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Archive for the ‘Appointments’ Category

Study: Illinois’ and Chicago’s reign as corruption leaders continues

Posted in 2021 Elections, 220, Appointments, Barrington Education Association, Barrington Hills Park District, BCFPD, Big Red, Board of Education, BOHICA, Building Department, Clown Car, Conflict of interest, District 220 referendum, Dumb and Dumber, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, Horse Boarding, Mac's Property Management, Mad Cows, MOOBS, New Normal?, One Barrington Hills, OP/Ed, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Riding Center Advisory Committee, Roads & Bridges Committee, School Districts, Springfield, Taxes, Topics Of Interest, Transparency, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Director of Administration, Village Government, Village President, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on November 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »

madigan

By Glenn Minnis | The Center Square contributor

For the fourth year in a row, Chicago ranks as the country’s most corrupt city. Illinois stands as the third-most corrupt state in a University of Illinois at Chicago study.

To arrive at the findings, researchers analyzed 2021 public corruption statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Justice. In all, there were 32 public corruption convictions in the Northern District of Illinois that includes Chicago in 2021, nearly a 33% increase from the 22 convictions that were reported the year before.

State Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, isn’t surprised.

“It’s an awful shame, and goes to show you what happens when we have one party controlling everything,” Ugaste told The Center Square. “It gets to people, and they think they can do as they please instead of doing what is required of them under the law and required of them ethically.”

A solution to the long-running problem doesn’t have to be that difficult, Ugaste said.

“We have extremely weak ethics laws,” he added. “If we fixed those within the House and Senate and gave our Legislative Inspector General more authority, I think it would go a long way in helping all of it. On the Republican side, we file bills every year to strengthen the legislative inspector general and the ethics laws but they never get hearings.”

Read more here.

(Very) Related: “Better (decades) late than never”

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A Chicago Self-Destruction Plan – WSJ

Posted in Appointments, Barrington Education Association, Cook, County, Deception, Ethics, OP/Ed, Politics, Taxes, Unions on May 25, 2023| 3 Comments »

Brandon Johnson

The new mayor’s allies lay out their agenda: ‘First We Get the Money.’

Well, that didn’t take long. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was inaugurated last week, and two days later his allies released a report with their agenda for the next four years. Title: “First We Get the Money.”

They mean your money. The report offers a flavor of the trend in Chicago politics and why the once-great city is struggling.

The report says a mere $12 billion in new spending will “make Chicago truly safe” by “addressing issues that underlie crime and poverty.” To get the cash, the mayor should collect $6.8 billion by “making the wealthy and corporations pay what they owe” and then cut spending on the Chicago Police Department.

Mr. Johnson has tried to distance himself from the report, but one gets the sense this is part of the choreography. The report’s creators, Action Center on Race & the Economy (Acre) and the People’s Unity Platform, helped Mr. Johnson win. Co-author Saqib Bhatti is on his transition team. Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates is on the Acre board.

The report suggests Mr. Johnson reinstate a “head tax” on business of $33 per employee. Chicago’s previous head tax of $4 per employee was ended in 2014 by the City Council under Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who called it a “job killer” and a deterrent to business hiring.

The mayor is also urged to raise the real-estate transfer tax on sales over $1 million by 1.9 percentage points from the current 0.75%. Progressives say most of the funds would come from “skyscrapers” and commercial properties. The Windy City has plenty of $1 million homeowners and it already has the second highest tax rates in the country on commercial properties worth $1 million, according to the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Landlords with luxury apartments that are vacant should pay a fee to “encourage” them to “charge more affordable rents.” The authors want to raise the tax on jet fuel to force airlines to pay for “profiting from creating pollution in our city.” Then add a financial transactions tax for a cut of every trade at the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Board Options Exchange.

Read more of the Wall Street Journal Op/Ed piece here.

