McHenry County Blog

This message, worn by a young woman, is the deepest I saw at Disney World.

The following email found its way to McHenry County Blog. It is someone who is encouraging students, teachers and staff members to attend what sounds very much like a series of political rallies and mini-campaign schools during the school day. Students in class will even be able to get a pass. It originally went to about 42 people.

Read it and see if you think these will be informational meetings or campaign rallies and political training sessions. I wonder if the Republican and Democratic Parties could get permission for similar activites this fall.

I have added paragraphs to make the email easier to read.

Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2006 8:22 PM

Subject: Referendum Meetings

Very important meeting Friday, March 3, during flex, in the auditorium.

All those involved in any way with the referendum, whether you have helped out a little in the past or plan to help, everyone should attend. It is very important that as many of you make it as possible. If you have other meetings, I will be able to write passes to you to give to your teacher. I have already talked to clubs about this, and I would like to say thank you especially to Interact, Tri-M, and Art Club for being understanding.

The referendum effort is the most important thing as of right now, and as soon as this is over it will be back to normal. However, that is what we are fighting for, keeping things normal and the way that we like it.

We will be talking about all the things coming up in the next 3 weeks. There is less than a month till the voting, and we need as many people to help as possible. Ask your teachers if you can say something in your class about the meetings, especially the ones in the auditorium. The ones in the auditorium are always on Friday, and are during flex.

Door to door canvassing is one thing that we will be going over. Everyone involved in the referendum is asked to come and hear what the game plan will be for the next several weeks. If you have signed up for sports, please attend as well. This meeting is to get everyone, even teachers and staff members, who has signed up, and is from Jacobs, to come together, hear what is going on and become united in all we do.

We can do this, but it will be hard if we can't get the people we need to do so. If you know someone who wants this referendum to pass, then get them to come to the meetings.

It may seem different, or you could be a little nervous, but I want you all to have the courage to at least stand up in all your classes and get people to act on what they believe.

We are in control, WE HAVE THE POWER! We have the chance act on what we believe in, and it is very important that people step up. I am just concerned about the turnout, because it is crucial that we do what we can for what we believe in.

Thanks for each and every one of your many contributions!

Meeting Dates:(All During Flex)

Thursday, March 2, Rm. 172 (Choir room)
Friday, March 3, Auditorium Important!
Thursday, March 9, Rm 172 (Choir room)
Friday, March 10, Auditorium Important!
Thursday, March 16, Rm. 172 (Choir room)
Friday, March 17, Auditorium Important!
Monday, March 20, Rm. 172 (Choir room) Day before the election!

Please mark your calendars! Thanks Again!

Passes will be written for those who miss other meetings to attend these!

IT ISN'T COOL TO HAVE EVERYTHING CUT!

Sunday’ Elgin Courier-News had a column by managing editor Mike Bailey entitled, “Time to end the giveaways.”

It was about Elgin’s Tax Increment Financing District giving developer RSC & Associates another $2 million “to continue developing a site from the former Joseph Spies & Co. building.”

To lure the developer, the Elgin City Council “agreed to pay the generous sum of $9.4 million in incentives,” Bailey notes.

“Largely abandoned downtowns are bitter fruit sweetened only by the generosity of the taxpayers via their elected representatives. How much and how long this largesse continues is an open issue.”

But, in Elgin, an unknown sewer line was discovered. That added another $500,000-plus to the subsidy.

Bailey criticizes the city’s “disclaimer that all of this money is coming from tax increment financing money and not taxpayers” as “disingenuous.”

The Elgin editor does not make the point that was forcefully made by School District 47 and 155 officials, that every dime lost by local governments from a tax increment financing district will be taken from the pockets of the rest of us.

Instead, he argues

The money generated from these (TIF) districts was never intended to be given away to a private developer to enhance his profit. It was intended for the public good in the form of site work, intersection improvements, road work and—perhaps—relocating a sewer line.

But not providing a safety net for a private developer’s profits.

McHenry County Blog will be watching how much the Crystal Lake City Council decides to subsidize developers in the TIFs it has approved in the last year.

The following is a slightly re-formatted press release from Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Oberweis:

In a Monday morning press conference held at the Union League Club in Chicago, Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Oberweis presented a three-part "Main Street Ethics Plan." The plan is designed to break the cycle of cash that funds the culture of corruption so starkly evident in Illinois state government.

"The Oberweis Main Street Ethics Plan

· would prohibit our statewide Constitutional officers from accepting campaign contributions from companies doing business with the state.

· would prohibit former legislators and other former state employees from serving as lobbyists for a period of two years following their departure from office or state employment.

· calls for full semi-annual disclosure by lobbyists of the sources and amounts of income earned from their clients, with special emphasis on the types of commissions and fees given to Republican National Committeeman Bob Kjellander.

"Whether it's a governor who trades campaign contributions for contracts or appointments, a treasurer who takes campaign contributions from banks doing business with her office or a lobbyist who makes over five million dollars in commissions and fees on behalf of clients wooing state business, the Oberweis Main Street Ethics Plan will put an end to this pay for play culture and the corruption tax which burdens the people of Illinois," concluded Oberweis.

In addition to unveiling his own ethics reform proposal, Oberweis responded to a call from Topinka regarding income tax returns.

"At the conclusion of a recent radio debate, Judy Topinka requested my tax returns, perhaps missing the irony that twenty-five years of her own tax returns would simply confirm what most voters know...Judy Topinka has been living off the taxpayers of Illinois for way too long. Today, I am releasing my 2004 tax return.

“In exchange, I ask that Ms. Topinka release the results of her 2003 internal investigation into allegations that her state employees performed political work on taxpayer time," challenged Oberweis.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Topinka's Inspector General, Crystal Caison was investigating allegations of campaign work being done on state time, allegations at the heart of a federal investigation. Ms. Caison has since been replaced by Mr. David Wells.

