McHenry County Blog

There's no visible movement on the Woodstock baseball stadium planned for Route 14 between Woodstock and Centegra's Woodstock hospital, but the operation that is going to finance the land has begun.

Driving on Lily Pond Road between McConnell Road and Route 14, below you can see what my son and I saw Saturday:

Coming from the north, we saw a sign saying,


That was in front of a pile of dirt and an erosion fence.

Next we came to the entrance.

Earth movers were parked near the piles of dirt they had moved around. If plans for the minor league baseball stadium come to fruition, I imagine people will be able to see the stadium in the distance.

The final shot is what seems to be the Northeast corner of the gravel pit part of the property.

Between there and Route 14 is where my ex-wife Robin Geist and I used to live in a second floor apartment. We used walk down Lily Pond and beyond on McConnell Road. Somehow, I don't imagine the Lily Pond neighbors are looking forward to all the development.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Gravel, Gravel Mining, Gravel Pit, Lily Pond Road, Woodstock

Three weekends ago I caught signs for three Crystal Lake city council candidates in Jeff Thorsen's neighborhood.

There were for Thorsen, fellow incumbent Ralph Dawson and CL Planning and Zoning Commissioner Carolyn Schofield.

Driving around after spring break, I saw more of that combination on yards.

Incumbent Dave Goss was clearly the odd man out.

I wondered if his fate would be the same as incumbent Howie Christensen's two years ago. He was clearly on his own.

He was beaten by Brett Hopkins, a Planning and Zoning Commission member just like Schofield.

But after the mini-vacation, there was a new combination.

It was of the three incumbents.

Although Mayor Aaron Shepley has clearly shown his dislike for the way Thorsen has challenged him in the last two years, he wrote a letter to the Northwest Herald endorsing incumbents Dawson, Goss and Thorsen.

If you doubt his occasional disdain for Thorsen, take a look at this photo of Shepley rolling his eyes while Thorsen was talking. I used red eye reduction, by the way.

The debate was over the Crystal Lake watershed ordinance and Thorsen was clearing asking some questions that Shepley thought were a waste of time.
This photo gets a number of hits on McHenry County Blog because Google's search engine for images displays it on top of the “rolling eyes” images.

Shepley also has the signs of the three incumbents in his front lawn.

Maybe this is a case of

"the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know."

Across the street on Donna Kurtz' front yard is the other combination.

You may remember that Thorsen and Dawson killed the McHenry County College baseball stadium re-zoning, while Schofield oppose the matter on the Planning and Zoning Commission (as did all the other members, which led to the requirement for 5 out of the 7 council members having to approve the rezoning for it to pass).

I am tempted to call this slate the “anti-baseball stadium” slate, but, when I asked one of my neighbors if that was the reason he was supporting the three, he told me it wasn't.

I know that another precinct resident as deeply involved in the effort to kill the baseball stadium as Kurtz has those same three signs up that are Kurtz' front yard.

It will be interesting to see the elections for Algonquin 10, where Shepley is the Republican precinct committeeman.

If Goss loses the precinct that either means Shepley wasn't really supporting him or he did nothing in his precinct.

From their sign placement, I conclude that all the other four city council challengers but Schofield are running on their own.

One, Mike Shorten put together a solid door-to-door campaign, as I mentioned Sunday.

Interestingly, no one ran an ad in the Northwest Herald.

Labels: Aaron Shepley, Baseball Stadium, Carolyn Schofield, Donna Kurtz, Jeff Thorsen, McHenry County College, Ralph Dawson

When legislators run for re-election, opponents search the record for votes they consider “bad.”

As far as I can figure out, none of the five challengers to the Crystal Lake City Council incumbents has cited any votes of the incumbent councilmen running for re-election. You see, from left to right, Councilman Ralph Dawson, Councilman Dave Goss and Councilman Jeff Thorsen.

When I wrote the Crystal Lake part of my Algonquin Township, Precinct 7 letter, I decided to include votes from the three issues I think were most significant in the last two years.

Below is what I wrote and distributed to the homes in my precinct on Saturday. About 125 are in Crystal Lake; the other 100 in Lakewood.

Let's talk about the incumbent CL councilmen first. In the last two years, three issues have attracted the most attention—the 23-year Tax Increment Financing tax hikes, Mayor Shepley's 75% city sales tax hike and building a baseball stadium on the lake's watershed.

Here's what the incumbents and a challenger who had a vote did:

Vulcan Lakes and Main Street TIF Districts, passage of which will cause every tax district to raise our tax rates to make up for the lost revenue taken for city-directed purposes:

Voting Yes – Ralph Dawson, Dave Goss and Jeff Thorsen

Hiking the city sales tax by 75%:

Voting Yes – Ralph Dawson and Dave Goss;

Voting No – Jeff Thorsen

Approving the poorly thought out McHenry County College minor league baseball stadium:

Voting Yes – Dave Goss;

Voting No – Ralph Dawson, Jeff Thorsen and Carolyn Schofield (on the CL Planning and Zoning Commission)

I then wrote some things about the challengers and made no recommendations.

I just tried to provide enough information for voters to make up their own minds.

Labels: 75% Sales Tax Hike, Baseball Stadium, Carolyn Schofield, Crystal Lake City Council, Dave Goss, Jeff Thorsen, McHenry County College, Ralph Dawson, TIF

Tonight in the MCC cafeteria, round tables were surrounded with educators, community leaders and just plain folks with an interest in the community college.

The purpose was the first meeting of the “MAP-Engaging the Community to Chart Our Course” process.

Led by McHenry County Community Foundation President/ CEO Director Kate Halma, it was the first pubic step of a Unicom-ARC designed attempt to mobilize support for the college.

“How wonderful for us as community members to be asked our opinion,” she said.

Participants were warned in a slide that the

“meetings will not be conducive to the format of an open forum or debate, meetings are work sessions that allow for the free exchange of ideas and data collection.”

I am sure someone familiar with this process will let me know what it is called. [From a comment posted below: "...that meeting looks like a classic application of the Delphi Technique. http://www.iror.org/delphi.asp and http://www.illinoisloop.org/committees.html (scroll down about 2/3)."]

“You don't have to have the answers. You get to ask the questions.”

Interpretation will be left to a “facilitating team,” consisting of the following:

Community Members

• Dave Barber
• Pedro Enriquez
• Kate Halma
• Linda Liddell
• Lauri Olson
• Steve Weskrena
• Joe Williams

Student Member

• Deb Abraham

MCC Members

• Beverly Dow
• Kathleen Plinske
• Brian Seger
• Pat Stejskal
• Claudia Terrones

MCC Board of Trustees

• Donna Kurtz
• George Lowe

But back to Unicom-ARC for a moment. It looks like the firm is being paid $137,750 for the job.

My prediction is that this is all part of a 2010 primary election tax hike or referendum campaign. I hope I am proved wrong. I hope it's just to improve the college's damaged public relations.

Take a look at the time line and draw your own conclusion.

After the minor league baseball stadium debacle in which the board withheld crucial decision-making information from the public until Crystal Lake citizens were gathered with torches and pitchforks, there is no doubt that the institutional image need refurbishing.

The St. Louis firm hired specializes in preparing the way for tax hikes and passage of bond referendums. Local school districts for which Unicom-ARC has “delivered” include Carpentersville District 300 and Woodstock District 200.

The MCC Board might not have had tax hikes as its goal in hiring Unicom-ARC, but, given the secrecy with which the college pursues major goals concerning money, there is no way to be sure. (The picture of the tower is from near Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and is way, way shorter than the 1500 foot tower contemplated. It is, however, a free standing tower such is planned.)

Let me digress a bit about more recent secrecy. Although the trustees first discussed leasing/selling the land to BMB Communications Management for the broadcast tower at the end of February, 2008, it made nothing public until early-February, 2009. Although the contract has been signed, there is no evidence of due diligence having been conducted concerning the sale other than a last-minute report from the college's risk management firm.

From state records, we know that the college has said it will pry $7.1 million out of taxpayer pockets in order to obtain state matching funds. That may have been reduced by the pending sale of the land on which the 1,500 foot BMB Communications Management broadcast tower will be built.

Anyway, the first MAP community engagement meeting was held last night. I don't know how many of the targeted community influentials attended. There was a preliminary list and a supplementary one.

There was a long introduction about what the group was expected to do by Halma and a “here's where the college is and has been over the last ten years” by Acting President Brian Sager.

I found most interesting the declining appeal of the college to those aged 25 through 55.

Look at the chart and you will see something is happening. Maybe it mirrors population changes, one of six questions I left in writing for which I'm sure I'll get an answer because others noticed the same seeming anomaly.

During the discussion period, the first table spokesperson, The Town Crier's Iris Bryan, with whom I worked on publicity for the passage of the April 1, 1977, referendum to create the college, came up with the best line:

“What is it you don't want to hear?”

Stew Cohen, another member of the media (Star 105.5) said his group wondered “if older students' needs were being met?”

A group at a back table described as being full of educators wondered why the real estate tax is such a high percentage of the college budget.

That's a question I can answer.

The college referendum committee told the voters that one-third of the money would come from local taxpayers, one-third from the state taxpayers and one-third from the students.

The state, it was soon discovered, lied. Now only 8% comes from state coffers.

The students are not holding up the share that voters were promised they would, but they are close at 29%.

Property taxpayers pay 60%--almost twice what was promised.

The next two-hour meeting is April 21st. It starts at 6:30. The question scheduled to be discussed is

“How will MCC enhance community engagement to better understand and respond to local educational, social, cultural and economic needs?”

It seems to me the person (probably a committee) deserves an incomplete for the question.

Explicitly included should be something about governance.

While there was all sorts of “happy talk” about how the MCC Board wants to hear what the citizens think, the trustees have a record of not listening to citizens.

Indeed, if you are one of the very few who attend meetings and say something in the three minutes allowed, what you say is not even recorded in the minutes. Not even the subject you discuss.

Here's what's in the board minutes for the February 26, 2008, meeting for public comment:

“OPEN FOR RECOGNITION OF VISITORS AND PRESENTATIONS

“Mr. Eric Snave, Mrs. Julie Snave, Mr. Phil Snave, Ms. Berghaus, and Ms. Ritter addressed the Board.”

Wouldn't you like to know what three members of the same family thought important enough to say to the board?

This board-directed record keeping shows such a disregard for the views of the public. There is no reason even to record the subject matter of those who spoke. It's just not important.

My experience is that government keeps a record of everything it thinks is important.

So, you can see, I think the board has a long, long way to go if it wishes to


as the April 21st meeting topic professes.

And, I might as well add another existing roadblock to this stated goal.

The board refuses to tape record its meetings and make them available on the internet (or even for purchase).

Even though the board has found the money to put upcoming MAP meetings on the internet.

I can't pull up the exact quote of one of the trustees, but it was to the effect that if people wanted to know what the board was doing, they could attend the meetings.

As if most people had nothing better to do than spend the third Monday and Thursday evenings of every month sitting in the MCC board room.

I guess these MAP meetings are more important that board meeting's where $37-some million are spent each year.

I willingly admit that the board does at least one thing right, although not consistently. It posts the contents of the board packets on the internet. They are supposed to be there two days ahead of time. Usually they make it by the day of the meeting, if the two-day deadline is missed.

So, that's a good thing.

I am willing to spend 7-10 nights in these little round tables in the hope that the board may actually figure out that some common sense changes need to be made if its not so hot current reputation is to be improved.

= = = = =
The photograph at the top is of Kate Halma and Brian Sager. Sager is also seen in front of the screen stating the topic of the next meeting. Various shots of those attending are sprinkled throughout the article.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, BMB Communications Management, Brian Sager, Broadcast Tower, Kate Halma, McHenry County College, Unicom ARC

In spite of all the hubbub over the minor league baseball stadium, only three people have filed for McHenry County College Board's two six-year terms.

But, guess what?

One of the challengers, John Darger, was a frequent and vocal opponent to the board majority's ill-conceived minor league baseball stadium proposal.

Darger participated in MCC board meetings.

Darger participated in Crystal Lake City Planning and Zoning Commission meetings...more than once.

An MCC student at the time, Darger said,

“I don’t see how that will serve the students of McHenry County College."

Darger participated in Crystal Lake City Council meetings.

This is an active citizen who has probably decided that the majority faction on the McHenry County Board did not represent him.

And decided to do something about it by filing for office.

Darger is last on the ballot and you don't have to guess if I shall vote for him, even if he is a Democrat.

A second candidate announced the McHenry County Promise at a March 2007 board meeting.

His name is Ron Parrish.

I have no idea whether Parrish supported, opposed or didn't take a position on the baseball promoters' attempt to stick McHenry County College taxpayers with paying off the stadium bonds if the baseball team did not succeed.

It is clear that the stadium put quite a crimp in the fund raising. Former board member Irv LeCoque made that clear.

Parish is first on the ballot.

The final candidate is CPA Mary Miller put her Certified Public Accountant reputation on the line by saying about the baseball stadium deal:

“Ms. Miller(‘s) refer(ring) to her CPA standing and stat(ing) that all the figures are in order for us to go ahead with this.”

And, then she and the board would not release the documents that she verified


Another variation of the long-discredited


approach to public decision-making.

Well, the public didn't trust her and her colleagues.

Thank goodness.

Just goes to show that having passed the CPA test does not mean one can make good public judgments.

Miller is in the middle of the ballot.

Incumbent Frances Glosson's term is also expiring this year, but she has decided to retire. She joined incumbents Scott Summers and Donna Kurtz in figuring out the numbers were not all in order.

= = = = =
Ron Parrish is seen next the screen, followed by Mary Miller and Frances Glosson.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Certified Public Accountant, CPA, John Darger, Mary Miller, McHenry County College Promise, Ron Parrish

In honor of Mark Houser and Pete Heitman's obtaining their McHenry County dream—zoning permission to build a minor league baseball stadium in McHenry County—I post this tee shirt found in Milwaukee's Mitchell Airport.

In case you didn't read the article that kept me up until 3:45 AM, it is here.

It says,
= = = = =
Pete Heitman is the one on the left and his partner Mark Houser of Equity One is on the right.

= = = = =
Vicki Smith informed me the tee shirt was designed by her company, Eagle Sportz of Cartersville, which is located as far from Atlanta, Georgia, as Crystal Lake is from Chicago. I received the owner's email on April 2, 2009.

Labels: Baseball, Baseball Stadium, Mark Houser, Pete Heitman

With only councilman Richard Ahrens voting in opposition, the Woodstock City Council approved a special use permit for gravel mining across Route 14 from Centegra Hospital down to Lily Pond Road.

A privately financed minor league baseball stadium promoted by Mark Houser and Peter Heitman will be built northeast of Lake Shore Drive and Route 14.

The third of the threesome who showed up at a secret meeting of the McHenry County College Board in March of 2007, Frontier League Commissioner Bill Lee, only to duck out the back door of the board room, was also present for Woodstock's public meeting.

The stated plan is to have baseball games starting in May of 2010, but when the council was discussing how the 38 acres to be occupied by the stadium would be conveyed to the city ownership if a stadium were not completed within five years of approval of the rezoning, Houser asked for an extra five months.

If a stadium is not completed by May of 2014, the city would get the parcel.

So, two years if all goes well and five if there are hitches.

In the meantime, Merryman Aggregates will be mining gravel, stockpiling enough each year to provide what the firm thinks it can sell.

Tom Zanck, attorney for the proposal, and others kept calling the operation by other names, e.g., “aggregate extraction.”

Members of the newly renamed McHenry County Defenders, now, the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County complained of the fast track for the re-zoning. The report from the McHenry County Soil and Water Conservation District had just arrived Monday and had not been reviewed by city staff.

Those wishing to slow down the approval process pointed out that it should have been ready before the Planning Commission had reviewed the petitioners' plan.

Right before the vote, starting at 12:42 AM, Mayor Brian Sager read the report's executive summary.

In his summation, Sager reported that 41 citizens had contacted him prior to the council meeting had been “strongly in favor.” One was distinctly opposed and two others wanted to make sure certain questions were answered.

Ahrens opposition centered on the far eastern parcel in the proposal.

It fronts on Lily Pond Road, which is where the gravel trucks would leave the property.

Ahrens thought the highest and best use would be something other than the county fair and exhibitions.

Several members had made lists of pros and cons. The pros obviously were considered more persuasive for the six voting in favor of the re-zoning. (Except for the mayor, they are listed in alphabetical order. Picture are in seating order, from left to right with the exception of Ahrens.)



Mayor Brian Sager
Councilwoman Julie Dillon
Councilwoman Maureen Larson
Councilman RB Thompson
Councilman Mike Turner and
Councilman Ralph Webster

But they didn't agree with the proposal without placing upwards of 50 conditions, a couple of which were strongly disputed by the petitioners.


One was the citing of a state law which said that the city could impose a ticket tax.

When Houser objected, city attorney Richard Flood pointed out that they could take it out, but this council could not bind future council in such a matter. And, since it was in the state law anyway putting it in the document did not harm to the petitioner.

Houser finally agreed.

More contentious was a city proposal which would allow levying an extraction tax. Merryman wanted his surety bond used first, if something were not done which he had promised. It turns out the city wanted to hold his business responsible for any infrastructure failures of the baseball promoters as well, which the council must have thought unfair, because they limited the liability to the mining operation.

Several times, Mayor Sager said that he didn't want to end up with the problems that Woodstock's neighbor to the east, aka, Crystal Lake, had with Vulcan Lakes.

Merryman did not propose a pit going beneath the water table and he proposed reclaiming the land as he moved from one part of the property to the next.

Ahrens, Thompson and Turner are running unopposed for re-election.

= = = = =
On top you can see Equity One's Mark Houser explaining his and partner Peter Heitman's baseball stadium proposal. Below is Frontier League Commissioner Bill Lee on the right and Heitman on the left. A shot of some of those attending the meeting follows. Mayor Brian Sager is seen directly below with dissenting Councilman Richard Ahrens below him to the left. The council members voting from the proposal are from left to right on the top row, RB Thompson, Maureen Larson and Mike Turner. On the next row you seen Ralph Webster on the left and Julie Dillon on the right. Mark Houser talks to his attorney Tom Zanck directly below. Woodstock City Attorney Richard Flood is below right. At the bottom is another picture of the audience, this time from the back of the room. All photos may be enlarged by clicking on them.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Bill Lee, Brian Sager, Equity One, Frontier League, Julie Dillon, Mark Houser, Maureen Larson, Mike Turner, Pete Heitman, Ralph Webster, RB Thompson, Richard Ahrens, Tom Zanck

With the Woodstock Planning Commission have approved a minor league baseball stadium within sight on Centegra's Woodstock hospital even though all the required reports had not been filed, the proposal now moves to the city council.

I missed this Joliet Herald News story the first Friday of December, but it might be of interest:



The Joliet minor league baseball team is behind on its bills.

It's a “public-private” venture, just as McHenry County College's was to be.

The JackHammers were supposed to pay $240,000 a year rent for playing in the stadium named after a local hospital, Silver Cross.

The bad economy led to a decline in corporate sponsorships, owner Pete Ferro told reporter Bob Okon.

It took “a dive.”

And, “...minor league baseball gets a large share of its revenue from marketing relations with local and regional companies,” the article says.

And the city is not the only one owed money. Local vendors came up short, too.

The team started playing in 2002.

"Up to now, (JackHammers baseball) has been generating income for the city of Joliet," (City Manager Thomas) Thanas, according to the paper.

And the team put in $700,000 of improvements to the stadium.

The fortunes of minor league baseball teams traditionally are good for the first five years, my sources tell me.

