Taylor Park?

The election is a scant 10 days away. The one thing foremost on every operative's mind is how to prevent their yardsigns from being stolen. Not being the expert on the matter, your LakeCountyEye is not sure whether or not to be flattered when asked this question. One thing is certain, never plant a yardsign on Lake County Forest Preserve land. The Forest Preserve District will unceremoniously remove that sign of yours faster than the yellow on a red light camera.

Your LakeCountyEye can cite from memory the applicable Forest Preserve ordinance:

SECTION V
USES PROHIBITED

D. Regulation of Personal Conduct.
No person shall commit any of the following acts on District Property:

(xviii) display, distribute, post or fix any placard or sign, except that a group of people who are picnicking or who have a Permit that allows camping or the use of certain District Property to the exclusion of others may display signs to identify their location, or direct others to it, providing such signs are temporary and are removed by the permittee at the termination of the activity and provided that such signs are no larger than 18" x 24" and are not attached to any tree or shrub or any District Structure;
Lake County Forest Preserve District
Ordinance Governing the General Use of District Property

Someone perhaps ignorant of this ordinance may be County Board candidate Craig Taylor. Taylor yardsigns have been recently spotted on Forest District property, at the gate of Cuba Marsh in Barrington:

It should be noted that Craig Taylor is not only a candidate for the County Board but is also the sitting District 19 County Board Commissioner. This means that Taylor is also a Lake County Forest Preserve Commissioner.

If Taylor is unaware of the Forest Preserve District sign ordinance, he may have a short memory. That's because as a Lake County Forest Preserve Commissioner, Taylor approved the ordinance when he voted to approve the Forest Preserve's Revised General Use Ordinance in 2011.

Your LakeCountyEye is fairly certain there are no provisions written into the Forest Preserve statute that make exceptions for a sitting County Board member. Of course there may be an unwritten code of primogeniture, some sort of Lake County Napoleonic Code that bestows upon sitting County Board Commissioners special rights and privileges. Nothing is for granted in Lake County. In any event, your LakeCountyEye said it before and will say it again: It is good to sit on the Lake County Board.

Upward Trends

Early voting begins late this year in Illinois, on October 22. So if you haven't yet, you can start your voting this Monday, bright and early. In Illinois, Pres. Obama and Gov. Romney are running neck and neck, the polls say the presidential contest here is tighter than a Lake County slot machine video gaming workstation.

Ordinarily your LakeCountyEye can estimate who is really up and who is down by counting yardsigns. But as readers of this blog are erroneously aware ...

Q the Eye/10.17.12

every Obama and Romney sign has been stolen and are being u-hauled out of Lake County to places like Iowa and Ohio -- where the polls are tighter than the Lake County slot machines.

Of course it takes more than a stolen yardsign to pull the rug out from under your LakeCountyEye -- who can report unequivocally that Lake County may be trending in a direction favorable to one presidential candidate. The trend is based on leading indicators observed this year by your LakeCountyEye.

One indicator is the ethics complaint filed this month against, among others, a sitting Lake County Board Commissioner ...

"WoosterWater Scam, Inc."

This is part of a more than decades-long dispute over what sorts of access restriction a real estate developer can impose on the residents of Wooster Lake.

Other trending indicators include a rerouting of Route 45 that was instigated by a former (and presently unconvicted) Lake County Board Chairwoman ...

Millburn Bypass News

In its current trajectory, Route 45 is to be rerouted through a heavily populated Lindenhurst residential neighborhood. The route is designed to bypass nearby farmland that is expected someday to be developed into valuable real estate parcels.

Finally, earlier this year, one retiring County Board Commissioner was instrumental in turning the vacant DiMucci property along Route 12 in Lake Zurich ...

2012 09 06 Dimucci ZBA Part01

... into a mega-shopping-plaza that no-one asked for and nobody wants.

The trendline is obvious because the trends all trend in one direction:

1. It is good to be rich
2. It is good to own land.
3. And failing either (a) or (b), it is good sit on the Lake County Board.

Based on this trendline, your LakeCountyEye predicts a big Lake County win for Mitt Romney.

The Sabonjian Smidgin

Readers of this blog may recall sighting the sulli-mander, a fabulous creature defined as a map gerrymandered to the mutual benefit of adjacent office-holders:

Madigan ♥s Sullivan

Another beastie to emerge from the terra incognita of reapportionment is the sabonjian-smidgin, and one can be found meandering the canyons of the Lake County Board's new, downsized, economy, 21-district map:

Lake County's District 8 is represented by Bill Durkin. A previous & noteworthy representative of District 8, Bob Sabonjian, is now Waukegan's Mayor. The new District 8 encompasses much of central Waukegan -- well give or take a city block or two. Sharpeyed operatives will notice that one block was cut out of the district's northern border:

That single block -- known in cartographic circles as a sabonjian-smidgin -- is the street where Mayor Sabonjian lives. Did your LakeCountyEye mention that Sabonjian had been a District 8 Commissioner? Well, ok, your LakeCountyEye did. But your LakeCountyEye hasn't mentioned that Bill Durkin is a member of the 2011 County Reapportionment committee.

