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JOB(S) WELL DONE, TRUSTEE COLLEEN KONICEK HANNIGAN!

Posted in BACOG, Barrington Honor Ride, Board of Health, Community Alerts, Ethics, Heritage Fest, One Barrington Hills, Plan Commission, Politics, Public Safety Committee, Resident Spotlights, Roads & Bridges Committee, Transparency, Unite Barrington Hills, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Government, Zoning Board on April 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »

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What follows was recently posted to the Village website:

“Chances are you’ve seen the lime green Jeep zipping around town….the American Flag proudly displayed on the wheel cover.  This would come as no surprise to learn that Trustee Colleen Konicek Hannigan is behind the wheel. The vibrancy of her vehicle matches her get-up-and-go drive. Yes, pun intended!

Trustee Konicek, as she is notably known, has always had, undoubtedly, a sense of duty to her village and to society.  “I think that everyone should be willing to do something to serve their community,” said Konicek Hannigan, a visible lesson she learned from her father, Dr. Frank Konicek, who has been a volunteer member of the Village’s Board of Health since its inception in 1992 and is currently its chairman.

Trustee Konicek Hannigan has been a Village Trustee since 2013, deciding to get involved in local government at a time when a bit of strife existed between neighbors all throughout our community. Controversy surrounding bikes, horses or lighting dominated headlines–and friendships. “This community was so divided ten years ago, visibly divided, that I decided to run…to tone down the rhetoric and bring back the Barrington Hills of my childhood,” said Konicek Hannigan.

She recounted neighbors on horseback stopping by for a cup of coffee and a friendly chat; neighbors getting together to create a makeshift baseball diamond to play a neighborly game; and hot air balloons landing in backyards of nearby residents.

No doubt residents’ lives have been touched in one way or another by the actions and accomplishments of Trustee Colleen Konicek Hannigan. Perhaps it was while attending the annual Hills Are Alive Fall Festivals that she co-founded in 2013 with the goal of bringing the community together. Or perhaps while running alongside her when participating in the Police Torch Run or during the Independence Day 5K/10K that she not only participated in but organized and brought to Barrington Hills. Or maybe it was while supporting the Barrington Honor Ride and Run benefitting America’s Veterans which she arranged to have routed through our scenic Village. If not by one of these events, it has been most definitely by her conviction in protecting the Village’s open spaces, zoning laws, and the characteristics that make living in Barrington Hills truly unique.

Trustee Colleen Konicek Hannigan chose not to seek reelection this year, ending her tenure of ten years. She was elected to two four-year terms and appointed to fill the remaining two-year term of the Trustee vacancy that was created when then, Trustee Brian Cecola was elected as President.

“I feel that we are back to a friendly, courteous neighborhood since we don’t have to rent out Countryside School to have Board meetings anymore…I wanted to live in the neighborhood that I grew up in again, and I feel like that has mostly happened,” said Konicek Hannigan in a reflective manner when asked about her accomplishments. “I would count that as my greatest achievement.”

While Trustee Colleen Konicek Hannigan may no longer be sitting on the Board, bets are her sights are set on new endeavors within our community. What those entail remains to be seen.

Thank you, Trustee Colleen Konicek Hannigan, for your dedication to all things Village related, your behind-the-scenes hours and selfless service!

Monday, April 24, will be “Trustee Konicek’s” last Board Meeting as next month the newly elected Trustees will be sworn in to complete the new Board.

Feel free to send her an email of thanks to CKonicek@vbhil.gov.”

Learn more about her accomplishments here.

