McHenry County Blog

Today begins a three day series of "Messages of the Day." All have a musical theme.

This license plate, while a bit fuzzy, can be seen in the Crystal Lake area.

You can easily tell it says,

Labels: Guitar, License Plate, Message of the Day

This press release from the Illinois Republican Party is too funny not to share:

Governor for
a day –
Brought to you by the Illinois Republican Party

Winner gets relaxing day in Chicago courtesy of ILGOP

CHICAGO – In light of the recent expose on the carefree lifestyle led by Governor Rod Blagojevich, the Illinois Republican Party is conducting a special drawing across the state to make one lucky Illinoisan Governor for a Day.

"While we can’t give you a $155,000 taxpayer funded paycheck to do nothing, we will attempt to come close by giving you what we believe one day in the life of Rod Blagojevich might be like," said ILGOP Spokesperson Lance Trover.

The winner of Governor for a Day will begin the day at the hour of their choice.

From then, they will be ushered to a salon for a haircut and massage.

Following their time at the salon they will be treated to a first-class lunch which will be followed by a tour of the City of Chicago including visits to the Sears Tower and other Chicago landmarks.

Ensuring they are treated just like our current governor, the winners will end their day by attending a Chicago Blackhawk’s game.

"While it is clear this sort of lifestyle is normal for Rod Blagojevich on any given day, it’s far from normal for the average Illinoisan," added Trover. "Hopefully this day will give one hardworking Illinoisan the opportunity to live like the Governor they help fund with their hard earned tax dollars."

To ensure all Illinoisans have a shot at being Governor for a Day, anyone can email their name and contact information to GovernorforaDay@ilgop.org and they will be assigned a specific number for Wednesday’s drawing. One entry per person.

The special drawing will kick off at noon on Friday, November 30, in front of the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago and the Illinois Capitol in Springfield. ILGOP staff will be present handing out free drawing tickets at both locations.

The winning number will be announced on WeAreIllinois.org at noon on Wednesday, December 5, 2007.

Best of luck to all entrants. And just remember: being Governor of Illinois is not hard work, as long as you don’t show up.

It seems the contest winner is not required to go to the State Capitol in Springfield.

The first part of the Governor's defense appears on the TV screen.

It's the first time I have even heard Channel Two's veteran political reporter Mike Flannery referred to as "sleazy." Somehow, I think that might motivate him to concentrate more on Governor Rod Blagojevich's foibles.

Labels: Channel Two, Illinois Republican Party, Lance Trover, Mike Flannery, Rod Blagojevich

One of three candidates for the Republican nomination to take on Democratic Party Congresswoman Melissa Bean has drawn four of a kind in the endorsement game.

All four Republican state senators who represent parts of the 8th congressional district have endorsed Steve Greenberg. The subhead of his press release says, "Businessman's House Bid Gains Momentum."

I imagine that we can expect all of the GOP house members to follow suit in a subsequent press release.

I do notice one anomaly. The press release seems to use the office addresses of the legislators. Crystal Lake is given for former McHenry Mayor Pam Althoff's location identifier. Crystal Lake is not in the 8th congressional district.

Regardless, here is the press release:

GOP Senators Endorse Greenberg
Businessman’s House Bid Gains Momentum

LAKE ZURICH 11/29/07—Businessman and Republican candidate for Congress Steve Greenberg today announced the endorsement of all four Republican State Senators who represent parts of Illinois’ Eighth Congressional district. Senators Pam Althoff (Crystal Lake), John Millner (Schaumburg), Matt Murphy (Palatine) and Bill Peterson (Lake Zurich) are each endorsing Greenberg in his bid to represent the northwest suburbs in Congress.

“I am deeply honored by the endorsement of these highly respected leaders. Senators Althoff, Millner, Murphy and Peterson not only serve in the Illinois Senate with distinction, they are also political veterans who will help me bring my message of change to voters and guide my campaign to victory against Melissa Bean,” said Greenberg.

Senator Althoff: “Steve has a passion for people that shines though with everyone he meets. Many of the folks in Washington all too often forget what their real jobs are; Steve won’t forget why he was sent to Washington. I am confident that Steve will be an outstanding Congressman and leader for our community”

Senator Millner: “Steve Greenberg is the kind of candidate that gets people excited. He brings huge amounts of enthusiasm and knowledge of the issues that affect people’s everyday lives.”

Senator Murphy: “Washington DC, like Springfield, is full of politicians that think the taxpayer’s money is their money. I am proud to endorse Steve Greenberg because he will fight wasteful spending in Washington and will bring commonsense to our nation’s capitol. Steve will be the Congressman local taxpayers so desperately need and deserve.”

Senator Peterson: “After spending time with Steve Greenberg, I am absolutely convinced that he is the candidate that can and will be victorious against Melissa Bean. He will bring a unifying message forward during his campaign, and I am convinced that as a Member of Congress he will be a unifying leader for the 8th district”

Labels: 8th Congressional District, Melissa Bean, Steve Greenberg

Arriving in McHenry County Blog’s email inbox is the following missive from Republican State Senator Pam Althoff, which I am pleased to share with you:

As the spring session (wait a minute, isn’t it November?) wanes closer to an end, it’s important to take a moment to examine the Administration and General Assembly’s accomplishments in the area of open space, green energy and environmental protection.