Then, the novelty wears off.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, JackHammers, Joliet, McHenry County College, Minor League Baseball, Silver Cross Stadium

A commenter under the Daily Herald story suggested the

“Woodstock Groundhogs."

I remember Woodstock from Peanuts.

Could it be called the

“Woodstock Woodstocks?”

That probably would require payment of a licensing fee. My guess is that the team owners would prefer a one-time design fee.

Another Daily Herald reader suggested the

“Woodstock Woodies.”

See, without my pocket being picked by McHenry County College, I'm getting into a minor league baseball team.

Imagine that.

McHenry County College had agreed to let the Northwest Herald run a contest. I'll bet they are allowed to do it for the Woodstock team, too. Maybe the team can even make money by charging the NW Herald for the privilege.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, McHenry County College, Northwest Herald, Peanuts, Woodstock

It won't be on watershed of Crystal Lake watershed at McHenry County College.

But it will be just up the road across Route 12, north of Centegra's Woodstock hospital.


It will include a minor baseball stadium.

But, it will not it will not cost county taxpayers any money.

And, it won't be just for baseball. Being promoted are lacrosse, soccer, football, concerts, trade shows, antique shows, car shows and festivals.

And the same guys who fleeced McHenry County College taxpayers are apparently among the driving forces behind the proposal.


Mark Houser and Pete Heitman building a sports facility without a public subsidy.

The 250-acre site will preserve 53 acres of wetlands and 22 acres of oak savannah, seen to the right of the stadium. Click to enlarge.

The area is also being held out as a possible new home for the McHenry County Fair. More specifically, most of the land between the railroad track, Lily Pond Road, where I lived for a while, and Route 14.

The site is also being promoted as a place for not-for-profits and service agencies to locate.

Victor Narusis has been the glue that has put this idea together for the McHenry County Community Foundation. When he told me at the Pro-Life Pig Roast at the end of June that he had several million dollars committed and that there would be no tax dollars involved, I wished him luck.

“We are proud to present this project with no request for public funding,” Narusis said (with my piecing together parts of two sentences from the press release.)

He said the site selected “rose to the top of the list” because it is “located in the central part of the county and along a regional traffic corridor” providing “convenient access for all county residents.”

The sports stadium will sit 6,500 or 10,000 with lawn seating.

The land is being donated and graded by Rick Zirk of Woodstock's Merryman Enterprises. After site preparation, the remaining land will be made available to the Foundation and the McHenry County Fair Board.

“This approach supports smart land use, economic resource planning, wise budget practices and would provide numerous resources with the many benefits of tourism,” McHenry County Community Foundation Board Chairman Mark Ehlert.

You can read the MCCF press release here.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Equity One, Mark Ehlert, Mark Houser, McHenry County Community Foundation, Pete Heitman, Vic Narusis, Woodstock

Driving by the location proposed by the McHenry County College Board for a minor league baseball stadium after talking to the woman who withdrew her generous offer to contribute to a scholarship fund to pay tuition cost of any MCC high school, prompted me to stop and take this photo.

The ground would have been broken and construction begun, had not the citizen army arisen with rhetorical pitchforks last year and stormed the educational citadel intent upon becoming a sports venue.

"It was just dumb," we agreed.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, MCC, McHenry County College

There are two items that might be of interest to McHenry County leaders still pursuing a baseball stadium.

First, most Frontier Baseball League teams had fewer fans per game this past summer than previously.

Even though ten of eleven had more home games, six of eleven still saw a decrease in total attendance.

Take a look at the attendance figures below:


Of the 3 teams that saw an increase in average attendance,
River City is still down 43% from its all-time attendance high (185,333 in 2004)
Kalamazoo is still down 39% from its all-time attendance high (135,654 in 2004).

The relevance to McHenry County is seen when one sees the attendance projections in ERA's report of baseball stadium promoter Pete Heitman's proposal:

+10% year 2
+6.1% year 3
+5.7% year 4
+5.4% year 5

On a more optimistic note for a project that I've been told that will be privately financed, Bloomington-Normal's WJVC radio reported Friday that financing for the one to be built at Heartland Community College was proceeding well.

Eight of fourteen stadium suites have been sold and four major sponsors secured.

The $11.5 million stadium is expected to be completed by March 2010.

McHenry County College made a run at constructing a taxpayer-financed baseball stadium, but ran into too much opposition.

The McHenry County Community Foundation has been actively investigating the privately-financed option.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Frontier Baseball League, Heartland Community College, McHenry County College, Normal, Pete Heitman

Long-time columnist for the Northwest Herald and predecessor papers Don Peasley revealed a bit over a week ago that

“The fair board is a participant in developing a multi-purpose events facility in cooperation with a proposed minor league baseball stadium under leadership of the McHenry County Community Foundation.

“Foundation staff members are evaluating 200-acre sites in the general area of McHenry County College or perhaps south of Woodstock.”

Just thought you might be interested.

Perhaps that is what McHenry County College Board members Scott Summers and George Lowe were pointing to on this map, the night the board decided to hide behind plastic curtains. And illegally kick members of the public out. You know, the one MCC won't tell how much money was paid to lawyers when McHenry County State's Attorney Lou Bianchi filed suit charging the college with violating the Open Meetings Act.

A better view of the map can be seen below. Ironically, in both photos board member George Lowe's head can be seen.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Crystal Lake Watershed, Don Peasley, George Lowe, MCC, McHenry County College, McHenry County Community Foundation, Scott Summers

I thought the following, sent out by the McHenry County Community Foundation, might be of interest:

A steering committee was created to provide additional channels of communications throughout the County; and a work group naturally formed with interested professionals able to move the process in a more expedited fashion. Such professionals include public and private land owners, investors, land planners, developers, business leaders and representatives from two groups that would be considered the anchors in a multi-phased development of the venue: the McHenry County Fair and McHenry County Baseball.

The process continues into summer 2008 with the highest priority being to locate land for the first phase. The McHenry County Community Foundation will continue to facilitate the process. This involves further involvement of interested parties through a thorough evaluation process and networking relatable resources. And unique to other participants, MCCF will continue to educate the County about the Foundation’s special role: the means to leverage financial support and grow investments through the creation of a legacy endowment to provide funds for the venue from creation through years of maintenance support.

Planning Team

Mike Baumstark, Cornerstone
Dick Crone, McHenry County Fair Board
Mark Ehlert, McHenry County Community Foundation
Kate Halma, McHenry County Community Foundation
EnRico Heirman, Continental Amateur Baseball Association (CABA)
Pete Heitman, McHenry County Baseball
Victor Narusis, McHenry County Community Foundation
Barbara Wheeler, McHenry County Board

Labels: Barb Wheeler, Baseball Stadium, CABA, Dick Crone, EnRico Heirman, Kate Halma, Mark Ehlert, McHenry County Fair, Mike Baumstark, Minor League Baseball, Pete Heitman, Victor Narusis, Wheeler

You can't tell me that the Northwest Herald's Chris Kurg doesn't have a sense of humor.

In his Sunday column, he tells of an encounter with a bat.

No. This isn't a Dracula story. Nothing about Ivan, the Impaler.

But, after telling his bat story, he drops this gem:

"Kind of got me thinking ... McHenry County Rabid Bats. That would make a cool name for a minor-league baseball team.

"You know, if we had a minor-league baseball team."

For the record, Keely Cat and I think the


would be an excellent name for a minor league baseball team.

Or, maybe I should say "would have made an excellent name" had McHenry County College been able to pull off a baseball stadium the way Heartland Community College has.

Bats, after all, only come out at night and that's when the MCC board held its secret meetings.

Bats like to hide and the MCC board certainly hid a lot with the $400,000 it paid baseball promoter Pete Heitman's buddy Mark Houser.

The work product the college provided me gives no indication of $400,000 of value received.

I'm waiting for the day that the Northwest Herald will announce that for a multi-million payment a minor league baseball stadium will become its namesake.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Chris Krug, Mark Houser, MCC, McHenry County College, Pete Heitman, Rabit Bat

Tucked away on the last page of the Crystal Lake Council minutes for May 6, 2008, is the report of a 4-3 vote to re- appoint Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Tom Hayden and outspoken member Jim Batastini.

The council members voting against the two were Ellen Brady Mueller, Cathy Ferguson and Dave Goss.

The council members voting in support of reappointment were Ralph Dawson, Jeff Thorsen, Brett Hopkins.

Breaking the tie was Mayor Aaron Shepley.

Hayden is a former city councilman. Batastini ran for city council against Mueller and Ferguson last time around. The two women and Goss supported bringing a minor league baseball stadium to McHenry County College.

Dawson, Thorsen and Hopkins were on the opposite side of the MCC re-zoning issue, supporting the Planning and Zoning Commission's unanimous vote to oppose allowing a baseball stadium at MCC. By their vote, the three voting for re-appointment killed the proposal because the Planning and Zoning Commission's vote triggered an extraordinary majority vote requirement.

Shepley, of course, led city efforts to bring a minor league baseball team to McHenry County College.

Labels: Aaron Shepley, Baseball Stadium, Brett Hopkins, Cathy Ferguson, Dave Goss, Ellen Brady Mueller, Jeff Thorsen, Jim batastini, McHenry County College, Ralph Dawson, Tom Hayden

The Chicago Tribune ran an article on Thursday about Waukegan's city council having “authorized staff to explore” a “proposal to build a minor-league baseball stadium downtown.”

At first I thought it might be Libertyville's Pete Heitman search east, as well as west in McHenry County.

I was told that Heitman was one of the losing baseball promoters for the Heartland Community College supplied site in Normal, Illinois, so he obviously is not wedded to McHenry County.

But, the article by Ralph Zahorik says,

“...the company would pay for the ballpark's construction, the mayor said.”

Somehow that does not sound like Heitman.

He told the Northwest Herald:

“The team would seek some financial help from its home community and county,”

reporter Tom Musik quoted Heitman indirectly.

And in a direct quote,

“... we’ve just got to find somebody who’s going to help out. We need a little bit of help, obviously, because we can’t do it all ourselves.”

Heitman wanted McHenry County College taxpayers to take all the risk on his MCC proposal.

But, McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler promised no tax dollars would be spent on a baseball stadium or convention center at the McHenry County Council of Governments meeting.

Ballball Digest ran an article on Waukegan, too.

I found this sentence of interest:

“We know groups regularly pop up to bring baseball to the greater Chicago area, but let's be honest: none of the Chicago-area minor-league teams, either independent or affiliated, are setting the world on fine; Kane County does well, but the Northern League and Frontier League teams in the area only do OK and have faced some serious issues in recent years.“

Don't you wonder whether the McHenry County Community Foundation board has signed an agreement with Heitman similar to the one that McHenry County College President Walt Packard signed with Heitman buddy Mark Houser in September of 2006?

I still think the people wanting a baseball stadium should seek competitive proposals.

I offered some other advice in this article, which I hope will be read by anyone trying to build a baseball stadium in McHenry County:


And, such folks should not forget that private money has already stepped forward to build a baseball stadium in Harvard. (You can see what it would like like above.) One of the promoters even graduated from Crystal Lake Central High School.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Harvard, Mark Houser, McHenry County Community Foundation, Pete Heitman

While McHenry County College tried to convince local taxpayers that Pete Heitman's baseball stadium would pay for itself and even subsidize construction of other facilities, no one who looked at the deal was convinced.

The 20-year bonds were to be repaid by taxpayers, if the team went belly up.

That's not what is happening in McLean County.

True, the city of Normal is ponying up “a $1.5 million, 1,000 space parking lot,” according to Pantagraph reporter Mary Ann Ford.

You will remember that the City of Crystal Lake was not willing to pop for a dime of the cost of the MCC baseball stadium infrastructure improvements, even though Mayor Aaron Shepley led the cheer leading after the stadium proposal's existence was revealed to the public on McHenry County Blog.

The junior college in the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area—Heartland Community College—is contributing “a long-term land lease for $1 a year and contribute $3.5 million to the project.“

The college was planning on spending about that much anyway on a new sports complex.

But the rest of the $12 million stadium is going to be


Let me repeat that fact.


by bid winner Mike Veeck's investment group.

There were two other bidders, including, I've been told a Pete Heitman group.

You can pretty much bet that Heitman wanted a bigger subsidy.

Heitman is the baseball promoter that the McHenry County Community Foundation has hooked up with.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Heartland Community College, McHenry County College, Mike Veeck, Pete Heitman

Stuck down by the McHenry County College Board after months of public outcry, the idea of a minor league baseball stadium reappeared last night at the Woodstock Country Club at the McHenry County Council of Governments meeting.

Kate Halma, the woman who coordinates the McHenry County Community Foundation presented what she called “a concept plan” of a multi-purpose event venue.

The 200-250 acres could include

• a minor league baseball stadium,
• an exposition or convention center the size of a Home Depot (138,000 square feet),
• the county fair, complete with horse and people track with two soccer fields inside, livestock buildings, room for a carnival, sheep on site,
• RV camping,
• two 16,000 square foot museums, mentioned were

a children's museum and

a fire protection museum,

• an administrative building with offices for not-for-profit organizations.

Maybe I missed something.

I sketched what I saw on the screen, having been asked not to take pictures at the meeting. I have requested a copy from Halma of what all in the room saw on the screen and will be happy to share it with you when she sends it. If she sends it, I won't inflict my "artwork" on you.

No location has been selected.

The people listed on the steering committee are

• Mark Baumstark of Cornerstone (Architects?),
• Dick Crone from the McHenry County Fair Board,
• Mark Ehlert, McHenry County Community Foundation,

• Enrico Heirman, Continental Amateur Baseball Association (CABA),
• Pete Heitman, “Minor League Baseball,”
• Victor Narusis, McHenry County Community Foundation, and
• Barbara Wheeler, McHenry County Board.

Halma said that Narusis had asked “these community leaders to come together and dream big.”

She said that Randy Donnelly and his brother had “talked about antique expositions.”

The Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair, held at the Dole Mansion last year, “is ready to leave McHenry County.”

“We consider the minor league baseball stadium and the county fair the two (anchors),” Halma said.

She hopes it will support “various interest groups” and there will be space for hotels, restaurants and other related businesses.

“We welcome your input,” she told the elected officials.

McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler said the effort “started off 7-8 months ago.”

Speaking of the junior college baseball stadium proposal, he said, “It was a good idea. It may not have been a perfect idea.”

An admirer of Walt Disney, Koehler suggested that if he could create Disney World “in Florida swamplands, why can't we” do something like this?

He emphasized that what had been presented was “a concept plan only.”

“Certainly, there are many places in McHenry County that could support this,” he pointed out, saying that McHenry County Board member Wheeler was a key player.

Pointing to how Heirman had brought CABA (the Continental Amateur Baseball Association) to Crystal Lake, Koehler said, ”We have the opportunity to bring semi-pro people (here), soccer tournaments, a lot of things that go out of our county.

“I hope you get as excited about this as we are.”

Then, Koehler stressed,
“Two years from now we can be going to a grand opening.

“Maybe even semi-pro football.

“Anybody that has any ideas about land (get in touch).”

Probably tomorrow: Some cautionary thoughts for the Foundation.

= = = = =
The top head shot is of baseball promoter Pete Heitman, who, I'm told, most recently made a failing bid to be the Frontier League minor league baseball team ownership group selected by Heartland Community College in the Bloomington-Normal area. Bill Veeck's son Mike's group was selected instead. McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler is seen in the lower photograph.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Kate Halma, Ken Koehler, McHenry County College, McHenry County Community Foundation, McHenry County Convention Center, McHenry County Fair, Pete Heitman

Even though Chris Krug told me at the McHenry County Economic Development Commission dinner that the baseball stadium at McHenry County College was dead before the board had taken the vote, he seems as hung up about the loss as I am that it was ever proposed.

His Sunday column talked about how he wished he could head over the MCC to the “ Cranks, Crabs, Curmudgeons and Naysayers Field” to see the McHenry County Krugs play this past weekend.

Now, Krug argues we should have a stadium in order to save the gasoline it would take to drive to Geneva to see the Kane County Cougars.

He does end his column with humor I can appreciate:

“So thanks again, Cranks, Crabs, Curmudgeons and Naysayers for all you do to keep McHenry County thriving in all those vivid shades of black and white.

“Maybe I’ll just break out the Speedo, head over to Vulcan Lakes, and then play a little pick-up water polo.

“Oh, wait a second.“

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Chris Krug, McHenry County College, Northwest Herald

There have been hours and hours of secret meetings by the McHenry County College Board about easements.

So far, not one sentence about the substance of the broadcast tower proposal in public, as far as I know.

The only clue of what is at stake has appeared on McHenry County Blog.

That resulted in my pictures before MCC President Walt Packard used the American flag to block me from taking more photographs of John McQuire's power point presentation of his broadcast tower proposal.

The board was apparently discussing easements.

Significant ones, if my non-MCC source is correct about the project's size.

On the original agenda for Thursday night's board meeting was “Easement Access, Report #08-111.”

But it was not up for discussion.

It was on the consent agenda.

Obviously, no public involvement wanted.

Sort of like the baseball stadium and its give away of the college property on which it would sit.

One night when the board went into secret session, by chance I offered a suggestion for future leases.

Knowing that the college board failed to ask for those who would benefit from Peter Heitman's baseball stadium scheme, I suggested that future leasing beneficiaries be put on the public record. This would require period certifications for changes of those benefiting, of course.

This is not a huge leap from current state law under which people selling property to governments have to identify everyone who stands to benefit from the sale.

So, I was anxious to see what the leasing policy would be.

But, it wasn't in the board packet.

Late Tuesday afternoon, I called the college and asked where it was.

About five a return call told that the item had been withdrawn from the agenda.

Indeed, it has a line drawn through it now.

So, just what is the college board up to in secret now?

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Broadcast Tower, Lease, MCC, McHenry County College, Walt Packard

Comparing the deal being negotiated by Heartland Community College in the Bloomington-Normal part of Illinois, it certainly looks like it.

Randy Reinhardt of the Bloomington Pantagraph writes that Mike Veeck's Frontier League team is recommended for the nod.

OK.

Same league.

A deal with a junior college.

What was the offer?

The stadium in the heart of Illinois will cost $12 million.

MCC's was pegged at $10 million, maybe more, but that's the figure the Crystal Lake college started with.

3,000 to 3,500 chair-back seats in Normal. 2,000 more possible in picnic area.

3,000 bleacher seats were proposed for MCC's.

“Heartland would contribute $3.5 million it already has set aside for athletic facilities, and Veeck’s ownership team would pay for the rest. The town of Normal would contribute sales tax rebates and infrastructure costs,”

the article says.

I don't remember the Crystal Lake City Council's being willing to contribute anything.

Of course, we don't know how the baseball promoter will come up with his money. Maybe his arrangement with Heartland will be as flaky as the one agreed upon by the McHenry County College Board.

But, maybe there will be a stop-loss of $3.5 million, that is, maybe the college board will be smart enough to make Veeck's company pay for anything over that amount.

The college was planning to spend $3.5 million on a new stadium anyway.

We'll see.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Heartland Community College, MCC, McHenry County College, Mike Veeck

Yesterday, I told you I would share the questions that Round Lake Mayor and Democratic Party state senate candidate Bill Gentes put forth while considering whether a minor league baseball stadium would be an asset for his town.

Mark Houser and Pete Heitman approached him with the idea.

I thought folks in Huntley, McHenry, Woodstock (plus whatever town whose leader is too shy to admit talks with Heitman) might like to ask their councilmen, alderman or trustees what answers they have gotten to them.

Gentes put a poll on his blog and found 78% of those responding favored building a ballpark. 133 voted.