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Double double, toil and trouble: stirring the pot

Posted in 2015 Elections, 2017 Elections, 2019 Elections, 220, Algonquin Rd, Barrington Hills Farm, Bicyclists, Commercial Horse Boarding, Deception, Elections 2011, Elections 2013, Ethics, Heritage and Environs Committee, Hoffman Estates, Horse Boarding, IDOT, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Land Disconnection, Land Use, Lighting Ordinance, Longmeadow Parkway, Organizations, Plum Farm development, Politics, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Save 5 Acres, School Districts, South Barrington, Topics Of Interest, Uncategorized, Unite Barrington Hills, Village Board, Village Director of Administration, Village Government, Village President, Your Barrington Hills on August 26, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Screen Shot 2018-08-26 at 2.45.14 PMOnce again, supporters of former Village President Bob Abboud have taken to the social media networks to begin creating a false controversy to stir the pot prior to the 2019 Village Board Elections.

Recently, some Facebook pages have started publishing information about the proposed Plum Farms Development in Hoffman Estates. One of these pages is purportedly run by the same individual who publicly cast aspersions upon the character of the Village President and members of the Board of Trustees in April of 2017 (but was unwilling and unable to provide any corroboration of her ridiculous accusations). See April 24th Board meeting recordings released.

Long-time readers of the Observer will recognize the same tired tactics of the Abboud-o-philes: create a false controversy, then stir up resident sentiment against current leadership and against those whom they may support in the upcoming elections. Save 5 Acres! Save Horse Boarding! Ban the Bikes! Save Open Space! Save Polo!

The Plum Farms Development in Hoffman Estates was used as a major 2017 campaign issue by Trustees Paula Jacobsen and Robert Zubak, but both have been eerily silent on the issue for well over a year. As candidates, Jacobsen and Zubak were so adamant about the Village having legal standing, authority and ability to impact this development, and they vowed to be the voices to vigorously “oppose harmful development”.

Today, as it was then, they chose to remain ignorant to the simple fact that this issue was over in 2004 when Bob Abboud and former administrator Bob Kosin botched the chance to work with the landowner to come to a development compromise that would have kept the property within the village, and would have protected our community from the dangers of deannexation of the parcel into an adjacent town with an insatiable hunger for more tax dollars.

But in fact, the current administration has been working in concert with South Barrington and District 220 to slow the progress of this development.  Strange that this hasn’t been reported by any of the social media outlets managed by those folks who enjoy stirring the pot.  Accusations of inaction and mismanagement by President McLaughlin and others on the Board will be aired, but nary a word of criticism of Jacobsen or Zubak.

And speaking of Jacobsen, the more vocal of the less-than-dynamic duo, what has she personally done with regard to Plum Farms as a Trustee? Nothing.  She bemoaned the Longmeadow Parkway project as a candidate, but did she volunteer to be on the IDOT advisory board for Route 62?  Nope.

Does anyone remember the laundry list of issues that she & Zubak used as their campaign platform? We do.

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The only issue they are truly interested in is commercial horse boarding, which wasn’t in their campaign platform at all.  Strange…

And back to that lengthy list of issues — what have they accomplished from that list? Nothing. And why?  Because none of those “problems” actually existed.

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Paula Jacobsen with former trustee Fritz Gohl

However, Jacobsen, who has been absent from more than 26% of the fifteen Board Meetings held since she was elected as trustee, has had the opportunity to advocate for some other interesting issues.  As stated in our previous articles, May and June 2017 Board meeting recordings released  and July Board Meeting recordings released , she has found time to question the meeting minutes which characterized her friend’s public comments at the April 24thboard meeting as slanderous.  She has questioned why the Village couldn’t have employed a warmer and fuzzier process to inform a property owner of their violation of a cease and desist order with regard to illegal demolition of a residence and violation of the tree ordinance. It should be noted that the property owner in that case was a prominent donor to her trustee campaign.

Jacobsen has pondered the complexity of the Exterior Lighting Ordinance and wondered if it shouldn’t be revisited and revised, oblivious to the divisive history of the ordinance.  Coincidentally, her interest in lighting ordinance enforcement occurred only when another friend of hers had filed a complaint against a neighbor.

Paula has also suggested giving landmark status to historical homes in the village.  When asked to explain who would be the arbiter of this distinction and the mechanics of implementation or enforcement, she had no suggestion.

She also has given detailed reports of Arbor Day plans by the Heritage & Environs Committee at no fewer than three meetings. Let’s hear it for the oak sapling giveaway!!

