The Deer Park Village Board voted to end their membership in the Barrington Area Council of Governments (BACOG) during their last monthly meeting held on Monday, July 20th, by a vote of 4-1.
At their June meeting, the Deer Park board questioned Janet Agnoletti, Executive Director of BACOG, on a number of issues, including the way membership dues were determined among the various members. Specifically, one board member questioned why the Deer Park share was so high, given the size and population of Deer Park in comparison to other BACOG members.
According to minutes from that meeting, Agnoletti “explained that everyone pays roughly the same as regardless of size, as all members were benefitting equally.” A motion was then made to discuss withdrawing from BACOG. The discussion that ensued are summarized in the minutes from that meeting, and excerpts from those minutes can be viewed here.
In January of 2012, South Barrington nearly ended their membership in BACOG It was only after BACOG “slashed its proposed annual budget by 25 percent” at that time that the South Barrington Board decided to remain a member. In order to augment those budget cuts, Barrington Hills offered to provide office space for the organization at a highly discounted rate.
Deer Park was one of nine members of BACOG, and it remains to be seen if the organization will be making further budget cuts to offset the loss of Deer Park dues, or if the eight remaining members will have to absorb the costs.
The BACOG Executive Board will likely take this matter up at their August meeting. We’ll provide the date, time and location for the meeting when they become available on the BACOG website.
BACOG has outlived its usefulness; is redundant in that areas of interest to the member Villages are covered more comprehensively by other existing agencies. And, let’s not forget that we elect St. Reps and Senators; have we engaged them with our concerns? Any reference suggesting BACOG has given us a presence in Springfield is grossly exaggerated. I hope the Barrington Hills Trustees reconsider the Village membership in BACOG and spend those dues patching potholes.
Like many nonprofit organizations through time more and more of the focus shifts from public mission to personal concerns of generating increasing revenues to pay excessive salaries to a few. When it comes to BACOG, these revenues take the form of tax funds from Barrington area residents.
BACOG has had no vision for many years otherwise it would have done obvious things like take the lead on forming a “911 BACOG emergency center” using VBH village hall existing resources as its base providing actual value to Barrington area residents. Instead, for want of vision and enginuity, VBH had to recently outsource its 911 center due to cost and inefficiencies. No vision by former VBH Pres. and BOT; no vision by BACOG.
BACOG could have implemented an Emergency Response Plan in the event of CN Railroad disaster but did nothing. BACOG could have implemented a strategy to market Barrington Area real estate to assist plummeting real estate prices. BACOG did nothing except lobby each year for continued taxpayer subsidy.
All taxpayers get from BACOG is an annual water testing kit and rheotric when annual membership is renewed. This time Deer Park said no and I hope VBH BOT does right thing for its taxpayes by saying the same thing. Yes, there is the “pretend lobbying” in Springfield which is nothing more than a party subsidized by taxpayers. Yes, for Barrington Hills there are the usual BACOG platitudes catoring to the “water fairies” and “radicalized equestrians”.
As stated by the astute Deer Park board member, the Barrington area already has lobbyists; they are called elected officials. If these politicians cannot get the job done for their constituants then they need to be replaced. VBH annual dues to BACOG is better spent exposing ineffective politicians than an ineffective nonprofit organization. McHenry County and Lake County governments has for many years performed all the surface and aquifer water studies needed for local governments.
If BACOG believes residents support in its mission perhaps BACOG should finance itself through private donations. In my opinion, participation in BACOG should be voluntary via private giving not compulsory through payment of taxpayer revenue by accomodating and misguided local politicians. The opportunity for continued government funding would make any organization complacent, myopic and ineffective. It is too easy! Just take a look at government at large. . . .
I agree with Deer Park BOT, time for taxpayers to demand their respective BOT bag BACOG!