McHenry County Blog

The letter “P,” to be specific.

My son got a new book on calligraphy.

He was inspired to write the word “Penguin” after watching “Happy Feet.”

He drew a penguin that looked like a “P,” which you can see here.

You can also see a robot and a worm that looks like a "C."

Labels: Calligraphy, Penguin

In other breaking news, the Easter Bunny is real.

Three weeks before the Crystal Lake mayoral elections, Wisoncosn's Mercy Health System has announced it will try a second time to gain approval to build a hospital in Crystal Lake.

That’s the information from Kevin Cravin’s and Reagan Foster’s Northwest Herald’s story on Saturday.

It will be the same location—south of the Holiday Inn at the intersection of Three Oaks Road and Route 31.

But it will be larger.

128 beds versus 70 before.

One of the objections of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board staff was that the Mercy proposal wasn’t big enough to meet standards in the rules.

That was before the fix was put in by Health Facilities Planning Board member and big (actually, biggest) Jim Ryan contributor Stuart Levine.

What interested me the most in the story was Mayor Aaron Shepley’s reaction.

Shepley is one of Centegra’s Vice Presidents. His enterprise has major economic interests in Crystal Lake, besides whatever skills Shepley brings to his job.

Centegra operates Health Bridge, a fitness center, and medical offices in Crystal Lake.

And, it definitely does not want competition from a new Crystal Lake hospital with its two facilities within easy driving distance of town.

Here’s what the NW Herald reports Shepley had to say:

If they follow the rules and meet the state regulations and they don’t taint the process with the same corruption that the last process was tainted with, I will support it 100 percent.

At least he didn’t say “1000%,” as Democratic Presidential candidate Eugene McGovern said of how much he supported his vice presidential candidate Thomas Eagleton. Two weeks after Eagleton was nominated McGovern dumped him from the 1972 ticket in favor of Sergent Shriver.

Not coincidentally, Lori Phelps—Shepley’s opponent for mayor—made getting a hospital in Crystal Lake one of her big issues when she announced her opposition to the man she worked hard to elect eight years ago.

Read Part 2, which appears tomorrow.

Labels: Aaron Shepley, Centegra, Crystal Lake, Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, Mercy Hospital, Nick Hurtgen, Stuart Levine

In last week’s 11 o’clock service at the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake, Hannah continued her search for Jesus.

She will again on Sunday, but I didn't want to ruin my suspense, so I didn't ask where.

It started in the wilderness three years ago when she met a man whom she first saw on a cliff shouting to no one visible to her about not tempting the Lord. After coming down from the mountain, He told her about the meaning of life, but Hannah didn’t understand His words or that she had met Jesus.

Hannah next searched in Nazareth, His hometown, meeting His fun-loving half sister, among others, who called Him “a goody two shoes” for having changed the Temple wine the kids had replaced with water back to wine.

Then, it was onto Bethany, where Hannah tried to insinuate herself with Jesus’ friends at a party celebrating Lazarus’ return from the grave. (“He was really dead.”) She so wanted to be part of the “in crowd.”

Next, Hannah just misses Jesus turn over the tables of the moneychangers and vendors in the Temple, where it is clear that others are searching for the meaning of Jesus' ministry. (“He looked right through me.”)

Last Sunday, Hannah decided to draw Jesus to her with a deal he could not refuse for a boat.

You see, she had heard that he was coming to the Sea of Galilee to preach and that he had started using boats so that more people could see and hear him.

“I believe it started because He’s got those disciples that are fishermen. I don’t know if He couldn’t really get anyone else at first, so he asked this bunch of fishermen to be His disciples.”

Anyway, as the crowd grew, “Well, one of those fishermen disciples just told Him to get into a boat.”

So, Hannah decides to supply the next boat. She sets up a

“Hannah’s Boat for Rent”

stall.

And, there’s a

“Special if your name begins with J”:

“10 silver coins – 3 hours.”

“We’re going to call it ‘J-Day.’”

Hannah doesn’t want Jesus to think she isn’t busy, so she sets up a

“Take a number for service”

pad.

But, she’s willing to deal.

“And, of course I can negotiate. I was voted ‘Most Likely to Succeed by Negotiation’ by my Temple group,” she says.

“I’ll negotiate a trade…I’ll let Him use my boat for a few hours if we can maybe go to dinner or just sit down for a chat.

In search for Jesus, Hannah tells the congregation, “…every time, I’ve been, what is the phrase you use, ‘A Day Late and a Dollar Short.’

“Yes, I feel like I’m failing miserably, but I feel the need to meet and know Jesus SO badly.”

Hannah sees a crowd of people starting to gather along the shoreline.

She sits behind her booth and waits.

She reads a magazine. (You have to enlarge the photograph by clicking on it to read the titles of the articles in this first century "Enquirer.")

And waits.

As Jeremy Camp’s song,

“I Wait for the Lord,”

is sung.

She waits for business.

Not just any business, but a visit from Jesus.

She takes a lunch break.

And waits.

The day passes slowly.

She lowers the rental price from 10 to 8 silver coins.

The song,

“Get on the Boat”

plays.


She rips off a couple of numbers from the "Take a Number of Service" pad so Jesus will think she is busier than she is.

She is getting tired.

Really tired.

Exhausted.

The way waiting for something to happen exhausts one.

She yawns.

Hannah waits some more.

The afternoon doesn't fly by.

Hannah moves a chair in the direction where she sees the crowd and stands on it.

Hannah moves the chair closer to the crowd.

“I don’t believe it. He’s there.

“And, he’s on a boat.

“Where did he get the boat?

“I have the boat.

