On Jack Franks Chairmanship Ability

A letter published in the Northwest Herald from Wonder Lake’s Adam Liebmann re-published here with the author’s consent:

Enjoy the Show

After a 98 years, Ringling Brothers’ “Greatest Show on Earth” is ending.

Never fear, McHenry County residents, there’s a circus in town, and the ringleader is County Board Chairman Jack Franks.

The Jan. 17, 7 p.m. County Board Meeting was a tiresome, 4+ hour spectacle of unprofessionalism from Franks at the kick off.

The meeting started 10 minutes late, disrespecting all those in attendance.

Jack Franks standing at the podium.

Many residents were forced to stand the entire meeting because extra space was not opened up to accommodate residents.

It took until 8:38 for the board to adopt the agenda.

Board members were awestruck when Franks introduced his parliamentarian, the hiring or costs of which were never relayed to or approved by the board.

This hiring was in addition to two former campaign workers Franks hired as personal staff prior to revealing either position to the public or board members.

Throughout the night, Franks repeatedly made snide remarks about an earlier vote that didn’t go as Franks wanted.

Franks also could not resist but to continually rebuff board members; both during and at the conclusion of members’ comments.

Do these demonstrations inject the prestige of the office into everyday dealings with the public, employees, and associates?

Some said Franks would bring the Chicago political machine and Springfield politics to McHenry County. If you want to see it in action, no ticket needed for the main event.

I hope you enjoy the show.


Comments

On Jack Franks Chairmanship Ability — 18 Comments

  1. Just make sure you have a big shovel if you go.

    You’ll be knee deep in the bullsh– Franks is playing.

    And saying.

    A roundabout at Raffel and Charles being an economic engine?

    In the middle of knowhere?

    Franks needs to learn to keep his off the cuff remarks to a minimum, this isn’t Springfield.

    We’re not buying it anymore.

  2. Roundabout’s save money in the long run as compared to stop signs or traffic signals.

    The Johnsburg roundabout saves some electricity costs and about $400k in fuel costs depending on the price of course.

    Spread out over all the traffic that goes through there I wouldn’t call that and engine.

  3. With the ad hoc committee members being the trained monkeys and Walkup the clown!

  4. Roundabouts are needed to spend all of the Transportation “lock box” money!!!

    Yet again, the voters were proven to be the great un-educated.

  5. Raffle and Charles already has stop signs for North and Southbound traffic.

    Supposedly everyone driving now has been to “driver’s ed” and knows how to use a stop sign.

    If people would stop driving North on Raffle to Charles and wait for ever to turn LEFT or cross Charles, traffic would move smoother.

    Instead, drive West on Weir and turn right onto #47.

    Less wait time.

    Round about isn’t needed; Raffle Road NEEDS to be fully re-surfaced by a PROFESSIONAL; not the township guys.

    Even the stretch in front of the new Fire House and High School has bumps in it that would make a train track seem smooth, and that stretch is fairly new.

  6. AZ Suppprter: Raffel and Charles is a 3-way intersection.

    I say reduce the speed limit to 40 on that stretch on Charles for a much more frugal solution.

  7. Ringmaster?

    Jacko is more like Chief Clown ……. after all, he did graduate from Clown Kollege (aka American University)

  8. Right on OMW!

    Franks can’t even bring a motion for amendment to vote without confusing the board.

    Bates had to ask numerous times what she was voting on. And in the December meeting with the rules votes it was questioned numerous times.

    It’s obvious Franks has no experience attending yet alone so ducking a meeting with RRoO.

    Franks looks incompetent to those who are not blindly following him.

  9. I do believe confusing the board and passing the blame on [Franks’ lack of knowledge of procedure] is exactly what Franks is trying to do.

    Thankfully there are some competent people on the board now that Miller, Schofield and Draffkorn are gone.

  10. Good observation, Bot on the minus board members. we are a LOT better off without those Three Stooges.

    It is a mess tho. Maybe Franks is spending too much time thinking about ad hominem attacks on board members to pay attention to running the meeting.