"I've given Ms. Topinka a recent tax return, now she can come forward with the results of a two and a half year old investigation," concluded Oberweis.

Oberweis held his press conference at Chicago's Union League Club, the sight of Judy Topinka's Republican State Central Committee deliberations to replace Jack Ryan as the Republican nominee for the United States Senate. With Judy Topinka chairing the State GOP, the organization decided to skip over Jim Oberweis, as runner-up to Jack Ryan the clear choice of Illinois voters. Topinka's group instead chose Maryland native Alan Keyes to be the GOP standard bearer in Illinois.

Oberweis says he takes exception with Topinka's selective memory regarding the resignation of Jack Ryan, the replacement process and the choosing of Alan Keyes.

The Northwest Herald’s summary of its editorial endorsing allowing the Gay Games to hold its rowing contest on Crystal Lake:

The organizers of the Gay Games plan to request that Crystal Lake’s namesake lake be used for a rowing competition. This would be good exposure for the city.

McHenry County Blog stories:

Star105 Host on Gay Games Reaction: “A Small Town Attitude”

Gay Games’ Rowing Proposed for Crystal Lake

At the instigation of the Chicago Tribune’s Eric Zorn, here are my nominations for February stories, noted and unnoted.

Big winners: School districts with local reporters who can’t find opponents to comment on their stories about the “need” for raising taxes or passing bond referendums. (It is my theory that, by assigning reporters to cover schools and other local governments, newspapers are sending a not-too-subtle message that these governments--and what their officials say--are important. This probably leads to giving schools, etc., the benefit of the doubt.)

Big losers: Tax hike opponents.

Overlooked stories:

(1) The almost total financing of school bond referendum campaigns by developers and school vendors. (When a partisan politician gets financed by vendors, newspapers call it “pay to play.”) This is a difficult story to write because the really skillful tax hikers start new committees for each election and collect the bulk of their money more than 30 days before election day. Collecting the case between January 1st and the third week of February means donor information does not have to be made public until March 7th. That’s when State Board of Election pre-election reports are due. By then, most beat reporters are too busy covering the “who hit whom” of the campaign to notice.

(2) How overmatched financially referendum opponents’ campaigns are.

(3) How year-round schools could increase the capacity of any school district’s buildings by one-third.

To see the rest of McHenry County Blog, click here.

# posted by Cal Skinner : 8:49 PM  1 comments

A copy of the following email, sent to Crystal Lake Park District and city officials, plus the Village of Lakewood and the park police, was sent to McHenry County Blog:

Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2006 10:22 PM
Subject: Crystal Lake has everything to lose!

TO: Kirk Reimer, Director of Parks and Recreation
Crystal Lake Park District Board of Commissioners, c/o Dave Phelps, Treasurer
cc: Crystal Lake City Council and Mayor
cc: Village of Lakewood
cc: Park Police

SUBJECT: Gay Games proposed 1,000 Meter Rowing Event

Crystal Lake has everything to lose!

These are the facts: “Vancouver lost $84,000 in 1990, New York lost $700,000 in 1994, Amsterdam lost $1.8 million in 1998, and Sydney lost $1.1 million in 2002…"

According to the Gay Games web site 8,000 Participants are now committed to attend the 2006 Gay Games, but they expect upwards of 12,000 people from all over the world to participate. Just imagine the turmoil if even half of the expected 12,000 screaming, rowdy and party-spirited non-residents show up at Crystal Lake Park. Crystal Lake Park and lake area would be inundated with screaming, rowdy and party-spirited people, 99% of whom have no connection to our local community.

If Gay Games Ambassador, Sir Elton John, (global superstar who supports the quadrennial sport and cultural event) makes an appearance at the proposed Crystal Lake event, even more hundreds of people from all over Northern Illinois will also show up at our relative small park area at Crystal Lake. A disruptive crowd of this nature would create havoc in our park, in our streets, all around our city and throughout surrounding communities.

The clean-up costs and extra police patrols would be astronomical. Who is going to pay for all this? Crystal Lake and Lakewood taxpayers will have to foot the bills! How will the immediate and long-term fall-out affect our local patrons, our children, our elderly and our local society in general?

No past events with such massive influx of non-residents give us a measure for probable costs. We have to ask ourselves how this event would help or hurt our community. We must weigh the economic gains our merchants achieve against the cost of services to be borne by taxpayers. Is it really worth the economic risk?

One thing is certain – this event would plow new ground. City and Park leadership must not become enamored by dubious celebrity that raises expectations and elates egos of the Crystal Lake Rowing Club membership, which, after all, only represents a minute number of park users.

Stop! Think! Acceptance of the proposed event by the Park District Board of Commissioners would leave our residents to deal with the adversity and negative fall-out. Just imagine all the loud, boisterous and disruptive behavior of large, hard-to-control crowds.

Ladies and Gentlemen, allowing this event to take place will set an historical precedent that will have continuous negative affect on the future of the Crystal Lake community. I urge you not to be persuaded by a vocal minority who seek infamy for our community by allowing our local recreational facilities to be corrupted with promises of economic gain and notoriety.

Please reject this overture by the Chicago mayor to seduce local tax-payer dollars to feather the nest of the big city!

Contrary to the usual admonition, I think ‘We have everything to lose’,

/s/ Mel Ingram
547 Primrose Lane
Crystal Lake, IL 60014

Look what just dropped in my in-box.

A link to a United State House of Representatives March 4, 1998, memo from the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct containing questions and answers about the permissibility of linking one's campaign web site to one's official web site.

It's apparently a No-No.

But, 8th congressional district Congresswoman Melissa Bean does it. My source, who obviously and thankfully likes to make things easy for reporters, has provided this link.

Check it out and let's see how long it takes Bean's campaign staff to eliminate the forbidden link. [It's 8:45 PM Monday and the link has been taken down.]