“I’d just give it to him if He’d just spend some time with me. All I want is to talk to him.

“I think he sees me. He looks shorter than I thought.

“He looks so tired. Really tired.

“I think he just waved at me.

“I can hear him.

“I think he’s talking to me.”

And the tableau ends as she leaves the stage.

Pastor Dave Seyller delivered a short message about how people cannot serve two masters.

He pointed out that we cannot entice Jesus with discounts.

We can’t bargain with Him.

“Too many people are searching for Jesus in all the wrong places, instead of searching within oneself.”

The service was shorter than usual, but I didn't find anyone who felt short-changed.

The Methodist Church in Crystal Lake is located at the intersection of Crystal Lake and Dole Avenues, both of which intersect with Route 14.

= = = = =
All the photographs can be enlarged by clicking on them.

The blond in all of the pictures is first year Cary-Grove High School teacher Logan Fraser. Author and director of today's skit, officially titled, "Trying to Buy Jesus - Boat for Rent," Jeannie Patterson can be send advancing the clock's hands. The woman with Logan Fraser in the top picture is Lori Morrow, who played Jesus' half-sister in the second playlet of the series. Directly below that picture is SueAnn Fraser, Logan's mother-in-law. Logan's father Dave Hill is seen singing.

Labels: Dave Hill, David Seyller, First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake, Galilee, Hannah, Jeannie Patterson, Jesus, Logan Fraser

Chemtool, which is now headquartered in Ridgfield, wants to expand in neighboring Boone County near another unincorporated town, Garden Prairie.

For those who have driven to Rockford on Route 20, it is right past the McHenry-Boone County line.

As we were driving through town last week, I noticed an anti-Chemtool yard sign.

This was in a front yard.

There were two more, Jim Athans told me, but they were on his property, so he took them down.

Those are usually signs of grass roots campaigns.

There was another such sign past the church on one of those interchangeable letter signs.

The Rockford Register-Star has been covering the issue.

Last Thursday, it reported that zoning for the 500-person plant and headquarters had been put off until April 24th.

So, what’s the problem?

Similar to the problem that Chemtool had when it applied to the McHenry County Board to build in Ridgefield, which is in the watershed of Crystal Lake.

According to the Boone County Soil and Water Conservation District,

The area has highly permeable soils and is considered high risk for contamination if a spill were to occur,

according to reporter Kevin Haas.

I remember my father’s having opposed the Ridgefield Chemtool zoning for reasons similar to those been by opponents in Boone County.

His side lost and Jim Athans’ Chemtool, which makes industrial lubricants, went on to become one of the most successful companies in McHenry County.

Adding to the concern in Bonus Township is the location of Kishwaukee Elementary School right across the road from the 160-acre Chemtool site.

According to a March 21st story,

Herb Walberg, Bonus Township Supervisor, said that many who were concerned with contamination were “chasing the ghost of innuendo.”

I checked with the Water Division of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and was told,

Chemtool has never received a violation notice,

by Sharon Dowson, Manager of the Records Unit.

There are links to more stories embedded in the Rockford Register-Star.

Tomorrow: The zoning race.

Labels: Bonus Township, Boone County, Chemtool, Garden Prairie, Herb Walberg, Illinois EPA, Jim Athans, Ridgfield

In his pitch to be elected Chairman of the McHenry County Republican Central Committee on April 3rd, 2000, McHenry County Treasurer Bill LeFew presented his background, as well as making promises.

Some of the promises, including accessibility and a willingness to listen were included in his cover letter. Others were put on an enclosure, which will be printed tomorrow.

He categorized his experience and background under the following four headings:

DIVERSE GOVERNMENT EXPERIENCE: The new Chairman must have experience in all levels of government. I have been a school board member, a school board President, a city Alderman, Mayor of Harvard, and now McHenry County Treasurer. As Treasurer I routinely meet with City Councils, Village Boards, Town Boards, School Boards, Fire Board, and other taxing bodies to offer suggestions and aid in managing their funds. I am the only candidate that has regular contact with every governmental body in McHenry County. I am also the only candidate that has served in multiple levels of local government.

EDUCATION: The new Chairman must have the knowledge and intelligence to be able to make things happen for our country, both in Springfield and Washington. I graduated from Carthage College with a double major in Political Science and Criminal Justice. I also attended John Marshall Law School.

PROVEN TRACK RECORD: The new Chairman must have the knowledge and intelligence to be able to make things happen for our county. In the last 5 years, I have been able to get over $32 MILLION in grants for various areas of our county. This money has paid for new water wells and tower, new parks and park buildings, new roads and stop lights, new land for the site of a new school, and $2 MILLION for job training. Also, I was the person responsible for bringing Motorola to our county. They are now the largest employer and largest taxpayer in McHenry County. While bringing in this large development, I wrote the ordinance that established a green zone in our county. This is an area set aside that cannot be developed.

PROVEN KNOWLEDGE OF OUR PARTY: The new Chairman must “hit the ground running”. There is not time for on the job training. I have given testimony before two congressional committees, as well as present grants in Springfield. I know our party inside and out. When you call me with a problem or question, you can be assured that I will find the right person to help us out.

So, it’s seven years later.

Isn’t it ironic that one of LeFew’s major selling points—bringing Motorola and its approximately $30 million in state subsidies to Harvard—now is a shell of its former self?

His connections in the United States House of Representatives are now half what they were then.

And, he no longer has connections in Springfield with a Republican governor.

Tomorrow: “…the beginning of a new era for all of us…”

Labels: Bill LeFew, McHenry County Republican Central Committee

Imagine my surprise when I got an email from Julie Ardrey, who writes the Human Flower Project blog.

