More McHenry County Blog

The back the missive states Oberweis “believes that family and faith are the cornerstones of our society. As the father of five adult children and twelve grandchildren, Jim Oberweis can be trusted to promote and respect the well-being of Illinois families.”

Then, “Answering the Call for Reform!” appears next to his yard sign/bumper sticker design: “Oberweis” on top with “got gov?” underneath.

Then there is a pitch to download the “pro-family Marriage Amendment.”

On the upper right is why “Jim Oberweis will fight for our family values because Jim…
· Believes that marriage is between on man and one woman
· Supports voluntary prayer in school.
· Supports school choice scholarships for children in failing schools.
· Will work to roll back tax and fee increases of past administrations.

The previous mailing received was a pitch to pro-life voters. Abortion is not mentioned on Wednesday’s piece.

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Here are the other Illinois politicians who got personal checks from Near North Insurance owner Michael Segal’s personal checking account:

Republicans:
· Gov. Jim Edgar ($1,500 in 1996).
· Jim Ryan ($1,000 in October, 2001), and
· Senators Kirk Dillard ($500 in 1999)

Prominent Democrats on Segal’s personal list include

· State Comptroller Dan Hynes ($1,000 in 1998),
· Senate President Emil Jones ($2,500 in 1994),
· Cook County Board President John Stroeger ($2000 in 2003)
· Alderman Ed Burke ($1,000 in 1999 and $1,500 in 2001),
· Bill Lipinski’s Committeeman Fund ($500 in ) and
· 42nd Ward Regular Democratic Organization (totaling $2,500 in 1999 and 2001).

Other Democrats on Segal’s personal list were Senator John Cullerton ($250 in 1995), State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz ($250 in 1995), and $500 in 1998 for Daniel J. McLaughlin, a candidate for state treasurer.

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When tax districts lose assessed valuation from TIFs, they will just raise their tax rates to make up the difference from the rest of us. Putting Route 14 businesses in a TIF from the train McDonald's to Burger King will result in our tax bills going up more that the CPI to make up the difference. The increase in taxes from the 7% multiplier will be go to the city. Maybe it will be spent to put up new old-looking ornamental street lights.

The same TIF tax shift/hike will occur if the Vulcan Lakes/Route 14 TIF is approved by the Crystal Lake City Council on December 6th. Conlin-Collins Ford was reported to have sold from over $7 million, but, instead of being assessed at $2.1 million (about 1/3 of market value), it is only assessed about $700,000. The total tax rate multiplied by the extra $2 million or so that will eventually show up on the tax rolls will be spent by city government as it sees fit.

The old Hines Lumber property at the southeast intersection of East Crystal Lake Avenue and Main Street just sold for over $3 million, establishing a new fair market value for the property. It is now assessed at $515,000 and will undoubtedly be increased substantially in light of this summer's auction sale price. Again, the new taxes generated will not go to schools and parks, but will be spent by city government.

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Below are Illinois contributors of over $100 per year to the two Republicans running for governor in Wisconsin, plus the incumbent Democrat. I have put the name of the former Republican statewide office holder who contributed to Wisconsin's Democratic Party governor in boldface. The hometowns of McHenry County and Barrington-area residents are also in boldface.

If anyone can tell me who is supporting the two Republicans and why, I'd be interested.

Table 1
Large Individual Contributors from Illinois to Republican Mark Green
January 2003 – June 2005
CONTRIBUTOR CITY EMPLOYER AMOUNT
Greenberg , Lorraine, Lake Zurich - Promotions Unlimited $8,500.00
Hurtgen, Nick & Catherine, Glencoe - Bear, Stearns & Co $8,012.63
Levine, Stuart & Sheri, Highland Park - Attorney $6,000.00
Cooper, Carey & Cheryl, Highland Park - National Fragile X Foundation $4,000.00
Anirudhan, Madhavan, Romeoville - Essen Nutrition $2,000.00
Sarang, Bineet, Schaumburg - Sarang Corp $2,000.00
Gilbert, Janet, Oak Park - Canadian National Railway $1,500.00
Locke, Charles, Lake Forest - Retired $1,000.00
Modi, Leonardo, Highland Park - Modi Antiques $1,000.00
Dellin, Edward, Chicago - William Blair & Co $1,000.00
Vinson, Sam, Aurora - Ungaretti & Harris $1,000.00
Bhardwaj, Yogi, Gurnee - National Petroleum Inc $1,000.00
Wolfe, James, Oak Brook - Knight InfraStructure $750.00
Packard, Nancy, Roscoe - Regal-Beloit Corp $500.00
Cari, Joseph, Chicago - Ungaretti & Harris $314.55
Shea, Courtney, Chicago - Kemper Securities $250.00
Bibby, John Jr, Hinsdale - Jones, Day, et al $250.00
Coe, Lynn, Barrington - Chapman & Cutler $250.00
Mariano, Robert, Lake Forest - Roundy's $250.00
Philippi, Michael, Chicago - Ungaretti & Harris $224.34
Fahey, Thomas, Chicago - Ungaretti & Harris $213.94
Harris, John, Chicago - Pittiglio, Rabin, et al $200.00
Levenstein, Gary, Highland Park - No Employer Listed $168.84
Bahcall, Miriam, Chicago - Ungaretti & Harris $129.52
Ungaretti, Richard, Chicago - Ungaretti & Harris $127.21
Ficaro, Michael, Oak Lawn - Ungaretti & Harris $123.74
Eaton, Timothy, Wilmette - Ungaretti & Harris $100.61

Table 2
Large Individual Contributors from Illinois to Republican Scott Walker
January 2003 – June 2005
CONTRIBUTOR, CITY - EMPLOYER AMOUNT
Kiley, James & Lynn, Chicago - Robeco USA $5,329.94
Levine, Stuart & Sheri, Highland - Park Attorney $5,000.00
Hunter, Michael, Antioch - Akorn Inc $3,000.00
Fitzpatrick, John G, Chicago - Continental Investment Group $2,500.00
Stritch, Edward, Chicago - Concord Group $2,500.00
Wrubel, Brian & Amie, Chicago - Marquette Associates $2,500.00
Mariano, Robert, Lake Forest - Roundy's $2,000.00
Ryan, Patrick & Shirley, Winnetka - Aon Corp $2,000.00
Ryan, John Clemens, Wilmette - Republican US Senate candidate $2,000.00
Kjellander, Robert, Springfield - Springfield Consulting Group $1,000.00
Brunsvold, Elizabeth C, Chicago - IL Rep. St. Senate Campaign Committee $1,000.00
Kaput, Jim L, Lemont - Servicemaster $1,000.00
Lerner, Alexander & Marianne, Glencoe - Illinois State Medical Society $1,000.00
Glennon, John, Lake Forest - North American Capital Corp $1,000.00
Gilbert, David, Glencoe - Clear Blue LLC $1,000.00
Kenny, James & Margaret, Glenview - Kenny Construction $1,000.00
Lynch, Patrick, Glen Ellyn - Chicago Equity Partners $1,000.00
McKenna, Andrew & Mary, Glenview - Schwarz Paper Co $1,000.00
Mogentale, Eric, Winnetka - Walton Street Capital $1,000.00
Smith, Harold B, Glenview - Illinois Tool Works $1,000.00
Thompson, James, Chicago - Winston & Strawn $1,000.00
Malec, Mark, Gurnee - Neumann Homes $500.00
Moulthrop, David, Aurora - Rogers Memorial Hospital $500.00
Bush, Rick, Glen Ellyn - Homebuilder $500.00
Ramm, Dennis, Geneva - STV Group $500.00
Sellett, Barbara, Flossmoor - School choice $250.00
Plezbert, David, St Charles - M/A-Com $250.00
Cohen, Burton, Chicago - Self-employed $250.00
Lau, Daniel, Hawthorn Woods - Camp Dresser & McKee $250.00
Duggan, John, Chicago - Concord Group $200.00
Dyrud, M John, Wilmette - Retired $200.00
Hayden, Brian P, Bartlett - Tries & Rice $200.00
Classen, Douglas, Glen Ellyn - Dana Investment Advisors $147.00
Furlong, Mark, Lake Forest - M&I Bank $100.00
Levis, Phillip, Evanston - No Employer Listed $100.00
Holmes, Aaron, Hillside - No Employer Listed $100.00
Putrenieks, Arnis R, Barrington - Lafayette Partnership LLC $100.00
Greig, Paul, Lake Forest - No Employer Listed $100.00