From: http://www.house.gov/ethics/m_top_20_030498.htm
March 4, 1998
MEMORANDUM FOR ALL MEMBERS, OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES
FROM: Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
James V. Hansen, Chairman
Howard L. Berman, Ranking Democratic Member

SUBJECT: Answers to the "Top 20 Questions"

“11. Under the web site rules issued by the House Oversight Committee, a Member's site cannot include a link to his or her campaign web site. Can the Member's campaign web site include a link to the congressional office site? Can the congressional office site be advertised on the Member's campaign web site, or on campaign material issued by the Member's campaign?

The answer to both questions is no. It has long been the rule that campaign contributions cannot be used to support the activities of, or pay the expenses of, a congressional office, and under this rule, the Committee has long advised that campaign materials cannot include, for example, the address or telephone number of the congressional office. There is no basis for according any different treatment to either a Member's campaign web site or the office web site address.”

From: (the campaign web site)
http://www.melissabean.com/index.php?Sector=Public&Page=[00]%20Home

Message from Congresswoman Bean

Welcome to my 2006 Campaign Website.

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about the 8th District, what I have done as your Congresswoman and ways you may get involved in my re-election efforts, if you'd like to do so. You may also visit my official website for information on legislative issues and my work in Washington and Illinois as your representative.I encourage you to bookmark this page and return often, so you can keep up with the latest news on our campaign. I appreciate your support in helping me continue representing the 8th District with the moderate, commonsense leadership our families deserve.

Sincerely,

/S/ Mellisa L. Bean

I ran across an article about a shift in power in New Jersey township (where townships have a lot more duties than they do in Illinois) and wrote an article on it Saturday.

Then, today, I saw this Daily Herald article about shifting contracts in Palatine Townshp.

See any comparisons?

If a candidate’s husband is fighting with her opponent, what effect does that have on the campaign?

I certainly don’t know, but the pollsters will have a field day trying to figure it out.

Kathy Salvi’s husband, Al Salvi has a radio call-in program on Waukegan’s WKRS. The station had good reach into all of the Lake County portion of the 8th congressional district and even into northern Cook County. When I used to appear on the station in the 1970’s, I could hear it when I reached McHenry.

So, WKRS is probably the most important station in the congressional race.

There has been bad blood for a long time between the two men. It goes back at least to the 1998 primary, when McSweeney ran against Phil Crane. Salvi supported Crane.

When McSweeney thought that Al was going to run against him, he called for WKRS to drop Al’s 10-noon show.

Then, Al’s wife Kathy decided to run.

Al invited McSweeney to appear on his show. There is a Waukegan News-Sun article and a Northwest Herald column about what took place next.

Northwest Herald columnist Brian Slupski concluded it was “petty.”

Usually it is campaign managers or chairman who are the attack dogs in a campaign. Having a husband come to his wife’s defense and, perhaps, even lead the attack is something I haven’t seen before.

A final look at what District 300 vendors over the last 5½ years contributed to finance the tax hike and bond referendum committees. Previously, McHenry County Blog has articles on the financing role of school vendors, including their business, specific amounts given, and evidence of work done for District 300 when found on the web

Part 1 - District 300 Vendors Major Contributors to Tax Hike Committees; Pay to Play?

Part 2 - District 300 Vendors Major Contributors to Tax Hike Committees; Pay to Play?

District 300’s School Construction Manager--Another Vendor--Contributed to Tax Hike Efforts

Who Wants To Raise Your Taxes? Getting School Vendors To Contribute – An Expert’s Advice.

Today, a comparison of contributions to District 300 checks paid to the donating businesses is examined. The short of it is that no company gave a very large percentage of the amount District 300 paid it.

McHenry County Blog found $36,880 in contributions from 13 vendors whose payments could be identified. (First American Bank also contributed $850, but figuring out the value of the District 300 float and any other benefits wasn’t worth the effort.)

Over the 5½-year period, the 13 companies received $75,730,477 in payments from District 300. $75.8 million out of the taxpayers’ pockets and $37,000 to committees who want to hike taxes more.

That means the average company contributed just 5/100 of 1% of the money it received from District 300 to the district’s tax hike committees.

If this were characterized as a “pay to play” scenario, such as is hinted at in Sunday’s Chicago Sun-Times article on its I-PASS transponder marketer, each District 300 vendor dropped precious little money into the hands of the tax hike committees. The Sun-Times found IGOR’s owners contributed $76,000 for a $7 million contract, meaning its owners paid, opps, I mean contributed 1.1% for the business received. (The Sun-Times runs a follow-up story today.)

Of District 300’s contributors, Telstar American Corporation contributed the highest percentage--1.2% contributed of the almost $71,000 it was paid.

PMA Financial was also over 1%. PMA appears to be the only firm that contributed before getting business from the district.

There were two other companies whose campaign contributions exceeded 1/10 of 1% of the business they received from District 300:

· J&E Duff Company, a masonry company, at 36/100 of 1%
· Burnidge Cassell, the district’s architects, at 3/10 of 1%
· Turner Construction, the construction management firm, at 19/100 of 1%
· Tessendorf Mechanical at 17/100 of 1%
· Freund International at 12/100 of 1%
· Cruise Boiler & Repair at 1/10 of 1%

Those companies donating less than 1/10 of 1% follow:

· Carey Electric at 6/100 of 1%
· Hawks Auto Parts at 5/100 of 1%
· Trane Company at 3/100 of 1%
· Elgin Roofing at 2/100 of 1%
· Lamp, Inc., at 2/100 of 1%. (Lamp got paid over $60 million, the bulk of the almost $78 million analyzed.)