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Better (decades) late than never

Posted in Appointments, Better Government Association, Big Red, Board of Health, BOHICA, Building Department, Conflict of interest, Contests, Crain's Chicago Business, Cuba Township Road District, Deception, Elections, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, Illinois State Board of Elections, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Mac's Property Management, OMA, One Barrington Hills, OP/Ed, Politics, Property Taxes, Real Estate, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Road construction, Roads & Bridges Committee, The New Normal, The Other Half, Transparency, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Code, Village President, Village Treasurer on September 30, 2022| 1 Comment »

ethics

Last Winter, the Village of Lake Barrington published the following in their seasonal newsletter:

“Lake Barrington’s Ethics Commission

Did you know that the Village has an Ethics Commission? The independent commission adds to the overall transparency of our government and serves to investigate complaints alleging violations of the Ethics Chapter of the Village Code. We are proud to report that this 3-member Commission has never once had to meet regarding a violation!”

Their Municipal Code actually devotes a chapter to ethics, and the main page of their website contains a link to, “Report a Concern.”

As previously chronicled in this publication, if one searches our Village Code, keying in the word “ethics,” the result reads, “No Matches Found.”

Our Village needs an Ethics Commission.  How else could parties involved in complaints present their respective cases to determine if ethics violations did, or did not, occur? Listed below are typical practices that might arise in our Village, and in our opinion, may warrant investigation, understanding that there are no implications as to guilt or innocence of any on the list:

  • Should expensive legal battles, possibly precipitated by actions of elected and appointed Village officials, be investigated?
  • Should the hiring and retention of Village paid staff positions by elected family members be investigated?
  • Should contracts with vendors who maintain personal and professional relationships with elected Village officials and their families be investigated?
  • Should the solicitations of funds and hand selection of vendors by family members or close friends of elected Village officials, absent oversight by appointed Village committees, be investigated?

For these and other reasons, our Village needs to appoint an Ethics Commission to act as ombudsmen, when any question of potential maladministration or ethics violations is considered or occurs.

Candidates for this proposed commission could come from existing appointed Village bodies, ones whose objectivity would be unquestioned.

The perfect candidates for this roll are the incumbent members of the Board of Heath.  They are highly qualified, underutilized, and would prove to be an effective force in maintaining ethical governance of the Village of Barrington Hills.

Related: “Our predominantly pusillanimous Village Board (Part 1),” “Our predominantly pusillanimous Village Board (Part 2),” “Better Government Association Commends Passage of Chicago Ethics Ordinance–Sees More to Do,” “What happened to ethics reform in Illinois government? Why watchdogs have some hope,” “Meanwhile, One Barrington Hills makes amends, extinguishes website and turns the volume down,” “Learn from your (big) mistake, Laura, Bryan, Dave and Tom,” “Agreed”

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Meanwhile, One Barrington Hills makes amends, extinguishes website and turns the volume down  

Posted in 2021 Elections, Appointments, Building Department, Conflict of interest, Deception, Ethics, FOIA, FUBAR, OMA, One Barrington Hills, Politics, Village Board, Village Government, Village President on May 6, 2022| Leave a Comment »

OBH

Readers may recall we twice bumped the One Barrington Hills (OBH) committee (Brian Cecola, David Riff, Laura Ekstrom and Tom Strauss) pretty hard when they were delinquent in two consecutive filings required be the Illinois State Board of Elections (ISBE):

We decided to check in on the committee’s 2022 first quarter reporting (or lack thereof in recent history), and we discovered some very hurried fillings by OBH occurred after our second delinquency post.  The last of those ISBE postings was a long overdue final report submitted and filed by OBH on January 26th, thereby closing their account.

From the time OBH filed their Statement of Organization on February 9th, 2021, to when they submitted their Final Report on January 26th, 2022, they had posted:

  • Two A-1 reports of contributions of $1,000 or more
  • Two D-2 Quarterly reports submitted on time
  • Two D-2 Quarterly reports submitted after the deadline
  • Eight (8) D-2 Quarterly reports submitted with corrections

To view and print a copy of these reports, click here.

