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Archive for the ‘2017 Elections’ Category

Local papers publish candidate questionnaires

Posted in 2017 Elections, Cook, County, Heritage Fest, Horse Boarding, Kane, Lake, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Longmeadow Parkway, McHenry, News Media, Pension Funding, Public Safety, Real Estate, Road construction, Taxes, Traffic, Uncategorized, Unite Barrington Hills, Village Board, Village President, Well Water Quality, Your Barrington Hills on March 22, 2017| 2 Comments »

vote Both major regional newspapers recently released the responses to their Candidate Questionnaires.

Here are the trustee candidate questionnaires published in the Northwest Herald.

To read village president candidates’ answers to the Northwest Herald’s questions, click here.

The link to the Daily Herald’s village president profiles is here, and the trustee candidate profile link is here.

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Early voting for April 4th Election starts today

Posted in 2017 Elections, Cook, County, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Uncategorized, Unite Barrington Hills on March 20, 2017| 1 Comment »

voteVoters seeking to cast their ballots early for the April 4th Village Board Election can do so starting today in all four counties.  Seats on school boards, park district boards, library boards, township offices and other county/regional offices are also up for grabs.

The closest early polling places for Barrington Hills residents are:

  • Cook County — Barrington Hills Village Hall, 112 Algonquin Rd.
    Monday – Saturday 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Closed Sunday)
    Monday April 3 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
  • Kane County — Dundee Township , 611 E Main St, Suite 201, East Dundee
    Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. (Closed Saturday & Sunday)
  • Lake County — Lake Barrington Village Hall, 23860 N Old Barrington Rd.         Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
    Saturdays 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (Closed Sunday)
  • McHenry County –Algonquin Township, 3702 US Hwy 14, Bldg 6B,
    Road Dist. Room, Crystal Lake
    Monday March 20th – Monday April 3rd 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
    Saturdays 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM (Closed Sunday)

Voters needing more information about Early Voting should contact the appropriate County Clerk’s Office.

 

 

 

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Meet the candidates – Part One: The Strange Case of the Disappearing Equestrienne

Posted in 2017 Elections, BACT, Barrington Hills Park District, BH Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, FPDCC, Friends of Forest Preserves, Horse Boarding, Land Use, Longmeadow Parkway, McHenry, OP/Ed, Riding Center Advisory Committee, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Uncategorized on March 20, 2017| 14 Comments »

Recently the Observer published links to some of the websites for candidates in the upcoming April 4th village election. In reviewing those sites, we noticed some glaring omissions and dare we say it – “lack of transparency” about their community involvement and their positions on some of the most important village issues.

Let’s begin with a look at Elaine Ramesh, who is seeking “re-election” as Village Trustee, although she has not been on the Board since 2013. Her choice of words already comes across as a bit deceptive.560_brookdaleopen2