Labels: Burnidge Cassell, Carey Electric, Cruise Boiler, Elgin Roofing, Freund International, J and E Duff, Lamp Inc, PMA, Tessendorf Mechinaical, Trane

I don’t have a copy (inserted later) of 8th congressional district Republican candidate Kathy Salvi’s rebuttal to opponent David McSweeney’s radio and direct mail campaign criticizing her position on tort reform, but a friend of the blog did email me most of its text on the 8½ by 11 inch glossy flyer. It follows:

"David McSweeney is betraying Ronald Reagan's principles

McSweeney Violates 11th Commandment

McSweeny has launched an unfair negative attack against conservative Kathy Salvi.... spreading misinformation and distortions about his opponents

Refuses to Sign Ethics Pledge..... refused to sign the Campaign Code of Conduct pledge

Worked to Defeat Republican Congressman.... spent $500,000 on attack ads to defeat Republican Phil Crane

Vote no on David McSweeney. He's just a desperate politician who is betraying Reagan's principals."

The sender's comment:

This had to prepared ahead of time.... with photos of Ronald Reagan and a quote from him: "There you go again."

McHenry Grade School 15 Superintendent R. Alan Hoffman writes on the school web site that his board is “seeking a 27¢ increase in years one, two and three and a 44¢ increase in years four and five.”

When I read the sentence, I thought the increases should be added together, but, after looking at the tax hike committee’s web site, I guess not.

The district apparently wants the voters to give up all of the savings that have been achieved since the property tax cap took affect.

The tax hike committee’s view is that all that money belongs to the school district. It lists how much revenue was “lost to (the tax) cap” on its web site. It seems to me that a more appropriated heading for the almost $15.7 million listed would have been “Amount saved by the taxpayers,” but that probably just emphasizes the difference between those who believe money people earn belongs to them, rather than to the governments that are supposes to serve them

The way the tax cap works is that school districts may only get the amount taxed last year, plus an increase equal to the increase in the Consumer Price Index. (CPI). As far back as I can remember, however, the increase in real estate value has been higher than the CPI. The result is that tax rates for tax districts like McHenry Grade School District 15 have to go down for them not to receive more than the tax cap law would allow.

Add to the inflationary increase all the new construction in each year to get an idea of what has really happened in the last decade and a half.

Now, the school board wants to take all of the money that the tax cap has saved homeowners, but it needs a “Yes” vote in the referendum, hence, the car stickers, a photograph of which is here.

When I visited the tax hike committee’s web site Saturday afternoon, I was visitor 1076. The final message was

If you think you will still be voting NO, please contact Linda Peel or Bonnie Simon so we can follow up.

Thank you for your support and reading through the facts!
Let your voice be heard - less than 35% of our residents vote.
EVERY VOTE COUNTS!

This viewpoint is quite different from that provided by a friend of McHenry County Blog. Comparing numbers on the School Report Cards from 1998 to 2005, here’s what popped out:

Inflation +20%

D-15 enrollment +5.3%

D-15 average teacher salary +40%

D-15 average admin salary +51%

D-15 # of teachers +9.1%

Operating expenses per pupil +65%

Total Ed Fund Spending +74%

Savings if district went back to the 1998 student-to-teacher
ratio $340,000

Increase in the CPI +20%

It’s almost as if Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee campaign chairman Rahm Emmanuel were deciding whom the Chicago Tribune endorsed.

In the lead endorsement, it’s Iraqi war veteran Tammy Duckworth, Emmanuel’s hand-picked replacement for Henry Hyde. The second endorsement is of 8th congressional district Republican David McSweeney to run against Emmanuel’s client-Congresswoman Melissa Bean. (The other candidates are reduced--in typical Tribune fashion--to “Also in the race are…”)

Here’s everything in the endorsement about McSweeney:

Our endorsement goes to former investment banker David McSweeney of Barrington Hills. McSweeney's business experience and his focus on spending cuts and low taxes to promote economic growth give him the edge. He also is firmly committed to civil justice reform.

Why would the Democrats want a man to run against a congressional women incumbent in the Northwest suburbs?

Because a woman has something like a five percentage point advantage against a man, regardless of party. I’ve seen this since 1966 in both Republican primaries and general elections. I am sure that anyone polling in the district.

Why?

Maybe because women think they are underrepresented in public office and, maybe, because just by looking at the indictments and convictions of politicians in the Chicago media market one can see there are more politically corrupt males than females.

Last time, the margin was less than five percentage points.

Just to give you a hint that the Tribune favors Bean, take a look at how unopposed State Senator Peter Roskam is treated in the Duckworth endorsement:

Hyde…supports state Sen. Peter Roskam (R-Wheaton) as his successor. Roskam does not face a primary challenge.

Compare that to what the Tribune says about Bean, also unopposed:

Democrats were indeed encouraged by Melissa Bean's victory over veteran Republican Rep. Phil Crane two years ago. They also understand they will have a tough job retaining the seat this year. It won't be easy for Republicans--Bean has done an impressive job of charting a moderate, pro-growth political course that many of her constituents will like. But she's going to get a fight in the fall.

McSweeney or Bean?

Whom do you think the Tribune will endorse this fall?

According to the 2005 National Journal Vote Ratings, Melissa Bean is

more liberal than 59% of the House on economic issues,
more liberal than 60% than of the House on social issues and
more liberal than 58% of the House on foreign issues

The National Journal found her less liberal than 40.7% of her colleagues overall, while Congressman Donald Manzullo, who represents the rest of McHenry County has 61.3% of the House more liberal than he.

Manzullo was found to be

more liberal than 37% of the House on economic issues,
more liberal 37% of the House on economic on social issues and
more liberal than 40% of the House on foreign issues.

Thanks to Respublica for inspiring this article.

This salt covered manger was seen on the back of a van at McHenry High School's West Campus.

The tax hike committee for McHenry Grade School District 15--Our Children: Our Investment--has been around since 2002, but it has only about $6,700 to spend this to convince voters the district needs a tax rate.