Here are the questions from his blog, which is called “Blogging Mayor of Round Lake!”

1.How much economic benefit does a minor league team bring to a municipality?

2.What are the costs of building a stadium?

3.What kind of stadium would be appropriate for the area?

4.How would we attract a team if we got past the first two questions and what would be the form of agreement it would take?

“Question's 1 and 2 (I have put them in bold face type and enlarged them) on the post were not able to be answered so we moved on,”

Gentes emailed me.

These questions were posted February 28, 2007. There is an earlier on dated January 28, 2007.

Does that time frame ring a bell with anyone but me?

Mark Houser signed a contract to do a “feasibility study for the development of baseball stadium/indoor sports center complex on the McHenry County College campus” on September 27, 2007.

On March 12, 2008, McHenry County Blog revealed the baseball stadium was on the footprint of the Health, Wellness and Athletic Center displayed in the MCC library. The next day, the Northwest Herald ran a front page story with Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley praising it the idea to the skies.

On March 20, 2008, the two, plus Frontier League Commissioner Bill Lee, were making their pitch behind closed doors to the MCC Board.

Does it seem strange to anyone that Round Lake's mayor would make the possibility of a baseball stadium public on his blog and solicit taxpayer opinion and publish internet comments below his articles, while our junior college board would not even print accurate content from those who took the time to come to its meeting and make a public, in person comment?

Here's the most negative comment found below the mayor's first article: “I say "no" to a baseball team, since there is the very real danger of the taxpayers end up getting stuck with the bill for these kind of projects.

And if a Village offers special tax incentives to a team, again, we get little return, and more congestion, traffic, etc. “

In any event, Heitman and Houser were making their pitch to Round Lake the same time they were after the taxpayers of McHenry County College to finance their deal.

There are some English words for such behavior, not all of which can be used in polite company.

= = = = =
The photo is of baseball promoter Pete Heitman.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Bill Gentes, Mark Houser, MCC, McHenry County College, Pete Heitman

Can't you just hear minor league baseball stadium promoter Pete Heitman saying that?

Heitman is on a search for his Holy Grail—a minor league baseball stadium that he and his mysterious investors won't have to pay for.

This Black Knight has had one arm hacked off in his efforts to storm McHenry County College treasury.

The peasants got angry.

Pitchforks.

Torches.

You know the routine.

Still, it wasn't a total loss.

Heitman's buddy Mark Houser made off with checks for tens of thousands of dollars.

But the Black Knight has another arm left.

Plus two legs and a body.

Plenty of more profit motive fight left in his black heart of hearts.

“Just have to find the right public treasury,” the Black Knight thinks.

“One with feeble guardians.”

And, now the Northwest Herald's Tom Musik reports Heitman is approaching other castle treasure chests.

A half a dozen, most in McHenry County, but two in Lake, according to the article.

I wonder if one is near a prospective pig farm in Island Lake.

No.

The prospective pig farm has a vigorous defender. He has a finger gun, too.

Maybe it's Round Lake, I thought.

Mayor Bill Gentes, who is running for the 26th state senate district, has a site on which he wanted Advocate to construct a hospital. I thought it might work. Instead they looked seriously at one near downtown.

But it didn't work out.

When I asked, here is what Gentes said,

"We talked to those guys about 2-3 years ago and decided it made no sense for us."

He said he had written about it on his blog.

As reported before, Huntley, Woodstock and McHenry are interested and one whose leaders want to discuss disbursement of the coin of the realm with the Black Knight in the dark.

“The team would seek some financial help from its home community and county,” Musik quotes Heitman indirectly.

And in a direct quote, “... we’ve just got to find somebody who’s going to help out. We need a little bit of help, obviously, because we can’t do it all ourselves.”

Is it possible county board members could be so audacious as to support such a proposal with McHenry County Democrats preparing the ladders to storm the excellent paying Round Table's gates?

The Northwest Herald has already indicated it thinks county financial support is a good idea.

Could the Republican Party be ready to cede the role of fiscal conservative to that the party it has painted as the B-I-G SPENDERS?

McHenry Mayor Sue Low and Woodstock Mayor Brian Sager are quoted in the article, which says Heitman wants a four-lane highway.

Don't we all?

Maybe that puts Huntley in the lead. It already has a four-lane road.

But, then again, so does McHenry.

Tomorrow, the questions Round Lake Mayor Bill Gentes asked of Heitman and the ones Heitman could not answer satisfactorily.

= = = = =
Holy Grail modification of Monty Python movie scene compliments of Heck of a Guy blogger Allan Showalter.

Labels: 26th District, Baseball Stadium, Bill Gentes, Black Knight, Brian Sager, Huntley, Mark Houser, MCC, McHenry, McHenry County Board, McHenry County College, Pete Heitman, Sue Low, Woodstock

Bids.

McHenry County residents never heard that word in connection with the minor league baseball stadium that McHenry County College's board of trustees tried to foist on us taxpayers.

But that word is in the first sentence of Bloomington Pantagraph reporter Randy Reinhardt's article about Tuesday's Heartland Community College board meeting.

Consultant Mike Thiessen says they came in “right at the sweet spot.”

How refreshing that a junior college minor league baseball stadium consultant might be looking out for the best interests of the college, rather than looking out for the best interests of his buddy, a baseball promoter.

There are three stadium bids to seat 3,500 to 4,500 (expansion possibilities to 6,000) costing $10 to 11.5 million.

College President Jon Astroth says the $1.7 million Heartland had intended to spend on its own sports facility could be used to subsidize the minor league effort. Or, even more, since the college stadium came in at $3.3 million—way, way over the expected price.

"Visible stunned," is the way Peoria Journal-Star reporter Steve Stein put it.

And if it costs more?

"They have no place to pass the cost to. It's a private entity. And there will be opportunity for the town to contribute," said Alan Sender, Baseball Committee Chairman, according to Peoria's WEEK-TV.

Unlike the MCC situation in which college board members would have had us taxpayers holding the bag.

The bids are connected to the Frontier and Northern Leagues.

Illinois State University is building a 1,000 seat stadium for $3 million, the article says.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Frontier Baseball League, Heartland Community College, Jon Astroth, Mike Thiessen, Northern League

That's what Pioneer Press' Algonquin Countryside and Cary-Grove News headlined it editorial last Thursday.

“College officials clearly overreacted in their zeal to keep information under wraps,” is one line of the opinion piece.

Literally “under wraps,” yellow plastic here, to be specific, as you can see from the photo I took that night before we were unceremoniously escorted out of the building under threat of being charged with trespassing.

The editorial goes on to point out that this was not the first time McHenry County College has kept things secret that they should not have. It points to the feasibility study that was released in November eight months after (McHenry County Blog's) revelation of the proposed baseball stadium.

And, then, the feasibility study had the most important parts cross through with thick black lines.

My March, 2007, story was six months after I can find the first paper trail for the baseball stadium.

I would point out that these masters and mistresses of mystery are currently hiding what they are doing with John Maguire concerning a lease and a broadcast tower.

It was my taking photos of information being presented inside the room that set MCC President Walt Packard into using first his body and, then, our American flag as drapery over the window to hide what was going on inside.

= = = = =
You can enlarge any of the images. The head behind the American flag is that of MCC President Walt Packard. The head in front of the power point slide is also Packard's.

Labels: Algonquin Countryside, Baseball Stadium, MCC, McHenry County College, Open Meetings Act, Walt Packard

Heartland Community College President Jon Astrorth does his MCC President Walt Packard imitation at next Tuesday night's board meeting, according to the Bloomington Pantograph.

That's the day when the board is predicted to decide whether to move forward with a minor league baseball team or not.

The story by Randy Reinhardt says the college will have proposals in hand.

Well, imagine that.

More than one proposal is being allowed consideration.

Guess that won't be a imitation of how Packard froze out all competitors to Pete Heitman and his secret band of rich investors.

The article has this revealing part:

“Heartland would contribute money it had earmarked for its own complex and the town will be involved in infrastructure financing. But ownership groups have been made aware of the limit to which their efforts will be subsidized (emphasis added).

“'Some have been less than enthusiastic (about that),' said Astroth. 'But more than one serious group is pursuing it under the guidelines we set out with very limited funding.'”

And the McLean County stadium would have to be more versatile than the McHenry County Board required of its stadium developer from what Heartland President Astroth told the Pantagraph:

“We have said in meetings this has got to be multi-sport for us. If (after the construction of a stadium) we would still have to have a soccer field, a practice soccer field and a softball field, that doesn’t get us very far."

The evaluator, the MCC counterpart of Mark Houser, if you will, on the project is Mike Thiessen.

Competition is waning on the part of the American Association, leaving bidders from the Frontier League and the Northern League.

Isn't it interesting that Heartland Community College is allowing competition, but McHenry County College would not?

Labels: Americian Association, Baseball Stadium, Frontier Baseball League, Heartland Community College, Mark Houser, McHenry County College, Mike Thiessen, Northern League, Pete Heitman, Walt Packard

The last time I heard the word “bury” used in the same sentence as “stadium,” I think it had to do with Jimmy Hoffa's body.

That was speculation, of course.

I am sure that the only shovels that the McHenry County Board members thought about when they approved the minor league baseball stadium a year ago were those for the groundbreaking ceremony.

Not ones to bury their minor league field of dreams.

McHenry County College Board report #08-83 is fact. It's even posted ahead of time on the college web site.

Listed on the consent calendar, the recommendation from MCC President Walt Packard says,

Termination of Health, Wellness, and Athletic Complex (HWAC) and Stadium Project (emphasis added)

Information:

At the April, 2007 Regular Board Meeting, the Board approved the construction of a $26,000,000 Health, Wellness, and Athletic Complex (HWAC) and stadium, and a “License Agreement for Baseball Stadium,” pending successful completion of authorizations, Planned Unit Development (PUD) approval, zoning from the City of Crystal Lake, and approval from the Illinois Community College Board. The “License Agreement for Baseball Stadium” dated May 24, 2007, was contingent upon zoning approval by the City of Crystal Lake and construction of a stadium by MCC.

At the October 16, 2007, Crystal Lake City Council meeting, the college's zoning petition for the HWAC and baseball stadium was denied.

Recommendation:

It is recommended that the Board of Trustees terminates the HWAC and stadium project, as approved in Board Report #07-48, and declares the “License Agreement for Baseball Stadium” null and void with the other party, McHenry/Lake Professional Baseball Group, LLC. This should in no way be interpreted as terminating the Health, Wellness, and Athletic Complex (HWAC) as identified in 2004Master Plan.

Walter J. Packard
President

= = = = =
Illustration from Allan Showalter of "Heck of a Guy" blog.

The picture is of Pete Heitman, the only member of the LCC ever identified to the public.

Labels: Allan Showalter, Baseball Stadium, MCC, McHenry County College, Pete Heitman, Walt Packard

Mike Thiessen is the deal maker for Heartland Community College's minor league baseball stadium in Normal, Illinois.

This started out as a “we investors will pay for the stadium” deal, but you can imagine what is happening with public money there.

Hey, if you don't ask, you won't get, right?

“We’re starting to see who has got what interest and what they are willing to bite off in terms of their financial commitment,” Thiessen told Bloomington Pantagraph reporter Randy Reinhardt.

Three leagues are bellying up the bar for this one.

Of course, there's the only one that the McHenry County College board deemed important enough to talk to. That's the Frontier League, for those of you with short memories.

In addition, the Northern League and American Association are interested.

At least the Heartland board is willing to listen to competing offers. MCC President Walt Packard was unwilling to do that.

And the college's president, Jon Astroth, wants the board to decide at its May 6th meeting.

There does not allow a whole lot of public discussion.

Here's a gem from Thiessen about using taxpayer dollars:

”Thiessen called negotiations 'non traditional' because the Town of Normal and Heartland have said the ownership group would have to foot the majority of the expense involved with building a stadium and fielding a team.”

Want to bet that those with a beneficial interest in the baseball team won't be made public?

That's a bad template from McHenry County College that I'll bet catches hold.

While those holding a beneficial interest in land being sold to a public body must all be identified, those signing a lease with a junior college do not have to make public their investors.

They should and can be forced to by a college board, should the board have public disclosure as one of it operating tenants.

McHenry County College does not. All of the investors, except Frontier League baseball promoter Pete Heitman, remain unknown in the Crystal Lake proposal.

In other news, McHenry County College President Packard announced last month that the board would kill its baseball stadium proposal at next Thursday's meetings. Too much public opposition.
= = = = =
The elevation of a baseball stadium comes from drawings Mark Houser's Equity One. The firm received a no-bid contract to do a feasibility study, which was severely panned by Economics Research Associates, the firm that grew out of people who designed Disneyland and went on to design the other Disney theme parks. Then, the MCC asked for a re-do. The MCC board even gave Houser the authority to pick the vendors to do the work on the stadium. That was a way to hide what vendors were getting how many tax dollars. Not a lot of baseball stadium transparency in McHenry County for the $10 million, plus interest, that Heitman and Houser wanted the taxpayers to guarantee. A Northwest Herald columnist comments on the risk to taxpayers. But, no referendum needed. MCC planned to sell debt certificates. Who's stuck if the minor league baseball flops? The taxpayers, of course. Or the students with higher tuition. Houser is on the left, Heitman on the right.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Equity One, Heartland Community College, Jon Astroth, Mark Houser, MCC, McHenry County College, Mike Thiessen, Pete Heitman, Walt Packard

“OK.

“I'm not playing fair.

“I know I'm handsome.

“I know you are an attorney, but sometimes even lawyers sometimes take courses in economics.

“You know Cat Dad majored in economics before he got his master's degree in public administration, right?

“He tells me that when you raise prices, sales decrease...whatever that means.

“Cat Dad says your 75% sales tax increase will discourage people from shopping in Crystal Lake.

“I'm hoping you took economics and will remember what was taught.

“And, if not, maybe you can spare the time to take a course at McHenry County College.

“I know you know where it is, because you spoke to at least one class while you were promoting the minor league baseball stadium

“Cat Dad told me he read about it in the bathroom. It was in "The Flush," posted right above the urinals.

“That's where that the same place that campus security guy told Cat Dad he had to leave the building before the MCC meeting was over.

“Cat Dad says you never do that at City Hall, by the way.”

Labels: 75% Sales Tax Hike, Aaron Shepley, Baseball Stadium, Crystal Lake, Keely, MCC, McHenry County College

In honor of former State Rep. Rosemary Kurtz' call for the McHenry County College Board to hold more open meetings, the Message of the Day today is a graphic created by Crystal Lake Heck of a Guy blogger Allan Showalter.

I asked him if he could use his image manipulation skills (well, I didn't quite put it in those terms) to create a melting MCC baseball stadium.

Showalter told me the words of MacArthur Park kept running through his mind:

MacArthur Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no!

I was thinking of the Wicked Witch of the West melting into the floor, but Showalter's vision works well.

Labels: Allan Showalter, Baseball Stadium, Heck of a Guy, MCC, McHenry County College

At last Thursday's meeting of the McHenry County College Board, former State Representative Rosemary Kurtz addressed the board during the brief time allowed for public comments.

I included some of what she said, but asked her if she would send me the entire text. She has and it can be read below.

You can see why newly elected student trustee Tom Kendzie was so impressed with what she said.

Good Evening.

There's a wise saying that makes me think of Erv LeCoque, your former Board Trustee and Foundation member.

"A bird in the hand is
worth more than 2 in the bush."

At your December meeting he reminded you of his initiative to set up a fund, called the "Promise" which would provide tuition to any needy high school graduate who wanted to go to MCC. There are some Big Donors who have set a goal of $4 million as the first step.

Mr.LeCoque then announced that these donors have $2 million in hand right now to contribute to the "Promise" for student tuition.

How noble!

How generous!

These extremely successful business men and women, these donors, from their vast experience say that the College Board and President should drop the Minor League Stadium enterprise because this is a business that they know nothing about.

If the Board goes back to the business it was created for by the voters, which is EDUCATION, then these new donations of millions of dollars from these generous industrialists will be a "win-win" situation for the students and for all of us in McHenry County.

How did we end up with this business of a Stadium?

It is just a year ago when you were about to plunge into this unknown venture of risky investment with a Limited Liability Company.

To me it seems like "hedging your bets," like buying into a hedge fund for us the taxpayers.

Investors don't know what their hedge fund manager is doing.

His decisions are secret and it's like a CLOSED meeting at the College. The investor is in the dark.

He may know the manager takes a big percentage, but it's worth it to take the risk.

Every good economic advisor will tell you,

"if it's too good to be true,
then it probably is.”

The message:

BEWARE.

Referring to the shady world of hedge fund management, I believe that the Public, the people who pay the bills for MCC have been forced into the same kind of secrecy by your Closed Meetings.

According to the Open Meetings Act and conversations I have had with the Attorney General's assistant,

a unit of government does not always
HAVE to go into Closed Meeting.

The Act says that the officials "May" close the people out of certain discussions; but they are not mandated to do so.

I don't believe that you had to go into secret session when you were entering into a relationship with the Stadium developers.

We were kept in the dark for 5 months until it surfaced with the petition before the Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission.

In the future, I hope you restore the trust we the Public had in MCC from the time we voted the College into existence.

I hope you will open up those meetings to the Public because YOU TRUST THEM and YOU RESPECT THEM.

They only want what is best for this Place of Learning.

INDIVIDUALS, among Your Public, are EXPERTS in areas that elected officials and your loyal staff are not aware of. This County College deserves to hear that expertise in finance, construction, and land use in OPEN Meetings.

In conclusion, please reflect on Erv LeCoque's business advice and his offer of millions for your students.

Please remember you Don't Have to go into secret session (closed meetings) as often as you have done in the past. Put some Trust in Your Public who is very well-intentioned.

WE Care.

= = = = =
Newly elected McHenry County College student trustee Tom Kendzie is in the head shot at the top. Former State Rep. Rosemary Kurtz is see addressing the MCC Board. The other photographs of Kurtz were taken earlier. Crystal Lake retired investment banker Barry Glasgow is at the bottom.

Labels: Barry Glasgow, Baseball Stadium, Erv LeCoque, MCC, McHenry County College, Open Meetings Act, Rosemary Kurtz, Tom Kendzie

Last Thursday, the Green Party's 16th congressional district committee met in Belvidere and, as readers of McHenry County Blog might expect, nominated McHenry County College Board Trustee as its candidate.

This was not Summers first attempt to get on the ballot. He filed for office at the same time as the power party candidates incumbent Don Manzullo (R-Egan) and Robert Abboud (D-Barrington Hills).

One of Abboud's contributor-neighbors filed an objection to Summers' petition signatures.

The challenge succeeded.

But, just as McHenry County Democrats did when they could not induce anyone to run for McHenry County State's Attorney and Auditor, plus county board candidates in the Crystal Lake-Lake in the Hills District 2, the Greens have now put Summers on the ballot for Congress through the back door.

Differing from the add on Democratic Party candidates in McHenry County, Summers at least tried to get on the ballot through the front door.

Summers profile has increased considerably since he and fellow Trustee Donna Kurtz announced their reversal of position on McHenry County College's building a minor league baseball stadium for promoter Pete Heitman, the construction of which would be overseen by a highly paid business buddy Mark Houser, both of Libertyville.

This led to the infamous “melt down” meeting, which I missed, but John Coonen didn't.

That was followed by the meeting at which the majority four on the MCC Board censured Summers and Kurtz for speaking out at the Crystal Lake City Council meeting.

Summers has since been a strong advocate for opening up the MCC Board to public scrutiny, including suggesting posting of board packets on the internet (which is occurring) and live streaming of the meetings over the internet, to be considered in April.

