At the meeting before last, John Hammerand’s request to participate by phone was denied on a 10-10 vote. (You can read the email exchange obtained through a Freedom of Information Request here.)
That roll call can be seen below:
The vote was 10-10. Tie votes fail. Here’s how my source says the members voted:
The Hammerands rode in a convertible provided by Gary Lang.
Aavang – Yes
Barnes – Yes
Daffkorn – NO
Evertsen – Yes
Gasser – Yes
Hammerand
Heisler – Yes
Hill – No
Jung – Absent
Koehler – No
Kopsell – No
Kurtz – Absent
Martens – No
McCann – Yes
Miller – No
Nowak – No
Provenzano – Yes
Rein – Yes
Schofield – No
Skala – No
Smith – Yes
Wheeler – Yes
Chairman Gottemoller – No
Gottemoller was the deciding vote, since he voted last.
Tuesday, another roll call was taken on a similar request.
This time, Hammerand received approval to participate by phone via a 17-5 vote. (Mike Skala was absent from the meeting and Hammerand did not participate in this particular vote.)
Voting “No” this time around were
- Tina Hill
- John Jung
- Robert Martens
- Anna May Miller
- Robert Nowak
As reported previously, the County’s Freedom of Information Officer could find no doctor’s notes that had been submitted prior to Hill’s and Miller’s being allowed to participate in meetings by phone.
Tina Hill and Miller have a lot of nerve.
Tina should be tarred and feathered just for this stunt alone.
Well this is a first but I agree with Cindy 150%
Tina Hill you have kahunas.
Tina Hill and Bob Martens-who is also in County Board district 4 need to be recalled for this vote.
They need to be publicly shamed for this vote.
Cal
I was there & I voted YES for John to attend.
The “NO” votes,, on the 1st and 2nd rounds, should be replaced in the next election.
It’s obvious they’re not interested in the rights of the taxpayers to have representation.
Poor leadership (or lack of leadership) on the new Board Chairman’s part, along with Chairmanship and Committee assignments, should weigh heavily in any future consideration of supporting him for public office.
The year is 2015.
Some McHenry County Board members and the leader of the Dems in D.C. may want to wake from their slumber! (Pielosi denied the right of Tammy Duckworth to participate in Congress remotely.)
We have had phone conferencing available for over twenty years, video conferencing at minimal or no cost for fifteen years.
To see that ten board members two weeks ago and five this week voted to take away the right of VOTERS to be represented at a County Board meeting is reprehensible!!
We need to primary these people the next time they are up for re-election!
Hammerand was the top vote ‘getter’ in his district, is that why the so-called ‘elite’ of the Republican party want to dis-enfranchise his supporters?
I will take John Hammerand in Florida over certain other board members in person any day of the week.
Those voting twice to prohibit McHenry County Board member John Hammerand (District 4) to attend the board meetings remotely, both at the January 6, 2015 and January 20, 2015 board meetings are:
Tina Hill: District 5
Robert Martens: District 4
Anna May Miller: District 1
Robert Nowak: District 1
John Jung (District 5) was absent January 6 but voted no January 20.
One could be possibly claim lack of knowledge about the subject matter as a reason for voting no at the January 6th meeting.
But what are the reasons for the January 20th meeting, since they would have had two weeks to contemplate and research the issue?
There are 4 board members in each of the 6 districts.
http://www.co.mchenry.il.us/county-government/departments-a-i/county-board/meet-your-county-board-members
Path to the above URL:
http://www.co.mchenry.il.us > County Government > Meet Your County Board Members
Be careful what you wish for- If John Hammerand can phone in his job from Florida, then we’ll end up with a sheriff that will phone in his job from Florida.
And I’m sure the Board (and Mr. Hammerand, specifically) has redefined the sheriff’s position to ensure that an individual who serves the people of the County does so from a physical nexus within the County.
Haven’t they? I must have missed the article in the Herald.
Hill and Miller really should be ashamed of their votes.
This is truly a Shakespearean Comedy*
John!
Your red herring is ridonculous!
So I missed the article, “Cindy”? I’ll look for it.
And I am afraid that you are confusing fish with satire.
is Tina Hill sober enough to vote on anything?
These 5 mooks must be thrown out of their little preening-perches!
After I was McHenry County Treasurer for a couple of years starting in December of 1966, my bookkeeper, Oral Harendeen, wife of former Sheriff Harry Harendeen, told me that, for the last two years of Sheriff Ed Dowd’s term, his checks were sent to Texas.
Now, of course, with direct deposit, there is no need for checks to be mailed.
Let me brag on Oral and my Chief Deputy, predecessor and successor, Audrey Walgenbach.
Over the four years I was Treasurer, we were out of balance only $10.
That was a counterfeit check seized by the Federal Reserve.