Virtually all of the money contributed since last June--$7,600--has been contributed by teacher union political action committees.

Most of the campaign money--$7,600 out of $8,100--has come from teacher union PAC’s. Almost 94%.

A citizen-financed campaign this will not be.

Since the first of the year there have only been two contributions exceeding $150—both from teachers’ groups:

· $500 on 1-20-6 from the McHenry Community High School Teachers Association

· $4,000 on 1-10-06 from McHenry County Teachers Association (All by $22.66 of this PAC’s money was transferred to the McHenry tax hike committee.)

An additional $200 was reported in non-itemized contributions.

The biggest contribution during the last half of 2005 was $3,100 in late November from the McHenry Elementary Teachers Association. Another $300 came from others in small enough amounts that state law does not require identification. The committee spent $3,351 on printing and postage from the third week of November through mid-December, leaving it with about $2,000 at the beginning of 2006.

Unlike school bond referendums, local builders don’t seem to care enough about tax rate hikes to contribute…at least before February 19th.

Read an article on the substance of the proposal on Monday.

One of the local bankers while I was McHenry County Treasurer (1966-70) had previously been a Wisconsin county official. We got to know each other pretty well after I put out the county money for bid.

He told me the price charged by Republican Bill Scott’s Democratic Party predecessor was $100 per year for each $100,000 invested.

That is brought to mine this week because of the Chicago Tribune examination of State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka’s campaign contributions. Here’s a sample paragraph:

A Tribune analysis of her three terms in the treasurer's office shows Topinka has received at least $500,000 from banks, their political action committees and individuals listing banks as their employer. Some of the donations came from banks that have had millions of dollars in contracts with her office.

Topinka has proposed that no one doing business with state government contracts of more than $25,000 be allowed to donate to the office holder in charge of the contracts.

As I was taking some pictures of Crystal Lake from Gate 3 Beach on Thursday morning, the Star105 morning guy and gal were making fun of those who oppose having the rowing contests for the Gay Games held on Crystal Lake. The parts I caught included a mother was referring people to a parental support group web site and a mother whose religious views did not include a celebration of that lifestyle.

The male co-host (sorry, I don’t listen enough to know either host’s name), observed that those with concerns had such “a small town attitude.”

Perhaps the hosts have not figured out that McHenry County is a place where people move to raise families. 85 percent of McHenry County’s residents are homeowners. That's the highest percentage in the whole country.

 
An indication of sibling rivalry at Disney World. 

I’m looking through the State Board of Elections most recently filed campaign disclosure reports today trying to keep up to date on contributions to school tax hike and bond referendum campaigns and up pops a Manteno Unit School District 5 tax hike committee notice of a contribution over $500 (called “A-1’s”). One was a $25,000 contribution from Lakewood Homes.

It so startled me so much that I concluded it deserves an article, even though it’s about a Kankakee County school bond referendum.

After all the biggest contributor--Lakewood Homes--is building Hampshire’s Lakewood Crossing in District 300 and contributed $5,000 to District 300’s 2003 tax hike committee. And, I have documented that developers are large contributors to school referendum committees. See here, here and here.

The Kankakee County committee--Citzens for Good Schools & Good Kids--is what I have called a “pop-up” committee It was just formed on Januray 19, 2006. The three new contributions, from Feb. 23rd and 24th, would not even have to be made public now, if the committee had planned better and gotten the checks 30 days before election day. Those donations don’t have to be made public until the pre-election reports are due—March 7th.

Here are the three new contributions:

· $500 - Canna and Canna Ltd. 10703 West 159th Street, Orland Park, IL

· $25,000 - Lakewood Homes, 2700 West Higgins Road Suite 100, Hoffman Estates, IL

· $2,500 - Nexus, 4050 Olson Memorial Highway, Minneapolis, MN
Canna and Canna was appointed the school district’s law firm a year ago, according to these minutes. Nexus is a Minnesota computer vendor. (My guess is that it does business with the school district.)

Certainly, District 300 vendors have contributed to its tax hike committees in the past. See here, here and here. And, a South Suburban school superintendent advises asking vendors to donate.

When I filed a Freedom of Information request with District 300 seeking how much various contributors to District 300 tax hike committees had been paid by the school district, I neglected to include Turner Construction.

My second FOI request yielded this list of annual payments to Turner Construction:


And, what did Turner Construction of Arlington Heights give?

4/2/03 - $4,000

According to its web site, Turner provided construction management for four elementary schools: Eastview, Huntley/Miller, Algonquin Lakes, and Lake in the Hills.

From The Courier-Post, covering South Jersey in the Camden area:

Following a November election that gave Republicans a 5-4 majority on the township committee, the local governing body dumped Robert Churchill as the township engineer.

Churchill, whose firm was the largest campaign donor to the local Democrats last year, giving $10,400, had been township engineer when that party was in the majority on the committee for many years up until December.

Not willing to let a key supporter lose his lucrative township business, the Democrats on the committee tossed Churchill's firm more than $600,000 worth of contracts two weeks after the election while they still had a majority.

The replacement firm gave $2,500 to the victorious Republicans.The paper’s suggested remedy:

…prevent firms or individuals who have given to local candidates from being eligible to do work for the township

Although I found this on Google because of 8th congressional district GOP candidate Robert Churchill’s name, there obviously is no connection with the state representative.

Bill Scheurer, the Lindenhurst anti-war candidate who publishes The Peace Majority Report is seeking a place on the fall 8th congressional ballot. He wants to run against incumbent Democrat Melissa Bean, whom he thinks holds a position on the Iraq war much too similar to that of the potential Republican nominee, whom Scheurer believes will be either David McSweeney or Kathy Salvi.