While the General Assembly successfully passed numerous green bills, including: the Illinois Cool Cities Act (P.A. 95-0453), legislation permitting township recycling programs (P.A. 95-0119) and legislation encouraging municipal governments to go green (P.A. 95-0657), funding for Illinois’ open spaces still remains a question.

Historically, Illinois has funded open space land acquisition through its capital spending plans. Illinois FIRST and Build Illinois both provided substantial resources for conservation, but those dollars are long gone, and without them there is no reliable funding for additions to our state park system, providing new hunting opportunities or helping local governments protect open space beyond the limited scope of the OSLAD program. There is an estimated need of $7.53 billion today for lands that the IDNR and local governments hope to acquire to protect our natural heritage and provide recreational opportunities for our communities.

Unfortunately, the capital budget approved by the Senate does not include a land acquisition component. If passed as currently drafted, this plan would be the first capital program in recent decades to ignore conservation. If there is a capital budget approved this year without open space funding, it may be years before our next opportunity.

Both the House and Senate this year have adopted resolutions (House Resolution 55 and Senate Joint Resolution 52, which I was a chief sponsor of) endorsing the iSPACE (Illinois Special Places Acquisition, Conservation and Enhancement) proposal for $100 million annually. While this would not come close to meeting the entire need, it would represent a solid down payment for open spaces that can be built upon in future years. iSPACE is supported by a broad base of hunting, local government and environmental organizations.

Over the past several years, Illinois has been making great strides in green energy, open space and recycling; however, this year may represent our largest challenge yet … ensuring that money for iSPACE is in the capital budget. I implore you to remain involved with this issue. Without your support it may be years before additional money for green projects is available. If you have any questions regarding this issue or any other, please do not hesitate to contact me at palthoff@mc.net or 815/455-6330.

Warmest regards,
Pamela J. Althoff
State Senator

Labels: Pam Althoff

McHenry's Steve Stanek is nothing if not persistent. Yesterday, with his permission, McHenry County Blog published an email to Northwest Herald Group Editor Chris Krug.

Today we have another one showing how the weekly Pioneer Press (Algonquin and Cary-Grove Countryside locally) scooped the NW Herald:

Dear Mr. Krug:

At the end of this message I have pasted a copy of today's Algonquin Countryside newspaper article that follows up on last week's article on the MCC expansion proposal. May I trust the Northwest Herald will begin providing similarly balanced and complete coverage to its readers?

May I further trust future Northwest Herald articles on attempts by MCC or McHenry County communities to subsidize minor league baseball will quote independent economic studies that show how foolish such subsidies are? If you'd rather quote persons directly, you are in luck. Two nationally known sports economists work in this area and often speak with reporters: Allen Sanderson at University of Chicago (e-mail: arsx@uchicago.edu or phone 773-834-6672) and Robert Baade at Lake Forest College (e-mail: baade@lakeforest.edu or phone 847-735-5136).

To aid you in this future coverage, here is a link to an excellent summary study of public funding of sports facilities by a Federal Reserve Bank economist.

One key point from this study:

“[W]hen a city chooses to use taxpayer dollars to finance a sports stadium, the city’s leaders must consider not only what the alternative uses of those funds could be – such as schools, police, roads, etc. – but they must also figure what return the city would receive from these other ventures . . . . This adjusted calculation, though, is almost always missing from sports stadium impact studies. Why? Because in just about every case, the adjusted calculation would show that the next-best alternative was actually the better alternative. Has financing sports stadiums ever been the best alternative? Research shows ‘No.’”

Here's how the Boston Globe covered public funding of sports facilities.

The Globe article begins,

"Sports economists agree that cities--and taxpayers--get close to nothing from spending public money on sports teams. What they haven't figured out is why we're still doing it."

Regards,

Steve Stanek

McHenry (Countryside Newspaper article follows)

Review questions MCC projections

The article followed. You can get to it by clicking on the title above.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, MCC, McHenry County College

8th congressional district United States Representative Melissa Bean had two Democratic Party primary opponents when the filing period ended.

One, Randi Scheurer, was following up on husband Bill Scheurer’s third party challenge last year in which he tallied 5% of the vote for the Moderate Party.

She, like her husband, opposes the Iraq War.

Another anti-war candidate, Jonathan Farnick of Woodstock, passed petitions and also filed, but with less than the number of signatures required by law. In 2006 he ran a write-in campaign for the office.

Having two anti-war candidates running against one being characterized as “pro-war” would have given incumbent Bean an extraordinary advantage.

Incumbents always want as many challengers as possible.

Farnick admitted he realized that and you can read why he continued running anyway here.

When Farnick’s petition signatures came up short, Scheurer herself challenged his petitions.

Most candidates, Robert Abboud being a local example this year, get a supporter to do the dirty work of eliminating an unwanted contender.

The State Board of Elections web site says Farnick withdrew on November 19th, late on the afternoon before Thanksgiving, but no one in the media noticed until yesterday, when the Daily Herald’s Russell Lisssau put up a story online at 2:06 in the afternoon.

= = = = =
At the top, Randi Scheurer is on the left and Melissa Bean on the right. Jonathan Farnick is below Scheurer.

Labels: 8th Congressional District, Jonathan Farnick, Melissa Bean, Randi Scheurer

I was following a van on the way back to Crystal Lake from my son’s swim practice with the McHenry Marlins.

There was something on top that I couldn’t make out, so I took a picture.

Looking for a “Message of the Day,” I enlarged the flag enough to figure out that it was one of Scotland.