She reprinted my article about yellow’s being my favorite flower color.

And, she offers a color blindness test.

It looked like the same one I took at the Museum of Science and Industry the first time I went in the late 1950’s right after we moved to Crystal Lake from Middletown, New York.

Yip.

I’m still red-green color blind.

If you are in doubt as to whether you are colorblind, take the test yourself.

You can link to it at the Human Flower Project.

Labels: Colorblind, Human Flower Project, Julie Ardrey, Yellow

While checking in at Rockford’s Clock Tower Inn last week, I saw the front of this tee shirt and had not a clue what it was all about.

So, I asked.

The woman told me that her brother-in-law needed a bone marrow transplant.

This was part of the campaign to find a donor that matched.

On the back of her tee shirt was
Tim O’Hare’s
Bone Marrow Blood Drive
Volunteer

I told her I would post it and here it is.

O’Hare lives in Bryon, Illinois.

Labels: Bone Marrow, Byron, Clock Tower Inn, Rockford, Tim O'Hare

When I walked up to the courthouse where I spent four years as McHenry County Treasurer between 1966 and 1970, I saw Bianchi signs in the front yard of the courthouse.

I immediately thought of the story that Julie Covert told me.

She was up at the courthouse during the early 1960’s and saw the incumbent state’s attorney’s sign posted on the same courthouse lawn. [Ruth Rooney, Julie's daughter, tells me the signs were for Nixon and that Julie took them down and tore up the ones in the courthouse windows.]

Feisty former union organizer she was, she took the sign down.

She knew it wasn’t right for political signs to be on the courthouse lawn.

As I remember the story, a sheriff’s deputy followed her our of town and her husband Ben was told to admonish her.

Yeah.

Right.

That would be like someone telling me to admonish my wife.

Julie and she can take care of themselves.

But, back to the main show.

The rumor mill has been busy with tales of Jim McAuliff’s being ready to announce for the office…St. Patrick’s Day was the date I was given the week before.

The same grapevine said McAuliff would step aside if Appellate Court Justice Sue Hutchison decided to run come the August petition passing time.

A couple of days before St. Pat’s Day, McAuliff called to tell me that he had been approached to run, but was not announcing that Saturday.

The word on the street is that GOP County Chairman Bill LeFew is none too happy with Bianchi. And rumored to be deeper in the background is former Republican Party Chairman Al Jourdan and former State’s Attorney Gary Pack maneuvering to dump Bianchi.

As those attending the event climbed the curved staircase to the old courtroom (where I was sworn in as county treasurer as a 24-year old in December, 1966), they could see a sign announcing names of people who have endorsed Bianchi’s re-election.

A casual glance would show that many were Al Jourdan stalwarts. (Jourdan became GOP County Chairman in 1968 and most Republican official holders since then owe him at least a debt of gratitude.)

You can read the names in the image I have posted, which can be enlarged by clicking on it.

A crowded second floor courtroom greeted McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi when time came near for his announcement.

McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler introduced Bianchi, stressing how he had saved county taxpayers money by bringing previously outsourced legal work into the state’s attorney’s office.

“He’s been a very strong advocate for all the people of McHenry County,” Koehler told the crowd….Lou deserves all of our strong support.”

Standing behind the bench, Bianchi said,

This is the closest I’ll ever come to being a judge.

The reason?

“I want to be the greatest state’s attorney I can possibly be.”

He seemed a bit worried about his speaking ability, explaining he had been reading a book telling how to make a speech.

The beginning of his term was occupied with mediating between countywide elected officials and the county board on who had what budget authority. Bianchi said the dispute was “all because of an opinion by outside counsel.”

He used the example to show he was “dedicated to cooperation.”

The crowd shouted,

Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!

All I could think of was the 1972 chant of supporters of Richard Nixon. At least Bianchi didn’t hold both hands up showing “V’s.”

Bianchi introduced Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Bob Blazier as the head of his campaign.

Chuck Ruth, head of Alliance Contracting and large donator to any number of good causes, will be Finance Chairman. (You can see what bad lighting does when one shoots across a room.)

Ruth used a pause to good-naturedly tell folks that checks and credit cards could be accepted immediately.

There were campaign co-chairmen, but I only got the name of his neighbor Nancy Prioletti.

Ron Salgado, who moved over to the state’s attorney’s office from the sheriff’s office was introduced as the Political Director.

Then, Bianchi introduced his wife, whom he called,

Saint Jean

He also introduced the office supervisors, noting that his criminal division chief had conducted 53 jury trials and was doing a good job in the Cox trial, in which, perhaps, not coincidentally, Mark Gummerson is the defense attorney. Gummerson’s name keeps coming up at one of the leaders in the attempt to defeat Bianchi.

Bianchi then moved on to a poster of his “kept promises.”

I was on the wrong side of the room, but did get a picture of it later for you to take a look at.

In the lead up, the state’s attorney bragged about the 261 years of experience in his office.

“The rumor is a lot of those years are mine.”

He talked about how his predecessor’s (Gary Pack’s) bad check collection operation was a “bank with people answering telephones in California.”

I know from the experience of my legislative assistant Pete Castillo, that the state’s attorney’s office was inadequate except as a threat when bad check complaints were submitted to our office.

Bianchi also announced that he was planning to set up a mental health court and a drug court to save time and money by diverting some of those arrested from the court system.

“I promised four years ago that we would return the office to the people…We have returned the office to the people,” he concluded to cheers.

Bianchi has about $46,000 available for the campaign.