Scheurer shared an email he received from a student who asks the “spoiler” candidacy question. Part of his reply follows:

We realize that my presence in the race almost guarantees a loss by Bean, and that we have to accept some of the responsibility for this outcome. However, the Democratic Party and Bean herself will bear the greater responsibility for any temporary setback -- should we not win enough votes for my candidacy to prevent this seat from going back into Republican hands
for the next two years.

The Democratic Party still does not understand why it keeps losing elections. Even with the current meltdown of the Republican regime due to its unprecedented levels of incompetence and corruption -- the Democrats gain little ground. This is because they have conceded the battlefield, before the battle even begins.

Read both the student’s question and Scheurer’s whole reply by clicking here.

You can read Scheuer's polished version here.

There are good insights on the state of the Democratic Party and Bean’s candidacy.

With former Governor George Ryan's having rested his defense yesterday, this game of Monopoly, Springfield Edition, Special Corruption Issue,dreamed up by some good humored Chicago Tribune staffers and published Sunday, February 12th, seems appropriate as a message of the day. Remember you will have to click to enlarge it. Sorry I didn't get a better picture.

I could not find a link to what John Kass wrote, but the first paragraph reads,

The object of Monopoly is to win the money and ruin your enemies. But in this version, Monopoly, The Bi-Partisan Illinois Combine Edition, there are new features. You make your friends multimillionaires by using taxpayer money and avoiding indictment.

Mary Liebman is the Bull Valley woman who promoted year-round schools. Sadly, no local school district has adopted her idea.

It’s a simple one.

Use the schools throughout the year.

Can you think of any other huge buildings that are not used year-round? (OK, with the exception of Illinois completely finished Thomson maximum security prison.) What business closes for a quarter of the year?

It makes no sense from a utilization of resources point of view for either the private or the public sector.

So, if you want to increase the number of students that a school building can hold, what do you do?

You decided to use the all year round.

That increases the capacity by one-third, doesn’t it?

A school district would not have to increase your taxes to construct new buildings.

Of course, people will object.

Change is tough to accept. (My family would love to be able to take vacations sometime other than in the summer. After all, we in Crystal Lake live in a prime vacation destination of summers past. For example, former Secretary of State Mike Howlett told me he used to spend summers on the lake.)

The kids would go to school the same number of days, get enough time to go on vacation between quarters. And, they would get one quarter of the year off, just like now, except it would not always be in the summer.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Oberweis has issued a press release critical of both incumbent Governor Rod Blagojevich and poll leader Judy Topinka. Oberweis thinks ethical concerns link the two. It is below:

Oxymorons Introduced Into Gubernatorial Campaign

On Sunday, Rod Blagojevich announced his re-election bid and Judy Topinka announced her ethics plan.

A Blagojevich re-election and a Topinka ethics plan are both oxymorons. Based on the number of independents and Democrats who are flooding our campaign with offers to help, I would say that Governor Blagojevich has a better chance of winning an Oscar for best actor in a comedy of errors than he does of being re-elected.

After twenty-five years in Springfield, Ms. Topinka finally has a light bulb go off that perhaps ethics are a problem in Illinois politics. While she accepted over $500,000 from banks and bank officers that may do business with her office, Ms. Topinka saw no need for ethics reform. When she attempted to forgive $30 million of public debt owed by political insiders, Ms. Topinka saw no need for ethics reform.

When she made a deal with George Ryan to transfer jobs and responsibilities from the Executive to the Treasurer's office, Ms. Topinka saw no need for ethics reform.

Now that the other candidates have joined me in calling for the resignation of lobbyist Bob Kjellander from his post as Illinois Republican National Committeeman, Ms. Topinka shows her real disregard for ethics by continuing to claim impotence on the Kjellander issue. Remember, Kjellander is the anti-conservative lobbyist who has overseen the hobbling of the Illinois GOP while receiving an $809,000 commission on the Blagojevich bond deal and a $4.5 million fee for introducing the Carlyle Group to the scandal plagued Illinois Teacher Retirement System.

The people of Illinois deserve a governor who has not been a part of the culture of corruption in Springfield and Chicago. Republican voters deserve a nominee who has been loyal to the Republican platform and our Republican candidates. The choice is clear: Judy Topinka and more of the same or our campaign to renew Illinois with principled Republican values and a heartfelt and proven allegiance to ethical conduct.

This tee shirt was sitting in front of me on a boy at the Algonquin Village Board meeting Tuesday night. The story I wrote can be found here, now with pictures.

I acutally took a look at the paper version of the Daily Herald tonight (the paper is not home delivered in Crystal Lake) and found something that was not in the internet version this morning. So, I actually bought a copy. Here is the Daily Herald's "Ad Watch." (Click to Enlarge.)
What the reporter does not observe is that the target of the ad reveals the McSweeney campaign's polling results. You don't attack people you are beating...or who at least don't have a chance to defeat you.

Reflecting on the first and second Salvi press releases and McSweeney's press release within the last 24 hours, it seems to me that the McSweeney folks are trying to get people to think that McSweeney is going negative on Salvi because Kathy's husband Al insulted McSweeney on his WKRS radio show. Anyone who knows anything about how long it takes to conceive and produce a radio ad and design a mailing piece would tell you that the radio ad and forthcoming mailing were planned well before two days ago, the date of the radio interview.

This arrived in the mailbox today:


Here’s the text on the back:

One of the results of the "winner-take-all" system of electing township and ward committeemen in Cook County is that when one politician’s organization loses it is pretty much completely replaced with the winner’s precinct workers. (Outside of Cook County, every precinct elects a precinct committeeman. It is not an "all or nothing" election on a township or county basis, so any political or demographic change is incremental, not seismic.)

A complete makeover occurred in Schaumburg Township in 1998 when now State Rep. Paul Froehlich defeated Don Totten, former State Representative, State Senator, Ronald Reagan Illinois campaign manager and 1982 Lieutenant Governor primary opponent of then House Speaker George Ryan.