  • EXPERIENCED LEADERSHIP/EXCELLENT RESULTS?  Ramesh’s Facebook page displays her credentials and governmental involvement, obviously focusing on her time as trustee four years ago. Despite the list of “excellent results” and “eye on the bottom line” that she includes, readers will recall that she routinely disregarded input from residents and tended to view issues only from her personal point of view. She rarely spoke up in discussions during Board of Trustees meetings, and members of the Board and audience were routinely surprised by many of her votes, given that she seldom gave any rationale for her decisions. Ramesh’s lack of explanations did a disservice to both her constituents who deserve accountability from their public servants, and to her fellow board members, whose opinions on various topics might have been swayed if she had offered her personal insights publically. It is because of this reticence that some have labeled her “the Silent One”.
  • “I’M NOT RUNNING ON ANY PLATFORM”  “Basically, I’m not running on any platform, but just offering myself as a volunteer to serve my community,” Ramesh said of her current campaign. (Barrington Courier Review March 8, 2017)  As we have previously stated in our article Ramesh repeat? We hope not, Elaine seems to have intentionally omitted mention of her extensive involvement in the equestrian community, instead focusing on her membership and support of conservation groups. It’s hard to understand why someone who clearly loves horses and the equestrian way of life would omit ANY mention of horses in her campaign. On her campaign site, she shows off her adorable cat and dog, and is pictured jogging in the village or volunteering with the Girl Scouts. But there are no horses, ANYWHERE? Strange. We would call that a lack of transparency.elaine  But Elaine is not just a competitor in hunter/jumper events with her own horses, and isn’t just a member of numerous equestrian organizations (Riding Club of Barrington Hills, American Horse Council, Equine Land Conservation Resource and the United States Equestrian Federation). To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with owning horses and enjoying them – it is a wonderful part of the fabric of our Village. But Elaine Ramesh has held, and currently holds, significant leadership roles in several high profile equestrian groups with very narrow agendas which she is not being forthcoming about. Here’s just a partial list:
    • President of the Riding Club of Barrington Hills, 2015
    • Founder & Chair of the Equestrian Coalition of McHenry County, a regional organization to unite various local equestrian groups to pursue common goals regarding equestrian land use.
    • Past Board Member Illinois Equine Research and Promotion Board, whose mission statement is is to enhance the Illinois equine industry through self-funded programs, projects and activities. http://www.iepb.org/index.html
    • Second Vice President of the Horseman’s Council of Illinois http://www.horsemenscouncil.org/leadership  HorsesFirst_HCIHere’s a graphic from the Spring 2016 issue of the Horsemen’s Council of Illinois Courier newsletter that should give you an idea of their mission statement.
  • COMMUNITY ACTIVISM  We’d also like to remind readers of Elaine’s talk presented to the McHenry County Horse Club in March 2012, entitled “Community Activism — Equestrian Style.”
  • “DEFENDED ESTATE CATEGORY OF ZONING IN McHENRY COUNTY ” We would be remiss if we did not acknowledge Ramesh’s participation in advocating for the inclusion of the Estate Category of Zoning in the McHenry County Unified Development Ordinance and for opposing “conservation design” as the county’s only model for future subdivision development. Those are important elements to help preserve the natural ecology of the county and to help safeguard against dense small-lot housing as being the norm for the county.  But Elaine herself is remiss when she does not also mention her strong defense of the equestrian heritage of McHenry County and her desire for promotion of the equine industry in the county in the same document.

 The Village’s 2010 press release on the topic included Ramesh’s entire submission to McHenry  County, which can be seen here.  We would like readers to pay particular attention to how she signed her remarks.

RameshEquestrienne

…Equestrienne…

Readers will have to judge for themselves if Ramesh is, in her own words “not running on any platform”, only seeking “to help protect our healthy outdoor lifestyle, pastoral viewscapes and heritage”.  Or is she an equestrian activist with a hidden agenda that she doesn’t want voters to know about? We think the facts speak for themselves.

(In case you’re curious to see Elaine’s campaign platform from 2009 when she first ran for trustee, click here to see the PDF.  At that time she said that “she works to help preserve the residents [sic] rights to participate in all equestrian activities”.

 

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McLaughlin and D220 join to oppose Hoffman Estates housing development/TIF district

Posted in 2017 Elections, 220, 300, Cook, Hoffman Estates, Land Use, Plum Farm development, Politics, School Districts, Taxes, Uncategorized, Unite Barrington Hills, Your Barrington Hills on March 16, 2017| Leave a Comment »

(Several readers provided us with their observations after attending Wednesday night’s Hoffman Estates Village Meeting, and a later gathering of neighbors who heard from Martin McLaughlin.)

Last night, a group of concerned D220 & D300 taxpayers, led by elected officials Barrington Hills Village President Martin McLaughlin, District 220 School Board President Brian Battle and D220 Board Member Angela Wilcox, assembled at the Hoffman Estates Village Hall to attend the Planning & Zoning Commission Hearing on the proposed Plum Farms development and to speak on behalf of their constituents. However, shortly after they arrived, they learned that the Plum Farms hearing had been removed from the Agenda and deferred until April 5th.

Before the meeting start, we understand that McLaughlin, Battle and Wilcox assembled with the residents in attendance to strategize opposition to the mixed-use project that could introduce upwards of 500-800 new students to the two school districts. When notified that the Hoffman Estates commission would not be discussing the Plum Farms development at all, and would not be accepting any public comments before or after their regular agenda items, President McLaughlin entered his prepared comments on behalf of the residents of Barrington Hills to the Clerk. Those remarks have also been obtained by the Observer and you can read his comments here.   We will be interested to see if his comments in fact do make it into the Official Record.

(When it was apparent that there would be no opportunity for public input, McLaughlin departed to discuss updates from Springfield on the status of LMP, and also to discuss the Plum Farms (Iatarola) development with dozens of concerned constituents at a private village residence.)