Table 3
Large Individual Contributors from Illinois to Democratic Governor Jim Doyle
January 2003 – June 2005
CONTRIBUTOR CITY EMPLOYER AMOUNT
Cambio, Nathan & Tina, Highland Park - ATC Leasing Co $20,000.00
Collins, Thomas & Roxanne, La Grange - Collins Engineers Inc $12,000.00
Horton, Glenn, Orland Park - Horton Group $10,000.00
Kiley, Roger, Chicago - Law Offices of Roger Kiley $6,000.00
Mariano, Robert, Lake Forest - Roundy's $6,000.00
Silver, Michael & Mary, Chicago - Equis Corp $5,750.00
Burgess, John, Buffalo Grove - IPA-IBA $5,000.00
Casper , Joseph III, Chicago - Real estate developer $5,000.00
Steinberg, Gregg, Northbrook - IPA-IBA $5,000.00
Wolfe, James, Burr Ridge - Knight InfraStructure $5,000.00
Lentz, Kevin, Arlington Heights - Knight InfraStructure $4,000.00
Cutler, Winston, Chicago - SAP America $3,500.00
Wolfberg, Daniel & Robert, Chicago - Payday Loan Store $2,550.00
Rooney, Phillip, Hinsdale - Retired $2,500.00
Mitrovic, Slobodan, Deerfield - Industrial Handling Equipment Inc $2,400.00
Brinati, William, Norridge - No Employer Listed $2,000.00
Dixon, Cindy, Johnsburg - Prime Commercial Corp $2,000.00
Knight, Christopher, Glencoe - Foley & Lardner $2,000.00
Musa, Michael, Orland Park - Environmental Protection Industries $2,000.00
Post, Erik, Winnetka - FTI Consulting $2,000.00
Wake, Richard, Naperville - EBY-Brown Co $2,000.00
Kuhlman, Margaret, Chicago - Oracle Corp $1,750.00
Petkovich, Vlado, Chicago - Advanced Practical Solutions $1,618.19
Blanusha, James, Tinley Park - CTE Engineers $1,500.00
Buhler, Robert, Lake Forest - Open Pantry $1,500.00
Buntrock, Dean, Oakbrook Terrace - Extended Stay America $1,500.00
Englehart, Harry, Chicago - Beacon Advisors Inc $1,500.00
Jacobs, John, Downers Grove - SimDesk Technologies $1,500.00
Welker, Kevin, Darien - Speedy Loan Corp $1,100.00
Petrovic, Milan, Chicago - Advanced Practical Solutions $1,074.49
Bauer, Patrick, Hinsdale - Bearing Point $1,000.00
Bobins, Norman, Chicago - La Salle Bank $1,000.00
Bossy, David, Hinsdale - Mid-America Development Partners LLC $1,000.00
Carlson, Le Roy, Evanston - TDS Telecom $1,000.00
Dierking, William, Lake in the Hills - No Employer Listed $1,000.00
Eanes, Raullo, Naperville - National City Bank $1,000.00
Elkins, Gary, Northbrook - JG Medical Software LLC $1,000.00
Fahner, Tyrone, Chicago - Mayer, Brown, et al $1,000.00
Fischer, Robert, Park Ridge - CTE Engineers $1,000.00
Guidarelli, Matt, Willowbrook - Hygieneering Inc $1,000.00
Kamin, Kim, Chicago - Schiff, Hardin & Waite $1,000.00
Kovacevic, Dragan, Lake Forest - City Fresh Market $1,000.00
Larusso, Joseph, La Grange Park - Fahrner Asphalt Sealers $1,000.00
McAlpine, Jill, Wheaton - Homemaker $1,000.00
Montross, David, Chicago - Equis Corp $1,000.00
Ohl, Kevin, Aurora - Crowe Chizek & Co $1,000.00
Petersen, William, Chicago - Vedder, Price & Kaufman $1,000.00
Ramm, Dennis, Geneva - STV Group $1,000.00
Rogers, William, Loves Park - Rogers Development $1,000.00
Soodan, Kehar, Chicago - Soodan & Associates $1,000.00
Tuchman, Michael, Northbrook - Levenfeld Pearlstein Law Firm $1,000.00
Wyma, John, Chicago - John Wyma & Associates $1,000.00
McDermott, Maura, La Grange Park - Begirra Design $750.00
Silver, Mary, Chicago - Equis Corp $750.00
Goldenberg, Jay, Deerfield - Cashland Check Cashing $600.00
Betzelos, Steve, Elburn - Diversified Dental Systems $500.00
Bjelopetrovich, Dane, Skokie - No Employer Listed $500.00
Bouchard, Anthony, Wilmette - CTE Engineers $500.00
Conlon, Kevin, Wilmette - Wilhelm & Conlon Public Strategies $500.00
Condo, Joseph, Park Ridge - No Employer Listed $500.00
Coughlin, Catherine, Barrington - SBC Communications $500.00
Furlong, Mark, Lake Forest - M&I Bank $500.00
Goldner, Gregory, Chicago - CTE Engineers $500.00
Hedge, Thomas, Libertyville - Kraft Foods $500.00
Henke, Randy, North Barrington - Alfred Benesch & Co $500.00
Hosanna, Joseph, Glendale Heights - CTE Engineers $500.00
Hovde, Steven, Barrington - Hovde Financial $500.00
Jackson, Tim, Oswego - Wausau Insurance $500.00
Kolloway, Michael, Tinley Park - CTE Engineers $500.00
Lucas, Mark, Park Ridge - CTE Engineers $500.00
McKenzie, Shawn, North Barrington - SBC Communications $500.00
Menarik, Mark, Park Ridge - Tancher $500.00
Mologousis, Beatrice, Homer Glen - Homemaker $500.00
Nedinic, Boro, Morton Grove - Boro Plumbing $500.00
Oremus, James, New Lenox - Central Ready Mixed $500.00
Patch, James, Roscoe - Allied Games $500.00
Pineda, Candice, Hanover Park - Comark Inc $500.00
Pomerantz, Harold, Chicago - DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US $500.00
Rinehart, Kathleen, Lake Forest - Michael, Best & Friedrich $500.00
Roggemann, John Jr, St Charles - CGI-AMS $500.00
Sutton, Michael, Evanston - Infrastructure Engineering Inc $500.00
Berra Swafford, Pamela, Naperville - Naperville Park District Board $500.00
Waite, David, Cary - Ciber $500.00
Wilhelm, David, Chicago -Wilhelm & Conlon Public Strategies $500.00
Zivak, Slobodan, Chicago - Norman Mechanical Inc $500.00
Hosler, Sheila, Plainfield - PLS Financial Services Inc $450.00
Ponticelli, Kevin, Northbrook - Kraft Foods $375.00
Peterson, Michael, Wheaton -Lexmark International Inc $340.00
Baksha, Joseph, Naperville - Outlook Group Corp $250.00
Boyd, Thomas, Libertyville - Kraft Foods $250.00
Cecchi, Daniel, Elburn - Collins Engineers Inc $250.00
Harney, Anne, Chicago - Collins Engineers Inc $250.00
Kovacevic, Radovan, Lake Forest - Boro Plumbing $250.00
Thomas, Cherryl, Chicago - Ardmore Associates LLC $250.00
Wackrow, Janet, Brookfield - Collins Engineers Inc $250.00
Zurcher, Mark, Chicago - Kraft Foods $250.00
Bacalao, Enrique, Aurora - Alliant $200.00
Beric, Zoran, Arlington Heights - No Employer Listed $200.00
Brunner, Craig, Mt Prospect - Metcalf & Eddy $200.00
Burger, George, Geneva - Holcim Inc $200.00
Eckman, John, Crystal Lake - LaFarge Corp $200.00
Fatum, Stephen, Wilmette - Barnes & Thornburg $200.00
McNeil, Donald, Chicago - No Employer Listed $200.00
Milosevic, Dragan. Chicago - Schiff, Gorman, Krkljes $200.00
Orlic, Milos. Lincolnwood - No Employer Listed $200.00
Herrmann, James, Elmhurst - Third Wave Technologies $150.00
Perry, Richard, Roscoe Beloit - Area Community Health Center $150.00
Adelson, Lawrence, Wilmette - Heartland Partners $100.00
Arora, Mannesh, Woodridge - No Employer Listed $100.00
Cagigal, David, Naperville - Alliant $100.00
Carlson, Philip, Naperville - No Employer Listed $100.00
Chorzempa, David, North Riverside - No Employer Listed $100.00
Crawford, Derek, Glenview - No Employer Listed $100.00
Etmekjian, Charles, Buffalo Grove - No Employer Listed $100.00
Gardner, Brian, Buffalo Grove No - Employer Listed $100.00
Haskins, John, Naperville - Majestic View Dairy $100.00
Johnson, Scott, McHenry - Nurse anesthetist $100.00
Justen, Nancy & Mark, McHenry - George R Justen & Sons Funeral Home $100.00
Leary, Jane, Evanston - No Employer Listed $100.00
Lloyd, John, Oak Brook - No Employer Listed $100.00
Moro, John, Glenview - No Employer Listed $100.00
Ormsby, Keith, Champaign - No Employer Listed $100.00
Oszkandy, Chester, Grayslake - NAI MLG Commercial $100.00
Pellegrino, Michael, Lake Bluff - No Employer Listed $100.00
Rust, Mark, Wilmette - No Employer Listed $100.00
Smith, Scott, Beloit - Beloit Fire Dept $100.00
Waldon, Dennis, Flossmoor - Lavin & Waldon $100.00

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"Pay-to-play" is getting coverage in Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign seems to think some of the Illinois folks listed way below are to blame. All wrote checks to either the incumbent Democrat grovernor or the two Republican challengers.

Here's something about the top four mentioned before.

Republican/Democrat Stuart Levine is accused of taking a big bribe to get Wisconsin-based Mercy Health Systems’ proposed Crystal Lake hospital approved by the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board and Hurtgen is accused of helping set up Hurtgen the deal. Levine also is alleged to have set up kickbacks on construction at the now-renamed Chicago Medical School and an investment scheme with the Downstate Teachers Pension Board.

Democrat (former NATIONAL Finance Chairman) Joe Cari admitted to attempted extortion in a 2004 Teachers Retirement System kickback scheme with Levine.

Republican Nicholas Hurtgen (former Wisconsin Tommy Thompson aide, who came to Chicago to head the office of Bear Stearns) has been indicted on charges relating to the proposed Crystal Lake hospital construction kickback scheme with Levine. Jacob Kiferbaum, head of Kiferbaum Construction Company (name now changed to KCC Group Design + Build, presumably to protect the guilty) has already pleaded guilty to his role.

Republican John Glennon, another Levine cohort who has been charged in the hospital kickback cases.

According to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, since 2003 two Wisconsin GOP gubernatorial candidates have received campaign contributions from Levine and his wife. U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Green Bay, got $6,000, while Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker received $5,000.

This is small pototoes in Illinois terms, but obviously large enough to catch the attention of this Wisconsin watch dog.

“Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle's campaign accepted $6,500 in funding questioned by the Democracy Campaign from Illinois donors, including $5,000 from business consultant John Burgess of Buffalo Grove, whose company was investigated and sued by the Illinois attorney general in 1999 over claims it did not pay employees expenses or commissions,” the not-for-profit’s press release said.

“Doyle's campaign also got $1,500 from Dean Buntrock of Oakbrook Terrace, who founded the Waste Management company and who was required to pay $19.45 million as the result of a federal investigation of company financial fraud, according to the Democracy Campaign,” it continued.

Below is the list (slightly re-arranged) describing the contributors identified as "shady" by the Wisconsin group:

· Stuart Levine, a prominent Chicago attorney and former member of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board and former trustee of the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System, gave (Republican) Green $4,000 and (Republican) Walker $3,000 in 2003. His wife, Sheri, contributed another $2,000 to each candidate. Levine, widely known in Illinois for giving millions in contributions to mostly Republican candidates, was charged this year with 28 felonies accusing him of denying construction permits to hospitals that refused to hire politically connected contractors and financiers from whom he would receive kickbacks. In a separate case he also was charged with 13 counts of wire and mail fraud, soliciting a bribe and extortion for seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from investment firms seeking to do business with the teachers’ pension fund.

· Nicholas Hurtgen, of Glencoe, a former aide to Republican Governor Tommy Thompson and former senior manager of Bear Stearns & Company’s Chicago office gave $4,013 to (Republican) Green in 2003. His wife, Catherine, gave Green another $4,000 that year. Hurtgen, who has been indicted on seven charges of mail and wire fraud and extortion, is accused of conspiring with Levine to force an Illinois hospital to hire a particular contractor in order to get state approval for their project. Federal authorities say Hurtgen participated in the scheme to get Bear Stearns the financing deal for the project. Hurtgen also has ties to (Republican) Walker who hired Bear Stearns to underwrite a $100 million Milwaukee County bond deal, and to Doyle for whom Hurtgen helped organize an October 2002 Chicago fundraiser reportedly attended by a host of gambling interests.