And it was attached to a aerial on top of the van’s roof.

You can see what I saw, plus a close-up of the flag.

Understated love of one’s home country, I would suggest.

Labels: Flag, Message of the Day, Scotland

In the

category is the Legislative Information Systems’ failure to post the roll call on the CTA/RTA bailout bill last night.

Even this morning when I called to ask why, it wasn’t up.

There was an asterisk next to the notation, but there was no note below. (Click below to enlarge the image.)

The person I talked to said that there had been a motion to reconsider by State Rep. Gary Hannig.

“So what?” I thought.

A vote was taken and it wasn’t put on postponed consideration.

Well, as I write this, it’s 11 o’clock in the morning and the roll call has magically appeared.

I believe it is worth noting that newspapers and radio stations without someone on the scene would not be able to report this morning how local legislators voted.

All three of McHenry County’s delegation—Jack Franks, Mike Tryon and Mark Beaubien vote against the measure.

House Republican Leader Tom Cross, whose idea was the guts of the bill voted “Present.”

Maybe he was thinking how people in Kendall County would react to his proposal to force each man, woman and child to subsidize the Chicago Transit Authority and Regional Transportation Authority $30 this year.

The roll call is here.

Labels: Chicago Transit Authority, CTA, Jack Franks, Mark Beaubien, Mike Tryon, Regional Transportation Authority, RTA, SB 307, Senate Bill 307, Tom Cross

Sixth District Republican primary county board candidate Ersel Schuster has issued the following statement about a meeting held Wednesday morning to consider co-siting the county fair, a minor league baseball stadium and a convention center and hotel:

"Once again, it appears our McHenry County Board is looking for new ways to pick the taxpayers pockets. They’ve now convened an initial meeting to discuss 'a potential multi-purpose venue to be located somewhere in the county.'

"The meeting was billed as a 'brainstorming/roundtable' session of McHenry County business, governmental, agricultural and tourism leaders. This planning process was to begin looking at alternatives to the ill-advised, and thus far defeated, baseball stadium and fitness center at the McHenry County College (MCC) campus which, by all indications, is definitely not a dead issue.

"General consensus coming out of the meeting was that the “venue” could include a baseball/sports stadium, outdoor concert venue, exposition hall & hotel for special events, and of course, at the top of the list, the McHenry County fair grounds. Two locations were suggested, the IL Rte 47 corridor or property near MCC, between the campus and Ridgefield Rd.

"It was suggested that such an undertaking might be funded by an 'authority' or some such bonding process; backed of course, by the lowly taxpayer. Most of this could be funneled through the Fair Associations to get the thing in place. Once accomplished, one might wonder just how long the county fair would be tolerated as a part of this grandiose scheme.

"Supporters scoffed at those who had objected to the MCC proposal saying they were a 'vocal minority' simply objecting out of ignorance. It was suggested that somehow those assembled knew better than those who would ultimately foot the bill. It was also suggested that there were methods of easing the opposition into supporting the concept. They would work on that.

"One bright spot was listening to two gentlemen who represented a project scheduled to be built in the City of Harvard. The project includes a baseball stadium and other components to accommodate conferences and antique type shows.

"The project is fully funded by a developer willing to put up $2 million dollars to do the job. The project is purported to include a rubberized surface that handicapped (NISRA) persons will even be able to use. What more could a community or county hope for? Public officials smart enough to stay out of private business and no tax dollars requested!

"For a small community, Harvard is the only public entity that has it right.

"As to our county board, made up of what they tell us are conservatives, they certainly have lost their way.

"This bunch has not seen a big-bucks project they can’t refuse. Public officials with deep pockets arrogantly believe everyone else is financially capable of withstanding the tax impact their projects impose on everyone."

Here's what Northwest Herald reporter Regan Foster wrote.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Convention Center, Ersel Schuster, MCC, McHenry County Board, McHenry County College

Just when you thought you couldn’t think of anything worse that Springfield politicians could do, you find something more outrageous than whatever turned you off last time.

It used to be that if you wanted to run as a write-in candidate, for precinct committeeman, for instance, you just asked your friends to write-in your name.

Mike Royko used to do a column almost every election reciting how many times Mickey Mouse was written in.

The write-ins were a way to show disgust for the politician in question.

Politicians don't take well to ridicule.

So, the politicians decided a person had to register his or her intentions to run a write-in campaign. Mickey and Donald Duck would have a hard time meeting that requirement, they reasoned.

This coming year could have found Goofy a formidable candidate in Democratic Party primaries.

The politicians made you say you were going to run a write-in campaign by the Friday before the Tuesday election.

The politicians also changed the law to require that you get as many votes as you would have had to get on a petition to get on the ballot. I wonder who was threatened by allowing on person to gain an office by writing himself in when no one else had filed.

But that still provided too open a process, so the politicians said you had to sign up at least a week in advance.
Now, the newest outrage against citizen politicians.

The Naperville Sun reports that write-in candidates have to file their intention to run such a campaign 61 days before the election. (Thanks to Capitol Fax Blog for the tip.)

The Will County Clerk figures that is December 6th.

Like next week.

Can someone come up with something more outrageous than that?

All legislators representing McHenry County vote for the bill. Democrat Jack Franks was even one of the alternate chief sponsors.

The vote in the House was 106-1. The vote in the Senate was 38-1-1.

House sponsors were Elaine Nekritz, Bill Black, Tim Schmitz, Jack Franks, LaShawn Ford, Barbara Flynn Currie, John D’Amico, Julie Hamos, Sid Mathias and John Fritchey.