The baseball stadium saga is almost over. MCC Board President Walt Packard announced its impending death at last Tuesday's Committee of the Whole meeting.

So, again voters in the district that stretches across Northern Illinois from the Cook County line in Barrington Hills to the Mississippi River north of the Quad Cities will be a three way race.

Summers has much higher name identification now than he did when he filed for officer last fall.

Labels: 16th Congressional District, Baseball Stadium, Don Manzullo, Donna Kurtz, MCC, McHenry County College, Robert Abboud, Scott Summers

McHenry County College's baseball stadium has gotten most of the attention of people interested in college expansion plans.

That has irritated those pushing the baseball stadium to no end, because they think the nursing program part of Health, Wellness and Athletic Complex is most important.

The MCC board majority would probably be surprised that, when they learn about it, most people agree.

“Why are they even talking about a baseball stadium?” is a typical reaction.

But, Economics Research Associates do not break out the revenue streams for the baseball stadium from those for the fitness center.

How strange.

As if ERA had been instructed not to do so.

My guess is that it's because the baseball stadium will provide 36% (or something in that range) of the revenue, while its cost exceeds that.

For almost the entire debate prior to the city council vote, the public was led to believe that the baseball stadium would bring in 64% of the project revenues. That's what the Northwest Herald reported MCC President Walt Packard said in early June, 2007.

But, he admitted to me that he misspoke in that interview.

64% is significantly more than what the expansion would cost.

Now the question is whether the baseball stadium will pay what it costs.

The first ERA report seemed to say the answer was “No.”


I couldn't find an updated answer in the 2nd ERA study.

One should be able to find that cost-benefit ratio.

It tells whether the taxpayers can expect to be forced to subsidize baseball promoter Pete Heitman's and Mark Houser's little game.

Now the question is whether the baseball stadium will pay what it costs.

I couldn't find that answer in the ERA study.

One should be able to find that cost-benefit ratio.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Economics Research Associates, ERA, HWAC, MCC, McHenry County College, Pete Heitman, Walt Packard

The students at McHenry County College elect a student trustee each year.

Replacing Katie Claypool will be Tom Kendzie.

Kendzie lives in Crystal Lake. He won the election 180-150. (I told him I won my first contest by 72 votes out of about 13,000--33%-, 33%, 33%+).

Sorry about the slightly fuzzy photo and that of Lowe below, but without being able to use the camera's flash attachment, the lens has to be open longer and that increases the probability of my shaking the camera. Claypool's was taken before the ban took effect.

Kendzie was asking Claypool why the college board met in secret. (In last night's case, it was to discuss employee contract negotiations.)

He was reacting to former State Rep. Rosemary Kurtz' comments to the board, which she almost finished before MCC Board Chairman George Lowe interrupted her to tell her time (3 minutes and opposed to 5 the Crystal Lake City Council allows) was up.

Kurtz pointed out that Erv LeCoque and his friends “already (had) several millions in hand” for the every high school graduate can go to MCC scholarship fund, “if the MCC Board of Trustees drops the minor league baseball enterprise.”

Based on what happened at the Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday, Kurtz expressed optimism that would happen. It “gave me great hope.”

“If you go back to your (educational) focus, (you will be well served), Kurtz said.

She then compared the proposed baseball investment to what people do when they invest in a hedge fund.

Kurtz explained that hedge fund investors “don't know what their hedge fund manager is doing, (because) they do it in secret.”

Investors also know that “the hedge fund manager takes a big share,” she continued.

Then the part that Kenzie was inquiring about:

“According to the open meetings act, you don't have to go into a secret meeting when (you negotiate a contract).

“I hope you will open up those meetings to the public.”

Kurtz pointed out that MCC taxpayers have expertise in areas beyond what the board members and staff have and that the board would do well to utilize it.

Then, Lowe interrupted Kurtz.

= = = = =

Mr. Kendzie could find the secret meetings that got the college in so much trouble by typing “secret meeting” into McHenry County Blog's search engine. Indeed, if he or others want to be brought up to date on how McHenry County College hid the baseball stadium proposal from the public and the incredible amount of trouble MCC got into as a direct result, just type “baseball stadium” in the search engine. McHenry County Blog broke the story and has certainly covered it more extensively than any where else, including Monday's death knell announcement by President Walt Packard.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Erv LeCoque, Katie Claypool, MCC, McHenry County College, Tom Kendzie

In my Fantasy Baseball article in late February, re-printed Tuesday, McHenry County Blog examined McHenry County College's Economics Research Associates' second feasibility study on its baseball stadium.

First attendance projections were analyzed and found to be woefully inadequate.

A college professor would label that section “INCOMPLETE.”

Secondly, the ERA naming rights analysis was examined.

Despite the reported fact that the team in Schaumburg gets $200,000 a year from Alexian Brothers, a hospital group, the consultants think the junior college could get $250,000 a year.

Today, let's look at non-baseball events at the stadium.

Concerts, amateur baseball games, etc.

Here's the developer's project on non-baseball events:

”The developer has projected net revenues of $275,000 per year from non-baseball events (such as concerts, other sporting events, civic events, and others). This line item is considered separately from other team and ballpark items, as it would not contribute to rent or ticket surcharge payments. The only details provided to support this forecast is an assumption of 50 to 60 events with a total of 25,000 to 35,000 attendees.”

Isn't that special?

Economics Research Associates brags that it did work on all of Disney's parks.

Somehow I doubt such non-fact based analysis would have been found acceptable by Disney, even in Fantasia mode.

In the first year stadium revenue is listed as $732,837.

The non-baseball share is $275,000.

That's a big chunk of the $733,000 to accept on faith.

“According to conversations with the developer, this estimate is based on a generic operating model for a Frontier League ballpark that has been supplied by the league office, and could likely be aggressive.”

Talk about understatement.

No specifics provided.

No specifics requested.

Perhaps Economic Research Associates does not deserve the reputation it projects.

“The eventual amount of non-baseball revenue will be largely dependent on the type and number of the events that are allowed to be held. Events such as concerts would have the ability to generate more revenue, but if only civic events such as high school baseball games can be held at the stadium, these revenues would be significantly lower.

“Without performing a market analysis or having a completed agreement on the number and type of allowable events, it is not possible to analyze this projection in further detail.”

Consider also that a week ago Hoffman Estates has just announced an outdoor concert venue where Poplar Creek used to be, right on the tollway.

This announcement appeared in the Chicago Tribune before ERA's February 26, 2008, feasibility study submission date.

Sounds like it might draw McHenry County residents and be relevant to any market analysis on non-baseball team use of the new baseball stadium.

Oh.

I forgot, ERA did no market analysis.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Economics Research Associates, ERA, MCC, McHenry County College

“I'm melting,” cried the Wicked Witch of the West as she disappeared

“Who would have thought that some little girl like you could destroy my beautiful wickedness,” the Wicked Witch said just before she died.

Dorothy McHenry wasn't scared anymore.

Wizard Packard had said the witch was dead, that her memorial service would be held at the April meeting.

But questions remained.

What will happen to all the dirt left behind?

How many taxpayer dollars did the McHenry County College Board majority allow to run into Mark Houser's EquityOne sewer?

This dirt on this snow pile near the Colonial Cafe will be washed away by April's showers.

How will McHenry County College wash away the much deserved dirt now covering its reputation?

Will its leaders invite influential businessmen and politicians to secret meetings, allow them to lay hands on the college's image and have them announce its cleansing?

Or have the powers-that-be figured out that there is a bigger problem epitomized by its obsessive secrecy?

The administration and board have stepped over that invisible line. They have enraged some taxpayers, severely disappointed others.

Most of the enraged are probably “meteors,” who will have burned out fighting the baseball stadium.

But there are others who will watchfully stay in the “junior” college's orbit, waiting and hoping for the day it deserves to be called a “community” college again.

Has the MCC power elite figured out that there are folks out there that matter beyond those the institution more or less controls?

Frankly, I doubt it.

But, time will tell.

= = = = =
Photo of and words of the melting witch from American Rhetoric: Movie Speech. The dirty pile of melting show is near Colonial Cafe in Crystal Lake, taken after a Crystal Lake Kiwanis meeting.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, MCC, McHenry County College, Power Elite, Snow Pile, Walt Packard, Wicked Witch

I know that MCC President Walt Packard announced the baseball stadium proposal is dead, but I still want to critique Economics Research Associates' second analysis on Mark Houser's and Pete Heitman's McHenry County College baseball stadium proposal covers naming rights of the stadium and inside recreation facility.

Just in case, it comes back again.

On page 16, $250,000 is again reported as the annual price for naming the stadium. It assumes a 20% increase every five years.

ERA's Dave Stone doesn't say much about this early expected revenue.

Maybe that's because there isn't a lot of support for that very important number.

In Bridgeport, the largest city in Connecticut has been trying to sell naming rights for ten years and have failed to do so.

“As the data shows $250,000 per year is achievable for an independent ballpark, and in fact has been exceeded, but is toward the high end of completed deals in independent baseball,” the report reads.

Fargo got $300,000 to name its stadium Newman Outdoor Field; Camden, NJ got $300,000. Camden's is named Campbell's Field.

Neither are in the Frontier League.

The highest naming rights--$125,000--cited in the Frontier League is Florence, Kentucky, across the Ohio River from Cincinnati.

And, that's in a TV media market, which Crystal Lake definitely is not.

GMC Park in Sauget, Illinois, where Gateway Grizzles play, was $100,000. It's now called GCS Ball park, but no payment is listed.

Twenty-one teams (five Frontier League teams have no figures) are listed, but naming rights payments are listed for only thirteen.

And, there is no indication of the comparability of any of these teams to Crystal Lake's market.

In Schaumburg, the team gets $200,000; in Joliet the amount is $150,000.

And ERA says $250,000 a year is achievable.

Competitive area naming rights are not $250,000.

Menard's like flags, so maybe it will be interested.

Or, perhaps, Blain's Farm and Fleet will bite. I noticed it is flying American Flags on in Woodstock.

Tinker Bell, where is your magic wand?

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Dave Stone, Economics Research Associates, ERA, Mark Houser, MCC, McHenry County College, Pete Heitman, Walt Packard

Little did I know that re-posting my MCC Fantasy Baseball article would lead to a discussion, but it did.

Here is what Laredo57 said,

I'm not in favor of government subsidizing private enterprise, nor am I a fan of typical political double talk. Under normal circumstances I would support your position on the stadium, however, based on your Rockford stadium analysis I'm not sure I trust any of your analysis of the situation.
Rockford increased their attendance by 398 people per game.

A 19.3% increase.

That's a total increase of 27,860 people for the season.

Therefore the new stadium cost only $251 per person if you only ammoritize it over one year, which you and I both know has no purpose.

In the 2nd year of the new stadium they were not only able to maintain the 19% increase from the previous year but added a .5%.

If $30 is the average amount spent at a game then the stadium will be paid off by increased attendance in just 8 years. Probably not a bad deal.

Using the numbers in such an awkward way makes me, a person generally on your side, wonder how many other times you are manipulating the facts to to prove a point.

If something is wrong, fiscally, socially or politically it's wrong. The facts need not be distorted to prove it's wrong.

I asked my baseball stadium friend of the blog and got this rebuttal. Since this is the first indication that anyone has given critical thought to the McHenry County College baseball stadium, based on the 2nd so far unreported review by Economics Research Associates of baseball promoter Pete Heitman's and his buddy Mark Houser's projected numbers, I thought I would share both with you.

Friend of the blog reply:

According to the numbers used in the second ERA review, Rockford attendance went from 2,065 to 2,463 in the first year that the team was in the new stadium.

This is an increase of 398 fans per game or 19,104 for a 48 game season.

I'm not sure where the 27,860 that this person uses comes from.

To me the discussion begins and ends with the fact that ERA states in its first review that attendance used in the feasibility study is aggressive based on capture rates.

In the second review they say that Year 1 attendance is conservative.

At 3,125 it is certainly not conservative considering Rockford only drew 2,463 in its first year in their new stadium.

Additionally, using attendance numbers from the Frontier League media guide, attendance at Rockford went down in the second year of the new stadium.

But using the figures in the second ERA report, attendance went from 2,463 to 2,477 or 14 per game which is a .5% increase.

Compare this to the 10% increase that is projected in the feasibility study. Additionally, the feasibility study (or page 4 of the second ERA review) calls for large attendance increases every year of the facility. Rockford was unable to meet those projections for even one year.

Assume a .5% increase in attendance every year (which is against what ERA predicts when it calls for a leveling off and an eventual decline in attendance) and it is not possible to repay the debt.

All other baseball team revenues are dependent upon that attendance.

Rockford underscores that the attendance projections in the feasibility are unrealistic, and therefore that portion of the project will have a difficult time paying for itself, which was the ERA conclusion in the first review, and the second, if you weed through the b.s.

If I made a mistake in the Fantasy Baseball article, I apologize.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Mark Houser, MCC, McHenry County College, Pete Heitman

Since the McHenry County College Board is meeting tonight to hear the woefully weak (because there is no market analysis, among other reasons) so-called 3rd party critique, I am r4priting this article of how the McHenry County College Board majority could start over with their baseball stadium campaign.

The meeting is at 6 PM.

I see no indication that anything will be different from before, except they are making the report public a lot sooner than they did the devastating first one by Economics Research Associates.

At the McHenry County Economic Development Corporation dinner Thursday night, Northwest Herald General Manager and Executive Editor Chris Krug inspired some thoughts about how McHenry County College might gain consensus on building a baseball stadium in Crystal Lake.

1. Start over.

2. Allow competition, that is, don't freeze out the competition before deciding on a baseball promoter, as was done last year.

3. Have the promoters make public pitches at a hearing at which both the public and board can ask questions. Put the people testifying under oath. College board members and officials have experience with such a process. It occurred when they appeared before the Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission. If they would like to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, who knows, Tom Hayden, the man who conducted the eminently fair hearings on the MCC zoning request, might be willing to act as a hearing officer. And, if the college would be willing, the hearing could be probably be conducted at the city council chambers where it could be filmed for broadcast on cable television throughout the district.

4. Require all petitioners to reveal everyone who has beneficial interests in their teams. Krug agreed with that.

5. Require a conflict of interest certification that none of the college trustees or officials or members of their immediate families have any beneficial interest, including, further consulting contract(s), etc., with immediate disclosure of any such contract on the part of any of the applicants. Forfeiture of the lease would be the consequence.

6. Require the the promoter to pay for the stadium and ground rent that does not amount to a sweetheart deal. The Economics Research Associates re-do, corrected after read by McHenry County College President Walt Packard reports on page 22 that the team in Lincoln, Nebraska, “contributed $10 million towards the construction of the stadium, which was considered prepaid lease payments for 35 years, or an average of $285,000 per year.”

7. Require the quantification of any public subsidy, including, but not limited to road improvements.

There is one other idea that Economics Research Associates consultant Richard Starr came up with out in the hall. He suggested building condos surrounding the stadium so people could watch the games from their porches and windows.

Read Part 1 of “If I Supported a Baseball Stadium...”

Read Part 2 of “If I Supported a Baseball Stadium..."

= = = = =
On top is a rendering of what the front of Pete Heitman's baseball stadium would look like. At the bottom is an aerial view of the proposed Harvard stadium. The head shot is of Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission chairman and former city councilman Tom Hayden.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Economics Research Associates, ERA, MCC, McHenry County College

If you attend the McHenry County College Board meeting tonight at 6 PM or read a story about it, see how many of the questions that I asked to be answered and handed to the Economics Research Associates folks get answered.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Questions to MCC Board and 3rd Party Reviewer of MCC Baseball Stadium Promises

Since the McHenry County College Board minutes bear little if any relationship to what I say to the board, here's what I passed out and summarized at Thursday night's meeting.

More time was spent discussing minutes, by the way, than was spent discussing the baseball stadium and other desired additions to the MCC campus.

Besides the following, I passed out a copy of this article with Steve Stanek's questions. Here's are the questions I passed out.

Some Questions Cal Skinner Would like Economic Research Associates to Answer

I'd certainly like to see the costs and benefits--financial ones, not ethereal "quality of life" benefits--quantified and specified for the educational component of the project and the entertainment side. I'd like to know if my rough calculations showing that the construction cost to be 38.5% of the total for the baseball stadium, while its revenues are only 36% are correct or not. In other words, will the taxpayers be subsidizing the baseball stadium or vice versa. What are the estimated numbers?

I'd like to know if the extra cost of the taxable bonds for the baseball stadium (because it is a for-profit addition) has been added to the stadium side of the cost-benefit study.

I'd like to know if cost of paying interest on interest because of the predicted delayed payback of significant money from the baseball stadium is included on the stadium side of the ledger.

I'd like to know if the opportunity cost of the use of the acreage that cannot be used for educational purposes has been calculated and added to the stadium side of the cost estimate. The estimated value, according to MCC Board President George Lowe was $300,000 per acre, unless I misinterpreted what he said.

I'd like to know if the risk that tuition will have to rise or other expenses cut or a request made for a tax hike to bail out the project can be quantified and, if so, what that risk is and the estimate amount tuition would have to be increased at various levels of shortfall in stadium revenue.

I'd like to know if attendance figures have been cut because of the announced privately- financed minor league baseball stadium in Harvard (seen above with windmills).

I’d like a quantification of the risk to baseball team investors compared to the risk to MCC and its taxpayers/employees/students.

In addition, I distributed the following, sent in by a friend of the blog who prefers to remain anonymous:

“ERA wants to know what we want them to do in their 3d party review.” When I read that, I wondered “about what?” How can ERA do any more at this point in time unless the feasibility study is revised. Otherwise they are just reviewing the same information all over again. Are they asking if MCC wants them to change their report? Does MCC have a revised feasibility study for Plan B already put together for ERA to review? Get your FOIA forms ready Ladies and Gentlemen. If three or four people can generate 150 FOIA’s in a couple months, think how many FOIA’s five or six of us can generate. Or ten of us –just imagine.

Here are some things that jump out at me just in the ERA Review. I haven’t begun to crack the actual studies:

ERA clearly notes that MCC needs to verify expenses, attendance, capacity for non-team events, health-wellness center attendance projections, financing, parking conflicts, and much more. How can ERA then state that it’s a good business plan after noting that there is so much information missing?

How can birthday parties account for $70k in revenues?

How can $2.5 – $3 ml in start-up costs not be included in the financial summary?

Note that the capture rate would be the most aggressive rate of all Frontier League teams. How realistic and what is this based on?

This one really is great. ERA: “It is not traditional to attempt to lock in the team to a definite term. Typically teams are able to leverage their position and move at will.” This is a reference to the 20-year team in the license/lease hybrid agreement. Would this lock in be enforceable if they decided to just move? MCC could sue on basis of the agreement. And get what? And how useful would it be to keep them if they are losing money anyway? We’ve known all along they can walk when they want to.

What is supposed to be on page 12?

Interesting note about the restaurant. This is the first I have heard about one being included. Is a restaurant included? Note all the restaurants listed in the comps on page 13.

And finally, the notation “will be amended” on the pages by hand. I know why it’s there because it is part of the agreement to release it. It is so we all realize that it is a flawed report, please don’t take it seriously, it will be fixed. I can’t wait to see the fixed report. I’ll start getting my FOIA ready.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Cal Skinner, Economics Research Associates, ERA, MCC, McHenry County College, Steve Stanek

As foreshadowed on McHenry County Blog on January 23, 2008, the Crystal Lake Park District appointed Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commissioner Angel Collins to fill the vacancy created when Dave Phelps resigned.