Anyhow, Bob Sabonjian has been on-the-record saying that he will not run for a second term as Waukegan Mayor. And this has the chattering nabobs whispering that Sabonjian was exiled out of District 8 for, well, the obvious reasons. But your LakeCountyEye knows better than belabor the obvious, no matter how obvious it may be. Your LakeCountyEye has it on the highest authority that Sabonjian's block was excluded because that is where they plan to dig the Route 53 Extension.

You heard it here first!

Winchester Casino

Will gambling be the next sure-thing in Lake County? Maybe, according to the News-Sun ...

Lake County could soon be in the casino business now that the Legislature has approved a major expansion of legalized gambling in Illinois, proposing a gaming venue for Park City. But will Gov. Pat Quinn, who helped scuttle a previous casino expansion bill, sign the measure into law?
Our View: Roll the dice

Will he or won't he? Step right up, ladies and gentlemen and operatives, there's still time to place a bet!

The usual informed sources inform your LakeCountyEye that not only is gambling coming to Lake County, but the Lake County Board wants in on the action. It's no secret to readers of this blog ...

Privatized Residence

that the County Board wants to outsource Winchester House operations to a private interest. Now it's a well known fact that casinos make most of their profit off of senior citizens -- the so called little-old-lady-brigade buses. (The real impetus behind the Route 53 extension, btw, was to open a superhighway corridor to ensure senior buses could arrive at Potawatomi before the end of the breakfast buffet.) Suffice it to say that the unnamed private interest in question plans to rebrand Winchester House with a new corporate identity:

Winchester Casino

The plan will, so to speak, kill two birds with one stone -- and sources inform your LakeCountyEye that it is regarded as an all-around win-win for everyone. Preparations for the Winchester Casino are already under way, including a marketing campaign complete with TV and radio buys. Operatives are advised to keep an ear pricked for a snappy new jingle:

Winchester Casino, we're doubling down,
Bet the farm, we're all in, we're going to town.

You were instituted, a hospice retreat,
But you've added no income, to our balance sheet.

Now everyone wants to hear that you're feeling well,
But the clock is on, let's hear the ding-ding of those slot-machine bells!

Winchester Casino, we're doubling down,
Bet the farm, we're all in, we're going to town.

Look for your LakeCountyEye Boh-Dee-Oh-Dee-Oh-Doh-ing in the dark near you.

Privatized Residence

The Lake County Board is looking for a kick to the privates. As in privatization. No doubt envious of the success of Chicago's Parking Meter Fiasco Deal, the Lake County Board is banking on the quick buck that can be turned by privatizing county assets. Informed sources inform your LakeCountyEye that no reasonable offer will be refused, everything must go -- including the county-run nursing home, Winchester House. According to the News-Sun ...

Two Lake County Board committees have recommended seeking bids from private companies to run the county's Winchester House nursing home, and the matter will now go to the full board for consideration. The Lake County Board's Financial and Administrative Committee voted 4-1 Wednesday to recommend soliciting bids from private firms who specialize in the operation of skilled-nursing facilities for the possible management of the Libertyville-based nursing home.
Privatization of Winchester House moves closer

When a unit of government decides to have a fire-sale, first-in-line for a piece-of-the-action are aways the boodlers, the well connected, the big money players. This unit-of-government fire-sale is no exception, and your LakeCountyEye has already learned of ten corporate interests interested in turning around Winchester House into a cash-cow money making operation:

Ten Private Sector Interests Submitting Bids for Winchester House

Hollywood Casino CVS Now with 24 Hour Drive Thru Grave Concern Funeral Homes Old-Haunts Halloween Haunted Houses Denny's Ask for the senior discount! Wurlitzer's Organ Exchange Doc-in-a-Box Instant Health Service US Olympic Septuagenarian Village Ambulance Chasers, LLC Starbucks

Look for your LakeCountyEye driving around your town, with a turn signal on.

Big Map Attack

Perhaps the last thing an operative wants to look at this weekend is another gerrymandered political map. So as Friday night news dumps go, this was probably the perfect Friday for the Lake County Board to post its own new map of the County Board Districts.

It should come as no surprise to operatives that the board is to be reduced by two districts, from 23 to 21 -- and why:

the move had to be justified. State law says county boards need to be reduced to 18 if county population reaches 800,000. "We might get up to that number in the next ten years," said member Mountsier, "so we should start shrinking now." Huh? You start planning now for a hypothetical situation that might never occur? When do governments ever do that? So the plan is to reduce the board to 21 members. Of course, since the population of Lake County increased dramatically since 2000, each district will be significantly bigger in the remap. Republican plan, apparently: fewer districts, less representation. 'And we'd save $75,000 if we cut two board members,' said Aaron Lawlor. 75K? That's pocket lint in a budget of more than $300 million. Another member mentioned that two Republican county board members were retiring anyway.
County Board Remap Magic

Your LakeCountyEye does concede that the county population might reach 800,000 by 2020 -- there could be an invasion by Red China or something. But everyone knows why two districts really had to go poof. Ha ha, to get rid of Democrats (who are two seats away from a majority). According to the Daily Herald ...