Froehlich’s group is now the “regular” Republican organization, called S.T.A.R., the Schaumburg Township Alliance of Republicans. The other group is called F.I.R.S.T., the Forum for Independents and Republicans of Schaumburg Township. It is the successor organization to Totten’s old group, called ROOST--the Republican Organization of Schaumburg Township.

David McSweeney has the endorsement of Froehlich's "official" Republican organization.

With that background, here is the press release sent by Churchill’s group:

”Bob Churchill wins Straw Poll at the 8th Congressional District – Republican Candidates Open Forum” sponsored by F-I-R-S-T on Saturday, February 18, 2006

SCHAUMBURG TOWNSHIP, Ill., Feb 21 / -- F-I-R-S-T (Forum for Independents and Republicans of Schaumburg Township) announced today that Bob Churchill won a Straw Poll conducted at the conclusion of an open forum on February 18, 2006. The forum featured Republican Candidates for the Illinois 8th Congressional Seat. The results are below:

48% Robert W. Churchill
28% Kathy Salvi
10% Ken Arnold
6% James Creighton Mitchell Jr.
4% Aaron B. Lincoln
4% David McSweeney

The Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office has handed down an indictment which adds new mail fraud charges against Mayor Richard Daley’s patronage chief Robert Sorich and alleged accomplices Tim McCarthy and Patrick Slattery.

Count 4 says that Sorich advised Water Department Employee B that she had received a promotion to Career Service Motor Truck Driver in late September 2001.

Count 5, another new mail fraud charge, says in early July 2004, Sorich and Tim McCarthy “did knowingly cause” an envelope to be delivered to Buildings Employee A telling him that he did not get an appointment of Building Inspector.

Count 6 charges Patrick Slattery of mail fraud when he mailed a letter to a Deputy Trustee of Laborer’s District Council, Local 1001, “concerning promotion of Hand Laborers to Seasonal Laborers” in early August 2004.
This superceding indictment follows closing the February 15th court decision by Judge David H. Coar, which ruled the three’s “No One Could Have Guessed” defense not worthy of consideration.

Here is a press release I missed earlier today from the McSweeney camp:

Candidate's spouse, Al Salvi, "Machine guns" David McSweeney on the Al Salvi Radio Show: Levels personal attacks McSweeney campaign asks for apology

Barrington Township: David McSweeney, candidate for Congress in Illinois' 8th Congressional District, was attacked personally by the spouse of one of his opponents in the Republican Primary. Al Salvi, Personal Injury Trial Lawyer Kathy Salvi's spouse, used air-time from his radio broadcast to personally attack McSweeney. In a February 22nd broadcast Al Salvi called into question McSweeney's integrity and relentlessly misrepresented his position on abortion.

After inviting McSweeney to appear on his show on February 21st Al Salvi, also a personal injury trial lawyer, tried to "badger" his guest during a live interview. After defending his wife's position on Lawsuit Reform and taking a question on abortion, Salvi began a relentless line of questioning of McSweeney's position on the issue, at times interrupting the answer and mischaracterizing that position. Salvi later apologized on air for his behavior after a series of callers complained.

The next day Al Salvi once again used his radio show to level personal attacks, make false accusations, and once again mischaracterized McSweeney's position on abortion. The following are excerpted quotes from Al Salvi from the Al Salvi Radio show on WKRS radio out of Waukegan:

"For some reason the newspapers still don't acknowledge that David McSweeney ran as a Pro-Choicer in 1998."

" If I weren't Kathy's husband I would have really pursued that even more. It had nothing to do with abortion. It had to do with integrity."

"I could have moved onto the next issue but it was B.S."

"I don't like when someone B.S.'s me."

"It goes to integrity."

(A copy of the audio file is available via e-mail upon request)
(more)

"I think that the Salvi campaign should apologize for the personal attacks on Dave McSweeney and the misrepresentation of Dave's position on an important issue. Al Salvi questioned Dave's integrity and that is about the lowest personal attack you can level on a fellow candidate. We are making the audio file available to anyone who asks because it is important to know the truth," said McSweeney Campaign Manager Jim Thacker.

"Salvi's misrepresentation of Dave's positions on the issues is also reminiscent of the false allegation against wheel chair bound former Reagan Press Secretary Jim Brady. In his 1996 bid for the US Senate, in an 11th hour act of desperation, Al Salvi falsely accused gun control activist Brady of being a machine gun dealer in a past life. The accusation was absurd and it was false and the Salvi campaign publicly apologized for it. The Salvi campaign should apologize for the verbal 'machine gunning' of Dave McSweeney's character," said Thacker.

"When you place your name in nomination for a public office you expect to be scrutinized and taken to task for your positions on issues. I don't, however, believe that there is room for personal attacks and misrepresentation of another candidate's positions. The voters deserve to know about where the candidates stand on the issues and it is an insult to those voters to think that they can be manipulated through misrepresentation," said David McSweeney.

David McSweeney resides in Barrington Township within the 8th Congressional District with his wife Margaret and their two daughters.

What follows is 8th congressional candidate Kathy Salvi’s reaction to David McSweeney’s first attack on her candidacy:

David McSweeney has unveiled his first negative attack on Kathy Salvi. He printed up mail pieces and produced attack radio ads last week that the Daily Herald reports accuse Kathy Salvi of siding with Democrats.

"This is McSweeney's history." Says Jason Heffley, campaign manager for Kathy Salvi. "He viciously attacked Republican Phil Crane even when Phil Crane was in the hospital. Now he is attacking Kathy Salvi."

David's excuse? After David went onto a talk show with Kathy's husband, David objected to the talk show debate.

"David McSweeney loves the politics of character assassination. He did it to Congressman Phil Crane. Now McSweeney is attacking Kathy Salvi for a debate between her husband and McSweeney. Meanwhile, Kathy is running for Congress and talking about the issues of the war on terror, reducing taxes and spending, and fighting traffic gridlock. If David McSweeney wants to debate Al Salvi, he should become a talk radio host too."