She was the next highest vote getter in last spring's election, so her appointment is entirely logical. You can read some of her views on the park district in this article on the board's candidates' night. More views here.

Collins voted with the entire rest of the Zoning Commission to reject McHenry County College's baseball stadium, which will raise its ugly head again on Tuesday night at MCC when a second and inadequate 3rd party review of the baseball promoters' numbers will be presented at 6 PM.

Thanks to the Northwest Herald's Jim Butts for going to the meeting and reporting what happened before I went to bed.

Other applicants were Rich Jackson, wife of just slated McHenry County District 2 Democratic Party candidate Jill Mawhinney, Jack Heisler and Jim Austin.

Labels: Angel Collins, Baseball Stadium, Crystal Lake Park Board, Jack Heisler, Jill Mawhinney, Jim Austin, MCC, McHenry County College, Rich Jackson

At the McHenry County Economic Development Corporation dinner Thursday night, Northwest Herald General Manager and Executive Editor Chris Krug inspired some thoughts about how McHenry County College might gain consensus on building a baseball stadium in Crystal Lake.

1. Start over.

2. Allow competition, that is, don't freeze out the competition before deciding on a baseball promoter, as was done last year.

3. Have the promoters make public pitches at a hearing at which both the public and board can ask questions. Put the people testifying under oath. College board members and officials have experience with such a process. It occurred when they appeared before the Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission. If they would like to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, who knows, Tom Hayden, the man who conducted the eminently fair hearings on the MCC zoning request, might be willing to act as a hearing officer. And, if the college would be willing, the hearing could be probably be conducted at the city council chambers where it could be filmed for broadcast on cable television throughout the district.

4. Require all petitioners to reveal everyone who has beneficial interests in their teams. Krug agreed with that.

5. Require a conflict of interest certification that none of the college trustees or officials or members of their immediate families have any beneficial interest, including, further consulting contract(s), etc., with immediate disclosure of any such contract on the part of any of the applicants. Forfeiture of the lease would be the consequence.

6. Require the the promoter to pay for the stadium and ground rent that does not amount to a sweetheart deal. The Economics Research Associates re-do, corrected after read by McHenry County College President Walt Packard reports on page 22 that the team in Lincoln, Nebraska, “contributed $10 million towards the construction of the stadium, which was considered prepaid lease payments for 35 years, or an average of $285,000 per year.”

7. Require the quantification of any public subsidy, including, but not limited to road improvements.

There is one other idea that Economics Research Associates consultant Richard Starr came up with out in the hall. He suggested building condos surrounding the stadium so people could watch the games from their porches and windows.

Read Part 1 of “If I Supported a Baseball Stadium...”

Read Part 2 of “If I Supported a Baseball Stadium..."

= = = = =
On top is a rendering of what the front of Pete Heitman's baseball stadium would look like. At the bottom is an aerial view of the proposed Harvard stadium. The head shot is of Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission chairman and former city councilman Tom Hayden.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, MCC, McHenry County College

Yesterday, I started a three-part article about what MCC might do to regain public trust in order to get support for the baseball stadium that four of its board members (George Lowe, Barbara Walters, Mary Miller and Carol Larson) desire so ardently.

With the public relations disaster that McHenry County College has managed to create, it seems to me that the board has to start from scratch.

That's what I told Northwest Herald General Manager and Executive Editor Chris Krug before the McHenry County Economic Development Corporation's dinner last Thursday night.

Admit that the college will be irreparably harmed if it proceeds without starting the process over.

Everyone who thinks the college can pass a referendum, please raise your hand.

Anyone who thinks Mary Miller is not going to be challenged if she runs for re-election next spring, let me know.

And, if you want to run, let me know.

Needless to say, people are organizing to support some opponent of this consistent baseball stadium supporter. In laying her hands on the goodness of the baseball stadium, Miller touted her credentials as a CPA.

Now I know why we don't let CPA's run government.

Earning the designation obviously does not guarantee analytical ability on public policy issues.

Here's how Miller was quoted in the April 26, 2006, board minutes:

“Ms. Miller(‘s) refer(ring) to her CPA standing and stat(ing) that all the figures are in order for us to go ahead with this.”

So, why was a re-do of the numbers necessary after Economics Research Associates savaged Mark Houser's EquityOne presentation she avowed was ”in order?”

In a Freedom of Information request, I asked for any documentation to back up her professional judgment.

Needless to say, there was none.

I was told to look at an analysis of construction costs by PMA Consultants, the same outfit that advised Huntley School District 158 that it needed a 55-cent tax rate hike.

PMA's analysis of construction costs speaks not one sentence about whether the baseball team receipts will pay off the cost of the bonds to build the stadium.

And, that, of course, is the real issue in this fight.

Show me a written analysis of the numbers and maybe I might regain the respect I used to have for the designation “C.P.A.”

So, start the process over.

What does this mean?

Do you know there were two baseball promoters who wanted to build a stadium in Crystal Lake?

One was making real progress in Harvard until the McHenry County College Board decided to ink a sweetheart deal with Pete Heitman, a buddy of Equity One's Mark Houser.

A fresh starts demands that competing promoters be given a fair shot.

Such presentations should be at public hearings, where both the public and the board get to ask questions.

We can hear how much money each group is willing to put up.

How does each propose to pay for the stadium?

What will the amount of public subsidy be, if any?

Harvard's group, by the way, plans to pay for its own stadium; Heitman's wants us to bet on the success of his scheme.

There's absolutely no reason for secrecy.

And, speaking of secrecy, the public has a right to know who the investors are.

When I was at the Crystal Lake City Council meeting looking at the staff reports on various proposals, you know what I found?

Petitioners must reveal everyone who has a beneficial interest in their properties.

The college must demand the same information from those with whom it signs leases.

I was pleased that Krug agreed.

Part 3 tomorrow.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Chris Krug, CPA, Equity One, EquityOne, Mark Houser, Mary Miller, MCC, McHenry County College

Before the McHenry County Economic Development Corporation dinner, I had an extended conversation with Chris Krug of the Northwest Herald.

As you can imagine we discussed the baseball stadium.

I found out that he used to be a sports reporter.

He tried to tempt me with the vision of sitting out on a warm summer day and lifting a few beers while watching a baseball game.

It's not that I'm against baseball.

I've been to Kane County Cougars games.

My biggest impression: the parking could be improved.

At one time I was a fervent Brooklyn Dodgers fan, although I remember being a Giants fan until the Dodgers beat them. I knew all the players. My favorite was catcher Roy Campanella.

I remember when the Dodgers, by then transplanted to Los Angeles, played the White Sox in the World Series in 1959 when I was a senior. (We moved to Crystal Lake in 1958.) I was outside of the shop classroom at Crystal Lake Community High School when I heard someone bragging about how the White Sox were going to beat the Dodgers.

“Want to bet?” I said. (Two personal gambling stories within week. Maybe I need to call Gamblers Anonymous.)

You know how White Sox fans are. Enthusiastic does not begin to describe them.

I think he even gave me odds, even though the Dodgers had won at least one game.

And, of course, I won.

In any event, I started suggesting to Krug how the junior college might get a baseball stadium.

Krug assured me that the current plan is dead.

Maybe I've seen too many "Alien" movies with my son. I sense an egg pod out there somewhere.

While I would like to believe that, read this article and tell me if MCC President Walt Packard's plan to resurrect the idea isn't on track...

In spite of MCC Board President George Lowe's protestation the day the Crystal Lake City Council approved zoning that would allow construction on 50% of the entire property, including the soon-to-be purchased 57 acres.

Lowe told the Northwest Herald:

“I’m not sure where the baseball thing is going. I think it’s pretty much a dead issue.”

Tomorrow, an article on the how MCC might resurrect and gain approval of a baseball stadium.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Chris Krug, MCC, McHenry County College

Maybe not yet, but someone is shopping the details to contractors and has been on part of the project since last June.

Both MCC Board President George Lowe and Chris Krug, the Northwest Herald's biggest supporter of a baseball stadium at the Crystal Lake campus, say the stadium is dead.

But look what a very resourceful friend of McHenry County Blog found on the internet:

Project ID: 685503

Project Name:	Available to Subscribers only. Click here to Sign Up.
Project Type:	New Construction, Site Work	Documents (0): Map: Aerial Photo:
Building Use:	Educational, Arenas / Stadiums
Reported:	10/22/2007
Status:	Conceptual
Private / Public:	Public
Location:	Crystal Lake, IL
Project Address:	Available to Subscribers only. Click here to Sign Up.
Bid Date:
Est. Start Date:	March 2009

The description?

“Site work and new construction of an athletic facility in Crystal Lake. Conceptual plans call for a 6,500-seat baseball stadium that would host a minor-league team.

“This project is pending approval and funding. General inquiries will not be accepted at this time.”

The information for this stadium proposal was posted 10/22/2007

“Est. start date” is listed as March 2009.

The description of what is to be done?

“General Requirements, Site Work -- Clearing & Grubbing, Earthwork, Excavation, Driven Steel Piles, Paving, Pavement Markings, Site Utilities, Storm Drainage, Pavement Sealants, Irrigation Systems, Fences & Gates, Landscaping, Concrete -- Concrete Formwork, Concrete Reinforcement, Cast-in-Place Concrete, Precast Concrete, Masonry / Stone -- CMU, Metals -- Structural Steel, Metal Decking, Metal Fabrications, Metal Stairs, Pipe & Tube Railings, Gratings, Wood / Plastics -- Rough Carpentry, Finish Carpentry, Architectural Woodwork, Thermal / Moisture -- Waterproofing, Insulation, Metal Wall Panels, Membrane Roofing, Sheet Metal Flashing & Trim, Roof Accessories, Fire Proofing, Caulking & Sealants, Doors / Windows -- Steel Doors & Frames, Access Doors, Overhead Doors, Storefronts, Security Windows, Hardware, Glazing, Mirrored Glass, Glazed Aluminum Curtain Wall, Finishes -- Gypsum Board Drywall, Tile, ACT, Floor Sealers, Resilient Flooring & Wall Base, Carpet, Hazard Striping, Paint, Ferrous Metal Coatings, Specialties -- Monitor Supports, Toilet Compartments, Wall Protection, Bird Controls, Flagpoles, Signage, Fire Extinguishers, Toilet & Bath Accessories, Equipment -- Loading Dock Equipment, Food Service Equipment, Audio/Visual Equipment, Closed Circuit TV, Furnishings -- Floor Mats, Multiple Seating, Countertops, Conveying Systems -- Elevators, Mechanical -- Piping, Valves, Motors, Mechanical ID, Seismic Controls, Mechanical Insulation, Fire Protection, Plumbing, Refrigeration, HVAC, Fans, Ductwork, Building Controls, Electrical -- Electrical ID, Raceways, Cable Trays, Wiring & Cables, Boxes, Vibration Isolation Systems, Switchboards & Panelboards, Transformers, Switchgears, Motor Controllers, TVSS, Grounding, Lighting, Fire Alarms, Video Surveillance Systems, Access Controls, Telecommunication Systems.“

Where is it?

Take a look at the map available...even to non-subscribers.


An alert reader notes: "That's the location of Prairie Ridge High School! Is this a mistake in the listing, a red herring or plan B? I'm checking to see if I have a contact who knows a member."

Project 614501 Project Name: Available to Subscribers only. Click here to Sign Up.

Project Name:	Available to Subscribers only. Click here to Sign Up.
Project Type:	New Construction, Site Work	Documents (0): Map: Aerial Photo:
Building Use:	Educational, Fitness / Rec Centers
Reported:	06/28/2007
Status:	Conceptual
Private / Public:	Public
Location:	Crystal Lake, IL
Project Address:	Available to Subscribers only. Click here to Sign Up.
Bid Date:
Est. Start Date:	June 2008

What is being sought?

“Site work and new construction of a recreational facility in Crystal Lake. Plans call for the construction of a 96,000-square-foot health, wellness, and athletic complex which will house classrooms, a fitness center, batting cages and four college-sized basketball courts.

“No timeline has been announced. Interested parties should contact the owner.“

Note the information for this HWAC facility was posted 06/28/2007.

Here's what is listed in the project:

“General Requirements, Site Work -- Excavation, Paving, Grading, Fences, Landscaping, Site Utilities, Sewerage, Irrigation, Concrete -- Cast-In-Place Concrete, Concrete Formwork, Concrete Reinforcement, Masonry / Stone -- CMU, Mortar, Brick, Metals -- Structural Steel, Metal Decking, Metal Fabrications, Metal Framing, Steel Joists, Metal Railings, Wood / Plastics -- Rough Carpentry, Architectural Woodwork, Finish Carpentry, Thermal / Moisture -- Waterproofing, Insulation, Membrane Roofing, Roof Accessories, Flashing & Sheet Metal, Caulking & Sealants, Doors / Windows -- Metal Doors & Frames, Wood Doors, Automatic Doors, Overhead Doors, Glazing, Storefronts, Access Doors, Hardware, Finishes -- Drywall, Plaster, Metal Stud Framing, VCT, Paint, Tile, Carpet, ACT, Resilient Flooring, Athletic Flooring, FRP Panels, Specialties -- Signage, Toilet Accessories, Fire Extinguishers, Lockers, Mirrors, Toilet Partitions, Equipment -- Athletic Equipment, Conveying Systems -- Elevators, Mechanical -- HVAC, Plumbing, Fire Protection, Building Controls, Ductwork, Electrical -- Wiring, Lighting, Telephone/Data Systems, Alarm Systems, Grounding.”

If any readers know a contractor, ask your contact if he or she subscribes to Bidclerk. I'd love to be able to print the details on McHenry County Blog.

Remember, you can click to enlarge any image.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Bidclerk, HWAC, MCC, McHenry County College

Doing some filing this past weekend, I found McHenry County College President Walt Packard's October 25, 2007 “Information Report” entitled,

The project would require a reported 38 acres, I have been told.

= = = = =
MCC President Walt Packard is seen in the top picture and the middle one. Behind Packard in the second photo is MCC Board President George Lowe. Economics Research Associates David Stone in the bottom shot.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, David Stone, Economics Research Associates, Equity One, EquityOne, ERA, Mark Houser, MCC, McHenry County College, Walt Packard

Economics Research Associates staffers Richard Starr and David Stone sent a February 26, 2008, introductory letter to McHenry County College President Walt Packard.

It asserts they will expound on the “reasonableness and achievability” in something they allege is a 3rd party analysis of the baseball stadium and Health, Wellness and Athletic Center proposal.

However, the ERA analysts admit no market analysis exists to show that using characteristics of Camden, New Jersey, and Fargo, North Dakota, baseball stadiums are even a tiny bit reasonable.

Remember geometry?

Accept the assumption, even if they are false assumptions, and everything flows from them.

With the wrong premises, logic will lead to incorrect conclusions.

It happened in city X, in city Y, so it could happen in Crystal Lake.


And when the bonds can't be repaid, the board members will say,


In ERA's initial 3rd party review, the authors talked about projected attendance in terms of “capture rate.”

On page 9 of the first review, it says ERA recommends further verification of the projected 52.3% capture rate.

I can't even find the term in the second report.

So what is a “capture rate?”

If the population of the market area is 300,000, a 50% capture rate would mean than annual attendance is estimated to be 150,000.

The first report

“..assumes the team will achieve capture rates comparable to the highest captures in the Frontier and Northern Leagues.”

There is no reference to “capture rate” in the second report, but it is still a relevant concept.

The first report puts it in terms of the market place, but the second ignores the market.

Five teams in Chicago market have capture rates ranging from 5.9% to 52.6%, according to page 9 of the first report.

When you take the market out, use of the terms “reasonable and achievable” in nonsensical. Just because it is reasonable and achievable somewhere else doesn't mean it will happen in Crystal Lake.

In ballpark feasibility studies, all revenue streams flow from attendance.

ERA looks at other teams, but, as ERA points out, “It is not known if the other teams' reported figures represent paid or actual attendance.”

Remember, it is common practice for teams to give away tickets as promotional items.

So, ERA is reporting unaudited numbers. No one, except maybe the investors, look at gate receipts.

Take ERA's minor league attendance figures with a grain of salt, maybe piles of salt the size that should have been stockpiled for this winter.

Likewise, ERA's comments on audience attendance growth from year to year need to be closely examined.

In the last paragraph on page 6, ERA states,

“The assumed 30 percent attendance growth over the first five years...is fairly aggressive, but achievable, particularly considering the relatively low projected attendance rate for 2009.”

What team has achieved that attendance growth rate without expanding its stadium?

River City's Rascals, located in suburban St. Louis on the Missouri side of the river, had a stadium built specifically for the Frontier League team. It has been around the longest.

River City's average daily attendance in the first year (1999) was 3,611. In 2007, the comparable figure was, 2,095. (The 2007 figure is right in the table on page 5.)

That's a 42% decrease.

So, where's the growth found?

How does this fit into the “reasonableness and achievability” predicted by Economics Research Associates?

It doesn't.

It isn't even mentioned.

Let's examine three of the Frontier League teams that ERA considers comparables. Look at the attendance figures for 2005, 2006 and 2007 on page 5.

Not one team cited in the ERA report is shown growing at the rate projected by MCC baseball promoter Pete Heitman.

It's not even close. No wonder the table isn't lined up so one can easily figure that out.

Here are daily attendance figures for 2005, 2006 and 2007 for three of the teams listed.

Suburban St. Louis Gateway Grizzles went from

3,619 to
4,235, then decreased to
4,086.

In Washington, PA, Wild Things attendance for the three years were essentially flat:

3,197
3,251
3,317

Suburban St. Louis River City Rascals:

2,379
2,387
2,095

Obviously none increased 5% a year over the two-year period.

How about Rockford?

That's close by.

You should know that a new stadium for Rockford was financed completely with private money, opening in 2006.

One would assume that the incentive not to lose money (or make money) would be stronger for entrepreneurs than for elected officials. Elected officials, of course, can keep coming back to the taxpayers to get non-referendum taxes; investors can't...or maybe they can, if they are Pete Heitman.

Average daily attendance that first year in the new stadium was 2,463, higher than 2,065, an increase of 398 per game.

The stadium cost $7 million. It cost $17,588 to garner each new fan (on a daily basis).

The second year in the new stadium, attendance did not go up much—twelve fans per game.

In any event, that's not support for an increase of 5% per year by Heitman...

Let alone EquityOne's Mark Houser's forecast a 10% increase in attendance during its second year. (See page 5.)

At least Rockford's new stadium was financed completely with private money.

They weren't using other people's money, like the MCC team.

No wonder ERA didn't emphasize Rockford's problem.

There is no example of any team anywhere (unless major, major capital improvements have been put in) that has the attendance growth and, therefore, the revenue growth as sustainable as the promoters' plan suggests.

Taxpayers have a 20-year repayment obligation, so why do the ERA consultants concentrate on the first five years' performance, which history shows are a team's best years?

Why has ERA ignored the next 15 years?

ERA does conclude,

“...we would not expect for this to continue indefinitely, as attendance would stabilize and potentially decrease (after the five-year projection period). This would directly affect the growth of team and facility revenues” (see top of page 7).

Heitman has attendance increases every year for 25 years, a minimum of 5% per year.

ERA hints that a 5% attendance increase is unrealistic--even as soon as the 6th year--but refuses to point out how this will negatively affect the ability to repay the bonds...which it will.

In fact, ERA doesn't address anything beyond fifth year as far as financing goes, other than to say that attendance might decrease (see top of page 7).

Internet fantasy baseball would cheaper and probably as much fun.

More tomorrow and the days to follow.
= = = = =
Senior Economics Research Associates staffer Richard Starr appears on top. Below is associate David Stone.