And there has been advocacy for costly live video-streaming of Village Board meetings, which are only attended by a handful of the same residents each month.

It is not surprising that NONE of these issues were in the Jacobsen/Zubak campaign platform and that NONE of the issues in the platform have been pursued by the duo in any meaningful way in the past fifteen months.

And why is that? Because a quiet village operating harmoniously is not something the Abboud-o-philes can tolerate.  They must have controversy and they will create controversy were none exists. And when faced with the reality that President McLaughlin & this Administration have delivered on each and every promise they have made to the community, they pivot back to the old worn-out talking points. The village is operating better than it ever has, spending has been slashed and services are more efficient.  And that makes some embittered people very unhappy.  Change is not easy for some. And they are desperate to regain control.

So the pot stirring will continue.  With a little eye of newt and toe of frog mixed in for good measure.  Here’s hoping that this bad spell will be broken soon.

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Special Board meeting set for Tuesday May 2nd

Posted in 2017 Elections, Agendas, ePacket Agendas, Uncategorized, Unite Barrington Hills, Village Board, Village President, Your Barrington Hills on May 1, 2017| 2 Comments »

VBH__LogoThe Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting on Tuesday May 2nd at 6:30 PM to swear in the recently elected village officials.  Trustee committee appointments will also be made.  The full agenda can be viewed here.

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McLaughlin, Konicek-Hannigan, Zubak, Jacobsen elected

Posted in 2017 Elections, Cook, County, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Press Release, Uncategorized, Unite Barrington Hills, Village Board, Village Government, Village President on April 27, 2017| Leave a Comment »

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Announced on the Village of Barrington Hills website today:

“All 4 counties have now released certified results for the April 4, 2017 election. We can now officially announce that President Martin J. McLaughlin has been elected to another term as Village President.

Trustee Colleen Konicek Hannigan was also reelected to another term as Trustee.
The election for the remaining two Trustee positions came down to three Trustees separated by only 4 votes.

The Village congratulates our new Trustees Robert M. Zubak and Paula Jacobsen.
We hope you’ll attend the Special Board Meeting Tuesday May 2nd at 6:30 pm where the elected will take their oath of office.”

The final vote totals for Village President by county are as follows.

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The final vote totals for Village Trustee by county are as follows.

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Barrington Hills village president preparing for new term after election night

Posted in 2017 Elections, Politics, Uncategorized, Unite Barrington Hills, Village Board, Village Government, Village President, Your Barrington Hills on April 7, 2017| Leave a Comment »

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Seeing a victory on election day, Barrington Hills Village President Martin McLaughlin said his new term will build on past initiatives in the village.

But the future is less clear in the race for trustee spots on the Barrington Hills Village Board with only one apparent winner — incumbent Colleen Konicek Hannigan — emerging among a crowded field of seven candidates. Hannigan campaigned alongside McLaughlin this year, who faced a challenge from first-time candidate Louis Iacovelli for the seat of village president.

McLaughlin captured 53.1 percent of vote in the race, based on unofficial results from Cook, Kane, Lake and McHenry counties. Iacovelli captured 46.9 percent of the vote.

In a twist, the slate of trustee candidates that campaigned with Iacovelli appeared to capture the two other trustee seats that were open this election year, although less than five votes separate apparent winners Paula Jacobsen and Robert Zubak with independent trustee candidate Matt Vondra, who appears to have finished fourth in the trustee race, based on unofficial results.

To read the full story in the Barrington Courier-Review, click here.

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Barrington Hills board race still too close to call

Posted in 2017 Elections, Uncategorized, Unite Barrington Hills, Your Barrington Hills on April 6, 2017| Leave a Comment »

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Colleen Konicek-Hannigan

 The Barrington Hills village board race remained too close to call Wednesday, according to the unofficial vote count.

Even after a handful of additional ballots were counted in Cook County, just four votes separate challengers Paula Jacobsen, Robert M. Zubak and Matthew Vondra for second through fourth place.