Senate sponsors were Terry Link, James Meeks and Susan Garrett.

Senate Bill 662 is its number.

It appears to be the bill used to make most changes in the election code. During debate no one mentioned the change in write-in requirements.

It was short, rather than full debate, meaning maybe two people at most got to speak on each side of the question.

Labels: Bill Peterson, Jack Franks, Mark Beaubien, Mike Tryon, Pam Althoff, Tim Schmitz, Write-in

When hotel rooms used to have transoms, reporters would talk of something that come through the transom.

Now, information like the following fund raising letter from 8th congressional district Congresswoman Melissa Bean come via email.

So, for the inbox, here it is her November 28th letter:

From: Pat Reynes [mailto:pat@melissabean.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2007 3:05 PM
To: xxxxx

Subject: Can the election be bought?

"Earlier this year, Republican strategists seeking a candidate for the Eighth Congressional District in Illinois met with Steve Greenberg, a wealthy businessman who was thinking about running for the United States Senate against Senator Richard J. Durbin, a Democrat." New York Times, November 26, 2007

Dear Friends,

Help us show the Republicans that elections cannot be bought!

I wanted to be sure that you saw the front page article from Monday's New York Times, especially paragraph 15 at the bottom of the first page.

Melissa's challenger has already begun writing checks to his own campaign - 11 months in advance of the election! Melissa's support has always come from friends like you, and not from her own checkbook. Last cycle, her opponent put over $3 million of his own money into his campaign. With your help, Melissa was able to raise more.

Let's show the Republicans that with your help, she can do it again and fend off another self funded millionaire. Please consider a $23, $230 or even $2300 contribution today!

Thanks for everything you do.

Pat Reynes
Finance Director
Melissa Bean for Congress

Labels: 8th Congressional District, Melissa Bean, Pat Reynes, Steve Greenberg

The following press release has been received from the U.S. Attorney's Office:

ROCKFORD MAN PLEADS GUILTY IN FOILED PLAN
TO SET OFF GRENADES IN ROCKFORD SHOPPING MALL

CHICAGO – A Rockford, Il., man, admitted today in Federal Court that he planned to set off several grenades in garbage cans at a shopping mall in Rockford last December.

The defendant, Derrick Shareef, 23, pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. Shareef was arrested on Dec. 6, 2006, by agents of the FBI-led Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) when he met with an undercover agent at a store parking lot in Rockford to trade a set of stereo speakers for four hand grenades and a hand gun. He has remained in federal custody since he was arrested. Shareef was scheduled to stand trial beginning December 10, 2007.

Shareef entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge David Coar, who set sentencing for March 14, 2008. Shareef faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. While there is no plea agreement, the Government anticipates that a remaining count of attempted arson will be dismissed at sentencing.

Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said they were pleased with the conviction.

At the time of Shareef’s arrest, they noted that there was no imminent risk of harm once the threat allegedly posed by Shareef was detected by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the charges alleged that he was acting alone.

The indictment against Shareef alleged that he planned to set off several grenades at the CherryVale Shopping Mall, near the junction of Interstate 90 and Interstate 39 on the east side of Rockford, about 90 miles northwest of Chicago. The mall, which has approximately 130 retail stores, is owned by CBL & Associates Properties, Inc., based in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The mall was among several potential targets that Shareef allegedly discussed during the course of the investigation – the others were primarily local government facilities. At all times Shareef allegedly was acting on his plan between Nov. 29 and Dec. 6, 2006, Shareef was in contact with only an acquaintance, who unbeknownst to him was cooperating with the FBI, and an undercover agent who was posing as the cooperating individual’s friend.

The Chicago FBI’s JTTF is comprised of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies from throughout the Northern District of Illinois, all of whom contributed to the investigation.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sergio Acosta and Carrie Hamilton.

You can find much more detail about the charges and the evidence, including most of what the government tape recorded here and here you can find out about his 2004 Arizona roommates terrorist background.

Labels: Cherry Vale Mall, Derrick Shareef

Besides posting my little analysis of the Tom Cross-Mike Madigan-Richard Daley-Rod Blagojevich CTA/RTA bailout plan on McHenry County Blog, I put it up on Illinoize.

Hosted by Rich Miller, Illinoize is a blog on which he allows various folks with political thoughts to share their work.

Miller took note of my discovery that passing the $385 million subsidy for the Chicago Transit Authority and the RTA would amount to $30 for every man, woman and child and could be used politically against any supporter living outside of the six-county Chicago metropolitan area. (And, maybe within, now that I think about it.)

Here’s what he said on his superblog Capitol Fax Blog:

* To get a small idea of how politically volatile the new bailout proposal is, read this commentary by former state Rep. Cal Skinner…

Say you are from Downstate, also known as anything outside of the six-county Chicago metropolitan area served by the Regional Transportation Authority.

$385 million [GRF transit bailout] divided by the state’s population of 12,831,970 (Commerce Department figure) is what?

$30.

So, an opponent could send a mailing to a Downstate legislator’s district saying anyone who voted for this deal voted to force a family of four to send $120 to Chicago.

Or robo calls could be made. Even cheaper.

Whatever you may think of Cal, he’s right.