Below, baseball promoter Pete Heitman appears above his buddy Mark Houser in the pictures in this article.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, David Stone, Economics Research Associates, Equity One, EquityOne, ERA, Fantasy Baseball, Mark Houser, MCC, McHenry County College, Pete Heitman, Richard Starr, Walt Packard

At Monday's Committee of the Whole meeting, the McHenry County College Board considered a proposal by Trustee Scott Summers to put the already computerized board packets on the internet.

Available electronically previously only the those on the board and MCC employees, now the people who elect the board and pay the employees' salaries can find out what the board is going to do to or for them before tonight's 7 PM meeting.

You can even read the second version of the feasibility study by Economics Research Associates, dated February 2.

Having examined this in some detail, my hope and advice is that the college board not repeat its past practice of not letting anyone ask questions about the report and the commitment of twenty years of tax dollars before proceeding further.

Oh, I forgot.

The board has allowed people to ask questions in the public comment period.

They just won't give any answers.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, MCC, McHenry County Board, Transparency

Yesterday, I started a story on the February 5th Northwest Herald editorial about the McHenry County College Board's infringement of the First Amendment, but got so worked up thinking about the underhandedness of its minor league baseball scheme that I summarized highlights of its so, so flawed decision-making process.

Today, I finally get to discussing the editorial.

It suggests the MCC Board should “rethink” its policy to limit photography during its meetings.

The editorial notes the limitations were passed “in reaction to Cal Skinner’s coverage of their meetings. Skinner once was a state representative and now is a local blogger. Skinner’s coverage included lots of photos, and board members have found the flashing from Skinner’s camera to be a distraction.”

Continuing,

”'You look up, and we’re looking at our staff people. All of a sudden, there goes a flash bulb in your eye and ... you can’t see. It’s annoying,' College Board Chairman George Lowe said.

“Perhaps it is annoying. But last we checked, annoying speech is covered by the First Amendment.”

The editorial then notes its editorial board's disapproval of the board majority's censure of Board President Scott Summers and Finance Committee Chair Donna Kurtz.

It points out that the photography restrictions could be seen as an attempt to silence my criticism of MCC's taxpayer subsidy of the baseball stadium's private investors, whose names, I would point out, are still unknown and concludes,

”At a time when MCC is returning to Crystal Lake with a new expansion plan, this is the wrong message to send to the community. MCC should be working to repair trust with the community. Moves such as the photography restriction do the opposite.“

Remember, this comes from a newspaper that has supported the building of MCC's minor league baseball stadium.

Thanks, Northwest Herald.

= = = = =
Good thing all images can be enlarged by clicking on them. The Northwest Herald's summary of its February 5, 2008, editorial surely can be read as it appears. George Lowe's picture is near his quote. Below appear Scott Summers and Donna Kurtz.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Donna Kurtz, First Amendment, George Lowe, MCC, McHenry County College, Northwest Herald, Scott Summers

When I had my computer replaced, the beginnings of a story on the Northwest Herald's cautioning of the McHenry County College Board restrictions on the First Amendment got forgotten.

You may remember that MCC Board President George Lowe got quite disturbed at

1- my taking flash (and apparently other) pictures of board members in their dimly lit board room

and

2-my informing him that he did not have the power to limit photography all by himself. (Specifically, I told him he would have to pass a resolution.)

Needless to say, what Lowe is really upset about is my blowing the whistle on the board's trying to sneak through a baseball stadium without any public discussion.

You may remember that McHenry County Blog broke the story on Sunday, March 12, 2007.

There had been no mention of a baseball stadium at MCC anywhere else before then.

The MCC Board had been discussing the idea since at least September 2006, but dared not share the possibility with the public.

No public involvement.

The board gave away the store to Mark Houser's Equity One when MCC President Walt Packard signed an incredible $70,000 document on September 27, 2006. It promised,

”At the completion of the feasibility study and independent review, if the College elects to proceed with the project, the College will contract with EquityOne or it’s (sic) assigns to develop the project on the College’s behalf.”

Forget about bidding out or even seeking alternative vendors for significant parts of the baseball stadium and building addition work.

The MCC board even agreed to pay Houser $400,000 more to Houser to, it seems to me, make certain the public would never find out the details of the no-bid spending.

And, no competition would be considered...even from a Harvard group with private financing.

Houser's buddy and business associate, baseball promoter Pete Heitman, would get that 20 year plum.

And the board was not even smart enough to require that the names of the minor league baseball team investors be revealed to the public.

Or maybe they deliberately didn't want the taxpayers to know.

After all, knowing those names might go a long way toward explaining the board's stubborn support of the scheme.

The baseball stadium idea is so far off the educational mission as to have cost the college a million dollar contribution from Crystal Laker and former teacher Geraldine Cowlin.

That money was to go for scholarships for students who could not afford to attend MCC.

Many of use marvel at school referendum rhetoric from tax hike supporters couched in


In MCC's case, I wish I could hear such rhetoric from the board majority.

How can a scheme that has cost “the children” $1 million in scholarship money be “for the children?”

Sorry for the digression, but every time I think about the board's scheme to pick our pockets with its baseball stadium scheme, my blood pressure goes up.

Guess this article is too long already. I'll continue it tomorrow and finally get to the Northwest Herald editorial.

= = = = =
At the top is a photo of McHenry County College Board President George Lowe. Three images of the McHenry County Blog story that first revealed that MCC was planning a baseball stadium are on the upper right. Next is the picture of a smiling Mark Houser from EquityOne leaving the board room, obviously in a very good mood. Below the rendering of the privately financed minor league baseball stadium planned for Harvard is a photo of MCC's favored baseball promoter Pete Heitman.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Equity One, EquityOne, First Amendment, George Lowe, Geraldine Cowlin, Mark Houser, MCC, McHenry County College, Northwest Herald, Pete Heitman, Walt Packard

Without dissent, the Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission voted to recommend to the Crystal Lake City Council that McHenry County College be allowed to cover at least 50% of its current and proposed 57-acre addition, all in Crystal Lake's watershed.

There were no objectors from the Crystal Lake public.

MCC President Walt Packard explained that the college was only seeking a variation from the 20% building limit contained in the watershed ordinance.

After he finished his brief presentation, Commission Chairman Tom Hayden observed that “the ball field for all intents and purposes is now dead.”

“That's correct,” City Attorney John Cowlin replied. “The mayor said it (presumably the improper motion to reconsider) was moot.”

“To my way of thinking you are here because the 20% (limit) is still on the books (even though) the Best Management Practices are now (in place),” Hayden continued.

“By granting this variation..you eliminate the concerns of what can go on the property.” Hayden said.

“That's correct,” Packard replied.

“I'd also submit that you'd probably be run out of town on a rail if you spent $3.6 million on land and couldn't build on it,” Hayden continued.

Attorney Jane Collins was the only one to speak during pubic comment time.

She tried to elicit why the college was asking for a “variation,” rather than an “exception.”

No answer was forthcoming.

Carolyn Schofield was curious as to why the college was before her commission.

“I'm under the impression you can already do this,” she said.

“In order to eliminate any question (about the) 20%. Until it's removed, it's there,” Cowlin explained.

“They are in kind of a trick bag right now. They have agree to Best Management Practices, but the 20% is still in the ordinance.”

Concerning the 20 percent's retention in the ordinance, Hayden said, “I think it gives us protection if someone wants to develop property (on the watershed) without Best Management Practices.

“My only objection was the road problem,” Commissioner James Jouron commented.

The six members present all voted to recommend the variation requested.

The vote seemed almost anticlimactic.

Waiting in the wings, however, is a second 3rd party review by Economics Research Associates.

New numbers.

Taxpayers would be naive to think that the MCC board majority has deep-sixed the baseball stadium proposal.

= = = = =
In the top photo, McHenry County College President Walt Packard makes his pitch to the Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission.

The head shots, from top to bottom are of Commission Chairman Tom Hayden, attorney Jane Collins, Commissioner Carolyn Schofield, City Attorney John Cowlin and Commissioner James Jouron.

At the bottom of the article, a clearly pleased MCC President Walt Packard shakes hands with MCC Board President George Lowe. MCC Trustee Barbara Walters is seen in the background.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Carolyn Schofield, James Jouron, John Cowlin, MCC, McHenry County College, Tom Hayden, Walt Packard

Here is what McHenry County's junior College says it will be doing Wednesday night:

February 20, 2008 Special Board Meeting 7:30 p.m.

Crystal Lake City Hall One Municipal Complex Crystal Lake, IL 60014

---

AGENDA

1. CALL TO ORDER

2. ROLL CALL

3. HEARING ON THE COLLEGE’S PETITION BEFORE THE CRYSTAL LAKE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION

4. ALL MATTERS RELATED TO THE HEARING, THE PETITION, AND PURCHASE OR LEASE OF REAL ESTATE IN CRYSTAL LAKE, AND DECISIONS ON SAME

5. CLOSED SESSION CONCERNING THE PURCHASE OR LEASE OF REAL PROPERTY

6. ADJOURNMENT

George Lowe
Chair

Maybe you will go and watch as MCC tries to get the Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission to allow it to build on 50% of the property it owns, plus the 57 acres it wants to buy.

Maybe we shall be treated to another flight into fantasy from Lowe about how he and his board majority can find a more suitable location to expand somewhere else in McHenry County.

You know, the


pitch.

I've given some thought to Lowe's continuing threat to relocate the junior college and I cannot think of another site within walking distance of a current or potential train station on the main Metra line that is even vacant besides the one between the college campus and Ridgefield Road.

Of course, if he thinks college students have lots of money and will always find it cheapest and most convenient to drive to class, maybe my reasoning is irrelevant.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission, MCC, McHenry County College

When I told an astute observer of McHenry County politics that another friend of McHenry County Blog had sent me a Bloomington Pantagraph article about Heartland Community College's welcoming a minor league baseball stadium on its campus, here was the reaction:

“I think the baseball teams have figured out that the junior colleges are suckers.

“They have the money, the land and the willingness to spend the taxpayers' money.”

But the price mentioned in the article is so, so much less than the McHenry County College extravaganza.

Heartland President Jon Astroth said $3.6 million was available for its sports complex, only part of which will be for baseball and softball.

MCC, on the other hand, is budgeting over $13 million (plus high interest costs, because it will be a for-profit venture), maybe a lot more than $13 million.

The McLean County effort is before the Normal City Council.

But the vision is so, so different.

“The vision today is a baseball stadium at Heartland funded by a private investor,”

Alan Sender, a community member investigating the possibility, is quoted in reporter Mary Ann Ford's article.

Other comments from Sender:

“While Sender said the group doesn’t want anything from the town now, if the idea become reality, the town might be asked to provide turn lanes or stoplights near the facility.

“'This is not a town of Normal project and it’s not envisioned to be a Heartland project,' he said. It depends entirely on a private investor.'”

The proposal sounds more like the privately-financed one planned for Harvard than the 4-vote MCC majority wants to build in Crystal Lake's watershed.

The Harvard one, you will remember, was well under way, but not announced until this story in McHenry County Blog the day before the MCC board approved the tax-subsidized deal with baseball promoter Pete Heitman.

I still wonder at the underhandedness of the board's refusal to let the public—not to mention potential competitors like Bill Larsen and Chris Diserio—make an alternative proposal.

Maybe that's OK in private business, but junior colleges are not private businesses.

Labels: Alan Sender, Baseball Stadium, Bloomington Pantograph, Heartland Community College, MCC, McHenry County College, Normal, Pete Heitman

Straight from the Crystal Lake city web site, although I have enlarged its teeny tiny print a bit.
I guess we'll have to wait until another day to see if the junior college's pitch is a snow job or not.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission, MCC, McHenry County College

The Daily Herald seems to be the first newspaper to notice that their photographers’ First Amendment rights have been compromised by a ban on flash photography at McHenry County College Board meetings.

Since the Daily Herald rarely sends reporters to the meetings (I think the last time was by special invitation to the unannounced meeting about the baseball stadium), reporter Lenore Adkins discovered the ban by reading McHenry County Blog.

“Moreover, the board chairman now has the power to ‘limit an individual's ability to photograph any portion of the board meeting’ if it interferes with the proceedings, leading local blogger Cal Skinner to question whether that's a violation of the First Amendment,”

the article says.

Here’s what is in the resolution:

”In addition, the Board Chair may limit an individual's ability to photograph any portion of the Board meeting if it is determined that the photography is interfering with the proceedings as they occur.”

It is hard for me to think of how taking non-flash pictures would interfere “with the proceedings as they occur.”

Maybe that means I couldn’t stand out in the hall and take flash pictures (like the one above) of the real estate folks who want to lease or sell land to the college beyond the 67-acre Gilger property (which is north and south of the road that runs from the MCC campus to Ridgefield Road), if caused Lowe to lose concentration on the top secret, hush hush activites going on inside the board room.

Lowe was in a white-hot fury when he issued this order after the meeting:

”There will be no flashes at the Monday Board meeting!

“You’ve been warned!”

Lowe then remembers my saying,

”Pass a resolution.”

Well, he’s close.

I said,

“You’ll have to pass a resolution.”

right after I took this non-flash picture of the map on the plasma screen in front of which Lowe was walking.

I said that because he was acting like he thought he only alone could make such a decision.

Then, as you can read in my original article, Lowe walked across the room to MCC President Walt Packard and proceeded to violate the minority member squashing agenda-setting standard that he had outlined in the meeting.

When college board members were present, Lowe said he only wanted to consider subjects at meetings upon which there a consensus had been reached.

But, Lowe ordered Packard,

”First thing on the agenda—a resolution.

“No flashes at the board meeting.”

How do I know what was said?

I wrote it down as Lowe was storming out the door. (A fuzzy, non-flash picture of Lowe's exit is contained in the article.)

Packard complied.

This notice given the public on the MCC website:

Item 5:
”RESOLUTION ADOPTING COLLEGE POLICY, Board Report #08-22”

Anyone who can figure out what this is all about, raise your hand?

The item was considered before public comment, just as the board majority censured Scott Summers and Donna Kurtz before public comment. (The picture you see was taken with a flash from the corner where I was able to find a spot to sit on the floor during the crowded censure meeting. The location gave me a chance to take the flash picture below of former Crystal Lake Park Board member Leona Nelson presenting a rose and an American flag to Donna Kurtz after the board voted 4-3 for censure. I think it pretty well captures the mood of the audience.)

In the article, Lowe compares me with “paparazzi who tail celebrities, saying the blogger stops at nothing to get his shot and photographs board members from multiple angles and at close range.”

I certainly admit to taking pictures from different angles from along the edge of the small room. That’s so I can get pictures of the board members facing both left and right, so I can put board members’ pictures on the right and left side of the page. I try to make the pages pleasing to the eye.

Illinois Press Association attorney Don Craven told the Daily Herald that the board has the right to limit flash photography:

"Allowing the board to do its business without being inundated with flashes is a reasonable governmental purpose. It's just unfortunate that (Skinner's) activities will lead to limitations on everybody."

I have never seen any newspaper send a photographer to this junior college’s board meetings. At the board meeting in question, no newspaper even sent a reporter.

Craven was not quoted on whether Lowe has the right to prohibit photography completely.

My guess is that he does not, but I am not more a lawyer than Lowe.

Only time will tell how Lowe will use his newly granted power.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, First Amendment, Flash Photography, George Lowe, MCC, Walt Packard

Here is the third installment of Jane Collins letter of advice to McHenry County College board trustees.

It concerns secrecy, a topic the board knows a lot about.


III. Abjure secrecy. Conduct the People’s business as the Open Meetings Act requires.

On October 16, 2007, and on several subsequent occasions leading up to the October 22, 2007 Committee of the Whole [COW] meeting, four of the District’s trustees violated the Open Meetings Act.

They did so knowingly and willfully, believing that by their conferring “individually and not as a group” (Carol Larson, December 20, 2007) on the means and ways to punish/censure two District trustees, they could skirt the Open Meetings Act [the Act] requirements.

According to Trustee Larson, the [four] trustees first decided “they had to do something” after trustees Summers and Kurtz spoke at the October 16, 2007 City Council meeting. The District’s Chicago legal counsel was consulted and asked to provide a template for censure resolutions. Then followed communications among the trustees on the resolutions’ content, and when and how they would be presented for approval.

Trustees Summers, Kurtz and Glosson were excluded from these communications, according to minutes of the Committee of the Whole [COW] meeting on October 22, 2007.

Evidence that these “meetings” on a District matter took place: four of the trustees appeared at the October 22, 2007 COW meeting with a prepared statement and resolutions, stating it was their intention to have them approved that evening.

These resolutions were not on the publicly noticed agenda nor on any revised agenda. There is no public record of their being considered by the District Board at any prior public, open meeting.

This willful violation of the Act was done with full knowledge of what the Act requires. At at least one Board meeting, Counsel Metz cautioned the Board that even if they communicated about a District matter singly/individually, if the end result was three or more trustees’ conducting District business outside a publicly noticed and properly convened open, public meeting, this constituted a “meeting,” violating the Act.

President Packard knew about these communications, and that they violated the Open Meetings Act. Freedom of Information documents show that without prior Board discussion, appropriation or approval, President Packard talked with and engaged Wayne Newton, a mediator, to attend a Board Committee of the Whole meeting on October 22, 2007 at a cost of $3,000.00 plus travel expenses.

Ostensibly, the engagement’s purpose:

for a “half day retreat.”

The October 22 agenda does not list Mr. Newton as a visitor; it does not list him as a presenter or as connected to an item for consideration.

he October 22 minutes do not provide an introduction or explanation of his presence at the meeting, although he made a presentation.

There is no public record showing the Board had approved a “half day retreat.”
Nor is there any public record showing that such a “retreat” took place. What is unclear: whether there was a “meeting” of some trustees with Mr. Newton prior to the COW meeting. (“When I met him [Mr. Newton] at dinner that evening, I did not talk to him about the censure. We talked about corn.” Carol Larson, December 20, 2007.)

Also unclear:

Whether Counsel Kerrick was present at or informed of these illegal communications while they were taking place, and if she tried to stop them.

On October 25, 2007, when the question of Open Meetings violations on this matter arose, Counsel Kerrick attempted to excuse trustees who may have first discussed how to punish the two trustees on October 16, 2007 after the Crystal Lake Council meeting.

She asserted that the trustees were in a meeting on that date. This is incorrect.

Even if the censure discussions among four trustees took place only that evening – which is not the case, according to their own admissions – they were not in a District meeting that evening.


Although the District purported to have held a special meeting on October 16, with a notice, agenda and minutes, the formalities of a properly conducted public meeting were not met.

This was not a joint meeting with the City of Crystal Lake Council; the District Board chairman did not convene the meeting; no District business was conducted; nor did the chair adjourn the meeting.

The District trustees were merely in attendance at the council meeting at which a District petition was considered by council members; Mayor Shepley convened, conducted and adjourned the meeting pursuant to the City of Crystal Lake’s agenda.

It is not clear whether any of the four trustees consulted with Counsel Kerrick about the censure resolutions prior to the October 22, 2007 COW meeting.

At the October 25, 2007 Board of Trustees meeting, she asserted that the four [censuring] trustees “had not met with legal counsel.”

It is difficult to document violations of the Open Meetings Act. These details were pieced together over a long period of time. Although the Board refuses to record its open sessions, the public has attempted to cure this deficiency by posting recordings on the Internet. Recordings of the October 22 and 25, 2007 meetings may be found here.

These details are provided here because they indicate a willingness on the part of some trustees to attempt to circumvent the Open Meetings Act’s requirements. If these trustees believe they successfully skirted the law once, then this is the kind of conduct that is capable of being repeated. It is not the kind of conduct that inspires public confidence and trust.