· John Glennon, of Lake Forest, owner of North American Capital Corporation and a former adviser to Governor George Ryan, gave $1,000 to (Republican) Walker in 2003. Glennon has been charged in the Levine-Hurtgen embezzlement and fraud scheme with criminal conspiracy for concealing kickbacks in the financing and construction of two Illinois hospitals and lying to federal authorities.

· Joseph Cari, a prominent Chicago attorney and former finance chairman for the Democratic National Committee, contributed $314.55 to (Republican) Green in 2003. Cari pleaded guilty in September to attempted extortion in a kickback scheme with Levine in 2004 that funneled Teachers’ Retirement System business to select people and companies.

· John Burgess, of Buffalo Grove, chief executive officer of International Profit Associates, a telemarketer that sells business management consulting services, contributed $5,000 to (Democrat) Doyle in 2005. Burgess lost his law license after an attempted grand larceny conviction in the 1980s. Burgess’ company was sued in 1999 by the state attorney general on behalf of former employees who claimed they had not been reimbursed for expenses or paid commissions. The suit was settled and the claims were submitted to arbitration. He contributed $50,000 in 2002 to Democrat Rod Blagojevich’s successful run for Illinois governor, but Blagojevich returned the money after reporters questioned Burgess’ past.

· Michael Ficaro, of Oak Lawn, gave $123.74 to (Republican) Green’s campaign in 2003. Ficaro was among eight members of the Ungaretti & Harris law firm, including Joseph Cari, whose contributions to Green totaled $2,233.91 on September 24, 2003. The figure probably represents in-kind contributions, rather than more common cash contributions, to pay for the costs of a fundraiser the lawyers held for Green. Ficaro is suing a law firm that accused him of having ties to organized crime in court documents filed in a town of Rosemont casino bankruptcy case. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has accused some of the failed Emerald Casino project’s investors, who Ficaro represented in licensing proceedings before state gambling regulators in 2002, of mob ties.

· Dean Buntrock, of Oakbrook Terrace, founder and former chairman of Waste Management, contributed $1,500 to (Democrat) Doyle in 2003. Buntrock and other company executives settled a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint in August that accused them of “massive financial fraud” from 1992 to 1997 for lying about the company’s financial condition and overstating profits by $1.7 billion. The settlement required Buntrock to pay $19.45 million in penalties and other payments.

· Patrick Ryan, of Winnetka, founder and chairman of Aon Corporation, the world’s second largest insurance broker, contributed $2,000 to (Republican) Walker in 2003. Last March, Aon agreed to repay customers $190 million to settle a federal complaint that accused Ryan and the company of cheating customers by steering them to certain insurers in return for kickbacks and the insurers’ promises to use Aon for its own coverage or reinsurance needs.

· Alexander Lerner, of Glencoe, head of the Illinois State Medical Society, contributed $1,000 to (Republcian) Walker at a January 2003 fundraiser in Illinois. Lerner cooperated with a federal corruption investigation involving alleged bribes for contracts taken by (former Crystal Lake resident) Donald Udstuen. Lerner was not charged but he admitted accepting some of the bribery money paid to Udstuen. Udstuen, a lobbyist and close adviser to former Governor George Ryan, pleaded guilty to a tax charge in connection with the bribes he received in the Ryan corruption scandal. Ryan is now on trial in a 22-county federal indictment for racketeering, fraud and other corruption allegations.

· Bob Kjellander, a Springfield lobbyist and treasurer of the Republican National Committee, contributed $1,000 to (Republican) Walker in 2003. Kjellander is under scrutiny by federal investigators for his role in helping a Washington-based investment firm land a $500 million contract with the Teachers’ Retirement System. The firm, Carlyle Group, is reportedly paying Kjellander between $2.8 million and $4.5 million, and federal prosecutors have subpoenaed records concerning Kjellander’s fees. Kjellander drew public attention in 2004 when it was revealed Bear Stearns & Company paid Kjellander $809,000 to lobby the state for a $10 billion bond deal. It was later reported that Bear Stearns, which earned $8 million for handling the deal, paid Kjellander even though there was no record he did any work to help the company get the bond deal. No charges have been filed against Kjellander, his company or Carlyle.


Are you a real glutton for detail? Click here to see everyone from Illinois who gave more than $100 to the two Republican challagers and to the incumbent Wisconsin Democrat.

Find out which former Republican statewide office holder contributed to Democratic Party Governor Jim Doyle?

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# posted by Cal Skinner : 8:33 AM

P.S. You can contact my campaign at any one of the offices listed at left, or by e-mail at Topinka06@aol.com. Campaign materials like bumper stickers and yard signs will be available shortly.

Offices for Citizens for Topinka are

7808 W. 26th St.
North Riverside, IL 60546
Phone: 708/442-0134
Fax: 708/442-8023

312 W. Randolph St.
Suite 210
Chicago, IL 60606
Phone: 312/346-5839
Fax: 312/346-2090

301 E. Monroe St.
Springfield, IL 62701
Phone: 217/522-0606
Fax: 217/528-8656

Here is her web site.

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This has been done in California. One stretch of superhighway near San Diego (I-15) has a parallel tollway. Carpoolers can use it for free. Single passenger cars choose if they wish to pay a toll and get home or to work faster.

Earlier in the week more people decide to pay nothing and get home later. On Fridays, the toll traffic increases as people attempt to arrive home early for weekend activities. "Congestion" pricing is used. Those who use the tollway when it is crowded pay a higher toll than those who use it when traffic is sparce.

The same concept could work on I-55.

No hurry? Take the current lanes.

Impatient? Pay a toll.

No need to limit one’s thoughts to I-55, though.

How about the Eisenhower?

My guess is that it could not be widened without causing pain to abutting property owners. But, there are legitimate uses of eminent domain. Widening transportation corridors is one of them.

The Blagojevich administration seems to be in love with tollways. It would not be a large leap for it to propose what is outlined above.

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# posted by Cal Skinner : 9:31 AM 0 comments

In Ohio, as attendees to the Illinois Family Institute lakefront fundraiser learned this summer, getting a referendum on the ballot to prevent gay marriage and, then, getting it passed, was the incentive for tens of thousands of volunteers to urge voters to go to the polls. That most of those so urged voted GOP, as well as against gay marriage, was not overlooked by national Republicans last fall.

There is no such acknowledgement by Illinois Republican leaders. Such an amendment to the United States Constitution is included in last year’s National Republican Platform.

The IFI is attempting to place an advisory referendum on the ballot about gay marriage, but only two GOP candidates—-Jim Oberweis and Kathy Salvi--seem to have embraced it.

There may be others, but it is clear that Mehlman’s favorite in Illinois—Judy Baar Topinka—is not one of them. Topinka not only glories in her participation in the Gay Pride Parade every summer, but her office offered the new gay/lesbian/etc., hangout, the Center on Halstead, a $10 million taxpayer-backed loan.

Does anyone think that the type of volunteers who were activated in Ohio will even want to go to the polls if Topinka gains the Illinois Republican gubernatorial nomination?

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# posted by Cal Skinner : 1:57 PM 0 comments

In April’s election, village residents overwhelmingly passed an advisory referendum opposing annexation of Founder’s Creek, a huge 1,500-acre home development proposing 2,700 new homes. The margin was 69% to 31%.

The referendum was stimulated by a proposal from the family of former Mayor Mike Sauber. In November 2003, seven months into his most recent term, the younger Sauber announced that he might have a conflict of interest and resigned.

The conflict of interest turned out to be his family’s desire to sell 1,500 acres to a developer and annex it into Virgil. Village Trustee Mark Marion, was appointed to replace him and ran unopposed.

A group called “Preserve Virgil” was formed to fight the addition of 2,700 homes to the 100-household village.

“Preserve Virgil” captured three of the four trustee seats up for election, one with a write-in campaign. Which direction the village board will take is an open question.

“The village board has seen by the results of this election that they have wasted 15 months of working towards something that the residents never wanted,” explained former village clerk Debbie Washburn. “In previous years, village residents were welcomed and encouraged to come to meetings and ask questions, but, lately, especially in the past year, residents attending board meetings have been rudely reprimanded for asking questions during the Founder’s Creek discussions.”

Victorious challengers include Pat Probst, who won a write-in campaign by 9 votes for a two-year term, plus four-year term winners Robert J. Neisendorf and James Giannini. Challenger Jamie LeBlanc lost to incumbent Colette L. Petit by one vote for another four-year term.

The challengers had mistakenly filed four candidates for the three four-year terms and none for the two-year vacancy. They originally had decided to support Thomas C. Whitney, instead of LeBlanc. Unfortunately, Whitney died 2 days before the election. In one day’s campaigning in the 100-home village, supporters were told to vote for LeBlanc, in place of Whitney. They were 2 votes short vote of pulling it off.

Part IV will look at reactions in Will County to rampant growth.

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# posted by Cal Skinner : 9:36 AM 0 comments

In Will County, the phenomenon of voters showing their displeasure with the way the "growth" is being handled can also be seen.

In the southwestern Will County city of Wilmington, the incumbent mayor, Tony McGann, was voted out of office, losing to 12-year Alderman Roy Strong. Strong won 45%-34%, with a third candidate receiving 21%. Strong campaigned on the promise that he was going to limit the developers in Wilmington to 25 new homes per year, modifying that figure to a total of 50-100 new homes during the campaign.

Another example of opponents to rampant growth taking revenge at the ballot box occurred in Will County Village of Manhattan, located between Joliet and Peotone. Challenger Bill Borgo unseated 12-year village President Jamie Doyle. The vote was 61% to 39%. A majority of Manhattan voters apparently felt that he had dealt "poorly" with the developers that had come to the town, especially with regard to the negative affect growth would have on local schools.

Common to most of these formerly relatively small suburban fringe towns is a change of living conditions brought on by rapid growth. Quality of life seems to decrease with the coming of each year. Traffic increases. School rooms overflow with children. One doesn’t know the neighbors.

People in Chicago and inner suburbs seek a better way of life for themselves and their children, so they head farther out, into what they previously considered the “boonies.”

What they find is a bigger lot for the money and the quality of life improves when they move to town. What they apparently do not realize is that the more people who move in, the more the local quality of life will resemble what it was where they used to live.