In his Capitol Fax, Miller wrote:

As former Republican state Rep. Cal Skinner points out, the state bailout of the Chicago area’s transit systems represents about $30 for every man, woman and child in Illinois. That’ll go over well with Downstaters, I’m sure. Not. I’ll have a link to Skinner’s analysis at the blog.

Labels: Capitol Fax Blog, Chicago Transit Authority, CTA, Illinoize, Regional Transportation Authority, Rich Miller, RTA

McHenry County Blog has learned that Patricia Pitkus-Bainburg, Director of the Respect Life office of the Rockford Diocese, will be presenting the facts about Planned Parenthood using Planned Parenthood's own materials and statements.

She will be in Spring Grove at 7 PM on Thursday, November 29th, at the parish hall in St. Peter's Catholic Church to explain the method by which Planned Parenthood influences our society.

Labels: Planned Parenthood, Spring Grove, St. Peter's Catholic Church

We stayed at a motel near Midway Airport the night before our flight to Orlando.

I figured that sure beat getting up at 3 AM as my brother-in-law’s family did, although my wife’s 5 AM wake up call was way too early for me. I don’t do well in the dark.

Besides the extra hours sleep, the consortium of hotels in Bedford Park, south of the airport, allow one to park in the hotel lots for $10 a day (in the case of the Hilton Garden Inn) and provide bus transportation to and from the airport.

We were the first to get on the bus.

When it pulled up at the Marriott, I saw an American flag cow I had to take a picture of. (Look for it as a future “Message of the Day.)

Getting on the bus was a young man with this tee shirt.

Looking at it, I knew it was going to be a good day.



The tee shirt said,

Between the two lines was an arrow with a pointed arrow head.

Labels: Arrow, Hunting, Message of the Day, T-Shirt, Tee Shirt

Speaking of events Wednesday evening, Richard Kelly, who is challenging McHenry County Auditor Pam Palmer for the office, is holding a $35 fund raiser at the Olde Town Hall above Heisler’s Bootery in Downtown Crystal Lake from now until 7.

Here’s an article you may have missed because it was posted on Thanksgiving. It touches on the implications of Kelly’s candidacy.

I understand that Palmer held a fund raiser in the Marengo area hosted by former County Auditors Al Jourdan and Ruth Rooney.

Labels: Al Jourdan, McHenry County Auditor, Pam Palmer, Richard Kelly Jr., Ruth Rooney

Sorry I didn’t get this posted earlier.

The McHenry County Conservation District is holding a meeting at which public input will be welcomed concerning how it should spend the $73 million approved by voter referendum this spring.

The meeting is in Crystal Lake at McHenry County College in the Conference Center at 7 PM.

Perhaps someone besides me will suggest that they should spend some money within the boundaries of Crystal Lake Grade School District 47.

I know that’s parochial, but almost a quarter of the MCCD’s money comes from that area and it’s pretty clear that it has been ignored.

My guess is that it’s because of the land holdings of the Crystal Lake Park District.

Labels: $73 million bond issue, MCCD, McHenry County Conservation District

So, what’s the potential downside for voting for the Mike Madigan-Tom Cross CTA-RTA bailout deal?

$385,000,000 coming right off the top of the Illinois General Revenue Fund.

No replacement money identified.

More pressure to pass an income tax hike or a massive expansion of gambling.

Hey, we could follow South Dakota’s example and have little casinos where mom could gamble while the kids eat at McDonald’s almost within sight right through the archway.


But, let’s look at how a political opponent might characterize the proposal.

Say you are from Downstate, also known as anything outside of the six-county Chicago metropolitan area served by the Regional Transportation Authority.

$380 million divided by the state’s population of 12,831,970 (Commerce Department figure) is what?

$30.

So, an opponent could send a mailing to a Downstate legislator’s district saying anyone who voted for this deal voted to force a family of four to send $120 to Chicago.

Or robo calls could be made. Even cheaper.

I mentioned in an earlier post how Zeke Giorgi’s polling results went down because of RTA. Wasn’t it Jeff Mays that rode to office in Quincy when his opponent was charged with having been “taken for a ride by the CTA?”

Multiply $30 times a Downstate county’s population.

Here’s one.

Effingham County had 34,429 people as of mid-2006.

$30 times 34,429 means residents are being force to pay over $1 million to subsidize the Chicago Transit Authority.

Every year.

At least that is what an opponent could credibly assert.

Boy, could a “Yes” vote on this bill create some good campaigns.

And, probably some upsets.

If not this election cycle, then in some future year.

= = = = =

Enlarge the photo by clicking on it and you will be able to read the name of the casino.

Labels: Chicago Transit Authority, CTA, Mike Madigan, Regional Transportation Authority, RTA, Tom Cross

Here’s what the U.S. Attorney advises:

“CHICAGO – Derrick Shareef, 23, of Rockford, is scheduled for a change of plea at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007, before U.S. District Judge David Coar in Courtroom No. 1419 in the Dirksen Federal Courthouse, 219 South Dearborn St., Chicago.

“Shareef has been scheduled to stand trial beginning Dec. 10, 2007, on federal charges of attempting to damage or destroy a building by fire or explosion and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction in connection with allegedly planning to set off several grenades in garbage cans at a shopping mall in Rockford last December.

“He is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Sheriff is a Black Muslim, but virtually no print or electronic media mentions that.

If you have not read what Shareef said, which the government tape recorded, you can find a transcript of most of it here. I guarantee you it is worth reading. You'll be interested in who he wanted to kill,

To gain more information about this guy’s 2004 Arizona roommate, click here.