As reported last night on McHenry County Blog, 8th congressional district GOP candidate for congress has started a radio attack to be followed by negative direct mail on the person he must think is the person to beat—Kathy Salvi. Here is the Daily Herald story.

His attack is on her stand on the federal government’s capping pain and suffering.

Thus far, Kathy Salvi has been following former President Ronald Reagan’s “11th Commandment” not to criticize other Republicans.

There is a danger that any Republican candidate has from going negative. The candidate must not make the supporters of the one being attacked so angry that they will sit out the fall election.

Below is Salvi’s answer to the Chicago Tribune questionnaire’s question about legal reform. (David McSweeney’s camp has thus far refused to allow his Chicago Tribune answers to be published on McHenry County Blog, along with those of Ken Arnold, Bob Churchill and Salvi. To read them all, click here.)

Legal Reform

Legal reform is another area where an impact can be made by the federal government.

I support legislation which would prohibit a plaintiff in any tort case from forum shopping. Forum shopping is where a plaintiff picks a state or jurisdiction that is pro-plaintiff. The plaintiff should be required by federal legislation to file his case where the incident occurred.

I support loser pays legislation, which provides that the loser of a medical malpractice case must pay the opponent's costs. I also support limits on punitive damages. Punitive damages are designed to punish tortfeasors for violating important national policies. For example, if a national or international corporation knows its product will kill patients, but hides that fact from the USFDA, a federal punitive measure is appropriate, but should be limited. The limit should be $500,000.

These are all areas which need federal legislation because they involve either national policy goals, or they involve matters which can only be handled by the federal government.

I do not support, however, the federal government telling the states how to run their courts. I support states' rights. Elected representatives of the people of a state should be allowed to have control over how their state court system operates. One exception, in my opinion, is if it involves a matter which can only be accomplished by the federal government. Another is a matter involving national policy goals, such as drug safety.

For example, a single state cannot prohibit a plaintiff from filing in a different, pro-plaintiff state. Only the federal government can accomplish this.

Whoa. Does that mean people ever trusted government?

The headline in the Elgin Daily Courier-News is about an Associated Press-Ipsos Public Affairs poll about falling confidence in government, based on the hurricane Katrina response. I can’t find a link to the article, but here is one with the same headling.

Guess it’s time to go back to the Federalist Papers.

Can anyone cite something there that suggests citizens should trust government?

I can attest that the only government programs I think work are the ones I have not closely (or ever slightly) examined.

If you want something more local, think of the way Rod Blagojevich campaign contributors just happen to get major contracts in Illinois. Or read this Chicago Tibune article about faulty counting of jobs claimed created by the Blagojevich adminstration.

Great picture of sitting in traffic. And I love the bumper sticker: "How long did you sit in traffic today?"

Inside are endorsements. Half of the endorsees even live in the 8th congressional district, although those two have a countywide presence.

This arrived about a week ago.

Look at the road pitch made specifically to Wonder Lake here.

The endorsements can be found here.

Here is the inside middle of the mailing, mainly biographical , but with a pitch for early voting.

On the right inside panel is another picture of the family with five issues the McSweeney campaign is promoting.

When I saw that the Chicago Tribune endorsement of Palatine Mayor Rita Mullins for the State Senate over conservative Matt Murphy, a Harper College trustee, it brought to mind the low-life campaign she and her pro-abortion allies conducted against my friend State Representative Bernie Pedersen in 1992.

Here is the final rebuttal piece:
 
Click here to read the back.

Click here to read the inside top.

Click here to read the inside bottom.

I hope this year’s campaign is more honest. 

In an article summarizing close fall congressional districts, Congressional Quarterly says the 8th is leaning Democrat. Here's the reasoning:

Democrats view Bean, who has no primary opponent, as a model of a candidate who can compete for Republican-held seats in the outer suburbs. A businesswoman, she voted for the Central American Free Trade Agreement and to overhaul bankruptcy laws and energy regulations. She is promoting a tax credit for energy efficiency and efforts to combat online “cyber crime.” CQ Election Forecaster rating: Leans Democratic

 
This plastic “Vote Yes” sign is what proponents of the McHenry Elementary School District 15 tax hike referendum want people to put on their back windows. This one was found on a van at McHenry High School’s West Campus.

Yesterday, the Northwest Herald ran a letter to the editor from McHenry resident Rick Wesley. He said he checked the District 15 web site and concluded that by 2010 the taxes on a $200,000 home would increase $712, which he noted would be a 47% increase from the 2005 tax. He thought that was too high an increase. 

That’s what a member of the media has told the Kathy Salvi campaign. Both are candidates for the 8th congressional distict's Republican nomination.

In an email received Wednesday evening on the Salvi campaign letterhead comes the following:

We have been called at our headquarters and told David McSweeney is launching negative attack ads against Kathy Salvi on the radio and in the mail box.

Our information suggests that he is doing this because after spending $1 million of his own money, he is falling in the polls.

David McSweeney refused to sign the Pledge of the Illinois Republican Party not to launch unfair personal attacks.

McSweeney is using the same kind of underhanded tactics he used to attack Congressman Phil Crane.

Republicans Deserve Better!!!

McSweeney ran against Crane in the 1998 Republican primary election.

 
This is the education mailing from Ron Gidwitz, GOP candidate for Governor. You can see the "glitz" on this side of the over-sized post card. For the "guts" of the plan, click here. 

Gravel Pits Give to Althoff, Franks & Beaubien

Three state legislators who represent McHenry County are recipient of $250 campaign contributions from the Illinois Association of Aggregate Producers:

State Senator Pam Althoff (R-McHenry)

State Representative Jack Franks (D-Bull Valley)

State Representative Mark Beaubien