Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Dumb and Dumber’ Category

Bought and paid for. Not sour grapes but reality.

Posted in Barrington Education Association, Clown Car, Cost of Living, Deception, Democratic Socialists of America, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Dumb and Dumber, Economy, Education, Elections, ETSB, Fat Bastard, Fools and their money, Girlie man, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois State Board of Elections, League of Women Voters, Lipstick On A Pig, Look For The Union Label, OP/Ed, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Rights, Property Taxes, Real Estate, Resident Spotlights, School Districts, Springfield, Taxes, The Chicago Way, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on November 4, 2026| 2 Comments »

 

IL State Senate District 26 Results

IL State House District 52 Results

Related: “Wealth and Party Machine Are Buying the Northwest Suburbs Votes”

Read Full Post »

District 220 Board of Education meets tonight

Posted in 220, Agendas, Appointments, BACOG, Barrington Education Association, Barrington High School, Board of Education, Clown Car, Conflict of interest, Daily Herald, Deception, Democratic Socialists of America, District 220 referendum, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Dumb and Dumber, Education, Elections, Ethics, Facebook, Goat Rodeo, His Master's Voice, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois State Board of Elections, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Look For The Union Label, Pension Funding, Politics, Property Taxes, Real Estate, School Districts, SNAFU, Snowflake Effect, South Barrington, Taxes, The New Normal?, Video Streaming, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on October 20, 2026| 1 Comment »

The District 220 Board of Education meets this evening at 6:00 PM at the District Administration Center, 515 W. Main Street. Items on their agenda include:

A copy of the agenda packet can be viewed here. The meeting will be live streamed on the district YouTube channel.

*Related: “Barrington High School’s Polling Place Appears to Be Missing from the Notices the Law Requires,” “A Polling Place for Some: Barrington High School’s Invitation-Only Early Voting,” “District 220 board members approve policy update on political activities,” “District 220 board members violated campaign policies, investigation finds,” “Proposed Policy Change Would Strip Anonymous Formal Grievances in Barrington District 220,” “CUSD 220 Board delivers second (slappier) slap on the wrist to member Erin Chan Ding,” “CUSD 220 Board of Education public comments we applaud,” “Over $100,000 in Special Interest Funding gifted to 220 Board member’s campaign in failed bid for State Rep job,” “New Evidence of Chan Ding’s Policy Violations and Conflicts of Interest,” “The D220 Board of Ed gets another ‘F’ in accountability & transparency,” “The Real Issue in Barrington 220 Isn’t Parking or Levies — It’s Leadership Culture,” “BOARD OF ED VOTES, MEMBER CHAN DING MADE FLAGRANT POLICY VIOLATIONS – Part 2,” “BOARD OF ED VOTES, MEMBER CHAN DING MADE FLAGRANT POLICY VIOLATIONS,” “District 220’s Lack of Transparency (Updated),” “District 220’s Lack of Transparency” and “Change.org Petition: ‘For the Resignation of Erin Chan Ding ~ D220 Resources are Not for Political Campaigns’”

Read Full Post »

Editorial: Chicago considers charging suburbanites more to park. How neighborly

Posted in Chicago Tribune, Cost of Living, Democratic Socialists of America, Dumb and Dumber, Dumb Bunny, Look For The Union Label, OP/Ed, Politics, Preckwinkle's Rules of Order, Taxes, The New Normal?, Unions on October 1, 2026| Leave a Comment »

People walk along North Michigan Avenue as tulips bloom April 12, 2026, in downtown Chicago. | Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune

The last dumb idea from City Council

By The Editorial Board | Chicago Tribune

A new parking meter deal is done and dusted, as City Council on Tuesday approved a $2.53 billion agreement allowing Stonepeak Partners to take over the remaining 57 years of Chicago’s parking meter lease. Good. We were tired of writing about this historic disaster.

But that doesn’t mean there cannot be another one just ahead.

Now, aldermen are looking to the future. And as some gaze into their crystal ball, they see a brave new world in which suburbanites pay more to park.

An idea is floating around to bifurcate parking meter prices, adding a surcharge of 25 to 50 cents an hour for non-Chicagoans who park in the city, according to Ald. Walter “Red” Burnett, 27th.