Six candidates vied for three open seats on the board, and so far the only clear winner is incumbent Colleen Konicek Hannigan, who received 537 votes.

Rounding out the race were challenger Ralph Sesso, with 403 votes, and incumbent Elaine M. Ramesh, with 398.

All of the precincts in Lake, Cook, Kane and McHenry counties are accounted for but there still could be votes left from early voting, mail-in ballots and provisional ballots.

To read the story in the Daily Herald, click here.

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Barrington Hills village president McLaughlin re-elected, board races too close to call

Posted in 2017 Elections, Uncategorized, Unite Barrington Hills, Village Board, Village Government, Village President, Your Barrington Hills on April 5, 2017| 2 Comments »

Screen Shot 2017-03-08 at 7.44.14 PM Barrington Hills Village President Martin McLaughlin defeated challenger Louis Iacovelli Tuesday and earned a second term in office by a margin of 68 votes, according to unofficial totals.

The results in the race to fill three spots on the village board were even tighter. Incumbent Colleen Konicek Hannigan, who got 537 votes, is the only sure winner. Just four votes separate challengers Robert M. Zubak, Paula Jacobsen and Matthew Vondra for second through fourth place. Zubak has 488 votes, Jacobsen 487 and Vondra 484.

Rounding out the board race were challenger Ralph Sesso with 401 votes and incumbent Elaine M. Ramesh with 397.

McLaughlin got 556 votes, 53.2 percent of the total, and Iacovelli got 488, around 46.8 percent.

All of the precincts in Lake, Cook, Kane and McHenry counties are accounted for but there still could be votes left to count from early voting, mail-in ballots.

To read the entire Daily Herald article, click here.

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McLaughlin for Barrington Hills President, Hannigan, Vondra and Sesso for Trustees

Posted in 2017 Elections, Commercial Horse Boarding, Deception, OP/Ed, Politics, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Save 5 Acres, Uncategorized, Unite Barrington Hills, Village Government on April 2, 2017| 5 Comments »

2017VBHBallotTuesday, April 4th marks yet another turning point in the history of the village of Barrington Hills. Residents will go to the polls again faced with a choice of continuing to advance the positive trends of the last four years, or backsliding into the mired legacy of the last administration. Three trustee positions and the office of village president are being contested.

The achievements of President Martin McLaughlin and Trustee Colleen Konicek Hannigan over their first term have been nothing short of amazing, even more so, when you consider that for their first two years they had to work with a five person opposition bloc on the Board who were blindly loyal to the old regime, and who fought against change on nearly every front. We won’t waste space here again repeating all of Marty and Colleen’s fulfilled campaign promises here, but instead refer you to the words of the Daily Herald Editorial Board when it said, “Barrington Hills has recorded some notable accomplishments and is on a constructive course for maintaining the town’s prosperity and rural charm, led by a village board whose members are dedicated and independent”, in endorsing both McLaughlin and Hannigan. We concur with their very enthusiastic endorsement.

Six candidates are vying for the two other open trustee positions. The two individuals running under the “Your Barrington Hills” (YBH) banner, along with former trustee Elaine Ramesh, despite rather desperate attempts to minimize and criticize the notable achievements of the last four years, are nothing more than “Save 5 Acres” version 3.0.

The YBH campaign has been marked by negative mailings flooding our mailboxes, attempting to create crises where none exist. Not only do they fail to acknowledge the positive accomplishments of the McLaughlin administration, they ridiculously try to imply that the village has not been prudently managed and that services have suffered. Even the specter of the phantom developer has been raised again.

As detailed in Meet the Candidates Part One and Part Two, Jacobsen, Zubak and Ramesh are distancing themselves from their extremist equestrian bias, in what we see as a deliberate attempt to mislead voters from their true agenda.  We believe that the ultimate goal of these Trojan Horsemen candidates is to reinstate ordinances permitting unbridled, large-scale commercial boarding and unimpeded related commercial equestrian activities in the Village to the benefit of their friends, at the expense of the rights of the rest of us to the peaceful enjoyment of our homes.  Electing any of these individuals will be a setback to the reforms of the past four years and will be a danger to all of our residential rights.  They have shown themselves to be completely uninformed on the true state of village affairs, and will be little more than puppets for the former regime.