Here’s a bit found by Rockford Register-Star reporter Mike Wiser:

The former U.S. Sailor is alleged to have sent “information about U.S. naval battlegroup movements in the Persian Gulf in 2001” to “two men who provided support and assistance to the Chechen mujahedeen, the Taliban and other terrorist groups.”

All in all, these two are chilling members of our society.

Labels: Cherry Vale Mall, Derrick Shareef, Hassan Abujihaad, Paul Hall

Pioneer Press’ Pete Gonigam continues to provide great coverage on McHenry County College’s baseball stadium.

Writing for the Algonquin and Cary-Grove Countrysides, which publish only once a week, Gonigam caught an inconsistency that no one else did.

It concerns who initiated the Economics Research Associates’ presentation to the November 15th MCC board meeting.

Let me put in the reporter’s words:

“College President Walt Packard introduced Richard Starr of national research firm Economic Research Associates, saying the company had asked to make a presentation to the board….

“After last week's presentation, Starr said he was there at Packard's request.”

Which version do you think is true?

The ERA consulting firm had previously evaluated the likely success of the program and found it wanting. The Northwest Herald still has not written a story on ERA's critical analysis.

= = = = =
Pioneer Press reporter Pete Gonigam interviews Economics Research Associates' Richard Starr on November 15, 2007, in the hall outside the McHenry County College board room.

Labels: Algonquin Countryside, Baseball Stadium, Cary-Grove Countryside, MCC, McHenry County College, Pioneer Press, Walt Packard

A friend of McHenry County Blog attended the water symposium at McHenry County College the Saturday before last and sent me the following notes:

The Community Water Forum, organized by the Environmental Law and Policy Center on November 17, 2007 was an ominous statement about the priority of water in the minds of the people of this county.

I counted about twenty people in the audience aside from the MCC class that was there for the first half of the forum. Of those twenty people, more than half were presenters or organizers of the event.

Support from county and municipal leadership was nonexistent. I only counted one elected official and one candidate for office, both of whom are already aware of the issues.

The forum was a very basic, audience participation, clicker type of info delivery that was clearly geared to those who did not come - people who don't know or care that we have a problem.

Some very well educated and informed speakers spent the afternoon breakout sessions presenting to each other, which is always valuable, but certainly missed the point of having a "community" water forum to begin with.

I could be wrong, but I did not see any press there, and the coverage given to advertising the event ahead of time was minimal and in the case of at least one paper, gave the wrong start time.

All in all, a distressing and telling afternoon.

Labels: Environmenal Law and Policy Center, Friends of McHenry County College

The audio visually impaired Huntley School District 158 had “an audio recorder and two DVD recorders fail to record the meeting, but a backup VHS recorder also failed,” according to a Saturday Daily Herald article written by Jameel Naqvi.

I doubt NASA has redundancy to the fourth degree.

But, NASA and other school boards obviously have more technically proficient AV operators.

Superintendent John Burkey express the obvious in this comment to the Herald:

"I know how this looks. I know the board has questions. They have a right to have questions. I'm very upset about it, and I'm responsible."

At the meeting when ousted former Board President Mike Skala was appointed to replace Jim Carlin, the man who beat him, minority board members Larry Snow and Aileen Seedorf said that the decision to pick Skala was made by three of their colleagues before the secret meeting began.

Current Board President Shawn Green denied the accusation and said that he would release the recording law mandates be made of executive sessions.

Naqvi discovered a problem, however.

Burkey told him that only 2-3 minutes of the closed door meeting was recorded.

No one noticed that the recorder stopped, Burkey said.

Sounds like a violation of the Open Meetings Act recording requirement to me.

And, the paper reports, the open meeting wasn’t recorded either.

Here’s what was in the article:

“The DVD recorders recorded only half an hour of the open session because board Secretary Kim Skaja pressed the record button twice, causing the recorders to stop after 30 minutes, Burkey said.”

Skaja, of course, is a member of the board majority, not an employee acting as recording secretary.

Notice that this tape gate is not like the one in the Richard Nixon Administration. No one is accusing anyone of erasing anything.

Labels: Aileen Seedorf, Huntley School District 158, Jim Carlin, John Burkey, Kim Skaja, Larry Snow, Shawn Green

I am attracted to tee shirts with lots of writing on them, the way that a flying insect is attracted to a light.

In the Orlando airport’s little train we were taking to the place planes take off, I saw one with lots of writing.

I asked the girl wearing it if I could take a picture when we got off.

Here’s what I saw on the back:
TOP TEN REASONS I DIDN’T
GO TO COLLEGE STATION
10. NEVER LOOKED GOOD IN MAROON
POLYESTER
9. I LIKE MY HAIR THE WAY IT IS.
8. COULDN’T FIND COLLEGE STATION.
7. CAREER ASPIRATIONS GO BEYOND
FARMING.
6. THE THREE PRETTY COEDS WERE
STUDYING ABROAD OR GRADUATING.
5. NO WEIGHT LIMITS FOR SORORITIES.
4. MY S.A.T. SCORE WAS TOO HIGH.
3. GUYS CHASING LASSIE WASN’T MY
2. I ALREADY HAVE A HIGH SCHOOL
EDUCATION
1. LONGHORN’S RULE.

There does seem to be a rivalry.

Knowing nothing about Texas colleges, I asked if I could take a photo of her school’s logo as well.

You see it here.

The University of Texas. "The Right Choice."