Road capacity does not keep up with the number of vehicles on the street. As the corn and soybean fields are turned into subdivisions, the children living there need schools which the people moving in do not begin to pay for. Developer impact fees, for instance, typically pay for about 10% of the needed new school buildings.

And, the developers are big players politically. With an estimated 20% or higher profit, they have plenty of money contributed to politicians willing to cooperate, not to mention to finance school bond and tax rate increase referendums.

The developers know they cannot sell as many homes, if local schools are overcrowded.

History shows that most towns taken over by opponents of rampant growth are recaptured by those whose allies benefit financially from growth.

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# posted by Cal Skinner : 9:38 AM 0 comments

I filed a Freedom of Information request asking for “any notes, memos, layouts, emails, or anything else referring to any pamphlet, mailing or other promotion of the proposed Tax Increment Financing district commonly called the Vulcan Lakes/Route 14 TIF district, including, but not limited to, newsletters regularly distributed to Crystal Lake residents.”

The answer was mailed the day I filed the FOI:

"The city is unable to locate any of the information you requested at this time."

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It provides an energy efficient building…and at a competitive cost.

On its web site are a series of thermal images for Solarcrete buildings, steel buildings, masonary buildings, and pre-cast concrete buildings. The evidence of heat loss from the non-Solarcrete buildings is stunning.

But school architects apparently aren’t much for innovation, if it concerns non-traditional construction modes.

There is a Solarcrete building in its second ownership on south side of the Northwest Tollway just past the Elgin toll plaza. It has a bluish glass entryway. The warehouse part of the building can be heated with its overhead lights. Over time, the inside becomes warmer, as the ground below becomes heated.

What’s a warehouse got to do with a school? Think of gyms, auditoriums and pools. Immense spaces without a real need for windows.

The most important difference between traditionally constructed schools and a Solarcrete school would be that a Solarcrete school would have walls with an R-value of 36. And, there is little energy leakage at the foundation, as can be seen in the thermal image links in the paragraph below. That’s where it pours out of most buildings. Solarcrete ties the concrete of the walls and the foundation together better than other construction methods.

The walls 12 inches thick, with 7 1/4 inches of Styrofoam covered with 2 3/8 inches of fiber reinforced concrete on both sides. The wall is stronger than a concrete block wall and, of course, more energy efficient.

A school can put whatever covering on top of the concrete that it wishes. Want bricks? Lay them. Want stucco? Lather it on. Want economy? Leave it concrete.

In the case of my house, it would still have been stucco, to match the rest of the house. But, it would have so much more energy efficient.

For the life of me I also cannot understand why all new prisons are not built of Solarcrete.

Contract specifications would not have to be limited to Solarcrete. Any firm that could provide walls with an R-factor of 36--or pick any big energy efficient number—could bid on a project.

If I were running a school bond referendum, I think I could make energy efficiency a selling point.

In the interest of full disclosure, Konpoka did contribute to my campaign fund.

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# posted by Cal Skinner : 9:27 AM 0 comments

After the aggregate company took out all the sand and gravel in the road it left a 500 plus acre lake when combined with the gravel pits on both sides of the road. The gravel company had been mining right to the very blacktop edge of Three Oaks Road for some years until the blacktop in some areas was falling into the pit.

The deal made by the prior king deeded the property to the kingdom. Of course there were certain things the company was to provide. Some of these they managed to evade, although a lot of preparatory work for a recreational site was accomplished. But there was more mining done than had been agreed upon.

For a number of years meetings were held with members of the kingdom in an attempt to see what was desired for this “hole in the ground." A specially hired firm presented an engineering plan. It provided for fishing, human powered boating, a marina, and picnic area. But it was to be for the use of those Crystal Lake kingdom subjects only.

It didn’t make any difference that people residing outside of this kingdom were inconvenienced by the removal of Three Oaks Road. Now these people and others in a wide surrounding area are being asked to contribute to the kingdom for relocating upscale businesses on a major road. All because the king and his council want to see older businesses located. They found a way to accomplish this. It is a low that provide for a Tax Increment Financing.

The contribution is not really on a voluntary basis. It is hidden in the tax bills. But be assured it is there. It comes from the assessed valuation of the “dilapidated” properties being frozen at assessed figure it is now. It is a known fact that assessed valuations do increase each year to some extent. The owners of these properties will still being paying taxes on the frozen amount as well as on the increased assessed amount. However, tax revenue from the increased valuation will not be distributed to other taxing bodies as it is normally done. Instead it will go to pay bonds for development of this “blighted” area.

This law has some very tricky language that allows for the necessity to replace buildings that are not “up to code”, or are “dilapidated”, even though the property of some of them has a price of $7.2 million being paid in a recent sale.

Everybody has the “wonderful” opportunity to assist in financing this through their tax bills, while the King can thump his chest a proclaim what a wonderful thing he has accomplished, getting others to pay for a part of the Crystal Lake kingdom without providing much in return. Oh, but I forgot, the subjects have the pleasure of visiting the kingdom and leaving some of their hard earned money behind at the “upscale” businesses.

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.

So, when Carpentersville (Algonquin, Lake in the Hills, Hampshire, etc.) School District 300 started talking about doing what the Huntley School District 158 did, the “warning, danger” antennae went up.

Daily Herald reporter Jeffrey Gaunt wrote a column entitled, "District 300 tax increase boggles reporter’s mind” (The Daily Herald only allows access to its articles/columns for one week.)

“I’m supposed to be objective, right? Well, let me objectively say that a 55-cent tax increase in District 300, at best, will fail to fully address the district’s financial concerns, if collected the way officials propose.

"At worse, it likely will tear District 300 apart much the way it tore apart District 158.”

Farther down in the column is this: “Unlike in Huntley, District 300 officials are in a position to know now that there are significant problems with the state’s tax-cap law.

“Still, Superintendent Ken Arndt Monday recommended the exact same 55-cent tax increase that became a catalyst for chaos in District 158.

“I think that was a mistake.”

Will the Daily Herald replace a reporter who obviously seems to think District 300 officials are about to mislead their voters?

The reporter makes it clear that he thinks District 300 needs more money, but he seems to be sending an early warning that he will report the truth about any tax hike proposal, regardless of what "spin" school district spokesmen desire.

He ends his column characterizing School Superintendent Arndt's recommendations as "somewhat misinformed."

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# posted by Cal Skinner : 10:54 AM 0 comments

It would have been a nice touch to have a local businessman, instead of one from a city from the Metro-East part of Illinois.

Inside, the “Ten Point Plan for ‘Restoring Middle Class Illinois’” is printed again. (See earlier post on the “jump page” for them.)

Quoted with photos below a family picture and letter from Rauschenberger are

James Baur, Supply Business Owner & Archdiocesan Respect Life Chairman, Rosemont
Steve Daniel, Veterinarian, Godfrey
Maryann Cundari, Retired School Teacher, Chicago
Rachel McCarthy, Homemaker, Libertyville
John Hazzard, Farmer, Wilmington and
Mary Lynn Tyler, Registered Nurse, Elwood.

One is from Lake County, two from Will County two from Cook County and one from Downstate.

Clearly most Republicans are middle class. Whether the “Ten Points” will resonate the way that Newt Ginchrich’s “Compact with America” did in 1994 remains to be seen.

I don’t see any promise not to raise income or sales taxes on the list.

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# posted by Cal Skinner : 4:20 PM 0 comments

While admitting, “the tax shift is real,” Councilman Dave Goss said that it would cost less than $5 per year on a $200,000 home. But, he pointed out, the “cumulative effect” was revenue neutral. He said that the loss in tax base was 1% for the four tax districts. He considered that “an investment in the future.” Goss did mention that TIF districts don’t have to last 23 years. At the end of the discussion, he made the necessary motions for approval.

Councilwoman Ellen Brady Mueller said the least, speaking after Goss: “I don’t think I could add anything.”

Ralph Dawson candidly admitted to not understanding all the numbers. “Using the Downtown TIF as my benchmark,” he said, “part of our job is to look to the future. Are there winners and losers? Of course.

“I have to be supportive of this 100% because I believe my grandchildren somewhere down the line will benefit from this,” the North side councilman said.

Councilman Howie Christensen explained that this TIF, “in particular, we have not taken…lightly.”

He noted, “Both arguments are getting reasonable, rather than being sensational, pro or con.

“Having seen the history of what happened Downtown, I would be remiss if I ignored it.”

Christensen characterized the property tax shift as “extremely minor.”

“I think this council will jealously guard the funds to make sure it doesn’t benefit any private enterprise,” he observed, perhaps replying to Cal Skinner’s earlier observation that taxes might well be increased on homeowners and business with the proceeds going to subsidize the renovation of the old Oak Manufacturing building.

“This is not a decision that just came in the last couple of months,” Councilwoman Kathy Ferguson explained. “There has been lots of discussion,” including the council’s deciding not to combine it with the current Downtown TIF and extend that expanded district’s life beyond the original 23 years.

“I think (putting the Downtown TIF back on the tax rolls) balances” taking the growth in the new TIFs off the tax rolls, she continued.

“We’re not asking you to do anything we’re not willing to do,” Ferguson said in reference to the increase in taxes that everyone outside of the TIF district will pay.

“Id like to echo the tax neutrality (argument) Dave made, “ Councilman Jeff Thorsen added. “I’m really excited about the opportunity this will afford the city.”

Finally, Mayor Aaron Shepley said, “I think there has been a lot of misconceptions about TIF districts in general. I had some pretty intense disagreements (with opponents). My immediate irrational response was that it was false,” he said of the leaflet that was put on his porch the Saturday before Halloween. The leaflet was entitled, “Mayor Shepley, City Council Plan Tax Hike.” Its text appears in a post below.

“I even accept for the tax shift argument for the purposes of this discussion,” but he never did concede the point made by both school districts and the park district that they will increase tax rates on all non-TIF property in order to maximize their real estate tax revenue.

Shepley related a call he had just received from an 80-something woman asking about the tax hike mentioned in the leaflet.

“We’re not going to raise your taxes,” he told her.

The Mayor did wonder if the lack of public discussion of the Virginia Street TIF district earlier this year (which freezes assessments on property from McDonald’s to Burger King for other tax districts) had been “good.”

Shepley attempted to repair any break in relations with school district officials in the audience and admitted, “It’s a good healthy thing for people to know how the community is put together.

“We’re a mature city now. We’re not a young city,” he continued. “We’re beyond the development stage. We’re into the redevelopment stage.”