some sitting commissioners will find themselves living in the same districts as other members. That's the case for Grayslake Democrats Pat Carey and Melinda Bush, who live a few blocks from each other in what is proposed to be the new 6th District. Bush represents the 6th District now, while Carey serves the 11th District. "We knew this might happen," Carey said. "That's life in government and politics." Also set to double up are the board's longest-serving members, North Chicago Democrat Audrey Nixon and Waukegan Democrat Angelo Kyle. Both will find themselves in the 14th District, which Nixon now represents, if the proposed map is approved. Kyle, who represents the 12th District, said he was stunned by the proposed boundaries. "We did not expect it, not in the least," Kyle said.
Lake County Board proposes new district boundaries

Carey, Bush, Nixon and Kyle all just happen to be Democrats. Board Chairman David Stolman denies the map was drawn to achieve political goals:

"If we wanted to be political, we could've carved it up and put three people in one district," said Stolman, a Buffalo Grove Republican.
Lake County Board proposes new district boundaries

So, what are the chances that 4 Democratic Lake County Board Commissioners could be chosen at random for district consolidation? Operatives familiar with their probability & statistics will recognize that this is a classic ...

Urn Problem

In this case an urn contains 23 balls, where 13 are Republican-red and 10 are Democratic-blue. What are the odds that the first 4 balls drawn will all be blue? The solution is an easy calculation:

(10/23) * (9/22) * (8/21) * (7/20) = 2%

There is about a 2% chance that 4 Democratic commissioners would be chosen in a fair drawing. 2% is less than the margin-of-error for most polls. Human beings and E.coli share about 2% of their genes in common.

It would even have been as nearly as difficult to select 4 Republicans at random:

(13/23) * (12/22) * (11/21) * (10/20) = 8%

To put this in some perspective, 2% is what your LakeCountyEye pours on the Cap'n Crunch in the morning. There were pictures of Pat Carey, Melinda Bush, Audrey Nixon, Angelo Kyle on the milk carton.

Valet Park

Lake County is in the grip of gold rush fever. Except, instead of gold it is real estate. And instead of fever, substitute frenzy.

As readers of this blog are handsomely aware ...

Boom Goes the Housing Market

the Lake County Board is on-the-record projecting that the county population will exceed 800,000 by 2020. Real estate speculators naturally want to know where the influx of new residents will occur, and are now closely monitoring the County Board for their buy signal.

As readers of this blog are profusely aware ...

Honey I Shrunk the County Board

it is a poorly kept secret that legislation waits in Springfield that will allow the Lake County Board Commissioners to keep control over the Lake County Forest Preserves. (Current statutes mandate an independent Forest Preserve Board when the county population reaches 800,000.) The smart money -- which knows how to add 2 plus 2 -- can see that the County Board's gobsmacking projection of 800,000 residents by 2020 means but one thing: the County Board is planning to sell off the Forest Preserves to the highest bidder in an effort to raise hard cash to maintain liquidity.

One immediate effect would be a dramatic increase in county population.

The real estate speculators, no surprise, want their piece of the action and are poised to buy up all the land adjoining those Forest Preserves going to the auction block. One unanswered question remains: Which Forest Preserves?

As a service to real estate speculators, boodlers, and fast-buck artists in general, your LakeCountyEye has obtained a classified list of proposed housing developments, subdivisions, theme parks, mega-malls being considered by the County Board. Your favorite Forest Preserve may soon become a construction zone. Interested operatives will have guess which Forest Preserves are impacted. There are ten & shhh don't tell anyone:

Ten Proposals for Developing the Lake County Forest Preserves

Six Flags Over Fourth Lake Cuba Marsh Guantanamo Bay Condo Co-op Fort Sheridan Miniature Golf and Go Karts Independence Grove 1776 Medieval Faire Adlai E Stevenson Historic Haunted Halloween Home Baby Huey's Petting Zoo & Duck Farm Wadsworth Savanna Bikini-Wax No-Touch Car Wash Universal Studios Ethel's Woods Illinois Beach Park Spent Fuel Rod Repository, Water Slide & Adeline Geo-Karis Wheel Lakewood Olympic Size Equestrian Village

Look through your surveyor's equipment for your LakeCountyEye. At a Forest Preserve near you.

Boom Goes the Housing Market

Lake County realtors are reporting record new listing contracts, as desperate home sellers are busting down their doors to get in on the ground floor of an anticipated housing market boom. Does this mean the greatest real estate market bust since the Great Depression is at long last over? Not exactly.

The Lake County Board projects a massive influx of 90,000 people to flood the county between now and 2020. How massive is 90,000 people? To put that in perspective, since 2000 Lake County experienced a massive influx of only 60,000 people -- during what was the county's greatest housing boom since the post-WWII boom of the 50s.

What is the basis for the Lake County Board's incredible, some would say fraudulent, projection? As readers of this blog are anxiously aware ...

Honey I Shrunk the County Board

the Lake County Board is in the process of reducing its number to 18, based on a projected increase in county population to 800,000. The Daily Herald explained the rationale behind the startling facts & figures ...