To be hand delivered with attachments to the District Board on January 17, 2008.

Jane L. Collins

= = = = =
The photo of Jane Collins was taken on January 21, 2008, when she spoke at the public comment period.

The next five pictures, including the audience shots, were taken the night of the censuring of Trustees Scott Summers and Donna Kurtz.

The head shot on the left below the audience photos is of MCC attorney Sandy Kerrick on January 21, 2008, the last night a week before flash photography was banned. Notice how crisp the picture is.

October 16, 2007, the night MCC failed to obtain zoning approval for its baseball stadium proposal, is when the following two pictures of MCC board and staff were taken. This is the night when the board asserts it held a public meeting. The first picture was taken as the Crystal Lake City Council was rejecting the zoning change. The second shortly after while college officials were conferring outside in the hall.
The final picture is of citizen Leona Nelson, who was censured herself by the Crystal Lake Park District for supposedly revealing something that was discussed in closed session (not illegal) and sexual harassment, handing MCC Trustee Donna Kurtz a rose and an American flag after she and Board President Scott Summers were censured by a 4-3 vote.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Howard A. Metz, Jane Collins, MCC, McHenry County College, Open Meetings Act, Sandy Kerrick

Here is the second part of Jane Collin's advice to the McHenry County College board.

This section concentrates on accountability. Take a look at the amount of money that Mark Houser of Equity One has been paid and the lack of documentation for what he has done to earn the $400,000 in MCC taxpayer dollars.

And, notice Collins' questions about the possibility that the college is using Houser's company, EquityOne, to hide what it being paid to FCL and Cornerstone, companies that are presumably doing work for the college.


II. Demonstrate a willingness to be held accountable.

Exercise prudent fiduciary oversight over District investments of taxpayer monies. Some trustees have failed and continue to fail to acknowledge that impartial third party reviews and experts have demonstrated that the proposed Sports & Entertainment complex is not a sound investment of taxpayer dollars. Instead, this would be a public subsidy for private investors.

A specific example of failed oversight:1. Mark Houser still being paid for a project that supposedly has been put on hold. (Mark Houser received all of the “Release to Begin Development” money: August 2007, $220,000; Sept. 2007, $100,000; November 2007, $80,000.)

2. Where is the tangible evidence of what the District has received in exchange for the $400,000 paid to Mark Houser, i.e., “the items that need to be started and or completed prior to the City of Crystal Lake’s final approval of the PUD include full architectural and engineering drawings, full specifications, full bid packages and bid reviews along with solicitations for naming rights, sponsorships and indoor center user groups.” Para. one, “Release,” 5-10-07.

3. Missing from Mark Houser one-page invoices: itemized hourly rates, services/tasks performed and by whom.

4. Does Mark Houser serve as a “pass through” for monies paid to FCL, Cornerstone and others with whom the District does not have executed contracts?

5. What financial and legal liability has this Board incurred in this “pass through” arrangement to those being so paid – to the engineering firm FCL has hired, for example?

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Equity One, EquityOne, Jane Collins, Mark Houser, MCC, McHenry County College

A friend of McHenry County Blog who is more focused than I sent me the email below:

“The MCC Board of trustees will meet this Monday and Thursday. CORRECTION- I SEE THE MEETING STARTS AT 6 NOT at 7 pm. You can check the agendas on the MCC web site to verify time and agenda items. I have heard that the Thursday meeting may be the one to attend.

"I have also heard, but have not confirmed personally, the the Schaumburg Flyers Baseball team requires a cash infusion annually, "in the ballpark'' of about 1-2 million dollars! Maybe McHenry County taxpayers can live without a baseball stadium?

“Hope you can make it.”

You all come.

You will remember at the December meeting right before Christmas, the board voted 4-3 to continue trying to get a baseball stadium at McHenry County College.

Those voting in favor were George Lowe, Barbara Walters, Mary Miller and Carol Larson. Opposed were Donna Kurtz, Scott Summers and Frances Glosson..

Labels: Baseball Stadium, MCC, McHenry County College

Here’s an email from a friend of McHenry County Blog telling what’s happening at McHenry County College as far as the baseball stadium goes.

Forewarned is forearmed, it is said.

I have received information from several extremely reliable sources who have confirmed that the MCC board will again try to gain approval to build a Health and Wellness Center, including a baseball stadium, from the City of Crystal Lake.

Specifically, I have learned from these sources:

There appears to be no plans to hire an independent 3rd party to evaluate.

Rather, the two vendors, Equity One and the McHenry Baseball LLC (not sure of the real name), and another vendor, ERA (who recently pitched the MCC Board on their interest in building community support for the HWAC Project), have been designated the evaluators for assessing whether this project would generate a positive cash flow.

Note: ERA did the 3rd Party evaluation previously (in Mar/Apr 2007), but they had not been approached, nor indicated any interest in gaining additional business at that time, if the HWAC Project moved forward.

Thus, in essence, all three evaluators would have a financial benefit if the HWAC Project moves forward.

Board members [Donna] Kurtz, [Frances] Glosson and [Scott] Summers were against this approach because of the lack of objectivity inherent in this approach and requested an independent 3rd Party Evaluators.

Board members [Carol] Larsen, [Barbara] Walters, [George] Lowe, and [Mary] Miller over ruled this request and indicated evaluation by the 3 parties would be sufficient and objective.

Call your friends, ask questions, watch the City website for agendas. Call your City Council members!

= = = = =
Top right is Mark Houser, head of Equity One. He evaluated his buddy Pete Heitman's baseball projections and pronounced them worthy. Heitman is the man in the smallest picture. Economics Research Associates' Richard Starr, who headed up the devastating critique of EquityOne's analysis, makes his pitch that his firm can do a better job in forming "partnerships" to build the stadium.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Crystal Lake City Council, MCC, McHenry County College

Yesterday, McHenry County Blog published the Daily Herald's county board questionnaire. Today, take a look at the Northwest Herald's.

I like to look at candidate questionnaires probably because I enjoyed tilting with editorial boards at election time. Often their questionnaires, especially those of the Chicago Tribune, were so loaded.

They often revealed the editorial board's hidden--or not so hidden--agendas.

Editors regularly had different views of what was best for my legislative district than I did. One, Leroy S. Clemens, the editor of the Elgin Daily Courier-News, even wrote a column in 1970’s in which he named the 33rd district as the worst represented in Illinois.

I had sponsored a bill in my first term that tried to equalize real estate taxes for local governments that lapped over county lines. Elgin and its school district lies in both Kane and Cook County. The 33rd district represented Elgin west of McLean Boulevard.

My legislation resulted in tax bills being cut by 14% in Kane County and going up 14% in Cook County, according to Kane County Auditor Don Clute.

Clemens lived in Cook County and--this is just a guess because he didn’t mention it in the column—probably figured out it was me who had caused his tax bill to increase.

Clemens had other reasons to denigrate my Dundee Township Republican running mate Bruce Waddell and our Johnsburg Democratic Party colleague Tom Hanahan.

If I run across that column, I’ll have to share it with you.

But, back to the Northwest Herald.

Top priorities, disagreement with past decisions, addressing top transportation needs and stewardship evaluation are the first four questions.

Not bad. They don’t lead the candidates to give a particular answer as candidate questionnaires from various newspapers often do.

But, then there is question 5:

Should the county pursue a regional conference and event center project?

I just knew the Northwest Herald would find some way to bring up the baseball stadium.

My answer would be short:

Not if any of my tax dollars pay for it.

Candidates are allowed 100 words. I could finish this one off with ten. Probably less, if I tried.

How about?

Not with my taxes.

That got it down to four words.

Enough rambling. Here are the questions:

Northwest Herald Questionnaire

Please respond to each of the following questions.
Answers are strictly limited to 100 words.

1) What are your top priorities if elected?

2) What past decision made by this elected body did you most disagree with and why?

3) What are the county’s top transportation needs and what can be done to address them?

4) Has the county been a good steward of tax dollars? Why or why not?

5) Should the county pursue a regional conference and event center project?

= = = = =
Any county board candidates or other candidates wishing to share their answers can do so by emailing them to McHenry County Blog, where they will be published.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Bruce Waddell, Candidate Questionnnaire, Don Clute, MCC, McHenry County Board, McHenry County College, Northwest Herald, Tom Hanahan

McHenry resident Steve Stanek has done considerable research on how stadiums affect communities and has come up with a doozy.

Look what he’s found:

Supporters of a professional baseball stadium at McHenry County College need to look at Seattle, where the SuperSonics of the National Basketball Association want out of their city stadium lease.

The team said the following, under oath, in a federal court filing the week of Jan. 14:

“The financial issue is simple, and the city’s analysts agree, there will be no net economic loss if the Sonics leave Seattle. . . Seattleites will not reduce their entertainment budget simply because the Sonics leave.”

This is what nearly all independent researchers and sports economists have been saying about professional sports. They deliver little or no net economic benefit.

The irony is the Sonics received millions of dollars of subsidies after a public relations campaign that argued professional sports teams bring big benefits to a community. Those statements were never made under oath.

Stadium boosters in McHenry County should ask which statements to believe. Ones made in self-serving public relations campaigns? Or ones made under oath in a federal court?

And they should also ask:

If the SuperSonics can go to court to end a lease with Seattle, couldn’t a minor league baseball team do the same at McHenry County College?

And that bus that MCC Board President George Lowe was asking me Monday to make sure was there to take students from the proposed Metra railroad station near the college in Ridgefield?

There it is in the drawing released by the college.

Since we don't need a stadium financed by us taxpayers and, as Geraldine Cowlin and numerous others, the most recent of which being Dan Malone, point out:

a minor league baseball stadium is off MCC's educational mission,

the college can use the one pictured above. It's right in front of the proposed baseball stadium.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, MCC, McHenry County College, Seattle, Sonics, Steve Stanek, SuperSonics

“If you fund it, they will come,” is the first sentence in the article that popped up from a search engine yesterday entitled,


Naturally, the McHenry County College Board’s 4-vote majority’s insistence in subsidizing baseball promoter Pete Heitman’s minor league baseball scheme to make money for investors, which he refuses to identify, led me to read the story by John Estus.

The article in NewsOK, the internet version of the Oklahomian, has more links than I have ever seen in a newspaper web site story.

But the Oklahoma City Council is being straightforward.

It is asking for a 15-month sales tax hike to raise the $121 million for stadium improvements to lure the Seattle SuperSopnics southeast.

Nothing like the non-referendum bonds that the MCC board passed 7-0 without any voluntary public notice before three members--Scott Summers, Donna Kurtz and Frances Glosson--saw the light.

"That's really a step the public and the people should be happy about. The power is in their hands. In a lot of places, they would be able to railroad it through without having some sort referendum where the public actually would get to vote,”

CNBC sports business reporter Darren Rovell told the Oklahomian.

In an indirect quote he also noted that voiding a public vote often happens in cities where opposition is expected.

The Oklahomian points out that supporters of the plan point to intangible benefits that a sports team brings an area.

Sounds like the pitch Economic Research Associates' pitchman Richard Starr made to the MCC board after the Crystal Lake City Planning and Zoning Board and the City Council turned thumbs down.

Rovell points out the opponents’ rebuttal to such non-quantifiable benefits:

”…the only reason why the proponents put out these intangible statements like this is because they have to find some way to fill up the gap where the math doesn't make sense.”

The article looks at how the Dallas Cowboys couldn’t get what they wanted in Dallas, but succeeded in gaining voter approval for $75 million less in suburban Arlington.

It also tells how Memphis built a basketball stadium with revenue bonds to be paid back by ticket holders.

A similar financing scheme is being touted by the MCC board majority.

= = = = =
In front of the vending machine at McHenry County College is minor league baseball team promoter Pete Heitman. Economics Research Associates spokesman Richard Starr points to the MCC mission statement etched in glass in the MCC board room.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Dallas Cowboys, Donna Kurtz, Economics Research Associates, ERA, Frances Glosson, MCC, McHenry County College, Pete Heitman, Richard Starr, Scott Summers

For the last two years, that is, the first two years of McHenry County Blog’s existence, there’s been an article about the “Most” this and the “Most” that. This is a bit late, but I hope you enjoy it.

If you want to compare my “Mostests,” here is 2005’s and 2006’s.


McHenry County College Trustees Donna Kurtz and Scott Summers.

After voting with a unanimous majority and without any public discussion to build an addition, including a minor league baseball stadium, to McHenry County College, Kurtz and Summers told of their change of mind at the most dramatic time—right before the Crystal Lake City Council was to vote on the necessary rezoning. They had expressed their qualms before , but it took real courage to express them while their colleagues were sitting in the audience fervently hoping for a favorable outcome.


Jeff Thorsen, Brett Hopkins and Ralph Dawson.

The three Crystal Lake City Councilmen provided the three votes necessary to defeat the rezoning.


The entire Crystal Lake City Planning and Zoning Commission.

This may be a mis-ranking since without the courage of these officials—all appointed by Crystal Lake Aaron Shepley, who strongly favors construction of the baseball stadium—the others listed as more courageous might not have had the courage to take the stands they did.

In any event, without the commissioners’ votes of disapproval, http://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2007/09/mcc-baseball-stadium-idea-strikes-out.html a supermajority of 5 votes would not have been required by the city council and the rezoning would have been approved.

Those commissioners are Chairman Tom Hayden and Commissioners Jim Batastini, Angel Collins, Vincent Esposito, Jeff Greenman, James Jouron, Carolyn Schofield, Allan Skluzacek,


Minor league baseball team and stadium promoter Pete Heitman.

Without risking much of his own money and refusing to identify his investors, Heitman asked McHenry County College taxpayers to guarantee repayment of the money borrowed to finance the stadium and the interest. Virtually no profit was project for the first five years.


EquityOne’s Mark Houser.

Houser, who showed up with Heitman at a private MCC meeting , both being identified as from EquityOne Sports, got a $400,000 no-bid contract “to oversee and coordinate the development, construction, operation, and marketing processes for the Health, Wellness, and Athletic Complex.” That was on top of his $70,000 no-bid contract. In that $70,000 September 28, 2006, contract the college board gave Houser this right:

” At the completion of the feasibility study and independent review, if the College elects to proceed with the project, the College will contract with EquityOne or it’s (sic) assigns to develop the project on the College’s behalf.”

Richard Starr, the man from Economic Research Associates who was in charge of writing the devastating critique of Equity One’s Mark Houser’s rosy analysis of Pete Heitman’s revenue projections.

After the rezoning was rejected by the Crystal Lake City Council, Starr gave a sales pitch to the McHenry County College Board. He argued ERA could put together a successful public-private partnership. The implication that Houser’s firm had failed to do so.

In this photo he points to the MCC Mission Statement. Click on the photo and see if you can find the word “entertainment.”


Former teacher Geraldine Cowlin generously pledged significant money for scholarships for county high school graduates who could not afford to attend McHenry County College. She decided that the effort to put a baseball stadium on campus was not true to the college’s educational mission and withdrew her $1 million pledge. The stadium’s original cost was $10 million (plus interest, of course). Cowlin showed that continued pursuit of stadium approval would have a significant tangible cost.


Without a doubt, Erv LeCoque. This former MCC board member used his behind the scenes persuasive skills on everyone he thought might be able to derail the baseball stadium. He had been attending Crystal Lake zoning and council meetings on the subject, but his opposition was made public at a meeting of opponents by the Northwest Herald.

The former CEO of Aptar also delivered his neighbor Geraldine Cowlin’s message to the MCC Board.


“There’s a pony in this pile of horseshit somewhere.”

Retired investment banker Barry Glasgow gets credit for this zinger. He asked so many penetrating questions at this first meeting of the McHenry County College Board he had ever attended.


If you read the article explaining Barry Glasgow’s comments to the MCC Board, you would never recognize them from the official minutes of the meeting:

"Mr. Glasgow spoke about the need for a nursing program."

It was if he said nothing unfavorable about the baseball stadium proposal.

Not to worry. The board majority has since decided not to include any of the content of those who speak in public session. Their names will be listed, however.


Huntley School District 158 School Board President‘s characterization of fellow board members Aileen Seedorf and Larry Snow as “terrorists running roughshod over the rest of us.”


Prairie Grove Grade School District 46.

Without a warning to yours truly, the board called police to evict yours truly for taking pictures through an open Venetian blind and laughing as now Board President Charlotte Kremer yanked them shut.


The McHenry County Board.

It proposed banning flash cameras and banishing cameramen to the back corners of its dimly lit room. Those proposed rule changes brought quite a bit of local newspaper coverage.

Reporters who gave the most fits to local school boards and administers.

The Daily Herald’s Jeff Gaunt was named here last year and, even though he has moved on to bedevil the Elgin School District, he continued to give fits to Districts 300 and 158 until his transfer.

David Fitzgerald, reporter for the Northwest Herald, obtained significant respect for his probe of District 300’s secret meeting minutes. Other coverage revealed details I’ll bet the District 300 board members wished had not been printed.

Gaunt was replaced by Jameel Naqvi, who gave District 158 more of a benefit of the doubt than its administrators and board members probably deserve. But, he learned quickly. I don’t think the District 158 ruling clique is wishing that Gaunt were back, but I’ll bet they can’t wait for Naqvi to be replaced. He’s getting quite dangerous.

Pioneer Press’ Pete Gonigam is playing the same role at McHenry County College.


Certainly having citizen-inquirer Aileen Seedorf run first in the Huntley School Board election was a surprise.

The upset victories of home school dad John Ryan and Monica Clark in District 300 certainly qualify as surprising.

In McHenry Grade School District 15, home school dad John O’Neill won election, even though the establishment used his family’s decision to save the school district money against him.


The Rockford Cherry Vale Mall Black Muslin terrorist story strikes me as a harbinger of things that might come. This American had previously lived with another with terrorist tendencies. What if this is just the first Black Muslim to turn terrorist? That might be important. I did not see what this guy actually said anywhere but on McHenry County Blog.


The McHenry County Republican Cat Tax


Rosemary Kurtz and the man she defeated in the 2002 GOP primary election, Cal Skinner. The two joined together to fight the MCC baseball stadium.


The Economics Research Associates' devastating criticism of Mark Houser's Equity One "evaluation" of his buddy Pete Heitman's baseball stadium revenues for MCC.


Carol Marin, who still has not acknowledged that her good buddy Joe Cari, a prominent Democratic Party fund raiser, did not deserve the praise she gave him two days before he was indicted.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Brett Hopkins, Donna Kurtz, Erv LeCoque, Jeff Thorsen, Mark Houser, McHenry County College, Mostests, Pete Heitman, Ralph Dawson, Scott Summers

In the category of “If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, did it make a noise?” comes last Thursday night’s McHenry County College Board meeting motion to declare the baseball stadium proposal dead.

Then again, the Northwest Herald didn’t report on the devastating 3rd party analysis of the baseball promoter’s predicted revenues and expenses and I know that exists, even though McHenry County Blog is the only source that wrote a story.

Declaring the contract with the baseball promoter a nullity may not have been exactly Scott Summers’ motion, but that was its goal.

Summers pointed out that since Crystal Lake re-zoning approval for the Health, Wellness and Athletic Complex (or baseball stadium, as I have referred to its most prominent part) was one of the terms of the contract with baseball promoter Pete Heitman had failed that the contract does not exist and the board should declare it a dead. Fellow censured board member Donna Kurtz seconded the motion.

Summers argued that purchase of the 57 adjacent acres between the current college property and the train tracks should be considered on its own merits.

In any event, three MCC board members—Summers, Donna Kurtz and Frances Glosson—voted together. McHenry County Blog first noticed the position switch on November 15th.