Shepley talked about the difficulty of competing for retail stores with empty farmland on Randall Road. “That’s why the TIF thing (is important),” he said.

The Mayor also pointed out that Crystal Lake Elementary School District 47 “has taken a neutral position on this.” (Still, its superintendent, Ron Miller, was in the Council Chambers, as were board members.)

Shepley argued that the Main Street TIF was “really a classic use of the TIF concept, pointing out that “all see the (vacant) Hines Lumber property” every day. He did not mention the summer sale by auction of the property for over $3 million.

He mentioned that the development that had been previously proposed for that property “wasn’t consistent with the city’s vision,” but it would be with the help that TIF’s passage would allow the city to provide.

“We’re not going to harm the schools. We’re not going to harm the parks,” he continued. “Why would we make that decision?”

Shepley echoed the city’s paid consultant, who had previously said that there would be a $6 million net gain for the tax districts when the Downtown TIF went out of existence.

“People like Mr. Skinner of Lakewood (argue) “that their taxes will go up,” Shepley said. “That’s not going to happen.”

“In the City of Crystal Lake, the (Downtown) TIF district works and it’s good. Projections are telling us this will have the same effect,” the Mayor continued. “I know that’s the reason for my decision.

“I’m 100% in support of this one."

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# posted by Cal Skinner : 10:15 PM 0 comments

It is the so-called Main Street Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district that the city council is supposed to vote on this evening at its 7:30 meeting. It only takes four votes because the park district did not voice its opposition soon enough and Grade School Board member Dave Hubbard successfully argued that his board should not oppose the Downtown TIF, resulting in no opposition resolution's being passed.

According to the Sunday Northwest Herald, the vote on Vulcan Lakes/Route 14 TIF has been postponed until Dec. 6th. Yet, the vote could still be tonight.

The hastily written, lengthy TIF endorsement editorial that appeared in the today’s Herald (see article here) could be used to “convince” an apparently shaky council member that he/she will have enough cover to get re-elected when the time comes.

Still, the “tax hiker” label could be waiting.

And, just as the Northwest Herald could not stop the exemplary door-to-door effort by Jim Thompson, Chairman of Citizens Against TIFs, it may not provide enough of an umbrella to deflect a determined tax fighter.

The Crystal Lake City Council says it will be spending $35 million in the Main Street TIF. Of course, that does not take into account approximately the same amount that will have to be paid in interest after borrowing the $35 million.

The biggest winner in the Main Street TIF will probably be the owner of the old Oak Manufacturing building. When my state representative office was located there, I asked for some re-modeling. The cost was rolled into the rent over the term of the lease. But, at least the tenant, through your taxes, paid for the improvements.

Under the TIF proposal, it is my understanding that property tax dollars could be used to pay for renovation, if the city council agrees. (Councilman Howie Christensen did ask if the financing could be a loan, but I doubt that such TIF improvements are traditionally considered “loans.”)

If remodeling costs comes out of the TIF property tax dollars, it would mean that taxpayers throughout McHenry County could end up paying to make Oak Manufacturing more suitable for renting, as local governments raise their tax rates to compensate for the loss of tax revenues.

That does not strike me as fair.

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# posted by Cal Skinner : 4:54 PM 0 comments

But, by usurping the taxing power of the other local governments, the city council makes it more difficult for a district—say, School District 47—to pass tax rate increase and bond referendums. With the number of new houses that Crystal Lake has already approved and Prairie Grove seems sure to zone, the need for new grade schools seems a certainty.

Alternatively, since money often represents power, a TIF district can be said to shift power. It shifts power from all the taxpayers outside the TIF district to the city council. It will force non-TIFers to pay more taxes without the benefit of having voted in a referendum or even being represented, if one happens to live outside of the boundaries of Crystal Lake.

“No taxation without representation,” comes to mind. Originally that meant, ”No taxation by the English
Parliament without representation in English Parliament," according to U.S. History.com (with modifications).

Everyone living outside of Crystal Lake within McHenry County will be able to echo that, if the TIF(s) pass.

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# posted by Cal Skinner : 5:17 PM 0 comments

Gidwitz’ piece--mailed before Judy Baar Topinka made front page news by announcing she was going to announce as a candidate for governor--sounded a theme similar to Rauschenberger’s. He has “discovered that there is an overwhelming concern: the loss of good-paying jobs and Illinois’ inability to replace them.”

Gitwitz focuses the blame on Democratic Party Governor Rod Blagojevich, charging that he has “targeted” the private sector “to help pay for bigger government.”

Gitwitz stresses his Chicago connections, including being head of Chicago-based Helene Curtis, Chicago’s Economic Development Commission and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. Enclosed is an article from the Belleville News (leaving off the hyphenated title, “-Democrat”), plus the text of a Shelbyville Daily Union article.

He is quoted as saying, “They don’t want another career politician,” perhaps deliberately aiming at Rauschenberger, perhaps not.

Rauschenberger’s three-fold tag board four-color piece comes complete with mail-in post card on which one can express support and provide one’s email address. No pre-paid postage is affixed.

Former state senate colleague and U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald is quoted in support of Rauschenberger’s candidacy, but not emphasized. The emphasis is on the “Ten-Point Plan.” The points are probably worth printing:

1. Overhauling our K-12 education system to make public schools child-centered and family-responsive.
2. Reversing the Blagojevich cuts in higher education funding to ensure middle-class families can afford to send their children to Illinois’ colleges and universities.
3. Repealing the Blagojevich tax and fee increases that have led to a state unemployment rate of 20% higher than the national average.
4. Expanding access to quality, affordable health care through programs like PremiumShare and direct tax credits that help middle class families obtain private health insurance coverage and get care from their family doctor.
5. Prohibiting the raiding of pension funds of retirees and making sure our state pensions are properly funded.
6. Protecting private property rights of homeowners by fighting the expanded power of government land grabs under a recent Supreme Court decision.
7. Enacting comprehensive court reform that provides ordinary with equal access to our justice system.
8. Reinvesting in our state’s infrastructure and prohibiting Blagojevich-style raids on our road funds so that tax dollars are spent ensuring road safety and reducing congestion.
9. Ending the practice of massive bond schemes that borrow against our children’s future.
10. Reforming the Blagojevich culture of pay-to-play politics by reforming how political appoints to state boards and commissions are made.

The graphics were so poor on the front of the Rauschenberger brouchure that I missed the neadline underneath the white picket fence in front of the white clapboard house. Here's the lost message: "What happended to the middle class dream in Illinois?"

I had to go backward from the inside, where the headline--"Rod Blagojevich happened..." can be read.

Rauschenberger's answer:

"Over the last three years, Rod Blagojevich has declared war on middle class families in Illinois:

He increased our tax burdens whuile reduing our opporunities;
He borrowed against our children's future to satisy the greed of his politically connnected friends;
He raided our pensions;
He expaned the state's welfare rolls;
He cut funding to our state colleges & universities; and
He drove small business from Illinois.

"Rod Blagojevich has assaulted the values and interests of middle class families in Illinois.

"That must change."

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# Posted by Cal Skinner : 2:22 PM 0 comments

Sunday, Mike Bailey, the managing editor of Elgin’s Daily Courier-News, wrote another pithy column on Mexican immigrants. (On Oct. 9th he wrote about how Elgin’s Larkin High School had forced students to stand while the Mexican national anthem was sung on Mexico’s independence day. He thought that was a very bad idea.)

Sunday’s column takes on how allies of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights are trying to drive the work “illegal immigrant” out of our vocabulary. An ally who had written a letter to the editor wanted it headed, “Minutemen are racists,” accusing them of spreading “hate, fear and racism” in his letter.

Bailey reports that the Minuteman attendees were “well-behaved though passionate, curious but not combative, and unintimidated by protesters who taunted them in Spanish, the delicious irony of that apparently escaping them.”

Bailey notes that the discussion is “not about immigration…This about illegal immigration. They are not undocumented workers; they are not simple people who came here seeking a better life. They are illegal. We don’t need immigration reform as much as we need to enforce the immigration laws that we have.”

That sounds a lot like what Jim Oberweis was saying two years ago, after filtering out the campaign hyperbole.

But, besides trying to frame the terms of the debate, there is another side to the Saul Alinsky-trained Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

It is trying to organize Mexican American immigrants in the hope they will be citizens.

The organization conducts “Immigration Clinics,” in which the draw to recent immigrants is the word “amnesty.”

In “clinics” at Methodist Churches in Elgin and Crystal Lake, the attendees were urged to contact their local congressmen. In Elgin, there was a major emphasis on getting people to a march in Aurora (to which 1,000 showed up) to put heat on House Speaker Dennis Hastert to support the bill being promoted. The name of Congressman Melissa Bean popped out of the lecture in Crystal Lake.

Bailey’s description of the attendees is accurate. They are illegal aliens.

But, they are people, too. They have come north to improve their lives. It’s a more extreme variation of what most people alive today have done moving to a home in a better neighborhood, although probably not as extreme as what many grandparents did by crossing an ocean in a crowded ship.

It does seem unlikely that enough buses could be mustered to drive them all back to Mexico. And, clearly the political will for deportation does not exist, if the political will to secure the southern border does not exist, even in the face of terrorists using it to enter the country.

The Mexican immigrants are families. Probably first the husbands came, so desperate that they are willing to sleep 16 to an apartment—even in Crystal Lake—in order to earn money to send back to their families in Mexico and maybe bring them to the United States. To say they are hard workers is to repeat a cliché, but it is an accurate one.

The families that came to the two clinics were often led into the church by young and middle-aged mothers, kids and husbands in tow. Clearly, they want to be a legal part of American society.

As a group, Mexicans are family-oriented with conservative values. If not for the perceived or actual outright opposition of most conservatives, they could eventually follow the Eastern European “Reagan Democrats” and become allies of conservative Republicans.

But the Democrats, with the Immigration Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights doing the organizing, and the Democrats in Springfield having just committed all Illinois taxpayers to pay for medical care for illegal immigrants’ children, clearly have the political advantage.

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# posted by Cal Skinner : 10:28 AM 0 comments

Udstuen and Warner are said to have talked about how Udstuen could help Warner get lobbying and consulting jobs with companies doing or wanting to do business with the SOS. The document tells of how Ryan told Fawell that he wanted to keep his friends “happy.” Fawell is said to have thought that meant “giving them SOS business whenever possible.” Ryan is quoted as telling Fawell, “Let’s help Larry if we can.” He also designated Fawell as the “central control person” for contracts. A list of those seeking favors from Ryan’s SOS is contained in Fawell’s “Favors List.” (More about the McHenry County connection to that later.)