Vernon Hills Republican Aaron Lawlor, the vice chairman of the committee, recommended eliminating two county board districts Monday. By law, the county board can have no more than 18 members once a census shows the local population exceeds 800,000, and that could happen in 2020.
Lake Co. Board could shrink this year

Lake County's population currently stands at 710,000. An influx of 90,000 new residents by 2020 would be needed to fill the deficit.

When exactly these 90,000 people are arriving is unclear. Which is little comfort to Lake County home sellers, some of whom have watched their homes languish on the market, unsold, for nearly 3 years.

As a service to readers, your LakeCountyEye has put the question to the experts: the Internet bettors. An Intrade account has been created where professional bettors can place bets on when the county's highly anticipated influx of 90,000 people will peak.

As betting pools go, this one is no different than a standard office pool. There are still some slots open to operatives who think they are smarter than the pros -- and who know when Lake County will crack the magic number of 800,000. Currently, ten slots are available; you need to predict when the Lake County population will hit 800,000; operatives, place your bets!

Ten Projected Dates When the Population of Lake County Reaches 800,000

When Hell Freezes Over When Frogs Grow Hair Till the Cows Come Home 1000 Parsecs After the Battle of Yavin The Twelfth of Never Armageddon 2012 When Shrimps Learn to Whistle The Day When the Route 53 Extension Opens TBD When Monkeys Fly Out of Your LakeCountyEye's Butt

Look for your LakeCountyEye at a pharmacy near you. In the Preparation H aisle.

Honey I Shrunk the County Board

As if their 50 minutes with the shrink was up, this committee convened with one purpose in mind and one purpose only: shrink the Lake County Board. As readers of this blog are acutely aware ...

The Incredible Shrinking County Board

the 2010 Census requires the Lake County Board to draw a new map for itself. What the 2010 Census does not require is for the Lake County Board to eliminate some of its own seats so that the reins of county government remain firmly held by the interests of a powerful & well-connected few. Nonetheless the County Board did not decline the opportunity -- and a hand-picked committee of board members was created, made up of five of the sharpest knives in the Republican drawer plus two of the sharpest crayons in the Democratic box.

As every operative knows, it's good to have a cover story before commencing a job, and this crew seemed to settle on two. As reported by the Daily Herald, committee vice-chair Aaron Lawlor framed their plan as a cost-cutting measure:

Cutting two commissioners from the roll also will save the county money, Lawlor argued. The savings could be as much as $80,000 per person once salary, health benefits, mileage reimbursements and other job-related costs are totaled
Lake Co. Board could shrink this year

Back in the day, your LakeCountyEye fondly remembers, the rallying cry on everyone's lips was:

No Taxation Without Representation!

Nowadays the slogan seems to be: "No representation, if that means tacking a couple grand more on the budget!" Of course $80,000 could also be saved by cutting commissioner salaries -- but that was a motion that never made it to the table.

As every operative knows, it's good to have a plausible cover story before commencing a job. So the committee also waved about an obscure Illinois Statute capping board districts at 18 members, for counties with more than 800,000 people. Currently standing at 709,000 in population, Lake County would not be bound by the statute -- but the committee seemed to regard this more like a rounding error to be corrected in the 2020 Census:

Lawlor's plan had several vocal supporters, including board veteran Stevenson Mountsier. "We need to start planning now (for the expected mandatory reduction in 2022) and take the first step," said Mountsier, a Lake Barrington Republican.
Lake Co. Board could shrink this year

The county population only increased by some 60,000 during the 2000-2010 period, which saw Lake County's biggest housing boom since the post WWII 1950s. Given the county is currently mired in its biggest housing bust since the Great Depression, operatives are no doubt wondering where are these additional 90,000 people coming from? Is Disney building a park in one of the Forest Preserves?

Let's suppose they do, and the county population doubles. The Lake County Board still lobbies Springfield for legislation it wants, on a regular basis. There is one law on the books requiring counties with more than 800,000 people to have a separate and independent Forest Preserve Board. Informed sources tell your LakeCountyEye that lobbying efforts made sure there was legislation prepared in Springfield to repeal that law, in case Lake County exceeded 800,000. Lake County Board members do double duty as paid County Forest Preserve Commissioners and do not want give up their control over the county forest preserves.

Why haven't they put any energy into repealing the law capping board members at 18, as well? The fact that Lawlor, Mountsier and the rest of the committee were eager to accept the 18 member requirement as a fait accompli suggests one thing to your LakeCountyEye: the entire meeting was more tightly scripted than Kabuki Theater. Your LakeCountyEye wants to know why the State's Attorney isn't investigating the committee for violating the Open Meetings Act.

The Incredible Shrinking County Board

The Lake County Clerk neglected to attach the required label on the County Board 2010 election ballot:

WARNING Some Shrinkage May Occur

As readers of this blog are painfully aware ...

County Board Remap Magic

the Lake County Board wants to shrink itself from 23 members to 21. The National Retail Federation estimates that 79% of all shrinkage can be attributed to theft. Lake County voters are advised to monitor their wallets & pocketbooks, accordingly.