That is why we are endorsing the two other independent candidates on the ballot – Matt Vondra and Ralph Sesso.

Matt Vondra, a resident since 2012, is a consultant in logistics and business development, who works for contractors in heavy and highway construction. Matt volunteers on the Executive Committee of the Barrington Area Conservation Trust and recently won the Audubon Society’s Grassroots Conservation Leadership Award for his work on the restoration plan of the Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin, Illinois.

Ralph Sesso has lived in Barrington Hills for 23 years and is an investment fund manager and a certified financial planner. He and his wife raised their four children in the village. He is running to help preserve the long standing tradition of open space and the rural nature of our community. He is also personally interested in residents finding ways to live peaceably with each other, despite differences on political issues.

Vondra and Sesso possess unique professional skills, and both are supportive of the reforms and results that Marty and Colleen have instituted over the last four years. The Observer feels strongly that these two independent candidates would work well with the current board in continuing the positive trends of fiscal responsibility and creative approaches that have become hallmarks of our village government today.

We urge you to make your voices heard again as you go to the polls on Tuesday April 4th to support McLaughlin for President, and Hannigan, Vondra and Sesso for Trustees.

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All the world’s a stage, and all we have are the same bad actors

Posted in 2017 Elections, Audio Recordings, BH Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, Community Alerts, Deception, Horse Boarding, Land Use, OP/Ed, Public Safety, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, South Barrington, Uncategorized, Unite Barrington Hills, Village Board, Village Government, Village President, Your Barrington Hills on March 31, 2017| 10 Comments »

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Less than a week remains until the election, and predictably, a flurry of 11th hour campaign mailings are landing in mailboxes, proclaiming breaking news and urgent bulletins, all carefully timed to prevent rebuttal by their targets, Martin McLaughlin and Colleen Konicek Hannigan.

This time, the mailings, which are highly critical of Marty and Colleen, are coming from a private citizen, rather than a candidate’s campaign committee, so we will not name the person in question.  But the individual is well known as a key member of the polo club,  as one of the most extreme equestrians in the village and as a bosom buddy of the former village president. Readers should be familiar with his notorious 2005 White Paper.

In his first mailing, he basically repeated many of the fabricated claims that have been raised by the Your Barrington Hills candidates Iacovelli, Jacobsen and Zubak, whom he supports, along with Equestrienne Ramesh.  Our feature Meet the Candidates Part Two: YBH — the Trojan Horsemen, published yesterday, set the record straight on many of those issues.

The second letter received today alleges a lawsuit recently filed against the village concerning commercial horse boarding is being hidden from residents.  The writer attempts rile up the electorate with false outrage and cries of lack of transparency.  Funny thing is, he fails to mention that one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit is the very same owner/operator of the commercial boarding operation on Bateman Road that has already cost our village taxpayers hundreds of thousands in legal fees in numerous lawsuits over the last decade.  Oh, and the letter writer’s polo club has an arrangement with that plaintiff to use the polo field at that very boarding facility.

So what about the assertion that the trustees and the public have not been made aware of the lawsuit?  Untrue. We direct you to the recently released recording of the Village Board meeting held on March 21st, 2017 when the lawsuit was IN FACT discussed in open session in the first board meeting held after the case was filed.  Click here to hear Village Attorney Patrick Bond’s statement that the Board was emailed a litigation update regarding the amended complaint in connection with that case.  It is apparent that both the Board and the public have been made aware of the filings.

[We wonder where the letter writer’s outrage was when the Sears litigation went on for 13 YEARS without mention to the public until President McLaughlin took it upon himself to work with South Barrington to settle that suit, which could have meant a $20 million dollar judgment against the two villages if Sears had prevailed.]