After the Planning Meeting started, a number of Barrington Hills residents gathered outside the room. Current candidate for D220 School Board Mike Shackleton was in attendance, as were Louis Iacovelli and Paula Jacobsen, representing the Riding Club slate from “Your Barrington Hills” (YBH). D220 Board President Battle proceeded to describe in detail the scope of the proposed development and its projected negative impact on both D300 & D220 taxpayers. Meanwhile, the YBH candidates tried to insist that VBH won’t defend its residents, but offered no solutions of their own.

Another reader who attended the subsequent McLaughlin meeting tells us that some progress is being made on slowing down construction of  Longmeadow Parkway. State Senator Pamela Althoff, who is the sponsor of SB1518, is not accepting amendments to that “quick take” legislation, which means that the Autumn Trail properties cannot be added to the current bill. However, there is a “shell bill”’ (which is currently empty) which can be filled in later to include Autumn Trail for “quick-take”. McLaughlin, working in coordination with several trustees, affected Autumn Trail residents and other concerned property-owners have already filed over 150 witness slips in opposition to the shell bill, known as SB1066.

We thank our readers for their contributions to this segment, and we will continue keep you informed of any new developments.

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Endorsements: Hannigan, Ramesh, Zubak for Barrington Hills village board

Posted in 2017 Elections, Commercial Horse Boarding, Land Use, News Media, Pension Funding, Public Safety, Sears, Taxes, Uncategorized, Unite Barrington Hills, Village Board, Village Government, Village President, Your Barrington Hills on March 16, 2017| 5 Comments »

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Colleen Konicek-Hannigan

After experiencing some political turbulence in the transition to a new administration in 2013, government in the village of Barrington Hills is beginning to settle back into a sense of stability, if not yet absolute calm. While the village has put a decades-old lawsuit behind it, reduced expenses and revised some of its communications systems, some residents remain concerned that more needs to be done — and that some of the things that have been done have moved the village in the wrong direction.

In that climate, seven people have filed to seek three available positions on the village board.  Readers can see the entire Daily Herald article by clicking on this link.

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Endorsement: McLaughlin for Barrington Hills village president

Posted in 2017 Elections, Commercial Horse Boarding, Pension Funding, Public Safety, Sears, Taxes, Uncategorized, Unite Barrington Hills, Village Government, Village President on March 16, 2017| 3 Comments »

McLaughlin

Martin J. McLaughlin

It’s not every elected official who can state unequivocally that he delivered on every campaign promise, but Martin McLaughlin can record his accomplishments in black and white — budget, spending and tax levy all reduced; settlement of labor issues and an unbelievably long-standing civil suit with Sears; efficiencies gained through consolidation of functions and resources and a variety of achievements aimed at maintaining the town’s rural charm; and building a greater sense of community. We didn’t endorse McLaughlin in his first bid for village president, but we can’t argue with the results on the balance sheet of his first term.

The full Daily Herald Editorial Board endorsement can be read here.

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Unite Barrington Hills Candidates Find Hoffman Estates Development “Taxing”

Posted in 2017 Elections, 220, 300, Cook, Land Disconnection, Press Release, School Districts, Taxes, Uncategorized, Unite Barrington Hills on March 14, 2017| 1 Comment »

UniteBH__Logo Press Release:  Unite Barrington Hills candidates, Martin McLaughlin and Colleen Konicek Hannigan, oppose the burdening of Barrington Hills’ taxpayers with the proposed Hoffman Estates development at Routes 59 and 72 (now outside the Barrington Hills’ border due to 2010 deannexation) which will place more students into CUSD 220 and 300.

A meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 15, at 7:00 PM at the Hoffman Estates Municipal Center, 1900 Hassell Road, Hoffman Estates.  This appears to be the only date scheduled for public comment and the candidates encourage residents to attend and be heard.

The full text of today’s press release can be read on the unitebh.com Facebook page.

 

 

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Ramesh repeat? We hope not

Posted in 2017 Elections, BH Polo Club, Bicyclists, Commercial Horse Boarding, Horse Boarding, Longmeadow Parkway, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Uncategorized, Village Board, Village Government on March 12, 2017| 2 Comments »

RameshScout On her new Facebook page , Elaine Ramesh asks residents to re-elect her as Trustee of the Village of Barrington Hills. When one seeks re-election to a position previously held, we think it appropriate to ask “is past behavior a predictor of future performance”?