Having closed that error fraught chapter in their 2021 campaign, the One Barrington Hills committee expunged all records on their campaign website.  When visiting the former OBH website (click here to attempt), a message appears, either “Warning: Potential Security Risk Ahead” or “This connection is untrusted”.  To view the report, the user must tap, “Accept the Risk and Continue” or “Proceed to (unsafe) site.” Is stonewalling now their new norm?

And just last month, residents reported they couldn’t hear April’s Board of Trustees meeting due to low or no volume when they phoned in, so what are they to make of this?

If the OBH party is sending a less than subtle message to residents, consider it received, Brian, David, Laura, and Tom.  But you’re in for a LONG three (3) more years in office.

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Village posts Winter Newsletter

Posted in Appointments, Big Brother, Roads & Bridges Committee, Topics Of Interest, VBHPD, Village Board, Village President on February 1, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Newsletter

The Winter 2022 edition of the Village Newsletter was released yesterday.  A copy can be viewed and downloaded here.

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Personnel Committee meets today

Posted in Appointments, Conflict of interest, Ethics, Personnel Committee, Property Taxes, Village Government, Village Treasurer on July 19, 2021| Leave a Comment »

PC 7.19

The Village Personnel Committee meets this afternoon at 5:00 PM.  Topics on their agenda include:

  • Transition of Treasurer
  • Additional Staffing, and
  • As Presented

“Transition of Treasurer,” likely means the current Village Treasurer, Peggy Hirsch, will be leaving, and that would be a tremendous loss if that’s the case.

“As Presented,” is an item we’ve only seen recently used on the Equestrian Commission agendas.  As near as we can tell, it means, “undecided as of agenda posting deadline,” “none of your damn business” or it’s, “anything can happen Monday.”

A copy of the agenda can be found here.

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Applicants to Replace Melissa Victor as Algonquin Township Trustee revealed

Posted in 2019 Trustee Elections, Appointments, Cook, County, Deception, McHenry, Politics, Village Board on July 19, 2019| 3 Comments »

Last week we reposted an article from the McHenry County Blog announcing, “Elaine Ramesh appointed to Algonquin Township Board”.

We omitted that a total 13 candidates filed for the position created when Melissa Victor stepped down according to the Blog (see “Applicants to Replace Melissa Victor as Algonquin Township Trustee“), and two of those candidates are Barrington Hills residents as seen below:

“Elaine Marie Ramesh, Barrington Hills, patent attorney, former BH Village Clerk and Trustee, member of the McHenry County Republican Women’s Club, member of McHenry County Conservation District Advisory Committee, equestrian advocate, raised $40,000 local private match to Federal Recreational Trails program grant to install a horse trailer parking lot to support five miles of multi-use trails. 

Linda H. Cools, Barrington Hills, Citizens Advisory Group for IDOT re widening of Route 62, advocates lowering the required bid level for Highway Department, advocates countering negative publicity, ran twice for the BH Village Board, advocate of transparency, records and posts BH Village Board meetings on Facebook, endorsed by BH Trustees Fritz Gohl and Robert Zubak.”

Fritz Gohl is not a Barrington Hills trustee, although he was in some darker times in our past history. He is now in a paid position as trustee for Barrington Township (he ran unopposed) where he can inflict far less damage to the taxpayers of this Village than he did in his too many years on the Barrington Hills Board of Trustees.

Apparently, the resident who filed for consideration is not up on current events, or decided on their own that accurate facts should not matter in the trustee’s consideration. 

Robert Zubak

Our larger concern is the apparent endorsement by Trustee Robert Zubak of this resident’s filing to fill the vacancy (“apparent” due to the fact that the applicant has  “misstated” facts before).  If Zubak did endorse this applicant, does that imply an endorsement as a potential running mate in the 2021 Village Trustee elections?

Perhaps we’ll learn the answer at Monday evening’s Board of Trustees meeting. If not, only time will tell.