Ald. Walter “Red” Burnett – Remember his face because we highly doubt this will be the last dumb idea he’ll have.It’ll raise revenue, he says, though he couldn’t say how much, and encourage public transit, though that doesn’t take into account the frequent inadequacy of those options from the suburbs, especially on evenings and weekends.What we know for sure is that such a move is crazy-town nonsense.

Ald. Walter “Red” Burnett – Remember his name and face since we highly doubt this will be the last dumb idea he’ll have.

“It’s easy to track, they already have the data now,” Burnett said. “We want our suburban counterparts to help when they’re clogging up the system.”

Clogging up the system? Oy.

We have an altogether different view of our neighbors to the north, south and west.

We view them not as bumbling annoyances from which to extract extra cash for the privilege of parking their car on the street, but value their awe and enjoyment of our city, even if they only stick around for a little while.

Editorial continues here.

Read Full Post »

Village Board of Trustees meet tonight

Posted in Aunt Blabby, BACOG, BCFPD, Big Red, Board of Health, Cost of Living, Deception, Dumb and Dumber, Elections, ePacket Agendas, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, Finance Committee, Financial Reports, Flock Cameras, Heritage and Environs Committee, Insurance Committee, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Land Use, Lennie, OMA, Plan Commission, Police Pension Board, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Real Estate, Riding Club Commission, Roads & Bridges Committee, Taxes, Transparency, Unions, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Clerk, Village Code, Village Director of Administration, Village Engineer, Village Government, Village President, Village Treasurer, Well Water Quality, Yabba Dabba Doo, Zoning Board on September 28, 2026| Leave a Comment »

The Village Board of Trustees will be conducting their regular monthly meeting this evening beginning at 6:30 PM. Topics on their agenda include:

A copy of their agenda, including info on listening to the meeting, can be viewed and downloaded here.

Read Full Post »

Village Board of Trustees meet tonight

Posted in Aunt Blabby, BACOG, Big Red, Board of Health, Building Department, Clown Car, Conflict of interest, Deception, Dumb and Dumber, ePacket agendas, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, Finance Committee, Folds of Honor, Insurance Committee, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Lennie, OMA, One Barrington Hills, Pension Funding, Plan Commission, Plum Farm development, Police Pension Board, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Real Estate, Riding Club Commission, Road construction, Roads & Bridges Committee, Topics Of Interest, Transparency, Unions, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Clerk, Village Code, Village Director of Administration, Village Engineer, Village Government, Village President, Village Treasurer, Yabba Dabba Doo, Zoning Board on July 27, 2026| Leave a Comment »

The Village Board of Trustees will be conducting their regular monthly meeting this evening beginning at 6:30 PM. Topics on their agenda include:

  • [Vote] Accept the Annual Financial Report for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2025 – Eccezion
  • [Vote] Resolution Approving the 2026 Stormwater Management Program Plan (SMPP) and Authorizing its use for the Collection of Data Necessary to Prepare the Village’s Annual Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System(MS4) Report Resolution 26 –
  • Land We Love Run America250 5K/10K or 2-Mile Walk Summary

A copy of their agenda, including info on listening to the meeting, can be viewed and downloaded here.

Read Full Post »

Village Board of Trustees meet tonight

Posted in Aunt Blabby, BACOG, Building Department, Clown Car, Data Center, Dumb and Dumber, EJ&E/Canadian National, ePacket Agendas, Ethics, Hoffman Estates, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Land Use, One Barrington Hills, Open Meetings Act, Pension Funding, Plan Commission, Plum Farm development, Police Reports, Politics, Privacy, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Real Estate, Roads & Bridges Committee, Sears, Simple Minds, South Barrington, Taxes, The Land We Love Run, Topics Of Interest, Traffic, Transparency, Unions, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Clerk, Village Code, Village Director of Administration, Village Engineer, Village President, Village Treasurer, Well Water Quality, Zoning Board on June 29, 2026| Leave a Comment »

The Village Board of Trustees will be conducting their regular monthly meeting this evening beginning at 6:30 PM. Topics on their agenda include:

A copy of their agenda, including info on listening to the meeting, can be viewed and downloaded here.

*Ironically (and moronically), just six months ago President Cecola invited an unannounced guest to present their ideas on a 110-acre data center proposal adjacent to Pond Gate Farms that would have necessitated rezoning that acreage to Light Industrial in Barrington Hills at his December board meeting.