= = = = =
As usual, all of the images can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Top right is McHenry County State's Attorney Lou Bianchi in full campaign mode.

Below left are two of the signs that were on the Old Courthouse lawn. (I should have gotten the fence, too.)

In the third photo, Bianchi is greeting a boy while supporters hand out rally signs.


Next, McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler can be seen introducing Bianchi, as can the crowd on the right side of the room.

Beneath that photograph is one of the public officials who have endorsed Bianchi. Those who are missing are probably as interesting as those who are listed.

Those standing in the middle of the room are pictured next. Right below are those on the left side of the courtroom.

Crystal Lake's Bob Blazier is seen holding up a Bianchi after being introduced as his Campaign Chairman.

Below right is Chuck Ruth starting his role as Finance Chairman by soliciting those in the room.

Political Director Ron Salgado is to the left below, while "St. Anne," Bianchi's wife is slightly below to the right.

Next comes a poster listing Bianchi's "Kept Promises."

And below is a close-up of Bianchi addressing the crowd.

Finally, considering the stealing of signs toward the end of bitter fought campaigns in McHenry County, I couldn't resist posting this brother and sister and their friendly sign war on the way up the Old Courthouse steps. I think Dad is the referee. The steps, by the way, are a lot safer than they were in the late 1960's. The sandstone had been quite eroded by then.

Labels: Al Jourdan, Bill LeFew, Bob Blazier, Chuck Ruth, Gary Pack, Julie Covert, Ken Koehler, Lou Bianchi, Mark Gummerson, McHenry County State's Attorney, Nancy Prioletti, Ron Salgado

As we were driving to the Clock Tower Inn for kid enjoyment at its new water park, CoCo Key, what did we see but campaign signs.

They started where Dunham Road intersects with Route 176.

That’s pretty much on the edge of Marengo-Union country.

First we saw blue and white 4 by 6 foot signs opposed to the Kishwaukee Valley Water Authority.

They read,

VOTE NO
KVW AUTHORITY
www.watertaxvoteno.org

A check mark in a box is in the upper right hand corner of the sign and “April 17th” is on upper right hand side.

The lettering is in white on a blue background.

I think there were some smaller yard signs, too, but I didn’t seem to get a photograph of any.

Then, we saw a sign painted on the side of what I think is an old corncrib next to a really big barn and a silo.

It said in big, bold red paint,

NO

and to the right in big, blue capital letters--but not as large as the red "NO,"

WATER
AUTHORITY

Not in town, mind you, where citizens won’t get a vote, but out in the country where referendum initiators, A-LAW (the Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water), hope to find supporters.

All of them seemed to be on open fields, although I did see one homemade one, which I didn’t get a photograph of, in front of a farmhouse on Route 176.

We saw no sign of support for the referendum to create the Kishwaukee Valley Water Authority until we got almost through Garden Prairie.

There were two signs with movable letters there.

One indicated opposition to Chemtool’s building a factory and headquarters nearby and the other said,

YES
KISHWAUKEE
WATER AUTHORITY

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The top sign is located just before entering Marengo from the east on Route 176. I believe the Convenient Mart property was part of the original farm on which the 4 by 6 foot sign opposing the Kishwaukee Valley Water Authority is located. That probably means that the farm owner is ready to develop his land and would oppose the water authority because it might limit his options.

The picture of the barn was taken farther east, but still in the Union-Marengo area.

The sign in support was in western Boone County on Route 20.

Labels: A-LAW, Alliance for Land Agriculture and Water

Shame on me.

I didn't find this $30,000 contribution from the Illinois Association of Realtors before A-LAW, the folks promoting the formation of the Kishwaukee Valley Water Authority did.

It was reported over a week ago on March 22nd by the Citizens Against the Water Authority. Steven Vidmar of DeKalb is Chairman, while Bernard Suppeland of Cortland is Treasurer. The committee was formed on March 20th.

Suppeland ran for mayor of Cortland two years ago and lost by over 2-1. Vidmar is a real estate agent in DeKalb.

It is unclear how this committee is related to the committee that can be reached at the internet address www.watertaxvoteno.org on the blue and white sign below.

There should be little surprise that those who see their interests as negatively affected would spent big money to protect them. A-LAW itself predicted that its opponents would spend $200-$300,000 to defeat the referendum.

Anyway, the organization's press release about it follows:

Woodstock, IL. First it was municipalities, builders and large property owners who fought the creation of the Kishwaukee Valley Water (KVWA), but now supporters of the KVWA have learned that the Realtors have also joined the opposition.

The Illinois Association of Realtors in Springfield, Illinois has contributed $30,000 to the newly formed PAC, Citizens Against Water Authority.

These opponents obviously are concerned about how responsible groundwater management may affect their business interests and resulting profits. This shortsighted view will hurt everyone’s quality of life in the end.

A long-term plan to protect our groundwater against overuse is the only way we can continue to protect our future. These opponents have spent mega dollars on placing huge opposition signs all over the three county area.

Rather than attempt to destroy the water authority, we hoped that the developers, builders and realtors would consider the needs of the residents and not their pocket books.

As usual, it’s easier to destroy something than to work toward the greater good. The only ones who will truly suffer as a result will be the innocent citizens of our area whose water will be sucked dry by growth that does not consider adequate water supplies.

Our residents must understand the true facts. We challenge the public media to live up to their obligation to report fairly and fully and begin to analyze the intentional twisting of the truth by these opponents. Negative claims about the proposed water authority are simply not true and do a disfavor to the public.

Ordinary citizens began this initiative, as enabled by state law, and are being prevented by these vested interest groups from exercising their constitutional right to participate in their own governance.

The Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water (A-LAW), a not-for-profit corporation, began the initiative seeking passage of the referendum creating the KVWA on April 17th. A-LAW is coordinating its efforts with other alliance partners and the Citizens for the Formation of the Kishwaukee Valley Water Authority.

Labels: A-LAW, Alliance for Land Agriculture and Water, Bernard Suppeland, Illinois Association of Realtors, Kishwaukee Valley Water Authority, Steven Vidmar

Right after the primary election in March of 2000, Bill LeFew, who was actively seeking to replace Jack Schaffer as McHenry County Republican Central Committee Chairman, sent a letter to the committeemen who were elected.

LeFew, McHenry County Treasurer, was competing with Algonquin Township Road Commissioner Bob Miller.

Given LeFew’s recent intervention in the Nunda Township Republican Party’s internal affairs, I thought it might be worth looking at what LeFew said he would do, if given the top spot in the Republican Party in McHenry County.

Today, we’ll look at his March 22nd cover letter. Friday and Saturday, we’ll look at what he says on two more pages he enclosed with his letter, which has no return address other than “Harvard, IL 60033.”

Dear Fellow Republican,

First let me congratulate you on successfully being elected as precinct committeeman. As you know, on April 3rd, we will all come together to elect a Chairman and other officers of our party.

As you probably know, I am running for the position of Chairman, and I would like your support. I strongly believe it is time for our party to end the in-fighting. We much understand that there will be times when we will not all agree. We also must work to make sure that those disagreements don’t escalate to make us enemies.

I am attaching two informational sheets to this letter. The first tells of my background and experience and the second tells of some changes I would like to make, if elected as Chairman.

I believe that the Chairman’s job is to listen to your concerns, and to act on them quickly. The Chairman must respond to you, when and where you need him.

In keeping with this, I am listing several ways in which you can contact me. I will be there when you need me.

Sincerely,

Wm. LeFew

Offoce 815-334-4354
Office 815-943-6655
Pager 815-356-4892
Home 815-943-4159
FAX 815-943-6286
Email wlefew@amfam.com

Tomorrow: LeFew’s background. More on Sunday.

Click on the letter to enlarge it.

Labels: Bill LeFew, McHenry County Republican Central Committee

The tax hikers of Carpentersville District 300 are up and about on the internet again this year.

But, just like Professor Milton Rakow's 1979 book title, "

"We Don't Want Nobody Nobody Sent"

If you are not on their side of the tax hiking agenda, they take your name of their email list.

No matter.

A friend of McHenry County Blog got and forwarded it anyway.

The most recent Advance 300 electronic missive is below. (It looks like the writer took Latin. Note the plural of "referendum" is not the Americanized "referendums," but "referenda." And, as usual, I have added some paragraphs to make it easier to read.)

Hello District 300 Voters!

Here it is a year after the referenda passed and we are gearing up for another election. Only this time Advance 300 is not campaigning! As you may already know, there are eight candidates running for the District 300 Board of Education (BOE). The election is on April 17th. (Mark your calendars!)

Click here for voter information.

Note that Advance 300 is not endorsing any particular candidate(s). Instead we are gathering information on all of the candidates to pass on to you, the voters. We are confident that, armed with all available relevant information, you are very capable of choosing on your own.

As our first installment...

Click here to review the candidates' responses to our Advance300 Candidate Questionnaire!

While we patterned our questionnaire after the local newspapers' questionnaires, ours is much more extensive. As you can read from the link above, we took great pains to give every candidate an equal opportunity to respond to important questions.

However, do not conclude that we will be presenting all the information we gather in such an unbiased manner - to the contrary.
While there are several very good candidates, there are also those candidates who we think do not appear to be qualified to serve on the Board at this time or whose interests seem to lay in places other than with the quality of our kids' education and the health of our community.

We will not personally attack any candidate. We will not present rumor or innuendo.

We will not present any information that we cannot back up.

But we will present any relevant, verifiable information, positive, negative or neutral, that we can uncover.

As an example, five of the eight candidates responded to our questions. One told us what we could do(!) with our questionnaire. One told us that they had been on vacation (but still chose not to respond after we offered additional time). And a third did not respond to the questionnaire at all. We think that this is useful information in making your voting decision.

Our next steps?

In the days to come, we plan to prepare additional web pages for individual candidates with information that we gather. Again, we will not personally attack any given candidate but we will pull no punches with the information that we gather and present to you. If, in our opinion, it is legitimate information and affects a candidate's ability to effectively represent the community on the Board, we will tell you about it.

Finally, if there is a question that you would like us to ask or if you have relevant, verifiable information on any of the candidates, please email us at: advance300yes@yahoo.com. We will try to find out what you need to know or publish your information for others to see.

If you know of anyone else who may be interested in this type of information, please forward our email to them, asking them to contact us if they are interested in being added to our email blast list.

Check out what else is new:

Read the D300 press release and Moody's summary report on the recent increase in D300's Moody's bond rating to "A3" and how it could mean hundreds of thousands of interest savings to the district!

Read how the State has delayed $30 million in grant money to help build D300 schools. Learn how you can help.

Read here to clear up recent misconceptions about the growth and enrollment projections that were used during the spring 2006 referendum campaign.

Thank you for reading.

Sincerely,
Advance 300
www.advance300yes.org
Email at advance300yes@yahoo.com

We do not intend to send these emails to anybody who prefers not to receive them. We will immediately stop sending you any more if you reply to this email and just let us know. Or you can click on the List Serve Link at the bottom of this email to get removed from our list. If you had already asked to be removed and are still receiving this email, our apologies. You can be sure that it was an oversight in the management of our list since the end of the referendum and we will rectify that if you let us know. If however, you had previously asked to be removed and want to be back on the list, you need to let us know that too.