So, I took two pictures of college football team tee shirts and managed to find two who lost bowl games Friday.

Texas A&M beat the University of Texas 38-30.

Second year in a row.

Right after the win, Texas A&M Coach Dennis Franchione resigned as head coach.

Labels: Football, Message of the Day, T-Shirt, Tee Shirt, Texas A and M, University of Texas

McHenry’s Steve Stanek shared two email attempts to persuade the Northwest Herald to provide balanced coverage on McHenry County College’s attempt to put a baseball stadium in Crystal Lake.

In the first, sent on November 21st, Stanek finds an issue paper written by MCC consultant Economics Research Associates. At the last board meeting, ERA tried to expand its role from 3rd party reviewer to baseball stadium promoter. The email is to Group Editor Chris Krug.

Mr. Krug:

This is from the March 19, 2006 Boston Globe article on the foolishness of sports facilities subsidies to which I sent you a link last week:

ACCORDING TO [Vanderbilt University economist John] Siegfried, there's a remarkable agreement on these points. In economics, he says, ''with most empirical issues there's lots of debate. Does the minimum wage cause unemployment? There's lots of debate about that issue. Here there's no debate." Even the consulting firm ERA put out an issue paper, back in 1995, cautioning against ''over- blown claims of the economic value of major league sports teams" and concluding that, ''Compared with more traditional public investments of scarce economic development dollars. . .sports facilities are a rather poor investment."

First note that we have a Vanderbilt University economist saying "there's no debate" on the public funding of sports facilities. The overwhelming consensus of liberal, conservative and libertarian economists and public policy researchers is that public funding of sports facilities is terrible economic and public policy.

Second, note that we have Economics Research Associates (MCC's consultant) acknowledg- ing sports facilities are a poor investment of public funds. Yet according to your own newspaper, the ERA rep a few days ago apparently tried to suggest to the MCC board ways to save the sports stadium (no doubt in hopes of collecting a fee). ERA is engaging in "rent seeking," as is Mark Houser and his baseball stadium associates.

Rent seeking is the term economists use to describe businesses, groups and individuals who use government to give themselves certain advantages. (Here is a good definition for you from Auburn University.) This can happen through government contracts, direct subsidies, regulations that hinder competitors or hurt consumers, etc.

They often cast their rent seeking in t erms of "public-private partnership" or some such thing, but the main aim is to get government to give them advantages and assume risks.

Public benefit is often the excuse that is used to justify rent seeking, even in the face of clear evidence that the rent seekers' private gain will come at the public's expense (through higher taxes, higher prices for goods and services, slower economic growth in other areas, etc.).

Businesspeople who engage in rent seeking, and government officials who aid them, often call it "economic development." They do this even though economists overwhelmingly conclude there likely will be no net economic gain, as in the case of subsidized sports facilities.

Motorola in the mid-1990s engaged in rent seeking, receiving taxpayer "incentives" worth well over $50 million (in inflation-adjusted dollars) for the cell phone plant in Harvard. (This does not include several million dollars of road work done at Motorola's request after the plant opened.) Have those incentives created the promised number of jobs? Generated the promised tax revenues? Sparked the promised ancillary development? No, no, and no.

Given this sorry record and the cheerleading the Northwest Herald did for the Motorola plant subsidies, I would expect the newspaper to be more circumspect about this whole stadium/entertainment issue.

Maybe it would help to bar executives at your newspaper from serving on the board of the county's economic development corporation. This way perhaps the newspaper would take a more clear-eyed and balanced look at such issues.

Regards,

Steve Stanek

= = = = =

Northwest Herald Group Editor Chris Krug is seen top left.

Economics Research Associates spokesman Richard Starr is seen trying to tie a baseball stadium into McHenry County College's mission statement, which is etched in the glass panel. Earlier his firm submitted a devastating 3rd party review of the Equity One feasibility study.

At the bottom are two views of the now underutilized Motorola campus in Harvard. In the bottom photo, note that the driveway was blocked by gates when I took this photograph in early October of 2006.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Chris Krug, Economics Research Associates, Harvard, MCC, McHenry County College, Motorola, Richard Starr, Steve Stanek

So, what should Family PAC's Paul Caprio do?

Declare victory because his campaign to kill the RTA sales tax hike succeeded.

House Speaker Mike Madigan has played medical examiner and pronounced it dead.

Instead of raising sales taxes in the six county area, Madigan indicates he is willing to accept House Republican Leader Tom Cross's plan to rip $380 off the top of the General Fund.

While most lobbying organizations attempt to convince their members to call their legislators on an issue, Family PAC commissioned phone calls to be made to eleven legislators' constituents.

Now one quarter of one percent in the collar counties, the RTA sales tax proposal would have increased it to three quarters of one percent.

That doesn’t sound like much, but my calculations for McHenry County families led me to conclude that it would cost an extra $200 per year for each family.

That would have been a pretty steep price to bail out the Chicago Transit Authority.

At this point, let me point out that an attempt was made to buy off collar county board members. Half of their sales tax hike would go for roads. What no one mentions is that county boards, if they have the guts to propose it, could already ask voters to approve a sales tax hike to finance roads.

This CTA bail-out bill would have allowed collar county boards to short circuit the sales tax referendum process.

No “short circuit” is too kind a word.

It would have allowed county board members to ignore their constituents.

But, back to what Family PAC did.

Caprio targeted eleven suburban legislators and poured 90,000 phone calls into their suburban districts.