Read Full Post »

Editorial: What’s really at stake in the Pritzker-Johnson cold war

Posted in Chicago Tribune, ComEd Four, Commodius Maximus, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Dumb and Dumber, Entertainment, Ethics, OP/Ed, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Scott Stantis, Simple Minds, Springfield, Taxes on May 26, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Scott Stantis editorial cartoon for Sunday, May 24, 2026 on the fight between Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson over the Bears stadium. | Scott Stantis/For the Chicago Tribune

By The Editorial Board | Chicago Tribune

As we witness the current dysfunction between Chicago City Hall and Springfield, we easily forget that for most of the past 60 years Illinois governors were Republicans while Chicago mayors were Democrats.

There was some tension in those relationships. But for the most part those GOP governors and Chicago mayors cooperated effectively on matters of importance to Chicago. Chicago mayors — for the bulk of that time period, their last names were Daley — understood how to prioritize their requests to Springfield for assistance to ensure they could get to “yes.” And GOP governors — Jim Thompson in the 1980s, Jim Edgar for much of the ‘90s and then George Ryan in the early 2000s — understood that a growing and economically strong Chicago was a boon for the entire state.

During Illinois’ brutal budget wars of the 2010s, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel were frequently at odds on a host of issues. But everyone understood the real warring parties at the time were Rauner and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan. For all the verbal broadsides, no one ever believed Rauner and Emanuel, who were friends for years before that era, couldn’t communicate with each other reasonably even if striking deals was challenging.

Which bring us to right now.

What is there to say about the relationship between Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker, both Democrats?

What relationship? There doesn’t appear to be any.

The editorial continues here.

Read Full Post »

IRS: Illinois led nation in rate of income loss in 2023

Posted in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Dumb and Dumber, Economy, FUBAR, Illinois Policy Institute, Mad Cows, New Normal?, Pension Funding, Politics, Taxes on April 23, 2026| 1 Comment »

By Bryce Hill | Illinois Policy Institute

Illinois lost a larger share of income from outmigration than any other state in 2023, according to IRS data.

Federal tax returns show that Illinois lost a net of nearly 56,000 residents and more than $6 billion in income in 2023, the latest data available. When adjusting for total income per state, Illinois’ losses to net outmigration are the worst in the country — more than $11 for every $1,000 previously earned in the state.

While California ($13 billion) and New York ($10.6 billion) lost more income from outmigration, Illinois lost the largest share of a state total.

Meanwhile, South Carolina and Florida, two of the top three states adding the most total income from people moving in, also added the most as a share of their total income.

Part of why Illinois sees so much wealth flight is that high-income Illinoisans are leaving at twice the rate of other groups. People in all income brackets are moving out of the state, but those earning more than $200,000 a year have been leaving the fastest.

Article continues here.

Read Full Post »

Do you trust our Board of Trustees? We don’t. But you decide for yourself once we have finished. (Part 4)

Posted in AI, Audio Recordings, Clown Car, Comprehensive Plan, Crime, Data Center, Deception, Dumb and Dumber, ePacket Agendas, Ethics, FOIA, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Land Disconnection, Land Use, Lennie, New Normal?, Newsletter, OMA, One Barrington Hills, OP/Ed, Open Meetings Act, Perjury, Plan Commission, Politics, Privacy, Property Taxes, Real Estate, Simple Minds, Taxes, Topics Of Interest, Transcripts, Transparency, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Clerk, Village Code, Village Director of Administration, Village Government, Village President, Zoning Board on April 3, 2026| 3 Comments »

Village of Barrington Hills board members (l-r) JC Clarke, Laura AB Ekstrom, Brian Cecola, Marsha McClary, David Riff and Jessica Hoffmann. Not pictured: Thomas Strauss.

Our Village Board of Trustees met Monday evening. This marked the third meeting since their December 2025 meeting when residents were blindsided to learn, “110 Acre AI data center campus pitched to Village Board.”

The first speaker Monday night expressed their continued dissatisfaction with the Board as follows:

“All right. Good evening. My name is Aaron Becker. By now you probably know who I am.

I’m speaking tonight in regards to the Village attorney’s letter in response to my questions from January 27th,and I’ve got a couple other comments as well.