Newly elected MCC Board President George Lowe, Barbara Walters, Carol Larson and Mary Miller outvoted them.

But, there were fireworks, expression of anger, hostility and, as one observer put it, “denial” during the discussion.

Kurtz and Glosson argued for an objective 3rd party review of Heitman’s financial projections.

Lowe suggested (maybe that is too mild a word because another source said at one point Lowe “shouted” at one of the baseball stadium dissenters) that Kurtz should have read her board packet (about the baseball stadium) the first time.

Crystal Lake CPA Miller argued that the board did a good job, looking at the buildings, as well as the numbers.

Summers pointed out that those who stand to make money on the project could not be expected to be objective.

Larson explained that she did not see any conflict, that this was a public-private partnership in which the goal was to make money.

Kurtz’ retort pointed out that it wasn’t much of a partnership, with the private investors putting up $25,000 and the college the rest of the rest of the required $25 or more million.

My sources tell me that President Walt Packard tried to interpret the appearance of the Economics Research Associates as proposing to do a more "thorough" analysis.

That is, as I have reported in a fair amount of detail, not an accurate representation of what ERA’s presentation was about.

ERA was there pitching an entirely different role, telling college board members that it could put together a partnership to get the project off and running.

ERA's Richard Starr made a sales pitch to make the baseball stadium happen, plain and simple.

Erv LeCoque’s report of the withdrawal of a $1 million scholarship pledge was disputed by President Packard.

= = = = =
None of the pictures were taken at the meeting. The article is based on notes from two observers. Scott Summers is on the upper left with Pete Heitman on the upper left. A map of the Gilger property is below Heitman's head shot. George Lowe is below Summers and Mary Miller is under Heitman. Carol Larson is on the left below those two. Donna Kurtz is on the right. Economics Research Associates spokesman Richard Starr is beneath Larson. Walt Packard is on the bottom right.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Carol Larson, Donna Kurtz, Economics Research Associates, ERA, George Lowe, Mary Miller, MCC, McHenry County College, Pete Heitman, Richard Starr, Scott Summers, Walt Packard

Northwest Herald reporter Regan Foster got this quote from million scholarship pledger Geraldine Cowlin:

“That baseball idea is absurd. It has nothing to do with education, and this is a college that really needs money for education.”

Despite her quite forthright statement, MCC fund raiser Joseph Like “said it still was too early to tell whether the proposal would have an impact on donations to the college,” according to the article.

I guess fund raising executives are always optimistic, but losing $1 million seems to mean that the baseball stadium brouhaha had a negative affect on donations.

Monday night, as McHenry County Blog reported, former MCC trustee Erv LeCoque, who lives across the street from Cowlin, told the board that a $1 million donor had withdrawn a pledge.

But, in predicting that the project would not succeed as long as the baseball stadium was on the table, LeCoque was not as detailed as he was to Foster. Here’s what he told her:

“I can’t tell you how many calls I got. People would ride their bikes right up to the front door ... and say 'What are you doing in the baseball business?’”

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Erv LeCoque, Geraldine Cowlin, MCC, McHenry County College

The Heartland Institutes's Steve Stanek addressed the McHenry County College Board on Monday night about the advisability of baseball stadiums and convention centers. In the first article about his remarks, Stanek told how baseball stadiums are money losers for taxpayers. Yesterday, he concentrated on convention centers.

In today's installment of what he said, Stanek focuses on what the MCC baseball stadium.

I have spent the time so far talking about the broad economics of the stadium idea. I’ll just touch on the specific MCC-related issues by noting you plan to borrow money for 20 years for a team in the Frontier League.

Yet the Frontier League has been in existence only 15 years. Not a single Frontier League team has been in the same town 15 years. Based on the Frontier League’s own Web site, teams appear to stay in the same town about five years on average.

Even if your plan works . . . even if all the revenues come in as projected and the costs are controlled and the team stays for 20 years . . . this is still a bad idea because it ties up tens of millions of dollars of borrowing that could be used for other things more directly related to the mission of a community college.

If the team investors believe it is such a good investment, they should build the stadium themselves. There is no reason for the college to be the pass-through mechanism to pay back the borrowed money.

Furthermore, the college could then collect property tax money from a privately owned stadium from day one, without risking one penny of the taxpayers’ money or tying up one penny of the college’s borrowing authority. So could other local taxing bodies. If the college owns the stadium, will it even be on the tax rolls?

And as volumes of research shows, stadiums create few jobs. Most of the jobs they create are low-paying and only part-time or seasonal. And people spending money at a stadium tends to reduce their entertainment spending at other places.

Nearly everything I have already mailed to you and presented to you tonight has come from sources other than the Heartland Institute. We are free-market oriented, and there definitely are people who dislike some of Heartland’s positions.

Some of them are the very people I have cited to oppose this stadium idea. That’s how broad-based the agreement is when it comes to government funding of sports stadiums. We disagree on many things but we agree that government funding, whether through borrowing or direct tax hikes, is a terrible use of the public’s money.

Thanks very much for your attention. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have.

The board meets tonight at the college at 7 PM. If you go early, you can tell the board what you think. No big deal; you'll only get three minutes and the minutes of the meeting won't even say what you said.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Frontier Baseball League, MCC, McHenry County College, Steve Stanek

Yesterday's article about Steve Stanek's presentation to the McHenry County College Board concentrated on how baseball stadiums are money losers for taxpayers. Today's is about convention centers.

Much the same is true for convention centers. I bring this up because of the talk of possibly combining a baseball stadium with a convention or arts center. This melds two losing ideas into one.

Earlier this year, for instance, The Washington Post wrote about the Washington Convention Center. This is from the article:

“Nearly four years ago, city officials opened the $850 million Washington Convention Center with a string of superlatives . . . [L]ast year hotel convention bookings missed projections by 13 percent. Bookings are likely to fall short of projections by 24 percent this year and 29 percent next year.”

Here’s what Steven Malanga says about convention centers. He is senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a public policy research organization in New York City:

“For more than a decade now, cities and counties have been rushing, at enormous public cost, to build new convention centers or add space to old ones . . . The increase in space has vastly outpaced the growth of the convention industry and often failed to generate the kind of economic activity predicted by boosters. Rather than energizing local economies, in fact, some convention centers are emerging as a drag on civic finances, requiring taxpayer operating subsidies on top of their huge, publicly financed construction costs. What’s more, the situation is only likely to get worse.”

Convention centers do have defenders – nearly all of them paid by local economic development corporations, tourism bureaus or other organizations that have a stake in defending these centers. Among researchers who don’t have financial ties to such organizations, there is almost no defense.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Convention Center, MCC, McHenry County College, Steve Stanek

Appearing before the McHenry County College Board Monday night was McHenry’s Steve Stanek. In his post at Chicago’s Heartland Institute, Stanek has undoubtedly done more research on baseball stadiums and convention centers than anyone at the college

Here’s what he said:

Thank you for putting me on your agenda. And thank you to Donna Kurtz who surprised me with a phone call a couple of weeks ago and invited me to meet you and discuss this stadium issue. Because I’ve already sent you a lot of material, I promise to be brief.

Many years ago I was a student here at MCC. Several weeks ago Regan Foster from the Northwest Herald called me for an article she was writing, and I told her I love MCC – and I meant it.

The affection I feel for MCC is why I have been peppering you with letters and economic research papers and inviting you to contact the researchers themselves. I believe this stadium deal could do economic harm to the college and the region.

As you know from my letters, I am research fellow at The Heartland Institute, a free-market policy group in Chicago. I am also managing editor of Budget & Tax News, a monthly publication that covers budget, tax and economic development issues. The publication goes to all Congressmen and Senators, all state lawmakers, and about 9,000 municipal officials in the 350 largest cities.

In doing this work I regularly read economic reports and economic development studies by people who work independently of business groups, industries or specific businesses. I also regularly speak with researchers themselves.

A humorist named Artemus Ward once joked,

“It ain’t so much the things we don’t know that get us into trouble. It’s the things we do know that just ain’t so.”

The researchers I am talking about believe in the truth behind Ward’s jest and devote themselves to sorting out what’s so from what ain’t so.

These researchers regularly disagree over other things like the minimum wage or income tax cuts or the economic impacts of illegal immigration. Yet they overwhelmingly agree the promised economic benefits of sports facilities usually are overblown.

Your own consultant, Economics Research Associates, has an issue paper by Steven E. Spickard, a senior vice president there. Spickard wrote, and I quote:

“[F]or economic development purposes, sports stadiums and arenas are not particularly effective at creating jobs and income.”

Spickard studied major league sports facilities and some of you may be thinking, well, we’re talking about a minor league stadium. But Spickard’s analysis holds true for minor league facilities, and many others have included minor league facilities in their studies and have reached the same conclusions.

Just two months ago, Harvard University Professor Judith Grant Long testified before a Congressional subcommittee in Washington, DC. She said her research showed professional football, baseball, basketball and hockey have received subsidies totaling $18.5 billion since 1990.

Here’s what she said about that:

“There is absolutely no evidence that $18.5 billion in public benefits have been generated since 1990 to compensate.”

And I have already sent you a research article by Adam Zaretsky, an economist for the U.S. Federal Reserve, who wrote,

“Has financing a sports stadium ever been the best alternative? Research shows ‘No.’”

Entire books have been written about this.

One is

Field of Schemes: How the Great Stadium Swindle Turns Public Money into Private Profit.

Another is

Sports, Jobs, and Taxes: The Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Stadiums

by Professors Andrew Zimbalist of Smith College and Roger Noll of Stanford University.

The professors write:

“A new sports facility has an extremely small (perhaps even negative) effect on overall economic activity and employment. No recent facility appears to have earned anything approaching a reasonable return on investment. No recent facility has been self-financing in terms of its impact on net tax revenues. Regardless of whether the unit of analysis is a local neighborhood, a city, or an entire metropolitan area, the economic benefits of sports facilities are de minimus.”

Tomorrow - Convention Centers

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Convention Center, Heartland Institute, MCC, McHenry County College

Yesterday, McHenry County Blog started a multi-part review of the memoir of former Mayor George Wells. He called it, “It’s That Way Everywhere, George.”

Here’s the second installment. (If anyone else who has read it would like to give his or her take on the book, just email it to me and I'll put it up. I'm sure different parts will intrigue different people.)

Wells bemoans what he clearly considers a sell-out by Crystal Lake Park Board Commissioners Candy Reedy, Dave Phelps and Jim Orkfitz, all of whom won election with his support as Wells was leaving the park board. They “cleaned out all the professionals.”

Much later, he offers this amusing opinion:

“The Crystal Lake Park District is still operating in the Neanderthal Age—no disrespect intended for the Neanderthal people.”

Wells even comments on the convention center and sports center, concluding that a largely unidentified group of “decision-makers” will make sure that it happens.

The “we decision makers” comment was made by Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce Exec Bob Blazier at a meeting Wells attended as mayor. The “decision makers” apparently consisted of Blazier and his friends, Wells concluded.

During Wells’ term he kept hearing that Crystal Lake city government was hard for business to work with. He asked various people who made the comment to give specifics, but no one would.

Wells concluded that it was a part of a campaign to get rid of City Manager Joe Misurelli.

[Let me suggest that two people in my precinct would have been happy to provide specifics. One was a mover and shaker at Black Dot. He told me that it was cheaper to build a new facility in Freeport than to build a parking lot in Crystal Lake. Another from the late 1980’s told me he was moving his factory from Crystal Lake to Richmond because of problems he had with city officials.

[But, of course, Wells did not know of either of those instances.]

Wells proudly reports that city staff enforced city codes.

One day, Wells writes, he

“received a call from the president of a well-known national chain of restaurants. This gentleman wanted to know if we could get together and talk. I asked him what he wanted to talk about. He told me that he just wanted to meet me and find out, in effect, how things worked in Crystal Lake. I told him that both of us were very obviously busy and that I did not think we needed to get together because I could tell him in two minutes over the phone how we operate. I told him it was very simple. We had regulations, zoning, and codes and we adhered to them….That was the last I heard from him until the grand opening of the facility.

“At the festive opening of the restaurant I was approached by one of the executives of the corporation, and he told me that they really felt good about being in Crystal Lake because they had a clear understanding that they had to comply with all the rules and they were sure that everyone else had to do the same thing and this, in their opinion, assured them that the local government was honest and sound, which made their investment in Crystal Lake a good business decision.”

Wells also related how when he and his wife went out to eat, after the meal, restaurant owners often offered to let them eat for free.

“I had to explain to them that I did not accept gratuities such as that. The thought crossed my mind as to what might have been the policy in the previous administration, since this little episode happened so often.”

Part 3 Sunday

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Bob Blazier, Candy Reedy, Crystal Lake, Crystal Lake Park Board, Dave Phelps, George Wells, It's That Way Everywhere George, Jim Orkfitz, Joe Misurelli, MCC

A cogent critique from Steve Stanek on the McHenry County Board's efforts to build a convention center, in my opinion:

So, McHenry County leaders want a baseball stadium/multi-use complex. Consider these words:

“[F]or economic development purposes, sports stadiums and arenas are not particularly effective at creating jobs and income. . . . In most cities, a single substantial hotel has a greater economic impact than a major league sports facility.” – Issue Paper by Steven E. Spickard, Economics Research Associates, McHenry County College’s own stadium consultant.

“[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 . . . Has financing sports stadiums ever been the best alternative? Research shows ‘No.’” – Adam Zaretsky, economist, U.S. Federal Reserve.

“In almost eight years of reporting on stadium deals, I’ve spoken to every economist I can find about the impact of sports stadiums. And I’ve yet to find a single independent economist (by which I mean one not actually working for a sports team or league) who thinks that stadiums are any use as an economic engine.” – Neil DeMause, author, Field of Schemes, Common Courage Press, 1999.

There is no independent research to support claims that a stadium complex would be an economic boon. There is a mountain of research to suggest it would be an economic boondoggle.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Convention Center, MCC, McHenry County College, McHenry County Board, Steve Stanek

Pioneer Press reporter Pete Gonigam has found a source, former McHenry County College board member Tim Stratton, now a “public financing attorney,” willing to point out that if the McHenry County minor leaguer baseball team tanks, McHenry County College will have to come up with the money to pay off the proposed debt certificates.

If the minor league baseball team doesn’t pan out, MCC would be obligated to pay them off with “all lawfully available funds,” Stratton said.

My source used the term “come hell or high water” to characterize the debt certificates. In other words, the borrowers could care less where the money came from. They would be paid regardless of the success of the team.

You can read what I found and published in May here.

Also of interest is that both MCC board members Scott Summers and Donna Kurtz told the Algonquin Countryside reporter that alternatives to debt certificates were not explained to the board by MCC President Walt Packard. Other forms of financing might have required a referendum, Stratton revealed.

= = = = =
McHenry County Board members Donna Kurtz and Scott Summers look left at MCC President Walt Packard.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Donna Kurtz, MCC, McHenry County College, Scott Summers, Tim Stratton, Walt Packard

At the last Crystal Lake City Council meeting, Craig Gaska of Nash Road made the following statement below on behalf of himself and his wife Linda.

I think it’s worth sharing.


In that piece I urged the council majority to do the honorable thing and not bring the measure back for a vote without its going through the entire process again.

Here is the Gaskas' message:

Good evening Mayor Shepley, City Council Members, and Crystal Lake Staff!

As you have probably surmised from previous public statements that I have made, I am very concerned that the City of Crystal Lake’s democratic processes and procedures are followed. My public statement today is no exception.

For the public record, I would like to summarize two certified parliamentarians’ comments regarding the Motion to Reconsider, which was made after the MCC Special Use Permit vote was taken on October 16th.

The two parliamentarians that I and other concerned parties had contacted were:

• an attorney and professor at the John Marshall Law School who was a parliamentarian for the 1972 Illinois Constitutional Convention; and,


• Jason Akai, a member of the National Association of Parliamentarians.

There were several breaches of parliamentary procedures during the motion to reconsider on October 16th; however, I am only going to address the two main mistakes in which both parliamentarians have commented as the major breaches.

First, a motion to reconsider needs to specify exactly what needs to be reconsidered.

Secondly, the prevailing side did not make the motion.

[Councilmen Ralph Dawson, Brett Hopkins and Jeff Thorsen, seen below, comprised the prevailing side with their “No” votes on the proposal to re-zone McHenry County College for a minor league baseball stadium.]



The prevailing side is that side which determines the outcome of the vote.

Jason Akai states,

“If the prevailing side did not make the motion, the motion is out of order and the parliamentarian should have immediately notified the chair of such. It is equally out of order to immediately call for a reconsider motion without some substantial change to the motion’s language or change in the number of voting members present.”

As a citizen of Crystal Lake, I am asking the City Council to seriously consider the following two suggestions.

• First, train and certify one of the city council members or village staff as a parliamentarian; or, place a National Association of Parliamentarians certified parliamentarian on retainer.


• Secondly, since the motion to reconsider was improper and an invalid motion and, since it was also a breach of parliamentary procedures as set forth by the City Council bylaws, that it be declared null and void and that the original vote on whether or not to grant a special use permit to MCC stand un-amended.

Thank you

= = = = =
Ellen Brady Mueller, the maker of the motion to reconsider at the Crystal Lake City Council is seen above left. Mayor Aaron Shepley, the lawyer who accepted the inappropriate motion and allowed an illegal vote, is seen above right.

The trio who killed the baseball stadium re-zoning are seen in the middle of the article. From right to left, they are Councilman Ralph Dawson, Brett Hopkins and Jeff Thorsen.

Labels: Aaron Shepley, Baseball Stadium, Brett Hopkins, Ellen Brady Mueller, Jason Akai, Jeff Thorsen, MCC, McHenry County College, Motion to Reconsider, Ralph Dawson

Tuesday night, according to the Northwest Herald’s Jim Butts, at the instigation of Ralph Dawson, the Crystal Lake City Council discussed the illegal motion to reconsider made, apparently inadvertently, by Councilwoman Ellen Brady Mueller and accepted by Mayor Aaron Shepley.

The city council is run pretty informally, so Mueller can be excused for her mistake.

Shepley is an attorney, however, as he periodically reminds audience members.

He should have known better than to accept such an inappropriate motion.

The issue at hand was the council’s defeat of the re-zoning for a baseball stadium requested by McHenry County College.

The council needed to muster 5 votes to approve the motion, but only got four.

After that vote, Mueller, one of the four-member majority that had lost the vote moved to reconsider.

Shepley illegally accepted the motion and announced it passed by a 4-3 vote.

None of the three councilmen on the winning side of the baseball stadium zoning vote raised the relevant point of order.

Butts quotes Mueller as saying the following:

“I made the motion with the best of intentions. It just left the door open. ... I wasn’t trying to undercut anyone or anything like that.”

The honorable thing to do for the majority to do more than imitate my son and say,


The honorable thing to do would be for them not to ever reconsider the issue without having McHenry County College go back to square one.

Just saying or acting as if they were saying,


is not honorable.

Having John Cowlin intone that the vote stands because no one objected is to allow a parliamentary misstep to thwart those who won the vote.

And, by the way, why didn’t Cowlin, who was sitting at the dais, remind Mayor Shepley that he was making a mistake?

= = = = =
The picture on the top left is Crystal Lake City Councilwoman Ellen Brady Mueller. On the top right is Mayor Aaron Shepley. At the bottom is City Attorney John Cowlin.

Labels: Aaron Shepley, Baseball Stadium, Crystal Lake City Council, Ellen Brady Mueller, John Cowlin, MCC, McHenry County College, Ralph Dawson

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

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