Dr. Ramesh (PhD Organic Chemistry) certainly possesses impressive academic credentials, including a law degree. It is surprising however, given her background, that her approach to government has been less than cerebral. In fact, it is just the opposite:

  • Longmeadow Parkway (LMP): In the Winter 2013 issue of the Village Newsletter, Ramesh wrote “Over the past few years, I have represented the Village in Kane County for planning-related events such as the Kane County 2040 Plan and the Longmeadow Parkway project.”  Former Village President Bob Abboud vigorously supported the LMP without input from Village residents and with disregard for the impact on Autumn Trail property owners. It seems that Ramesh agreed, being the only person from Barrington Hills directly involved in the process, and not once voicing her opposition to the ill-conceived Toll Bridge project which is now moving along at breakneck speed.
  • Barrington Honor Ride & Run: At the June 2012 Board of Trustees meeting, Trustee Ramesh voiced her non-support of Barrington Honor Ride and Run, an annual  charity bike ride that raises money for veterans who suffered grievous injuries in service to our country. Part of the 30-mile course for the ride runs through Barrington Hills for about ninety minutes on a Sunday morning, and thus needed approval by the Village Board.  The majority of the Board reluctantly approved the event, but limited the registration to 150 to 200 participants. One of Ramesh’s reasons for non-support was that the ride would inconvenience residents and would be dangerous for the participants. She also cited potential “rudeness” by participants, which then-President Abboud promptly confirmed. The “rudeness” was anecdotal and unconfirmed by other residents.  Ironically, Elaine pushed for unlimited use of the polo field at Oakwood Farm for weekday practices and for the LeCompte Kalaway Cup Polo Matches, an annual event that brings over 2,000 attendees to the Village, the vast majority of them who are non-residents. It seems that horses are more important to her than honoring and helping our men and women who have bravely served our country.
  • Riding Club of Barrington Hills:  For some reason, Dr. Ramesh is not promoting her association with the Riding Club, having been a member for well over a decade and despite having served as its President in 2015. Judging from her Facebook page, Ramesh’s only recreational interests would seen to be jogging, spending time with her dog and cat and volunteering with the Girl Scouts.

RameshAbboudPlaque We believe Dr. Ramesh has a hidden agenda to serve only the equestrian community rather than the best interests of all residents and is inextricably tied to the failed policies and disastrous agenda of former Village President Bob Abboud.

So, is her past behavior indicative of future performance? We’ll leave that for the voters to decide.

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More trustee candidates unveil sites

Posted in 2017 Elections, Uncategorized, Unite Barrington Hills, Village Government, Village President, Your Barrington Hills on March 11, 2017| Leave a Comment »

vote More trustee candidates in the upcoming April 4th election (running independently from the Unite Barrington Hills Unite Barrington Hills and Your Barrington Hills slates) have unveiled internet sites.

Matt Vondra’s campaign website is VoteVondra.com

Former trustee Elaine Ramesh is using Facebook for her internet presence, touting “Elaine 4 Our Beautiful Barrington Hills”. You can find her Facebook page here.

Write-in candidate Linda Cools also has a Facebook page for her campaign here.

 

So far, we haven’t seen any site online for the remaining candidate, Ralph Sesso.  We will keep readers posted on any developments.

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Contested races for village president, trustee in Barrington Hills

Posted in 2017 Elections, Algonquin Rd, Commercial Horse Boarding, Community Alerts, Horse Boarding, Land Use, Longmeadow Parkway, Public Safety, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Traffic, Uncategorized, Unite Barrington Hills, Your Barrington Hills on March 9, 2017| 3 Comments »

Screen Shot 2017-03-08 at 7.44.14 PM

Martin McLaughlin        Louis Iacovelli

Several candidates running for spots on the Barrington Hills Village Board highlighted property rights, government transparency and village spending as top issues facing the village, giving local voters much to think about before the municipal election April 4.

In total, two candidates are vying for the title of village president and six others are campaigning to secure three trustee seats on the board.

Village President Martin McLaughlin is running for re-election against first-time challenger Louis Iacovelli. Like in the 2013 election, McLaughlin is campaigning alongside trustee Colleen Konicek Hannigan, who also is seeking re-election, both candidates said.

Iacovelli has formed a similar political slate with trustee candidates Paula Jacobsen and Robert Zubak.

The other candidates for Barrington Hills trustee, who all are running independently, include Matt Vondra, Ralph Sesso and Elaine Ramesh.

To read the entire Barrington Courier-Review article which includes platforms and key issues of the candidates, click  here.  We’ll have more to say about this article in a future editorial.

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