenry County.

    A County Board leader should have not even the temptation or possibility of such a conflict of interest.

  14. Patrickincary Your comment relative to my post insinuates I am a board member. Remember the real definition of ‘assume’.

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