The following was written by First Electric Newspaper publisher Pete Gonigam and graciously shared with McHenry County Blog readers:
McHenry Dems Pick State Rep. Jack Franks For County Board Chairman
State Rep. Jack Franks handing petitions for his McHenry County Board Chairman nomination to Paula Yensen who’ll have to circulate petitions of her own to run for the County Board in District 5. Photo by Pete Gonigam.
The McHenry County Democratic Central Committee in caucus Sunday picked 63rd District State Rep. Jack Franks to run against Republican Mike Walkup to become the County’s first directly-elected County Board Chairman in November.
Saturday the Committee added nominees for two more Board Districts, slating Lake in the Hills Trustee Paula Yensen to run in District 5 and Cary resident Kathryn Potter in District 1.
Franks still has to circulate and file nominating petitions for the Chairman’s spot but Sunday’s choice makes him unofficially a candidate for two offices simultaneously.
He told Central Committee members he planned to abandon the race to represent all but the southeast corner of McHenry County in Springfield next term as soon as they can pick a replacement.
Later, in a First Electric Newspaper interview, Franks qualified that saying he’d give up the Rep. race if the Committee can pick another candidate who’s both “electable” and holds a political outlook consistent with his own.
Franks won the Democratic Primary running unopposed. Harvard attorney Steve Reick was the GOP winner.
Nick Chirikos
The vote for Franks as Board Chairman candidate wasn’t unanimous, however, Former Algonquin County Board Member Nick Chirikos was the lone naysayer.
“He has never supported our local party in any way, shape or form until it suited his interests,”
Chirikos told FEN.
Crystal Lake lawyer Mike Walkup won the Republican Primary for County Board Chair but Franks didn’t have much to say about his new opponent besides scoffing at his defense in the still unfolding County Board IMRF possibly fraudulent pensions controversy.
“C’mon. You’re an attorney and you didn’t read what you were signing?” he snarked..
What Franks briefly outlined sounded more like a campaign against the entire McHenry County Board, currently an exclusively Republican domain.
“I feel compelled to fix the problems created by this Board.”
“I’m embarrassed by the inefficiency and the corruption they’ve created.”
Franks said he’d push to shrink the Board from 24 members, four at large in each of 6 districts, to only 16 in as many single-member ones.
“That would be representative,” he said.
He also said he wanted to shrink the number of Board committees from 12 to 7.
Separately, Yensen told FEN that LITH trustee and County Board member are legally incompatible offices so if she wins a return to the County Board she will resign her seat on the Village panel.
Franks told fellow candidates the way to victory was to get out and campaign hard every day.
He said that’s what he planned to do, only not yet because the Legislature will be in session for the next couple of weeks.
= = = = =
Of course, Franks promised not to run for County Board Chairman, as the following Northwest Herald headline shows:
The Northwest Herald headline from early June of 2014 about Jack Franks’ promise not to run for McHenry County Board Chairman.
this opportunity was created for the democrats by our dysfunction and infighting.
in a county that is 60 percent republican we just helped the democrats eliminate 8 republican county board members
Context for those who care: http://www.nwherald.com/2014/06/05/franks-asks-county-for-2-advisory-referendums/a6ejr9p/?view=all
Kevin Craver reports that Jack is relinquishing the 63rd seat to, instead, pursue the County Board Chairmanship…
Let the games begin
For Serwatka:
Since Craver wasn’t there, and I was, I’d suggest placing more credence in my account.
You’re not a real reporter, Pete, quit playing around.
/sarcasm
I have been saying the same thing weseafields all along finally some are catching on
Pete Gonigam and Cal Skinner are just out to stir the pot.
They are not reporters who are designed to give you the unbiased story rather they give you what they want you to hear and skew it just enough to to see the response.
Kevin Craver is not much different he has been reporting in McHenry County a little to long and has become jaded with a view.
Jason Shaumburg is no longer with the NW Herald.
This is not news it is a $hit Stirring contest.
Who can make the most stink and not get it on themselves.
Pete Gonigam and Cal Skinner are just out to stir the pot.
They are not reporters who are designed to give you the unbiased story rather they give you what they want you to hear and skew it just enough to to see the response.
Kevin Craver is not much different he has been reporting in McHenry County a little to long and has become jaded with a view.
Jason Shaumburg is no longer with the NW Herald.
This is not news it is a $hit Stirring contest.
Who can make the most stink and not get it on themselves.
McHenry County is a $hit Hole thanks to all of you.
While my master’s degree is in Public Administration from the University of Michigan, Pete Gonigam’s is from the Columbia School of Journalism.
Please feel free to share your educational background.
Cal,
Your academic pedigree does not outweigh the strength of my argument.
Reporters are to be unbiased rather than a skewed version of the truth.
The truth is that Republican’s.created this mess
‘joseywhales” you are the one stirring the pot and you couldn’t write about everyday politics if you tried.
Republicans didn’t create any mess.
Clearly, you are a Democrat out to promote your agenda and make no sense at all and therefore have no valid arguments.
So do us all a favor and put a sock in it!
“Jason Shaumburg is no longer with the NW Herald.”
If that’s true, good.
He is a butthole.
Thank you Cal and Pete for keeping it going as long as you have.
I see two people on here that are totally full of it.
Ignore their stupidity and lame attacks.
You guys are the best for what you try to do (and on a daily basis!)
So much for Gonigam closing his blog….
I bet Frank’s still runs for both positions and wins.
Josey boy,
Really?
Let’s be honest.
Your argument has the same strength as Obama attempting to muster up the energy to throw out a first pitch.
NONE.
But, I do applaud you for adding some humor to the day.
That was a nice chuckle.
Franks Lie #734
Having NO polital party affiliation, (because of the awful polarization it is creating in our country) compels me to speak out on term limits, career politicians, & ILLINOIS pension issues.
It’s time voters recognize how career politicians like
Mike Madigan & 9 term State Representative Jack Franks
Keep running for paid positions so they can live on the
Taxpayer dollar & perpetuate their own agendas.
They WILL say things they think we want to hear to get
Elected & keep taxing us more to pay for their inflated
Paychecks, health care & pensions.
We SHOULD STOP voting for a name we know on the ballot
& look at the person running, especially someone like
Frank’s who has helped create a mess in Illinois with
CRONY Mike Madigan.
Please voters, don’t sign Jack Franks petition for County
Board &/or vote against this career politician (should he make it onto the ballot), so we can send a message that breaks the cycle of this type of behavior.
Jack Franks only needs to obtain 270 signatures.
He could have gotten that many at Fair Diddly yesterday.
So if he runs for Both now he gets 2 Pensions wake up people he is a career politician we don’t need this kind we have enough of them, he is part of the problem and mess we are in today!
now it sounds like he wants to run & make another mess in his wake.
I say No Vote !
Go back into the private sector and struggle like the rest of us… in the crap you helped to create here in this state.
By the way the NWH is nothing but a puppet paper they put a story out but only part of it, its never the full story.
You perhaps don’t hear this, yet like everything else effective, branding counts on having an outstanding strategy to adhere to.