I found disingenuous the statement

"Advance 300 is not endorsing any particular candidate(s)"

when the tax hiking group is announcing that it will put up web sites for "we plan to prepare additional web pages for individual candidates with information that we gather."

That sounds like an in-kind contribution to me.

Why not just be honest and remind folks that your are a very wealthy political action committee and want to elect candidates you agree with?

= = = = =
Tomorrow - My take on the tax hikers' explanation of enrollment.

Labels: Advance 300, District 300, School Board

It looks like this blog is going to the dogs.

Two messages from a dog owners on successive days.

This window sticker shows four huskies with the

HUSKIE FAMILY

written underneath.

If you look at the reflection on the right hand side of the window, you will see a guy with a bald pate.

And, I’ll leave you with this tid-bit discovered in my high school Latin classes:

"Calvin" comes from the Latin adjective, "calvis,-a-,um."

It means “bald” and has fit increasing well as I have grown older.

OK, Latin scholars. Did I remember it correctly?

Labels: Bald, Huskie, Window Sticker. Message of the Day

It last more than two hours and it certainly was the boys against the girls.

There were seven out of eight candidates by the time the night ended. Only first-on-the-ballot Roger Henderson, husband of the co-president of the Huntley union of teachers was absent by the end of the meeting.

Kevin Gentry had American Airline problems flying back from Disney World and brought laughs to the room as he attributed his casual dress to the late arriving flight.

He not only apologized for his attire, but “to the American Airlines customer service representative I talked to.”

I’d say only about fifty Sun City residents showed up.

Maybe fewer, considering some of the candidates brought spouses.

But, the entire night was broadcast on the Sun City television channel, so undoubtedly more people saw it.

It’s impossible to convey the depth of the answers, so let me deal with the referendum question from the floor.

How long before the next referendum?

Appointed incumbent Tony Quagliano, running unopposed for a 2-year term, got first shot at the question.

He pointed out that there were two types of referendum—those to increase tax rates and ones to authorize bond issuance.

“I honestly believe we may never have to go again for another operating tax referendum,” the CPA and school finance expert revealed.

I wonder if anyone else but me was surprised.

“We’re managing…money better.

“If we needed more I would go for a Working Cash referendum,” the CPA said. “It wouldn’t diminish your state aid.

He pointed out if the school board had asked for a Working Cash referendum, rather than the 55-cent tax rate, which really was several times higher than that amount, “It would have had no negative affect on General State Aid.”

With regard to a building referendum, Quagliano thought 3-4 years was reasonable.

Going in reverse alphabetic order, current Board President Mike Skala was next up. He was the first of six of the seven running for three 4-year seats to reply.

“I agree with everything he said,” Skala said, pretty much epitomizing the attempt by all the candidates present to be identified with Quagliano on all sorts of subjects.

Skala revealed that the district was now analyzing all of its space in the hope of optimizing its use.

Aileen Seedorf, one of the two female challengers who are critical of current board practices, praised the fiscal acumen of both Quagliano and not-up-for-re-election board member Larry Snow. (Snow was in the audience, but taking regular barbs from the male challengers throughout the night.)

“I, too do not see it in the near future.

Frankly, I don’t see it farther off either.

I’m not looking to build any new buildings,” she said, preferring to expand existing ones.

Linda Moore, who got off the sharpest criticism of male opponents who have wives working for the Huntley School District, said she didn’t see a referendum for “at least 2-3 years.”

She pointed to the $12 million surplus suggesting that some of it could be used.

“If population growth slows, our plans can be expanded further,” Moore said.

David Larkin also agreed with Quagliano, but suggested that the population report should be updated.

“I would not support another referendum unless there is no other alternative,” he said.

“Ultimately, it comes down to planning, planning, planning,” Gentry said.

He said he favored pushing “the referendum as far out as possible.”

“You know, growth happens,” added the final candidate, Jim Carlin. “Whenever growth happens it’s very important to have a better way of managing capacity.”

Carlin pointed out that the $10 million amounts to “a 2 months ‘ operating cash flow.”

Shelly Appleton moderated the candidates' night.

= = = = =
The top photo is of the candidates before the arrival of Kevin Gentry. From left to right at Jim Carlin, David Larkin, Linda Moore, Aileen Seedorf, Mike Skala and Tony Quagliano. Below left is Tony Quagliano talking to Linda Moore before the meeting. The first head shot is of Tony Quagliano. Next comes Mike Skala, on the left. Immediately below Skala's photograph, on the right hand side of the article, is that of Aileen Seedorf. Below Seedorf is David Larkin. Below left is Jim Carlin. Finally, Sun City meeting moderator Shelly Appleton is show.

Labels: Aileen Seedorf, David Larkin, Huntley School District 158, Jim Carlin, Kevin Gentry, Linda Moore, Mike Skala, Tony Quagliano

No, it’s not because the late 80-something great-grandmother is getting older.

It’s because she has only until sometime in April to re-submit her suit against the Crystal Lake Park District.

When we last left the former Crystal Lake Park District commissioner, she had decided to withdraw her lawsuit “without prejudice.”

She was lawyerless, having decided that her attorney was not following her instructions. Here are the details of the court hearing that day. And more details about the case.

Judge Michael Sullivan allowed her motion, even though park district attorney Matthew Egan objected.

That day attorney Egan asked that Nelson be forced to pay the expenses of the court suit. But Egan refused to say how much had been spent when Judge Sullivan asked him the amount. Sullivan refused.