The March 21st recordings also include the Chief of Police Rich Semelsberger describing the village’s continuing use of the CTY Community Alert System.  His discussion not only makes it clear that the alert system has not been abandoned, but actually has been used, in his words, ” very liberally” for announcements of road closures, chemical spills, missing persons, etc.  He further clarified that the Police Department makes the decision to issue an alert, not the president or the board, and that the Department balances the public’s need to know with the timeliness of the message.  Semelsberger’s comments about the CTY alerts, including a mention of a FOIA request having been filed and fulfilled on the topic, can be heard here.

The Chief also responded to a Board question about police staffing here, and explained that in the 28 years that he has been with the department, there have always been a minimum of two officers on patrol at any given time.  Currently there are two officers out on extended injury, and as a result, other personnel have been reassigned to ensure adequate coverage.  Additionally, there are two new officers scheduled to begin training at the Illinois State Police Academy on April 9th, as a result of a screening process that began last year.

So, the claims about the “hidden lawsuit” are false. Claims about the abandonment of the CTY Alert System are false. Claims about insufficient police staffing are false. Claims about FOIA expenses are false. Claims about rebranding are false. Claims about 911 dispatch outsourcing are false. And on, and on, and on.

Four days remain until the election, and we see the same pitiful pattern of deception that we’ve seen in previous campaigns. Outrageous claims are made, lawsuits and FOIA requests filed, and last minute grenades are launched — all by the same bad actors.  It’s the same small vocal group, inextricably tied to the former president, that spews misinformation and attempts to bully and intimidate the regular folks in the village.  In 2013, voters said “Enough!” In 2015, they shouted “ENOUGH!”  In 2017, let’s get the big hook out and finally drag those bad actors off of the village stage once and for all.

We encourage our readers to stay informed and to share our posts with their friends and neighbors as this critical campaign draws to a conclusion on Tuesday.

[NOTE: The Observer itself is mentioned in both of the aforementioned mailings, and we have to say that free advertising is always appreciated, although not needed, as our readership is booming.]

 

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Meet the Candidates Part Two : YBH — the Trojan Horsemen

Posted in 2017 Elections, Algonquin Rd, Barrington Hills Farm, Commercial Horse Boarding, Cook, County, Deception, Hoffman Estates, Horse Boarding, IAA, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Kane, Lake, Land Disconnection, Land Use, McHenry, Plum Farm development, Real Estate, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Sears, South Barrington, Taxes, Uncategorized, Unite Barrington Hills, VBHPD, Village Government, Village President, Your Barrington Hills, Zoning Board on March 30, 2017| 8 Comments »

 

TruthWC

Three candidates running on the “Your Barrington Hills” (YBH) slate are seeking public office for the first time in Barrington Hills. Their names (Louis Iacovelli for president, Paula Jacobsen and Robert Zubak for trustee) are not familiar to most residents, as none of them have had any prior experience or position in our village government. However, their names are definitely well-known in the equestrian community, as they and their spouses have been intimately involved in the Riding Club of Barrington Hills (RCBH). As we’ve published previously, all three of these candidates and Elaine Ramesh, running separately from the slate, have all meticulously avoided nearly any reference to their penchant for all things equestrian during their campaigns.

The question being asked is, did these three choose to run because of their genuine interest in the welfare of all village residents, or did they run at the behest of others who share a hidden agenda?

The YBH candidates, can find no real fault with the record of the current administration, and have had to manufacture issues, frequently grossly misrepresenting facts in their mailers, social media platforms and their newspaper interviews, a technique taken out of the playbook of the former village president, and the Save 5 Acres and SOS campaigns in recent election cycles. Not only are their allegations not based in fact,  their responses to the candidate questionnaires published in two suburban newspapers, are nearly identical, as if penned by the same hand. They all present the same, disingenuous information, either by design to discredit and malign the current administration, or by laziness in researching village documents. Whatever the reason for the deception, none are worthy of candidacy for Village office.