The Daily Herald has the disturbing figures:

If the county goes ahead with a 21-district map, the target population per district would be 33,498, officials said. As a result, some current districts that have larger populations will be divided. Conversely, some that are below that ideal population will be combined with parts of others to hit that figure.
Lake Co. Board could shrink this year

Democracy, measured by access to power, is proportional to representation. As an example, in 2002 there were 10837 people for each McHenry County board member. By contrast, in that same year, a Lake County board member represented 28015 people. In 2002, undeveloped McHenry County was nearly three times as democratic as Lake County.

The proposed target population number of 33498 means each Lake County board district will bear an increase of 5483, from ten years earlier. A change of this magnitude amounts, per voter, to a startling 17% decline in representation. To put that number in perspective, laid end-to-end, 5483 voters would span the entire Route 53 Extension breakdown lane.

Informed sources say the Lake County County Board has been closely monitoring the spontaneous citizen pro-democracy uprisings in the Mid-East and elsewhere. In an effort to prevent a copycat pro-democracy movement from taking root in Lake County, the County Board has decided to implement these anti-democratic, Realpolitik measures over the next ten years. The near term goal is to consolidate power by eliminating five members from the board. One board member, Aaron Lawlor, summed up the hurdles they face:

Trying to whack at least five commissioners' jobs in 10 years would be "near impossible" politically because the move would pit sitting board members against each other in the 2022 election, Lawlor said.
Lake Co. Board could shrink this year

Grover Norquist famously said ...

Our goal is to shrink government to the size where we can drown it in a bathtub.
BrainyQuote

The Lake County Board is next scheduled to take a bath in 2012.

County Board Remap Magic

Lake County Board's Remap Committee met yesterday. There was a fly on the wall. It sent us a report.

"The purpose of the committe, it was said, was to start creating a "fair" new map for county board districts. The committee consisted of five Republican board members (Chair Diana O'Kelly, Aaron Lawlor, Steve Mountsier, Linda Pedersen and Brent Paxson) and two Democratic members (Mary Ross Cunningham and Bill Durkin). Wait...five to two from a board almost evenly split between Republicans and Democrats? Ah, magic already!

Much discussion ensued about the state's requirement that districts be 1) equal in population, 2) represent the interests of minorities as far as possible and 3) be compact. Several members brought up that the County Board was sued last time around for failing to abide by the first two provisions. (And lost.)

Then the board moved on to the most important business on the minds of several members: reducing the size of the board. This is fairly obviously being done so that the Republican majority can reduce the number of pesky Democrats on the board. Redistrict them and get them to run against each other. Easy, peasy!

But the move had to be justified. State law says county boards need to be reduced to 18 if county population reaches 800,000. "We might get up to that number in the next ten years," said member Mountsier, "so we should start shrinking now." Huh? You start planning now for a hypothetical situation that might never occur? When do governments ever do that?

So the plan is to reduce the board to 21 members. Of course, since the population of Lake County increased dramatically since 2000, each district will be significantly bigger in the remap. Republican plan, apparently: fewer districts, less representation.

'And we'd save $75,000 if we cut two board members,' said Aaron Lawlor. 75K? That's pocket lint in a budget of more than $300 million.

Another member mentioned that two Republican county board members were retiring anyway. As if it is Republican seats that are going to be eliminated.

But the last word was had by Brent Paxson. 'I think we should do this because it's good government even though we probably won't hit 800,000 [population] in ten years.' He means there's no darned reason to limit the size of the board to 18 or 21 or 2, but they're going to do it anyway.

Exactly. The Board is going to do what it wants. Who needs any stinkin' legal justification? In the end, the vote to reduce the number of members to 21 was typical of the Lake County board.

O'KELLY: All in favor?

COMMITTEE: Aye.

O'KELLY: All opposed?

COMMITTEE: [crickets]

So get ready for a map that (like magic) pits two Democrats against each other (four Dems in all) in two of the new districts. Wouldn't it have been nice if the County Board had considered going non-partisan instead? Nah, that would be too much like voodoo."

Collision Course

It's no secret that Lake County harbors a thirst for Lake Michigan water ...

Water Pipe Dreams

The Northern Lake County Lake Michigan Water Planning Group is charged with getting the water. Bureaucratic wheels don't spin free, however, and the Water Planning Group wants its 10 community members to pitch in $50,000 each, in earnest money. Those $50K checks, however, must all be lost in the mail -- it's beginning to look like the whole water project is about to go up in smoke. Why else would the Lake County Board be trying to light a fire now under the Water Planning Group? The Daily Herald reported some of the details:

"We have some very good mayors who understand the issues. It behooves them to put some shoe leather into this," Suzi Schmidt said. Some committee members were irked with recent comments made by Antioch officials, who last week delayed a vote on the $50,000 contribution. Village trustees cited a lack of information and leadership at the county level as to how that money would be spent. "I don't think they understand this (Lake Michigan water) is a one-shot choice," said county board member Diana O'Kelly, who chairs the public works committee.
Lake County water quest needs local push

The County Board, no doubt, looks at Lake Michigan and sees a reservoir of construction contracts. An iceberg of pork waiting to be shaved off a polar ice shelf.

But water isn't the only place where the money is, it also takes dollars to build roads. The Lake County Board is also contriving to light a Route-53 fire under the goldbricks on the Illinois Tollway. According to the Pioneer Local ...

Lake County Board Chairman Suzi Schmidt, R-3rd, of Lake Villa, who spoke at the tollway meeting, said she is glad the Route 53 is finally getting serious consideration again by the tollway board after the project has been seemingly dormant for several years. "I'm pleased they are looking at and it's finally getting some attention," she said. "I don't know what the outcome is going to be. I'm hoping it moves forward and something gets done."
Route 53 extension back on radar

Your LakeCountyEye, in principle, brooks no objection toward the County Board doling out the pork to their contributors contractors -- provided the pork is other-people's-money. However as the result of an exclusive LakeCountyEye investigation, this blog can report that the County Board has overreached -- gone a Route-53 bridge-too-far, so to speak.

Has anyone considered the impact that two simultaneous gargantuan construction projects -- like a Route 53 and a Lake Michigan water pipe -- will have on the County? Your LakeCountyEye has, with some disturbing findings:

Proposed Route 53	Proposed Water Pipe
Route 53 Referendum Question	Northern Lake County Lake Michigan Water Planning Project

Above are maps of the proposed routes that Route 53 and the Lake Michigan water pipe will take. An overlay of the two maps is reproduced below. The heavy black line represents the proposed water pipe. The heavy red line is Route 53.



And the evidence from the zoom below is unmistakable.



Route 53 and the Lake Michigan water pipe are on a collision course! Their trajectories necessitate that the two projects will accordion somewhere in Hawthorn Woods.

Needless to say this is not the end of the story. Some would surmise this is only the beginning ...

Penny Wise Pound Foolish

Barney's been looking into his electron microscope, which means he's off on another one of his tangents, this time about the Lake County Board pay raises. Most people are opposed to giving pay raises to elected officials. Barney, which shouldn't surprise me, is in favor of pay raises for elected officials. And substantial ones.

Suzi Schmidt, Lake County Board Chairwoman, has made a big deal over giving her pay raise back to the county treasurer. What gets lost in the fanfare is that since Schmidt is County Chair her salary is something north of $80,000 while the rest of the Board makes $40,000. This puts Schmidt in a far better position, financially, to say no to a raise.

The common perception is theirs is a part-time job and Board members don't deserve a pay raise. The reality is Board meetings are scheduled at irregular and inconvenient times that make it difficult if not impossible for a Board member to hold a 9 to 5 job. As a matter of fact most Lake County Board members are either unemployed or self-employed.

I don't intend to single out the County Board. You see the same thing occurring in all units of government, village boards, township boards, school boards, etc. Wherever the seat is under-compensated, more often than not the person occupying the seat is someone with the wealth or the means to do so.

This shouldn't be a cause for concern except the purpose of these these boards are to manage taxpayer dollars. In many cases considerably large amounts of taxpayer dollars. The natural question to ask is -- just who are this purality of wealthy or well-connected people who perform as under-paid public servants and manage substantial chunks of our taxpayer dollars?

• Wealthy individuals who stand to financially benefit from government transactions.

• Friends or representatives of wealthy individuals who stand to financially benefit from government transactions.

• Representatives of special interests who stand to financially benefit from government transactions.

• Spouses or children of any of the above.

Go look up the bios of some of the Lake County Board members. You may be surprised -- or unsurprised as the case may be.

I'm not saying anything illegal is going on behind the scenes. (I'm also naive if I think laws are never broken.) However it's always better to know in advance how, when and where large parcels of money are to be moved around. That's how small fortunes can turn into bigger fortunes.

The purpose of a Democracy is a self-governing citizenry. When those citizens are diverse and ordinary people they can be expected to govern in the interests of everyone, and not just in the interests of a fortunate few. However, if ordinary people do not get the financial support to govern, then do not expect ordinary people to step forward to govern. When that happens, the special interests fill the vacuum. And Democracy blurs over into Oligarchy.

There's that old phrase, penny wise and pound foolish. That's what's playing out with the County Board pay-raise melodrama. The voters are being encouraged by elected officials like Suzi Schmidt, and others, to be penny wise and expect low salaries for our elected officials. Which all but guarantees the foxes will continue to govern the henhouses.

Dollars and NanoCents

While researching another piece, your LakeCountyEye was examining the Lake County budget. And stumbled on this graphic at the County Website that shows how the County tax dollar is divided up.

It has all the slices one expects to find in something like this: School, City, Fire, Township, Forest Preserve, Parks, etc. (Aren't Forest Preserves and Parks the same thing?) Schools get more than 2/3 of the pie, no surprise. Lake County government gets only 7% which is surprising. Presumably this covers roads, medical services, sheriff, etc.

Since your LakeCountyEye happened to be examining County Board pay raises, the natural question arose, what portion of the dollar bill covers these? The Daily Herald recently estimated Board Chair Suzi Schmidt's pay raise at roughly $1600. Lake County Government estimates its 2009 Budget tops $500,000,000 -- a half billion dollars.

According to your LakeCountyEye's solar powered abacus, the raise represents 0.000032% of the annual County budget. That's a lot of zeroes. A quick Fourier Transform on the numbers reveal the raise is a 1/312500 slice out of the budget.