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Elaine Ramesh appointed to Algonquin Township Board

Posted in 2017 Elections, Appointments, McHenry, Politics, Village Clerk, Village Government on July 11, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Elaine Ramesh

The McHenry County Blog posted the following announcement yesterday:

“The three members of the Algonquin Township Board agreed to appoint Barrington Hills resident Elaine Remesh to replace Melissa Victor as Trustee.

A summary of the new Trustee follows:

Elaine Marie Ramesh, Barrington Hills, patent attorney, former BH Village Clerk and Trustee, member of the McHenry Countu Republican Women’s Club, member of McHenry County Conservation District Advisory Committee, equestrian advocate, raised $40,000 local private match to Federal Recreational Trails program grant to install a horse trailer parking lot to support five miles of multi-use trails”

The original posting can be read here.

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Barrington Hills awards top job to acting administrator

Posted in Appointments, News Media, Topics Of Interest, Uncategorized, Village Board, Village Government on July 26, 2018| 1 Comment »

AnnaPaulBarrington Hills didn’t need to look far for its new village hall leader.

Former village clerk Anna Paul, who had been acting director of administration since January, will continue in that post on a permanent basis. The village board agreed to appoint her to the job Monday night.

“I am honored and appreciative that the board unanimously voted to appoint me for the position of director of administration,” Paul said. “Final details are still being worked out, but I look forward to continuing to serve the board and the residents of Barrington Hills.”

Village President Martin McLaughlin said Paul topped about 35 candidates for the job. She earned the position and a two-year contract with her performance over the past six months, he said.

“We’ve had some significant rain issues and road issues that really tested her,” McLaughlin said Tuesday. “We had a lot of flooding in the village that we had to coordinate with multiple agencies and towns and townships. She did a great job.”

Paul, who previously worked as village clerk and Barrington Hills’ communications chief, became acting director of administration Jan. 1. She replaced Robert Kosin, who retired after serving as director of administration since 1986.

McLaughlin said Paul knows Barrington Hills’ roughly 30 square miles “from head to toe.” He said there are more duties for Barrington Hills’ director of administration who heads a small village hall staff, compared to similar positions in larger communities.

“There are a lot of nuances to the village,” he said. “I mean, Anna really will be running everything from phone lines to computer systems to coordinating with four counties, two townships, two school districts.”

The rest of the Daily Herald article can be found here.

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April 25th forum to let residents speak directly with Barrington area officials

Posted in 220, Appointments, Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce, Barrington Hills Park District, BCFPD, Harper College, News Media, Organizations, Press Release, School Districts, South Barrington, Uncategorized, Village Government on April 16, 2018| Leave a Comment »

BACC-HiRes-cropSeveral officials representing schools, libraries, park districts and other local governments in the Barrington area will address the issues facing their constituents during an upcoming public forum.

Hosted by the Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce, the second annual “Public Town Hall Forum” lets Barrington area residents hear from their local officials directly and under one roof, said Suzanne Corr, president and CEO of the Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce.

“This public town hall forum offers residents and business leaders in the Barrington area a chance to hear firsthand vital information about how their tax dollars are being used in our communities,” Corr said in a news release.

Attendees also can submit questions to the speakers during the event, which starts at 8 a.m. April 25 at Makray Memorial Golf Club, 1010 S. Northwest Highway, Barrington.

To register for the event, interested residents can call 847-381-2525 or visit the chamber’s web site at www.barringtonchamber.com.

The speakers for this year’s forum include Jesse Henning, the new executive director of the Barrington Area Library; Brian Harris, superintendent of Barrington School District 220; Jim Kreher, fire chief of the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District; Dennis Kelly, treasurer of the Barrington Hills Park District; Teresa Jennings, executive director of the Barrington Park District; Jay Morgan, executive director of the South Barrington Park District; and Kenneth Ender, president of Harper College, the chamber said.

To read the full article in the Chicago Tribune, click here.

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