That’s the subject of this letter to the Northwest Herald, reproduced here at the permission of its author, Dave Bussell:
Vote to consolidate in November
The Township Board is responsible for spending township dollars, not the attendees at the annual town meeting.
Members of the town board have repeatedly stated that their reason for placing the McHenry Township Road District consolidation referendum on the ballot in November is for the citizens to have the opportunity to vote to eliminate the road district unit of government for the purpose of oversight, control and transparency.
No contingent of marchers supporting consolidating the McHenry Township Road District with McHenry Township at Sunday’s Johnsburg Parade, but I did see some “Vote Yes” signs to and from the Saufen und Spiel celebration..
The referendum to consolidate has nothing to do with costs and the town board does not have to comply with the misguided direction to waste time and money on something that has no relationship to the question at hand.
I wonder what would happen if a few dozen township residents who belonged to the Flat Earth Society showed up and voted overwhelmingly for the town board to spend money on some cock-a-mammie study that they think is important but isn’t.
Would the town board be required to do so?
I think not, or are they required to do so in this case.
These distractors should join in the factual debate about the relevant issue.
They should quit wasting our time with their misinformation and distractions.
When you don’t have an argument to keep the self-serving system alive that now is in place, you go about creating confusion, delay and frustration.
You’ll see a of of it the next couple months before the election.
The facts that are relevant to the question are simple.
It has nothing to do with the county, or other townships, or Senior Services, or public aid, or the township parks or youth center or Senior Rides program. It has to do with the one-man-rule road district.
The road district spends more than twice as many dollars as are spent on all of the other township services combined.
Many of the other township functions are more likely to survive if the road district, where most of the township criticism is directed, is eliminated.
Vote YES in November to eliminate the road district in McHenry Township.
This is the problem with all ministerial positions in government.
They violate the basic principle of our government of checks and balances.
There is no legislative oversight of the executive function.
This shouldn’t be a issue, was the vote for justification of consolidation by the citizens at the town meeting a legal vote or not?
Just have a bunch of township employees trying to keep preying on the taxpayer.
Go Bob!
As I understand it, this referendum is only partially about saving $ by eliminating a layer of government and a useless position (Road Commissioner) and his pension going forward.
It’s really about preventing a Bob Miller situation where one person can break the law with impunity and get away with it.
If the referendum passes, five people will be watching what goes on.
Gotta love the fact that there’s far more oversight and transparency, and hopefully no more nepotism.