I really appreciate the Village responding in righting to my quick response. However, I ask respectfully and directly why several of my explicit questions and requests were not answered at all. They were just omitted, so… .

The response explains why it believes its past actions were lawful, but it does not confirm whether any of the safeguards I requested would be implemented. My question tonight is simple: was the omission intentional?

In the Village Summer 2021 newsletter, residents were told by Trustee Ekstrom, she’s not here today, and I’m going to quote her, ‘Most residents know that they can attend the Village Board meetings, many may not realize that committee and commission meetings are also open to the public. Our Village is a community above all else and having input from our residents reflected in our decision making is not only welcome but encouraged.’

I’ll say this much, I genuinely appreciate that perspective and I believe her. With that in mind, here’s some feedback:

Please confirm that all off-record communications with Brennan Development Group will stop.

Please stop project specific merit discussions absent of formal filings.

Please confirm that unsupported tax claims will not be repeated by the Village without substantiation.

Please confirm that records will be preserved.

Please do everything in your power to maintain true independence of the Plan Commission.

I’d also like the Board to reflect on some of the statements Board of Trustees members have made in the past. In the same Summer 2021 newsletter, residents were told by Trustee Strauss that quote, ‘We live in a special community, and the Board is committed to maintaining our heritage.’

And Trustee Riff said, ‘I would like to make certain that we remain focused on the budget, protect our residential zoning rights (or rather zoning laws), and ensure that our community remains safe and secure for all residents.’

So those are strong words. And they matter. So I’ll ask each of you as Trustee members, do you believe that based on all of the emails we have now seen and read that you have honored those commitments? That you are protecting our residential zoning rights. And that you are maintaining our heritage as a Village.

I’ll be honest, I don’t. I read all the emails. I don’t believe it.

You have to go to bed at night. You have to look yourself in the mirror and say that you believe you’ve protected the residential zoning rights with your actions and your words.

My wife spoke last month about actions and words and holding people accountable when their actions and words don’t align. And that’s what we’re here doing asking of our leaders for continuity between their actions and their words.

That’s all I’m asking. When you say you’re going to do something, follow through and do it. Please.

So, to summarize, respond to the five requests I had in the letter either acknowledging you made a mistake and how you’re going to fix it, or that you made no mistake.

Either way we deserve clarity we deserve responses to those.

That’s my comment. Thank you very much.”

The audio recordings from the March 30, 2026, Board of Trustees meeting can be found here.

Related: “Do you trust our Board of Trustees? We don’t. But you decide for yourself once we have finished. (Follow-up),” “Do you trust our Board of Trustees? We don’t. But you decide for yourself once we have finished. (Part 3),” “Do you trust our Board of Trustees? We don’t. But you decide for yourself once we have finished. (Part 2),” “Do you trust our Board of Trustees? We don’t. But you decide for yourself once we have finished. (Part 1),” “110 Acre AI data center campus pitched to Village Board”

 

Read Full Post »

Village Board of Trustees meet tonight

Posted in Aunt Blabby, Board of Health, Building Department, Clown Car, Conflict of interest, Deception, Dumb and Dumber, ePacket Agendas, Ethics, Financial Reports, Heritage and Environs Committee, Insurance Committee, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Legal Expenses, Lennie, Minutes, One Barrington Hills, Overhead, Plan Commission, Police Pension Board, Politics, Property Taxes, Riding Club Commission, Roads & Bridges Committee, Save 5 Acres, Simple Minds, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Clerk, Village Code, Village Director of Administration, Village Engineer, Village President, Village Treasurer, Zoning Board on March 30, 2026| Leave a Comment »

The Village Board of Trustees will be conducting their regular monthly meeting this evening beginning at 6:30 PM. Topics on their agenda include:

  • [Vote] Resolution Authorizing the Issuance of Notice of Award for the 2026 Road Program Project by the Village of Barrington Hills, Illinois Resolution 26 –
  • [Vote] Ordinance Approving a Final Plat of Subdivision For the Acorn Corner Subdivision – 11 & 12 Rock Ridge Road Ordinance 26 –
  • [Vote] Resolution of the Village of Barrington Hills in Support of Municipal Housing Authority Resolution 26 –
  • Register Now: Land We Love Run 5k/10k Celebrating America250 on June 28 2026

A copy of their agenda, including info on listening to the meeting, can be viewed and downloaded here.

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »