Council Wars Coming to McHenry County If Jack Franks Wins?

With State Rep. Jack Franks acting as if he is running for County Executive, instead of County Board Chairman, I’m wondering if a victory from him will result in a full-fledged war between him and what will be a Republican-dominated County Board.

We know that half of the County Board will be Republicans because they are not up for election.

Assuming one of the remaining seats is filled by a Republican, the GOP majority will continue.

The next Board Rules allow its members to select committee chairman and assign members to committees.

The new, at-large elected County Board Chairman has no role.

Or might he?

What if Jack Franks, if elected County Board Chairman, refused to put the Board’s selections on the County Board Agenda?

Could the County Board add that item to the agenda?

What if Franks decides that he is going to nominate the committee chairmen, even though the Board Rules do not give that authority to the new Chairman?

Let’s say the new County Board refuses to agree.

Could they move to replace Franks’ nominees with their own?

If Franks ruled such a motion out of order, I’m thinking the most used motion of the next four years–“Mr. Chairman, I move to overrule the Chair”–would be made.

And if Franks refused to recognize that motion, what then?

I figure there would be dueling court cases while County bills would might not be paid, just as Franks has seen his Springfield leader, Mike Madigan, arrange for state government.

This will be good for newspapers and I can envision Chicago TV coverage, but, just as in state government, such distinction will n ot be good for citizens, vendors and taxpayers.


Comments

Council Wars Coming to McHenry County If Jack Franks Wins? — 4 Comments

  1. What if Democrat Jack Franks was elected McHenry County Board Chair and Democrat John Bartman was elected 63rd District State Representative?

    Jack could work with John to introduce a wide variety of legislation in the Illinois General Assembly (ILGA), perhaps providing more power to the County Board Chairs.

    The ILGA (State Representatives and Senators) currently have a Democrat super majority, which means if they all agree, they can over ride a Republican Governor Bruce Rauner veto.

    Governor Rauner has indicated that the Democrats could pick up more seats in the ILGA as a result of the November 8, 2016 General Election.

    The head person in the Illinois State House of Representatives is the Speaker of the House Michael J Madigan.

    Jack Franks has voted for Michael Madigan for Speaker of the House in each of Jack Franks 9 terms as Illinois State Representative.

    As reported in the Northwest Herald twice in 1998, Jack Franks said if elected State Representative, he would run for no more than 3 terms (each term is two years).

    Jack Franks has served 9 terms (this is his 18th year) as State Representative.

    As reported in the Northwest Herald in 2014 while he was pushing for two McHenry County Board referendums, Jack Franks told the Northwest Herald he was not running for McHenry County Board Chair in 2016.

    Jack Franks is running for McHenry County Board Chair in 2016.

    Jack Franks has said he never voted for a tax hike.

    One of the major problems in Illinois is unfunded mandates passed by the ILGA and approved by Governors.

    Both political parties, Democrats and Republicans, have done that over and over and over.

    An unfunded mandate is a law for which no additional revenue was approved.

    If the law is to be followed, taxes must be hiked, funding diverted from elsewhere, or efficiency’s found.

    The worst unfunded mandates are pensions and retiree healthcare.

    That’s because one sentence added to the Illinois State Constitution on December 15, 1970, say that pension and retiree healthcare benefit hikes (most were unfunded or underfunded mandates), are contractual and cannot be diminished or impaired.

    Those benefit hikes stay with the worker until they die.

    So if Jack Franks or any legislator passed a pension benefit hike that applies to a 22 year old worker, as they did, the taxpayers are obligated to pay that hike.

    A full career for many of the public sector pensions in Illinois for Tier 1 is 35 years.

    The 22 year old worker, after 35 years, is 57 (many retire earlier with the same full benefits due to various perks and loopholes).

    The average life expectancy now is around 85.

    So that one legislative benefit hike constitutionally obligates taxpayers to pay a hiked pension benefit for 28 years (85 – 57 = 28).

    There are many types of legislative pension benefit hikes, that his just one example.

    The pensions were typically underfunded (in most cases always underfunded) at the time of the hikes.

    So for Jack Franks to claim he has never voted for a tax hike is completely ignoring unfunded mandates he voted for and were passed by the Illinois General Assembly and were signed for by Governors.

    He is completely ignoring one of the major problems in Illinois government and a major caused for hiked taxes.

    Unfunded mandates.

    And their twin, underfunded mandates.

    That pension is hiked

  2. I lived in Chicago during the council wars era.

    It was great entertainment, and most importantly, very little got done.

    When government at any level acts, it usually makes things worse.

    Gridlock is our good friend.

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