Let’s examine some of the spin coming out of the Riding Club camp:

  • YBH Spin: The new 911 dispatch service is not working as well as the former in-house system?  REALITY: This is not supported by fact. According to the Chief of Police, the outsourced system actually provides better coverage and faster response times.
  • YBH Spin: Police coverage has diminished, thereby endangering residents’ safety. REALITY: This is not supported by fact, as the Village, with a static population, has had the same number of officers in the field for twenty years.
  • YBH Spin: There are no commercial businesses in Barrington Hills, and the village does not collect sales tax? REALITY: This is not supported by fact. There are a few businesses in the village, and annually $120,000 – $130,000 in sales taxes revenue is collected from them, according to Village records.
  • YBH Spin: The Village is being re-branded as embracing small lots? REALITY: This is not supported by fact. As best as we can figure, YBH is claiming this because the village website states “Large properties ranging from one to 10+ acres give residents more freedom to live how they want…” This is nothing more than a statement of fact. And, if Louis, Paula or Bob were actually familiar with the village’s official zoning map, they would know that 1-acre, 2-acre and 3-acre properties currently exist within Barrington Hills and have existed for decades (Burning Oak Trail, Barrington Bourne and Ashbury Lane to name just a few neighborhoods that have lots under 5 acres). These R-2, R-3 and R-4 districts are also referenced in the Village’s Comprehensive Plan.
  • YBH Spin: Open spaces are at risk and must be saved? REALITY: This is not supported by fact. Since the 2013 elections, to date, only 14 permits for single-family home construction have been issued for properties, all on 5 or more acres, with NO applications for subdivisions.
  • YBH Spin: FOIA expenses are out of control? REALITY: This is not supported by fact. Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) expenses are documented to be less than they were prior to 2013, and majority of the current expense can be attributed to three individuals, all of whom support this three-person slate.
  • YBH Spin: The current Administration is not protecting residents from intrusion by development in neighboring communities? REALITY: This is not supported by fact. The main issues raised by the Riding Club slate are Longmeadow Parkway (LMP) and the pending Plum Farm Development in Hoffman Estates, both of which could have been mitigated by the previous administration with proper proactive negotiation. The current administration has acted to the limits of the law in its attempts to discourage these plans. In addition to its resolution against LMP, the McLaughlin administration has opposed and spoken out against the IAA Auto Yard in East Dundee, the Speedway development in Lake Barrington in 2015, and voted against the widening of Route 62 2014-2017. And within the last month, Barrington Hills passed a 20-year border agreement with South Barrington.
  • YBH Spin: The Village Levy has not increased in twelve years? REALITY: This misrepresents the facts. According to published village financial records, the levy under the previous regime was set at $6,565,273 as set by previous administration in each of years 2011-2012-2013. The Village Board, lead by McLaughlin and trustee Colleen Konicek Hannigan LOWERED the levy in each successive year from 2014 through 2016, down to $$5,319,862. This represents a cumulative reduction in the Levy of $1,736,467.

So we ask again: are these poor hapless candidates just dazed and confused, or have these hard-core equestrians been  coached by three village residents who have strong personal reasons to support this slate of Iacovelli, Jacobsen and Zubak, (as well as Elaine Ramesh whose candidacy was the subject of our previous feature)? Their close associates include 1) the vocal large-scale commercial boarding operator who has been involved in on-going litigation with the village for eight years, 2) the chairman of a large undeveloped property located in unincorporated McHenry County, who has been fanning the flames of controversy over repeal of the flawed Anderson II horse boarding ordinance, and 3) of course, the former village president who apparently is desirous of once again imposing his failed agendas upon our village.

We believe that the ultimate goal of all four of these candidates is to reinstate ordinances to permit unbridled, large-scale commercial boarding and unimpeded related commercial equestrian activities to the Village, at the expense of the rights of the rest of us to the peaceful enjoyment of our homes.

Unbridled commercial equestrian activities may be THEIR Barrington Hills, but it’s not OUR Barrington Hills.

 

 

 

 

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