Naturally your LakeCountyEye wanted to see what 1/312500th of a dollar bill looked like. The LakeCountyEye graphics department was willing to assist but cautioned at the current resolution 1/312500 would not be visible to the naked eye. "Then can you magnify the image?" asked your LakeCountyEye. "Piece of cake" replied the LakeCountyEye graphics department.

Here is the dollar bill at 2X and 4X magnifications ...

Neither of which are sufficient.

At some higher magnifications ...

If you were hoping to see what portion of a dollar represents the County Board pay raises, there is still a long way to go. Although 16X reminds your LakeCountyEye ... of the LakeCountyEye.

Clearly more massive firepower was called for. The LakeCountyEye graphics department offered to perform a fractal regression on the image ...

100X is either a cataract in George's eye or the Federal deficit.

"Aren't these pay raises so slight that the Benjamin needs to be magnified something on the order of 300,000 times?" your LakeCountyEye asked. "I'll dust off the LakeCountyEye electron microscope" replied the LakeCountyEye graphics department ...

Paydirt. The money-shot is at 320000X. The LakeCountyEye graphics department was nice enough to photoshop in the word QUARKS. That indicates the portion of the County Budget that covers Board Chair Suzi Schmidt's $1600 pay raise.

Whew, seems a long way to go for a trifling whit. But your LakeCountyEye now has some nifty images that can juice up any boring webpage, even that Lake County page over here. Your LakeCountyEye is prepared to be a good citizen and can donate the images to the County free of charge. A definite plus come election time.

Help Wanted, No Experience Necessary

Despite what the Lake County Republicans & Democrats are saying about their prospects, one thing is certain about the Lake County Board of Commissioners: the Board in 2010 will not look like the Board today.

That's because, within the last two months, 3 Commissioners have resigned from the Board. Another has announced a bid for a State Senate seat.

As reported in the Daily Herald and the NewsSun (and in chronological order):

1. Robert Sabonjian (District 8) resigned in April when he was elected Waukegan Mayor.


2. Suzi Schmidt (District 3) announced early May that she will be a candidate for State Senate District 31.


3. Pamela Newton (District 18) announced in mid-May her forthcoming resignation, to take an administrative job with the Village of Hawthorn Woods.


4. Michael Talbett (District 19) accepted an administrative job with the Village of Kildeer and is expected to resign shortly.

This means, at minimum, there will be three new Commissioners seated in 2010. Schmidt is not up for re-election in 2010. But if she wins in Senate 31 that will necessitate a fourth turnover. Plotting Schmidt's senatorial chances against a normal distribution, your LakeCountyEye calculates there will be at least 3½ new Lake County Board Commissioners in 2010.

An abrupt exodus of this sort no doubt is a measure of the political malaise that pervades the County Board. But it is not your LakeCountyEye's job to offer psychoanalytical advice. Instead it is the job of your LakeCountyEye is to peer into the magic crystal ball and handicap County Board winners & losers going into 2010.

Suzi Schmidt, as Chair, is responsible for nominating replacements. The full board votes on the nominees. Given circumstances like these, it is difficult to predict the future, but not impossible. Again, in chronological order:

1. Democratic party boss Terry Link wants Waukegan ex-Mayor Bill Durkin. Robert Sabonjian has endorsed a campaign worker, Keith Turner. This puts Schmidt in a bind because Link & Schmidt have long-standing social ties. Expect a compromise nominee. Who not to expect:
   
   • Pat Jones, Waukegan Township Supervisor ...
     A seat on the County board would mean a pay cut.
   
   
   • Sam Cunningham, Waukegan Alderman ...
     Cunningham's mother, Mary Ross Cunningham, is already on the Board.
   
   
   • Dan Drew, Waukegan ex-Mayor ...
     1948-2002
   
   
   • Pete Couvall, ex-Lake County Democrats Vice-Chair ...
     Dan Drew has a better chance.
   
   By process of elimination alone, your LakeCountyEye intuits sentimental favorite, and Waukegan ex-Mayor, Dick Hyde. Hyde is in his 80s, will probably miss a lot of meetings, and would not be expected to run for re-election in 2012. Problem solved!


2. This one's been wired from the git-go. Republican party boss Dan Venturi agrees not to be a candidate for Senate 31. In return, Venturi is nominated to fill out Suzi Schmidt's term after she reclaims 31 for the GOP in a cake-walk.


3. The crystal ball is cloudy. Who does Pamela Newton represent? (District 18) Where is District 18? (some or all of Hawthorn Woods, Mundelein, Indian Creek, Buffalo Grove, Vernon Hills) Who lives in Mundelein? (pop. 32,774) Your LakeCountyEye had to look these up. The sad fact of the matter is there's no one to be found in District 18 to replace Newton. That means the nod will go to everyone's choice of last resort, Ed Sullivan Jr. Sullivan already holds down two elected positions, State Representative for District 51 and Fremont Township Assessor. So Sullivan is no stranger to the demands of multi-tasking. Another part-time government gig is not likely to add any additional burden to Sullivan's responsibilities.