After initial friction between Warner and Fawell, they dealt with each other directly.

In 1991, Udstuen and Ryan talked about how Udstuen could be rewarded for the key roles Udstuen had playing in getting Ryan elected to statewide office. The document says, “Warner told Udstuen that he had discussed with Ryan the proposal that Udstuen receive a share of the money from Warner‘s lobbying activities.” Udstuen would get one-third and “Warner further told Udstuen that he would ‘take care of’ George Ryan from Warner’s end…”

Udstuen did not want to receive his share directly, though, because of his position with the Illinois State Medical Society. He convinced his friend Drazek to funnel the money through his firm, American Management Resources. Drazek was Director of the Department of Personnel during the administration of Richard Ogilvie while Udstuen was Ogilvie’s patronage chief. Getting a cut of the money, Drazek agreed. Drazek gave Udstuen his share in cash, typically, in amounts of $1500 to $2000. This lasted for the entire term of George Ryan as Secretary of State, the document alleges. Udstuen’s share was about $381,096.

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# posted by Cal Skinner : 11:03 AM 0 comments

Get many more than enough signatures and leave a leaflet about yourself at every door you knock on. Remember to number your petitions and staple them together. And, if you know an attorney, have him or her look at your petitions before you file.

Do be intelligent enough to run as a Republican, however. The Democrats may talk a good game, but their strength and ability to smell and act on potential “wedge” issues is underdeveloped. It takes someone who has Sangamon River fever like Jack Franks to crack the mold that was set in Lincoln’s time.

If a 23-year-old (actually, the primary was two days after my 24th birthday) kid could win a three-way contest for county treasurer, you can win, too. The Republican Party is much weaker today than it was then when one Woodstock bank backed its favorite son and the other one backed the police chief and allowed this newcomer to get just over one-third of the votes in a virtual statistical dead heat.

You just need to knock on a lot of doors with an attractive message. You can expect at least 2-3 mailings being sent out for whomever you oppose, if you run for county board. But, don’t be discouraged. Insurgents like the late Dick Hoover, who was well known in McHenry, can and do upset the wishes of the “powers-that-be.”

And, anyone can be beaten for Republican precinct committeeman. Just remember to get at least 20 signatures on your petition, because the regulars are into that stage of insecurity that any marginal petition will be challenged.

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# posted by Cal Skinner : 2:48 PM 1 comments

Jim Oberweis rebuttal to Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) charges:

On Tuesday morning, November 8th, my campaign staff began receiving calls informing us that the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) would be holding a 10:00 A.M. press conference alleging Oberweis Dairy underpaid two employees in May of this year. By 7:30 a.m., I instructed my management team to investigate these allegations before we even knew the details of the allegations.

Additionally, I asked Tony Crement, the Oberweis Dairy Employment Law Attorney, and Joe Wiegand, my Campaign Manager, to attend the press conference to gather facts.

I'm familiar with the ICIRR and Josh Hoyt, their Executive Director. In the past, I visited with Josh and individuals that receive services from ICIRR, and I was impressed by many of the good things that ICIRR is doing.

We enjoyed the company of an ICIRR employee at our own campaign announcement April 14 in Chicago . At the time ICIRR praised our earlier meeting, but warned that they "would be watching."

Yesterday, Mr. Crement and Mr. Wiegand were barred from attending the ICIRR press conference. Later in the day, members of the press shared documents with me relating to ICIRR's allegations.

According to ICIRR, they and the Chicago Workers' Collaborative (CWC) filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Labor "on behalf of undocumented workers Jorge Ibarra and Rosa Ramirez." A copy of the complaint, dated November 2, 2005, names Oberweis Dairy as the employer. To date, Oberweis Dairy has received no official notice of this complaint.

The complaint is totally baseless. Mr. Ibarra and Ms. Ramirez have never been employees of Oberweis Dairy.

Elsewhere, ICIRR alleged that Mr. Ibarra and Ms. Ramirez were employees of Patmar Janitorial Services, one of three outside contractors that clean Oberweis Dairy Ice Cream Stores. According to the President of Patmar, Mr. Ibarra and Ms. Ramirez were not employees of his company either.

Last night, Mr. Crement and I discussed this complaint and its particulars at length with the President of Patmar and learned the real facts. What happened in May is the following:

Eduardo Martinez, a Patmar employee, had been assigned to clean the Schaumburg, Arlington Heights and Hoffman Estates stores.

Mr. Martinez, an employee of Patmar, without the knowledge of company officials, got Mr. Ibarra and Ms. Ramirez to do the work for him and apparently paid them out of his pocket. Patmar, sometime during the month of May, discovered these facts when its President drove by the store and found two strangers in our store during the overnight hours. Expecting to find his employee, he was surprised to find Mr. Ibarra and Ms. Ramirez cleaning the store. When Mr. Ibarra and Ms. Ramirez explained that Mr. Martinez had hired them, the President informed Mr. Ibarra and Ms. Ramirez that they could not continue performing this work for Mr. Martinez. The President of Patmar met with Mr. Martinez and retrieved the stores keys from him, and from that day forward Mr. Martinez no longer worked for Patmar.

Some television news viewers may have seen video of Ms. Ramirez and Mr. Ibarra cleaning windows and floors at an Oberweis Dairy Ice Cream Store. The video was reportedly shot in May by the Chicago Workers Collaborative. According to Ms. Ramirez and Mr. Ibarra, they have had a working relationship with the CWC since January when the organization assisted the pair to sue another cleaning service employer. If we are able to contact Mr. Martinez, we will inquire as to whether he sought the services of Ms. Ramirez and Mr. Ibarra, or, if by chance, Ms. Ramirez and Mr. Ibarra approached Mr. Martinez to propose the unauthorized work on Oberweis property.

If Mr. Hoyt, ICIRR or the Chicago Worker's Collaborative had contacted me or Oberweis Dairy in May or at any time after and brought this issue to our attention, I would have engaged the situation, determined to fix any problems and seek a just and fair outcome. I have called and written Mr. Hoyt expressing my disappointment. I'll leave it to others to judge the motivation and timing of the ICIRR press conference.

Yesterday, I told the media that I wanted to get the facts. As a businessman and a family man, the Oberweis name and the integrity of the dairy that carries that name are very important to me. It's important to the over 1,000 employees of Oberweis Dairy and their families. It's important to the employees of over 1,000 companies that contract to provide services or products to our dairy.

At Oberweis Dairy, we have expectations regarding the timely communication of honest and accurate information. Our management team has decided that in the case of Patmar, the company failed to provide timely and accurate information to us that two unauthorized individuals were in one of our stores. We can only assume that they had the key to our store since store cleanings occur well after the store is closed in the early morning hours. Dairy management believes that the President, as an officer of Patmar and Mr. Martinez, as an employee of Patmar, failed to execute their responsibilities to Oberweis Dairy. As of today, we are terminating their cleaning contract for their failure to notify us that two unauthorized individuals were allowed into our stores without our knowledge. We do believe Patmar's President when he told us that this occurred totally without his knowledge and that he ended it as soon as he became aware of the situation. This entire situation appears to be one individual taking advantage of two undocumented workers without the knowledge of Oberweis Dairy or Patmar.

I will continue to seek the facts as they relate to Ms. Ramirez and Mr. Ibarra. I will continue to have tremendous pride in the Oberweis Dairy and the people of all races, religions, and nationalities who help us to deliver the world's best milk and ice cream products.

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Originally posted Nov. 8th.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Rauschenberger’s campaign is again touting Zogby poll results that show Rauscheneberger in a dead heat with Governor Rod Blagojevich.

The first time was in mid-September. The Rauschenberger campaign trumpeted that he was leading Governor Rod Blagojevich by one percentage point 42%-41%. Now, it’s said to be 42%-41%, with the Governor in the lead, as it was at the end of August. The margin of error is 3.3%.

What the poll is saying is that the Governor and Rauschenberger are in a dead heat for over almost a three-month period. That’s what the Wall Street Journal says its pollster Zolby says anyway.

Unanswered, however, is how well the Zogby poll thinks Rauschenberger is doing vis-à-vis the other GOP primary candidates. To have the best chance to beat Blgojevich is not worth very much if one does not win the primary election.

The Rauschenberger campaign did not release the whole Zogby poll, a subscription to which costs $199 per year. Only the numbers favorable to Rauschenberger were made public by his campaign.

How the GOP primary candidates compare was made available in an October 5th-9th Market Shares poll (with a 5% margin of error) paid for by the Chicago Tribune and published on October 17th, however.

Little surprise the Zogby results were not released if they are anything like those released in the Chicago Tribune.

The Tribune’s poll results showed Rauschenberger in a weak third place, tied with a candidate having virtually no Chicago metropolitan area name identification.

Topinka - 31%
Oberweis - 15%
Rauschenberger and Brady - 7%
Birkett - 5%
Gidwitz - 4%
Undecided 27%
Another Candidate 3%

No head-to-head rack-up was provided for the GOP potentials against Governor Blagojevich in the Tribune article.

The Zogby polls commissioned by the Wall Street Journal are not traditional phone or in-person polls. They are taken over the internet.

Meanwhile, in Arkansas, the following criticism was levied against the WSJ Zogby Arkasas poll today:

“Delana Jones, spokeswoman for (Democrat Mark) Beebe's campaign, questioned the reliability of the poll, saying that it was done online by people who had to sign up to participate.

"This poll is at odds with polls that use professionally accepted and proven methodologies, like The Arkansas poll that was released last week," she said in the Arkansas News Bureau on Nov. 8th.

Zogby says it asks individuals who register on-line at its site to ”provide personal information such as home state, age and political party to Zogby, which in turn examined that data and contacted individuals by telephone to confirm that it was valid.

“Zogby International telephoned about 2% of respondents who completed the interactive survey to validate their personal data,” its web site says. ” To solicit participation, Zogby sent emails to individuals who had asked to join its online-polling database, inviting them to complete an interactive poll. Many individuals who have participated in Zogby's telephone surveys also have submitted e-mail addresses so they may take part in online polls.

“The Interactive polls were supplemented by 20 to 40 telephone calls in 19 states (including Illinois) to ensure proper representation of all demographic groups.”

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(This story was originally posted on November 4th.)

It appears that the McHenry County Conservation District has not yet entered the 21st century as far as figuring out what a “news source” is.

Perhaps its officials missed the 2002 presidential election when blogs regularly scooped the “legally recognized news source(s)”for which the MCCD apparently waives Freedom of Information fees.

A fee is charged members of the general public for information copied pursuant to a Freedom of Information request. I asked that the fee be waived because the information obtained would be disseminated to the public and it was in the public’s interest to learn where money had been spent from the $68.5 million bond issue passed in 2001 by the margin of 20,464 to 19,089.

More specifically, the letter said that the public interest was “that wider dissemination of the information requested is desirable in a democratic society in which those being governed know how their tax dollars are spent.”

MCCD’s response asserted that, “by definition,” a blog is “a frequently updated personal journal.” The Encarta Dictionary was quoted and the word “personal” was underlined. The blog was not a “legally recognized news source,” MCCD wrote, so my request for a fee waiver was denied.

I’ll pay the $3.83 for the report and postage and let time tell whether this blog is a news source or not. Whether the law ever recognizes blogs as a “news source” is, of course, another question.

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.

# posted by Cal Skinner : 8:56 AM 0 comments

The Rauschenberger campaign did not release the whole Zogby poll, a subscription to which costs $199 per year. Only the numbers favorable to Rauschenberger were made public by his campaign.

How the GOP primary candidates compare was made available in an October 5th-9th Market Shares poll (with a 5% margin of error) paid for by the Chicago Tribune and published on October 17th, however.

Little surprise the Zogby results were not released if they are anything like those released in the Chicago Tribune.

The Tribune’s poll results showed Rauschenberger in a weak third place, tied with a candidate having virtually no Chicago metropolitan area name identification.

Topinka - 31%
Oberweis - 15%
Rauschenberger and Brady - 7%
Birkett - 5%
Gidwitz - 4%
Undecided - 27%
Another Candidate - 3%

No head-to-head rack-up was provided for the GOP potentials against Governor Blagojevich in the Tribune article.

The Zogby polls commissioned by the Wall Street Journal are not traditional phone or in-person polls. They are taken over the internet.

Meanwhile, in Arkansas, the following criticism was levied against the WSJ Zogby Arkasas poll today:

“Delana Jones, spokeswoman for (Democrat Mark) Beebe's campaign, questioned the reliability of the poll, saying that it was done online by people who had to sign up to participate.

"This poll is at odds with polls that use professionally accepted and proven methodologies, like The Arkansas poll that was released last week," she said in the Arkansas News Bureau on Nov. 8th.

Zogby says it asks individuals who register on-line at its site to ”provide personal information such as home state, age and political party to Zogby, which in turn examined that data and contacted individuals by telephone to confirm that it was valid.

“Zogby International telephoned about 2% of respondents who completed the interactive survey to validate their personal data,” its web site says. ” To solicit participation, Zogby sent emails to individuals who had asked to join its online-polling database, inviting them to complete an interactive poll. Many individuals who have participated in Zogby's telephone surveys also have submitted e-mail addresses so they may take part in online polls.

“The Interactive polls were supplemented by 20 to 40 telephone calls in 19 states (including Illinois) to ensure proper representation of all demographic groups.”


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# posted by Cal Skinner : 5:42 PM 0 comments

Noting, “We have many teachers with great big hearts who will stay ‘til three o’clock and help kids,” he said he also knew many people in many churches who would be willing to assist, if they were asked.

He pointed out that churches have volunteers who work weekly or daily at their own churches. Another group of church members are attracted to mission trips, “but I didn’t see a lot of the middle—something outside the walls of the church, but (which) wouldn’t require going out-of-town.

“Church and school are the only two places in town where you see reality,” Ludwig, who opened Hanna Beardsley nine years ago, suggested. “You folks see it in a small way. We see about 90%.

“I had DCFS I my building in three different situations this week and, of course, who’s caught in the middle—the child.,” he said referring to divorce disputes.

“If we could create some kind of program where we could catch some people, even if it’s only a couple,” he mused.

So far, the Methodist Church, Harvest Bible Church, Willow Creek and the Evangelical Free Church have members participating in the “Save Our Students” program he is trying to make work. Volunteers spend from an hour to 2-3 hours once a week on any day that is convenient. Ludwig is trying to recruit retired folks, high school kids and empty nesters.

From a Christian perspective, he’s looking for “those who are in their walk where this would fit.”

Ludwig hopes to find people who “are at a point in their journey where they are looking for one more thing—this is my ‘thing’ to look forward to each week.”

The program’s starting point was those kids who had to attend summer school in an attempt to catch up with their classmates.

“A lot of kids come from single parent homes,” he explained. “Mom comes home from work at 6…tired.”
He wants the program to relieve the Moms from having to hound their kids to do homework, while providing a safe place to be after school lets out at 2:15.

The program’s first hour tries to help the students finish their homework.

“A lot of these kids have hidden (their academic shortcomings) from their parents,” Ludwig explained. He referred to “the boy who didn’t tell his parents he couldn’t spell.”

After about 3:30, what he wants is to engage them in sports, educational computer games or reading.

“Again, it’s up to the kid.”

He explained that, so far, there have been “some huge success stories. Some homework is coming in…from 4-5 kids.

“But, more important is the relationships,” he continued. “We have two the youth ministers--from Harvest and E Free--but we’re not looking for devotions.

Instead of having something to do every minute of every day as some kids do, Ludwig said, “Some of these kids have zero.”

He said just being invited to a youth group would be a big thing for them.

Indeed this past week, one girl was complaining to one of the youth ministers that he had not personally invited her to his church’s Halloween (replacement) party.

Ludwig said he was even “going out on a limb with some parents, asking the parents, ‘Have you ever considered a youth group?’”

While thankful for the people who has stepped forward already to assist, Ludwig is “looking to up the ante in this next quarter.

“I really believe it takes a village to raise a child. Well, we haven’t tapped (all the resources).

“I’m not trying to go over the line of separation of church and state,” he explained. But, before and after school, he pointed out there is more flexibility, if it is student-led.

He noted that there was an after school Fellowship of Christian Athletes. And, he revealed that after uneasily watching kids “Pray at the Pole” from his office window in the early years of being principal, now he joins them outside at the flagpole in the September event.

“I don’t want to upset anybody,” he stressed, but added, “If nothing else, pray for us and pray for the kids of Crystal Lake.”

Speaking of his religious life, Ludwig said that his “journey with Christ started six years ago on Ground Hog Day.” He related how Elyce Meador had served as his school’s PTO president for two terms.

“My son and I were able to go with the (Methodist) Church on a mission trip to South Dakota,” he continued.
“I went on my Walk to Emmaus two years ago. It was probably the best three days in my life.”

He explained that members of the Methodist Church had encouraged him to do so. The Walk to Emmaus is modeled after the Catholic Church’s Cursillo. The retreat, held at Resurrection Center between Woodstock and Crystal Lake has been described a “short course in Christianity.” Cursillo retreats are also available locally.
“I thank this church. It has really been a blessing.“

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# posted by Cal Skinner : 9:13 AM 0 comments

The 1970 state constitution specifically allowed for Special Service Area Assessments.

What are they?

Think of them as a mini-special tax districts.

When a specific benefit is needed for an area, the city council can enact a special tax for those who will benefit from the improvement.

In explaining the Vulcan Lakes project on Route 14, Brown described the envisioned development will contain commercial, recreational, and residential elements “that would have a water access benefit.” Such redevelopment would be “reoriented to the lakes” from the current orientation to Route 14.

Michelle Rentzch, Planning and Economic Development Director for Crystal Lake, added that “high-end retail” was expected. In addition, half-million two-bedroom condos are proposed.

From this description, it would seem that a Special Service Area Assessment would be a perfect compromise. Those most benefiting from the improvements would be able to pay for it. Those least benefiting from the redevelopment, homeowners and businesses outside of the TIF district would pay nothing.

But, Rentzch downgraded the idea.

“The majority of the property owners might not agree,” Michelle Rentzsch, Planning and Economic Development Director, commented. “Nor maybe does it make sense,” she continued. (In an SSA, the majority of the property owners within the area must approve of the addition property tax.)

“Then, maybe it shouldn’t be done,” Cal Skinner replied.

Likewise, the Main Street proposal’s benefits would accrue to the property owners in the proposed TIF district.

There is nothing like specific the entertainment district that the City talks about creating on Route 14. All the public can expect to see soon is a “streetscape” similar to that in Downtown Crystal Lake.

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# posted by Cal Skinner : 9:34 PM 0 comments

Two sergeants, W. Estrada and D. Sitke, conducted the tour of the facilities that will be used by the Immigration Custom Enforement (ICE) officials, which had opened two days before on October 24th

The Cub Scouts were informed that the people on the third floor were not inmates.

"We have to call them 'detainees,'" one of the sergeants said.

When filled to capacity, there will be 260 detainees.

The entry door from the stairs to the third floor automatically closed several seconds after it opened. Only a few of the Cubs and parents could enter at a time.

On the way to the empty "pod," the Cubs saw were the sick immigrants were housed and two triangular shaped exercise rooms with "fresh air, required by the state," as one sergeant put it.

"It's a boring gym. We had to take out the basketball hoops," he continued.

Cameras were throughout the complex.

"Hey, I'm on TV," one of the Cubs said when he saw the monitor.

The new floor will be controlled differently from the other two, where there is no inmate contact with the correctional officers. In the ICE facility, there is a control platform where there will be a person on duty twenty-four hours a day. Having guards mixed with the inmates is the standard practice in Illinois state prisons, but on the other two floors everything is monitored electronically.

"We're going to know what makes them tick," was the motivation for the design change. It's called "direct supervision and it is thought to be "a lot safer."

"Even if you can't understand them, you can tell by body language," it was explained.

There will be no face-to-face visitation. Visitors and detainees will be seen and heard through a televised arrangement.

Because most of the detainees do not speak good English, the officers have access to a language line, which contains mainly medical information.

The rest of the jail has Kane County inmates mixed with those from McHenry County.

The supervisors said it was "much more relaxed in the ICE area."

There are 32 cells in each pod and moveable chairs and tables in the day room area.

"Can we be locked in one of the jail things?" a Cub asked.

Once a Cub was locked up, a father said, "Have a good life."
"I'll have a good life," was the reply from behind closed doors.

To re-enforce the message that people shouldn't want to be in jail, one of the officers told the kids, "Although it's a nice jail, it's not a very nice place to be. We tell you when you can eat and when you can sleep. Your freedoms are taken away here."

One Cub asked if anyone had ever escaped from the jail?

"No," was the reply.

The Cubs were admonished by the adults not to run around the room. They were climbing one set of stairs to the second tier to explore and, then, coming down the other stairs.