    And lets not forget his playing to the camera of his little boyfriend, Ollie.

  11. Wacko Jacko turning the county board meetings in his personal circus and he’s trying to turn the county admin building into his personal campaign headquarters.

    This White Haired Elvis wanna-be is one of the biggest mistakes McHenry County has ever made!

    I’m glad Tryon is out and Althoff is on her way out.

    They made deals with him and we were paid!

  12. Leeeeeery; Charles and Raffle is a two way stop, yes but a full four way intersection.

    People try to turn right off Raffle onto Westbound Charles and cross over Charles to continue North.

    The ONLY people that should be slowed are the people Westbound on Charles who need to wait for Eastbound traffic on Charles to clear so they could turn left onto Southbound Raffle.

    People basically being “I’m the only one on this road that matters” COULD go West off Raffle on Weir past the courthouse to Rt. #47 and turn right and get a faster result-arriving at Charles and Rt. #47.

    A round-a-bout is helpful and intelligent, but is NOT needed at that intersection.

    Spend the money and PROPERLY re-pave Raffle road.

  13. I see Mary McCann’s political signs in the lawn at the NE corner of Raffel & Charles during election season.

    McCann is highly in favor of the roundabout.

    What is McCann getting from the owners for her support of the roundabout?

    I’m certain taxpayers will be paying a premium for the land if a roundabout it built.

  14. As a Toastmaster, we learn that what most people call a ‘podium’ as titled in the caption in this article is correctly called a ‘lectern’.

    A podium is the elevated platform one stands on to speak.

    A lectern is the vertical structure used to place notes, microphones and hide behind if items are thrown.

    No big deal, I see the term used incorrectly all the time and the sun still rises!

    I know Cal would prefer to use the correct terminology so I am letting him and everyone reading know.

  15. maybe it is a podium….. perhaps it’s a dais or a rostrum…… but whatever Franks’ platform, he’s going to use it as a bully pulpit to dispossess us!

  16. To RR: By Joining Toastmasters, you will become a more confident speaker and be able to address your concerns and opinions better to a live audience. I am a big fan of Toastmasters because it gives people a venue to practice and receive evaluation on how to make the speech more effective. Anyone may attend meetings for free to see how they work. Crystal Lake Toastmasters is one of the oldest in the area. They meet every other Saturday at 8:30 a.m. You can find them by searching the internet.

    We all have something to say to help make America a better place, please consider checking us out.

  17. The County Board Parliamentarian (interprets county board rules) selected by County Board Chair Jack Franks was introduced at the beginning of the January 17, 2017 Regular County Board meeting.

    The Parliamentarian is Nicholas Peppers (Nick Peppers), a Partner in the law firm Storino, Ramello & Durkin, which is based in Rosemont (Cook County).

    +++++++

    The Supporters of Jack D Franks PAC reported a $1,000 contribution from Storino, Ramello & Durkin on November 7, 2016.

    Jack Franks was elected County Board Chair on November 8, 2016.

    Jack Franks took the oath of office as County Board Chair on December 5, 2016.

    Jack Franks introduced a Partner of Storino, Ramello, & Durkin to the County Board as its Parliamentarian on January 17, 2017.

    +++++++++

    The County Board rules regarding its Parliamentarian follow:

    “2.7 Parliamentarian:

    The Chairman shall designate a parliamentarian who shall not be a member of the County Board.

    The parliamentarian shall advise the County Board on any rule when called upon by the County Board Chairman.

    The Chairman shall then rule.”

    +++++++

    There is thus no mention in the County Board Rules specifically about whether or not the County Board votes whether or not to approve the Parliamentarian designated by the County Board Chair.

    The public was not presented with any vetting of candidates for the selection of the County Board Parliamentarian.

    The public does not know how much the County is paying the new Parliamentarian.

    The public does not know how much the County paid the prior Parliamentarian, who it was reported in a comment on the blog was from the State’s Attorney’s office.

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