4. Michael Talbett is hired to be Kildeer administrator by Village President, Nandia Black. Talbett and Black work at the same law firm. Talbett's wife, Mimi Black, sits on the Ela Area Public Library board -- and is Nandia Black's sister. Well here's a no-brainer. Mimi Black will be nominated to replace her husband. Nuff said.

Like it or not, come 2010 this is what our County Board will look like. Take it on the full faith and credit of the magic crystal ball c/o your LakeCountyEye. At least until the next Commissioner jumps ship.

Extending Route 53

The Lake County Board Public Works and Transportation committee meeting on January 14 decided unanimously to send to the full County Board the question of putting a non-binding referendum question on the April 7th ballot “an advisory vote should be held to gauge public sentiment on the idea of extending Route 53.” The full Board is expected to take up the matter on January 20.

Word has it that a number of previous opponents to extending route 53 are in favor of this question being put before the voters. This is an issue that has been studied and debated to ad nausea. It has been held up by a former State Senator whose backyard, rumor has it, would abut to the new highway, a current long time State Rep who wouldn’t comment on the issue, nor any other issue during the last election, and the Village of Long Grove. Meanwhile many Lake County commuters sit in traffic jams due to poorly designed roads and poor land use planning throughout the County.

What do you think? Let "Keeping an eye on Lake County" know if you think route 53 should be extended to Route 12 at the Wisconsin border or if you think it shouldn’t be extended, or if you other ideas on the subject.

Lake County Board-- Same as it ever was!

After saying that partisanship would not play a part in County Board politics, the republicans on the county board apparently did just that by removing Democrat Angelo Kyle (pictured) from his Vice Chairmanship, leaving Democrats with no leadership positions despite having made substantial gains (4 seats going from 6 to 10) this November.

Two years from now the Republicans might have to eat today's actions if the Democrats gain two more seats and take voting control of the board. High risk strategy!

From the News Sun-- In what could be the first sign of a partisan rift, Democrats expressed disappointment at being shut out of all the top leadership posts on the Lake County Board and Lake County Forest Preserve Board, despite gaining four board seats in the Nov. 4 general election.

During reorganization meetings Monday, the newly seated county board voted 23-0 to re-elect Suzi Schmidt, R-3rd, of Lake Villa, as board chairman, and re-elected Bonnie Thompson Carter, R-5th, of Ingleside as forest preserve president by a 22-1 vote.

However, the selection of the county board's vice chairman and the forest preserve's vice president split along party lines. The county board voted 13-10 to elect David Stolman, R-20th, of Buffalo Grove as vice chairman over Audrey Nixon, D-14th, of North Chicago, and the forest preserve board voted 13-10 to elect Carol Calabresa, R-15th, of Libertyville over Angelo Kyle, D-12th, of Waukegan.

The county board and forest preserve board are comprised of the same members and have the same terms of office, and members elect their leaders following board elections every two years. With Democrats gaining four seats on the County Board, the Republican advantage on the board has been reduced from 17-6 down to 13-10.

Some members of the growing Democratic minority on the County Board expressed anger that Democrats were not included in at least one of the four leadership posts.

"As far as I'm concerned, the era of cooperation is over," said a visibly upset Robert Sabonjian, D-8th, of Waukegan.

Sabonjian said he was particularly disappointed the Republican-controlled board replaced Calabresa with Kyle as vice president of the forest preserve board.

"It's all about retribution and pay back for the election," he said. "I'm really disappointed."

Kyle said he too felt that politics played a role in the outcome.

"I don't think it's ever been this partisan since I've been here," he said. "It's going to be a rough two years if it continues to go this way."

Schmidt said she does not believe partisanship was a major factor in who was chosen for the leadership posts.

Schmidt said she nominated Calabresa for forest preserve vice president because Calabresa had previously served as forest preserve president and had an extensive knowledge of forest preserve issues.

Schmidt said she believes everyone will work together and doesn't foresee a partisan rift.

"I don't see a lot of changes," she said. "We have some great new board members coming on who I'm thrilled about working with."

A total of six new members were sworn in Monday, including five Democrats and one Republican.

The new Democrats who joined the board are Diane Hewitt who knocked off Republican incumbent Randy Whitmore in District 2; Melinda Bush who defeated Republican incumbent Larry Leafblad in District 6; Pat Carey who unseated Republican incumbent Terese Douglass in District 11; and Terry Wilke who defeated Republican incumbent Bob Powers in District 16. Democrat Michelle Feldman, a former Deerfield trustee, also joined the County Board after winning an uncontested race for the seat held by long-time board member Carol Spielman, D-22nd, of Highland Park.

Republican Linda Pedersen was also sworn in after winning a close race against Democrat Peter Grant for an open seat in District 1.

Some of the new Democratic board members said they were hopeful the board could put partisan differences aside in the best interests of the county.

"There will be an adjustment period, but I have no doubt we can work together," said Carey, a former mayor of Grayslake.

Wilke agreed: "There's been a lot of talk about partisanship but my hope is we won't see that in the future."

But Wilke said he hopes the diversity of the board will be reflected when committee assignments are made next week. "I don't think anybody should have a problem with having balance on the board," he said.