Whose staffs got the privilege of fielding the calls?

Republican Beth Coulson of Glenview
Republican Sandra Pihos of Glen Ellyn
Republican Ruth Munson of Elgin
Democrat Fred Crespo of Hoffman Estates
Recently turned Democrat Paul Froehlich
Republican Sandy Cole of Grayslake
Democrat Careen Gordon of Morris
Republican Renee Kosel of New Lenox
Republican Mike Fortner of West Chicago
Republican Joe Dunn of Naperville
Republican Mark Beaubien of Barrington Hills
Republican Ed Sullivan of Mundelein
Republican JoAnn Osmond of Antioch

“As a result of these calls and other grassroots pressure,” Caprio wrote, “Madigan did not have the votes to pass the sales tax increase which would have cost taxpayers in Cook and the collars more than $380 million annually to further subsidize a failed transit system.

“We won this battle, but as long as the Legislature is still in Session the threat of a tax hike continues.

“State GOP Chairman Andy McKenna also worked hard in opposing the Tax Increase and House Minority Leader Tom Cross came out against it. It is amazing to me what we can accomplish when we all work together. Lets keep up the pressure!”

How about that?

A political action committee actually doing something to keep taxes from being hiked.

Labels: Andy McKenna, Chicago Transit Authority, CTA, Ed Sullivan, Family PAC, JoAnn Osmond, Mark Beaubien, Mike Madigan, Paul Caprio, Regional Transportation Authority, RTA Sales Tax, Sandy Cole

Yesterday, McHenry County Blog belatedly reported that Barrington Hills resident Kevin Colosia filed an objection to Green Party 16th congressional district candidate Scott Summers’ petitions.

Both Barrington Hills Village President Robert Abboud and McHenry County College board member Summers seek to unseat Republican Congressman Don Manzullo.

As you probably know by now, readers of McHenry County Blog are truly well informed people and know how to do research well beyond my own.

One friend of the blog wrote yesterday that I didn’t have to use Colosia’s residency to tie him to Barrington Hills Village President Abboud.

This researcher looked at Abboud’s campaign contributors and guess what turned up?

Colosia gave $250 to Abboud last September 30th.

= = = = =
Barrington Hills Village President Robert Abboud is on the top left. McHenry County College Board member Scott Summers is on the top right. 16th congressional District United States Representative Don Manzullo is below Summers.

Labels: 16th Congressional District, Don Manzullo, Kevin Colosia, Robert Abboud

While we were in Disney World, I kept seeing LSU sweatshirts.

Some of you know that I don’t know a lot about sports.

I got to wondering if LSU fans lacked self-esteem. I didn’t see any University of Mississippi tee shirts, for example.

While we were waiting to check our bags in at Pop Century’s “check ‘em in here and you don’t have to worry about them until you get home” line, I asked a couple wearing tee shirts with LSU logos why I was seeing so many of them.

Seems there was a bowl game that afternoon with Arkansas. The wife said LSU was ranked first in the nation.

Impressive.

She did wonder why so many Louisiana State tee shirts were worn in Louisiana, though.

At the bus stop, I finally broke down and asked a guy if I could take a photograph of his LSU tee shirt.

I don’t usually feature sports tee shirts. They are not that unusual.

So, I got this picture and, then, started looking for a Razorback tee shirt, just in case LSU lost.

Didn’t find one, but I did discover when I read the paper on Saturday that Arkansas beat LSU.

In triple overtime. 50-48.

That must have been one exciting game.

But, I guess it’s something like politics.

Lots of tee shirts on fans don’t win games, just like lots of candidate yard signs don’t win elections.

Labels: Football, Louisana State University, LSU, Message of the Day, T-Shirt, Tee Shirt

An editorial in the Northwest Herald last week continued to extol the benefits of a baseball stadium.

It’s not good enough for some town like Huntley or Woodstock or McHenry to build it.

The editors think that might be too large a tax burden on the local folks

Better for “a large taxing district” like McHenry County College or McHenry County itself.

“In other words, any potential burden would have been spread over most of the county and therefore the risk to individual taxpayers was low,” the editorial points out.

So, now the local “support almost any tax hike referendum” paper is concerned that a relatively high prospective tax burden on Huntley, Woodstock or McHenry residents might kill a baseball stadium.

“…a municipality does not have near the tax base of a countywide governmental entity,”

Better to have the McHenry County Board stick it to us all, the NW Herald reasons.

At least exposing this possibility before the primary elections allows for a debate on the subject.

And, if Republicans don’t give the conservative answer, Democrats can always criticize Northwest Herald rubber-stamping Republicans.

Given the reaction in Crystal Lake, they might even find an appreciative audience.

Labels: MCC, McHenry County Board, McHenry County College, Northwest Herald

Kevin M. Colosia, 19 Country Oaks Drive, Barrington Hills, filed an objection to Green Party congressional candidate Scott Summers’ petitions on November 13th.

On September 18th McHenry County Blog predicted that a Summers’ candidacy would drain votes from Democratic Party candidate Robert Abboud and help re-elect Don Manzullo to his 16th district seat.

Now, we find that someone from Barrington Hills is challenging Summer’s petitions.

Would anyone like to bet that Kevin Colosia is not an ally of Barrington Hills Village President Robert Abboud?

Labels: 16th Congressional District, Barrington Hills, Don Manzullo, Green Party, Kevin Colosia,