She told McHenry County Blog that she and her friends were going to hold garage sales during the summer to raise money to hire another lawyer.

I didn’t see any such garage sales.

Six years ago, Nelson was censured by the park board “for her purported release of executive session material and the purported making of comments toward a Park District employee.” In other words, she was charged with sexually harassing Jack Sebesta, as well as releasing documents that the park board majority did not want the public to see.

The park board seems to have capitulated on her “purported release of executive session material,” probably having been told by its attorney that it is not illegal for a member of public body to discuss what happens in executive (secret) session.

= = = = =
The picture above is, of course, of Leona Nelson.

Labels: Crystal Lake Park Board, Crystal Lake Park District, Leona Nelson, Sexual harrassment

March 22nd, McHenry County Blog was denied a copy of Amtrak’s study of the pros, cons and costs of various routes for daily round-trip service between Chicago and Dubuque via Rockford.

Here’s the reason given by the Illinois Department of Transportation, taken from the Freedom of Information Act [5ILCS 140/7 (1) (f).]:

(f) Preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations, memoranda and other records in which opinions are expressed, or policies or actions are formulated, except that a specific record or relevant portion of a record shall not be exempt when the record is publicly cited and identified by the head of the public body. The exemption provided in this paragraph (f) extends to all those records of officers and agencies of the General Assembly that pertain to the preparation of legislative documents.

Didn’t Democratic Party candidate Rod Blagojevich express support for railroad commuter service for Rockford at that first 2002 debate?

The report, by the way, is promised by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin to be at this IDOT Amtrak web page on Thursday.

He and Congressman Don Manzullo will hold a public hearing at 10 AM this Saturday at Fisher Memorial Chapel at Rockford College, 5050 E. State Street in Rockford.

Here’s the top part of Durbin’s press release:

ROCKFORD – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo will host an informational meeting to discuss the findings of the recently-completed “Feasibility Report on Proposed Amtrak Service” from Chicago to Dubuque via Rockford and Galena.

Amtrak officials will present the report’s findings and discuss several service options. Durbin and Manzullo will be joined by Amtrak Senior Director of Corridor Planning Mike Franke and Senior Director of Government Affairs Ray Lang, Illinois Department of Transportation Acting Secretary Milt Sees, officials from Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Boone, DeKalb, Ogle and Winnebago counties as well as Dubuque, Iowa and passenger rail supporters. Following the presentation, there will be a Q & A session with members of the audience.

Durbin, who has long been committed to bringing passenger rail service to the northwest Illinois region, hosted a public forum in July where local officials were able to make the case for restoration of service directly to Amtrak’s top leadership.

Anyone notice that McHenry County is not mentioned?

I hope that does not discourage Huntley, Union, Marengo and McHenry County officials from attending.

Labels: Amtrak, Dick Durbin, Don Manzullo, IDOT, Rockford

And the color is yellow.

That’s the color of my flowers of choice.

The reason is simple.

I have a hard time seeing pastels.

Even red gives me a problem.

That’s probably because I am red-green colorblind.

Hint: be wary of me at any intersection where the traffic lights are not vertical.

In any event, I like yellow flowers because I can see them vividly.

If the other colors are as vivid to other people as yellow is to me, we live in a beautiful world.

Labels: Colorblind, Flowers, Lakewood, Message of the Day, Yellow

You’d think that when one public entity does a study for another public entity that maybe, just maybe, the study would be in the public domain.

I read about a study that Amtrak performed for the Illinois Department of Transportation.

It has to do with starting a one-train a day run to and from Dubuque, Iowa, but my interest is what it says about the possibility of the passenger train going through Huntley and Marengo.

I got details from Mark Magliari, Amtrak’s Chicago spokesman, but I wanted to read the report.

The March 22nd reply:

Your request has been denied for the following reason:

c. The requested records are exempt from inspection and copying pursuant to 5ILCS 140/7 (1) (f).

It’s our old friend from the Freedom of Information Act:

(f) Preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations, memoranda and other records in which opinions are expressed, or policies or actions are formulated, except that a specific record or relevant portion of a record shall not be exempt when the record is publicly cited and identified by the head of the public body. The exemption provided in this paragraph (f) extends to all those records of officers and agencies of the General Assembly that pertain to the preparation of legislative documents.

That’s the same excuse used by McHenry County College.

Labels: Amtrak, FOI, Freedom of Information Act, IDOT, Illinois Department of Transportation, McHenry County College

So, extending Walkup Avenue from Crystal Lake Community High School to Route 14 through the street between Jewel and Hobby Lobby.

The Northwest Herald has made available on its web site some of the discussion between its editorial board and Crystal Lake mayoral candidates Aaron Shepley and Lori Phelps.

I have tried to edit what both said down to the essentials of the issue.

Here is what Shepley said:

…At no time, never, has, ah, Immanuel Lutheran presented a plan that had Walkup in it. They desire not to have it connected. Why? Because if Walkup were connected it would go right in front of their K through 8 grade school and create a tremendous hazard for the kids who attend that school…

He goes on to say that he thinks that connection should be required for “for the commercial aspects.”

I have no clue how Walkup can be connected for the commercial part to the high school and the Route 14 next to the street next to Jewel.

Shepley talks about the “tremendous hazard” of a school being on a busy street without mentioning that both the current Lutheran School and Hussman Grade School are on busy McHenry Avenue.

Lori Phelps said,

I would be agreeable to opening Walkup. That has always been on the comprehensive plan to open Walkup to Techler…to alleviate some of some of the congestion in that area…

It is my understanding, direct from their current pastor, that they were advised by the city, city staff, that, if you want this to be approved, do not put the Walkup extension on your plan.