There are no pillows in the bunk bed cells, but the blue plastic mattresses have a pillow-like buldge at one end. There are two built-in shelves for a desk and a chair. The sink and toliet are stainless steel. Water is turned on with buttons. The spicket in the sink doubles as a water fountain.

"The only thing we're missing is the mint on the pillows. We're working on that," one sergeant said.

There are also hooks below a shelf, but they "won't hold lots of weight."

There are food slots in the doors, but they are blocked.

On the way out, one Cub said, "That was fun!"

Only males will be housed on the top floor. Female detainees will be in half of a cell block shared with female county prisoneers on a lower floor. There is a locked door between the two sections, through and under which the male and female detainees used to communicate.

The day before, by happenstance, Corrections Chief Tom Svoboda was standing behind me at the McHenry County Department of Public Health hallway waiting for his 2:30 flu shot appointment yesterday. It seems that the 3 o’clock appointments came early, so there was a long line, instead of the short one I experienced last year.

We started talking and I learned a lot.

About half of the “detainees” are Chinese. They get charged $6500 to get out of China and are flown to O’Hare. They basically indenture themselves to those who ship them out, much as the indentured servants did in colonial times. Once here they are told they are on their own. Since it is difficult to escape from the International Terminal, most (maybe all) end up being captured. Most, if not all, claim asylum. Interestingly, about 95% get the asylum.

They still owe the $6500, of course. When they are released, lots of the men end up working in Chinese buffets, sleeping in the restaurants’ basements. Many of the women become basically sexual slaves until they work off the $6500.

Why?

Although people certainly must be in the United States to enforce collection of the money, their families are also still in China.

Of the other half of the prisoners, about half are from other Far Eastern countries and half are from Mexico.

The prisoners are docile, returning to their cells when told to at night.


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# posted by Cal Skinner : 2:55 PM 0 comments

Because horse riding had just been banned at the old Lake Defiance, now Moraine Hills State Park. Snow mobilers weren’t having trouble finding places to ride. Most parks didn’t want dogs around.

There was lots of pressure for passive use of parkland. But, who could complain with anything that you did with a gravel pit? When you fly over much of Algonquin Township, it probably looks like the moon, just with water.

Here’s some of what could be done. Dirt bikes could have a designated area. Horse riders and snow mobilers could, too. Some of the pits are so sheltered from the wind that people could go swimming in them during sunny November days. Some act like a solar oven, heating the surface of the water, while the wind is blowing wildly above. Obviously, ice skating, ice boating, sledding and, maybe a semblance of a beginners ski hill could be found.

In the summer, there could be trailer camps like the one just (or soon to be) closed on the Fox River by the Lake County Forest Preserve District. Fishing would be allowed and any kind of boating you could imagine could be found a place. There’s already one subdivision about an old gravel pit in Island Lake built especially for those who want to water ski.

(One person familiar with Vulcan Lakes commented that, having seen the size of its waves get, he would not go out on it unless he were in a powerboat. Of course, the Crystal Lake City Council doesn’t want powerboats on Vulcan Lakes because of its purity.)

You get the idea. All the pleasures forbidden in most state parks around the area could be enjoyed in such a multi-thousand acre park made out of gravel pits.

It could even have a theme park aspect something like Disney World’s Indiana Jones show. Part could have gangsters stuffing a body in a car trunk and dumping it over the side of a hill into a gravel pit lake. (Of course, one would drain the car of its fluids first.)

People could even reach the park on weekends by train and shuttle buses from the Cary or now Pingree Road station.

Of course, the idea was too untraditional to catch the attention of those who think parkland is to be seen and little used, but I did get Dave Kenney, Director of the Department of Conservation up on (now mined) Three Oaks Road to see the potential.

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Board member Jerry Sullivan even elicited this admission from the Teska Associate Ortega: “We realize we’re asking for an investment on the part of the park district.”

That was right after revealing that his firm’s calculations indicate that area school districts will break even after 25 years—in 2030, two years after the freeze on tax assessments in the two proposed TIF districts is scheduled to expire. (It should be noted that the General Assembly regularly allows specific TIF districts to be extended an additional 10 years.)

In a TIF district, a city government can unilaterally freeze the assessments on properties within designated areas. When the value of those properties increases, the city ends us getting whatever real estate taxes results from multiplying the tax rate times any increase in the assessed valuation.

Currently, Crystal Lake receives about 12% of the total property tax receipts within its boundaries. After the TIF district’s redevelopment, it will receive on the order of 90% of the taxes paid.

Eligibility for putting property in a TIF district law is as loose as a goose. Although the original idea was to use the financing tool to bring back blighted areas, the bill has been amended over the years to allow almost any part of a city to be put in a TIF district. In Huntley even farmland was put in a TIF to help subsidize the developers of the shopping mall.

To be put in a TIF district, a building need only be not up to the current building code, not set back far enough from the road, according to the current zoning code, or even have inadequate parking lots, alleys, curbs, etc., according to current city ordinances. One of the possible TIF criteria is that it contain an abandoned quarry, which, of course, Vulcan Lakes is. Much of the lack of meeting city codes on Rt. 14 results from the properties having been annexed “as is” after being constructed under McHenry County government’s jurisdiction. Some were built before county government’s 1979 plan, so they qualify as being built without community planning, still another criterion.

Phelps suggested that lack of city code enforcement might be the reason for some of Teska’s findings.

Consultant Ortega spent his time explaining and defending the so-called Route 14/Vulcan Lakes proposal, complete with power point presentation. The area is 503 acres, 475 of which are the Vulcan property that the city already owns and which, a park board member observed, is off the tax rolls and can’t increase in assessed valuation.

Scant information was provided for the Main Street proposal.

Using the hints that he dropped, plus information obtained at the grade and high school board meetings during the week, plus the words of Mayor Aaron Shepley, as found in Northwest Herald articles, a vision of what the area will look like has emerged.
After getting rid of the current businesses, the city wants to have the new businesses face Vulcan Lakes, instead of Route 14.

Commissioner Michael Zellman asked, “Is there a grand plan?”

“We envision a more water-oriented, lake-oriented development…fronting on the lake, rather than on 14,” the consultant Ortega said.

“We will find developers who specialize in developing waterfront property,” added Crystal Lake Planning & Economic Development Director Michelle Rentzsch. Both the consultant and Rentzsch said they anticipated the makeover to be completed in five years.

The goal is to make the area “a unique destination on Rt. 14,” to put it in the consultant’s words. Those who have developed waterfronts elsewhere would be asked to provide concept plans. (Cordish, the redeveloper of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor might be one. It has specialized in developing entertainment districts for 25 years.)

A boardwalk has been mentioned, as well as a marina (but not with motor boats). One can easily envision restaurants with outdoor seating and a hotel. And, if it’s a typical boardwalk, can a tee-shirt shop be far behind?

Residential housing is also being considered with condos and townhouses having specifically mentioned. (That concept has taken a large part of the southern lakefront in Wauconda, which can be seen from Route 176 and is proposed for Lake Zurich, where a contentious fight between a lakefront board and breakfast and the city is taking place.)

“It seems like it could happen without a TIF,” Board Member Candy Reedy observed.

“Would the city sell part of it to developers?” Board President Jerry Sullivan asked, concerned whether part of the Vulcan Lakes property would be sold for residential development.

“Yes,” was the answer.

Breeden then asked if the park district would get impact fees. The answer was, “Certainly.”
Breeden noted that the city had recently decided to keep 40% of the park impact fees for it to use in developing Vulcan Lakes, while leaving the park district with only 60%.

“If you add a lot of roof tops, it will add a lot of burden on the park district,” park district attorney Scott Puma observed. He asked how the city would deal with that?

“In this development, we are proposing open space. We believe this would lessen the demand on the park district?” consultant Ortega answered.

“Would the city consider a long-term $1 a year lease?” Puma asked.

“This would have to be available to all the residents of the city and the park district?” was the reply.

Phelps pointed out, “Our district is larger than the city.”

“Oh, I don’t (didn’t) know about that,” was the consultant’s reply.

The relevance of Phelp’s observation is that people throughout the park district, indeed, throughout McHenry County will see their taxes increase in order to finance improvement of Vulcan Lakes, but those living outside of Crystal Lake will not be allowed to use the lakes.

So far, Crystal Lake city government has not been in the recreation business. That has been the under exclusive purview of the Crystal Lake Park District.

Phelps, an attorney, was particularly insistent in his questioning of the city’s consultant.

“I’m curious of why the park (district) should fund purchases by the city?” Phelps asked.

“It’s going to increase the (tax) rates just to maintain our current operating expenses,” he added.

Concerning the criteria for inclusion in a TIF district, Phelps asked, “Are you saying any obsolete building in the district would qualify?”

“Technically, yes, but we as a firm think (we need) a preponderance” of the buildings fitting that criterion to cite it as a reason that a TIF district could be formed. The consultant said his firm had found that 8 of the 14 buildings or 57% of the buildings were “falling into disuse.”

Included on the map were Curran Construction, Crystal Lake Tire & Battery, Crash Collusion, Builders Plumbing & Supply, among others.

Even before the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, which allowed municipalities to condemn property in order to obtain more tax revenue, Illinois law allowed cities to use eminent domain to force property owners to abandon their businesses and homes.

$8.75 million is budgeted for land acquisition, including several parcels still owned by Vulcan Materials.

Selecting one of the Rt. 14 businesses, Phelps asked, “How is that ill-suited to its original use?”

Another TIF eligibility criteria was that the assessed valuation for the properties have not increased as fast as those in the rest of Crystal Lake for the last 3 out of 5 years.

Unmentioned by the consultant was the recent $7.2 million sale of Conlon-Collins reported recently in the Northwest Herald. Algonquin Township Assessor Bob Kunz explained that Conlon-Collins had appealed its real estate assessment, but that he had won the appeal. Still, the current assessment of the land at the car dealer is $725,000, he said. That means it is assessed at 10% of fair market value, while the recent sale would indicate that the assessment should be about three times that amount. That would mean the assessment would triple for Conlon-Collins. Similar increases in assessment could be expected for other property along Rt. 14.

That the size of the district is directly related to the amount of money that the city believes it needs to put Vulcan Lakes into the shape it desires was elicited by commissioner Reedy.

Asked why the industrial triangle on the southwest corner of Vulcan Lakes was not included, the consultant replied, “It wasn’t necessary to raise the money we wanted.”

The budget includes $20 million for public improvements, almost $9 million to buy property, $250,000 for rehabilitation, and $1 million for marketing. Money can also be used for job training, engineering and architectural services. Interest on the borrowed money would roughly double the cost.

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