So, they didn’t.

Phelps added, “Maybe keep Congress closed except to just lot 1 and 2 so we don’t have that thru traffic to Walkup.”

By going to the Northwest Herald link, you can heard everything they said.

Labels: Aaron Shepley, Crystal Lake, Lori Phelps, Northwest Tollway, Walkup Avenue

A while ago, I had a letter published in Elgin’s Daily Courier-News.

It was a re-write of a piece I first published on McHenry County Blog criticizing Carpentersville District 300 for spending about $12.8 million to avoid paying anything back on the $105 million just borrowed for the first seven years.

I thought that was irresponsible and still do.

The piece apparently hit a nerve—at least when the Elgin paper published it.

A Chuck Ritzke of West Dundee wrote a rebuttal that the Courier printed on March 19th.

Ritzke’s letter is on the internet, although I can’t find my original letter there.

I invite you to read both and draw your own conclusions.

I do remember one bromide from my economics classes at Oberlin College.

In the long run, we are all dead.

Oh, yes.

A friend of the blog wrote that Mr. Ritzke was listed as a supporter of the “Vote Yes, Vote Yes” to raise District 300 taxes last year.

It's four lines above the big red dot. His name is the first one on line 21, followed by Kristen Olsen * Eileen Baker * Nancy Blunk * Barb Ritzke. (To make the images large enough to read, you will have to click on them. I have included the cover and mailing side of the brochure for historical purposes.)

If you look closely at this piece, you will see the “Vote Yes, Vote Yes” people had to include the name of each member of the family in order to fill up the inside of the mailing.

Big surprise there.

Finally, there is something Mr. Ritzke and I agree on:

Let's have honest and thoughtful commentary about the decisions that the district makes. Improvement is always a goal.

Perhaps Mr. Ritzke would like to offer some “honest and thoughtful commentary” about how the enrollment figures presented by the “Vote Yes, Vote Yes” tax hike committee were so, so out of touch with an economy in which the housing industry was obviously (even then) tanking.

Maybe he can trot out some big economics’ concept he learned in college to explain how District 300’s enrollment projections could have been so wrong or, dare I suggest, dishonest?

Labels: Chuck Ritzke, District 300

Sunday’s Chicago Tribune had a front page story on crisis pregnancy centers and the criticism levied against them by the abortion industry.

Entitled,

To foes, pregnancy sites blur the abortion picture

with a sub head of

Crisis pregnancy centers offer alternatives to abortion, but critics say they are misleading

A quick reading of the article leads me to believe that it does a pretty good job of outlining the centers’ motivations, goals and methods.

One of the new means of convincing women to carry through with their pregnancies are sonogram machines.

The theory is that once a mother sees her baby, she is less likely to want to kill it.

I called Scott Bryant, Executive Director of Tri-County Parenting and Pregnancy Services, for his take on the use of somograms. (The Crystal Lake office is behind, but within sight of the main McDonald’s on Route 14 across from K-Mart.)

It’s not an easy question. It’s certainly something we’ve talked about. Tri-County has considered going medical in the past, but there are number of significant issues involved.

Fristly, there is a debate within the pregnancy center nationwide ministry as to how effective ultrasounds are in terms of altering a woman’s perception. Most women that come into a pregnancy center come during their first trimester Because of this, what appears on an ultrasound screen does not remotely resemble a human being. It appears to be a mass of tissue and, therefore, the emotional impact that advocates of ultrasound technology hope to achieve is largely minimized.

Secondly, there is cost involved. A used ultrasound machine, I have been told, costs somewhere in the vicinity of $10-15,000. Therefore, start-up costs alone for Tri-County could be estimated anywhere from $20,000-30,000. Additionally, we would need to employ medical personnel at both sites and we would to need to take out additional insurance to cover medical procedures. In the end, you’re probably conservatively looking at a start-up cost of $60,000.

For an organization like Tri-County with a $400,000 budget now, quite honestly, at this point, we don’t have the capital to do something like that.

My wife, by the way, helped get a Crystal Lake office up and running and our church, the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake has contributed a month’s loose coin offerings to it for the last couple of years. In fact, I did the video used the last two years and my son is in it.

Naturally, there are some negative comments in the Tribune article. Both of the article’s internal subheads are slanted against crisis pregnancy centers:

Scare tactics alleged

Religious motivation

There’s no subhead saying,

Profit motivated

to describe an abortion clinic spokeswomen.

But the picture of the mother convinced by seeing her baby on a sonogram is an African-American.

That’s significant to me, because Planned Parenthood’s founder Margaret Singer was a racist, as was at least one of the supporters of abortion in the General Assembly when I served there.

“There are just too many black babies,” she told me during a vote.

Labels: Crystal Lake, Scott Bryant, Sonogram, Tri-County Parenting and Pregnancy Center

Yes, Sprummer.

Isn’t that what we are in now?

It should be spring, but it feels more like summer.

That’s why we slept with the bedroom window open Sunday night.

It was wonderful.

Labels: Message of the Day, Sprummer

While Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley has not made his political action committee’s pre-election campaign report to the State Board of Elections, challenger Lori Phelps has.

She reported loaning her campaign $3,000 on February 23rd and $2,000 more on March 18th.

Phelps reported no other contributions or loans.

Shepley has about shown about $11,500, with more due to be reported by April 2nd. You can read the contributors he has revealed for this year's campaign at the link.

Labels: Aaron Shepley, Crystal Lake, Lori Phelps