The Handwriting on the Mall

In anticipation of the economic goodtimes just around the corner, Lake County is in a big hurry to build itself some new shopping malls. As readers of this blog are maladroitly aware ...

A Mall of Silence

A top-secret mega-mall in the works for more than a year was recently just announced at a public meeting in Lake Zurich. The meeting, described by onlookers as something akin to a slow-motion riot, was conducted by the Lake County Regional Planning Commission. According to the Daily Herald ...

Attorney J. William Braithwaite requested the meeting be postponed and rescheduled when a larger venue can be found. Marvin Raymond, the chairman of the commission, resisted, telling Braithwaite "My response is 'no.'" Hawthorn Woods special counsel Dan Shapiro repeated the objection, and after a discussion the commission members voted to end the session. The decision was applauded by the audience members, many of whom were concerned about the future of the 108-acre parcel and its possible conversion into commercial property. As the audience filtered out, Raymond said he suspected the crowd would be too big for the room. "I wish we had picked a larger venue," he said.
Talk about proposed land plan near Hawthorn Woods cut short due to legal concerns

For those operatives wondering: Just who is the Lake Counnty Regional Planning Commission? -- The short answer is: nobody knows. Your LakeCountyEye can only report the Commission appears to be as top-secret as the top-secret mall development it is obliged to chaperone. It is unknown who the members of the Lake County Regional Planning Commission are, if they are paid, where or when they meet, and if they meet what they meet about. The mighty Google yields scant little. In fact your LakeCountyEye was able to identify the members only from the minutes of a recent Lake County Board meeting -- where those same members were reappointed ...

Lake County Illinois - Meeting of Lake County Board on 1/17/2012 at 9:00 AM

One Commission member is Mettawa Trustee, Lawrence Falbe. Falbe no doubt recalls a similar nimby controversy, when an unpopular Costco was built, a few years back, in Mettawa. The Daily Herald observed that ...

The project generated two lawsuits, divided the community and led to a raucous election last April - the first in decades in the rural village.
Neighborly gesture soothes Mettawa Costco foes

Falbe, of course, is better know to ops as TA and captains the political blog TeamAmerica10th.

Your LakeCountyEye observes that nary a peep is evident from Falbe's blog about the year long back-room negotiations over the Lake Zurich Mall. Does this mean the Lake County Regional Planning Commission is what it appears to be: a rubber-stamp commission? Can operatives expect to see a brand new million square-foot mall spring up on Route 12 in Lake Zurich? Will the mall be known as the Mall of TeamAmerica?

Time will only tell!

A Mall of Silence

Had the LakeCountyEye been on the mall ball then readers of this blog would have been aware that plans for a monster mega-mall in Lake Zurich have been cooking for more than a year -- and, ha ha, no one knew about it. The Mayor of North Barrington, for instance, told the Daily Herald ...

he was completely taken aback when he learned recently of the proposed 800,000-square-foot retail and commercial development at the southeast corner of Rand and McHenry roads. His outrage grew after learning county officials had been working on the proposal for more than a year without informing the neighboring municipalities.
New mall plan could reignite old Taubman land war

The top-secret, top-dollar, top-heavy deal involves among the usual suspects, developers, unincorporated Lake County property, the Lake County Regional Planning Commission. The property, owned by Robert and Constance Dimucci would need to be re-zoned by a vote of the Lake County Board. Cheerleading the effort is Lake County Commissioner Stevenson Mountsier. According to the Daily Herald ...

Mountsier said he will support the proposal when it comes before the county board, probably in May. "These people, the Dimuccis, want it to be a first-class shopping center," Mountsier said. "I know they're willing to do whatever the ordinances call for. I can tell you it will be a first-class job."
New mall plan could reignite old Taubman land war

Towering projects of this nature, by law, are required to be vetted before the public. To fulfill the obligation, the Lake County Regional Planning Commission scheduled a meeting -- on short notice, and at a time and place guaranteed to minimize attendance:

Monday, February 6, 3:00 PM
Ela Area Library
Lake Zurich

Well that was yesterday. As they say today in the highlands, the best-laid schemes of mice and men gang aft agley. According to the Daily Herald ...

A planned discussion about a possible commercial development near Hawthorn Woods met with public hostility Monday and then was abruptly adjourned because dozens of would-be audience members were unable to enter the meeting room in Lake Zurich.
Talk about proposed land plan near Hawthorn Woods cut short due to legal concerns

Ha ha, 300 people showed up to protest at library room booked at a capacity of 150. When they couldn't all fit in the meeting had to be cancelled for violating the Open Meetings Act. Your LakeCountyEye has been told that among the players in attendance were no less than four Lake County Commissioners: Stevenson Mountsier, Aaron Lawlor, Craig Taylor, Diana O'Kelly.

A new meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 22, exact time and place TBD.

Note to ops: this is a multi-million dollar deal. No one is going to roll over because some angry pensioners show up at a public meeting to vent. If you attend the do-over meeting and if you see Mountsier or Lawlor or Taylor or O'Kelly or another County Commissioner, tell them that you have a lot of free time and extra money on your hands. And if the Mall does go forward as planned then you will look forward to supporting their opponent in the upcoming Primary or General election. Elected officials pay attention when things gang aft agley.

Candidate Forums

The League of Women Voters® of the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Area have scheduled a number of candidate forums throughout Lake County. They asked us to extend their invitation to our readers:

Candidate Forums Scheduled
The following forums have been scheduled for the lead-up to the March 20th primary election. Mark your calendar now - these should be good!

• Where:
  University Center of Lake County, 1200 University Center Rd, Grayslake
  When:
  Sunday, Feb. 12
  1:30 p.m. (doors open 1:00)
  Details:
  Candidate Forum for contested races for countywide department elected officials - Clerk of the Circuit Court, Coroner, Recorder of Deeds, and State's Attorney. Sponsored by League of Women Voters, Daily Herald, and University Center.



• Where:
  Lake Bluff Elementary School, 350 W. Washington, Lake Bluff
  When:
  Sunday, February 19
  1:30 p.m. (doors open 1:00)
  Details:
  Candidate Forum for contested races for State Representative 58th District, State Senate 29th District, and Lake County Board District 13. Sponsored by League of Women Voters, and Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Patch.



• Where:
  Highland Park Country Club, 1201 Park Ave. West, Highland Park
  When:
  Sunday, February 26
  1:00 p.m. (doors open 12:30)
  Details:
  Candidate Forum for contested races for State Representative 58th District, State Senate 29th District, and 10th Congressional District. Sponsored by League of Women Voters and Union League Club.



• Where:
  Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Senior Center, 100 E. Old Mill Rd., Lake Forest
  When:
  Sunday, March 4
  1:30 p.m. (doors open 1:00)
  Details:
  Candidate Forum for contested races for Lake County Board District 12, and countywide department officials: Clerk of the Circuit Court, Coroner, Recorder of Deeds, and State's Attorney. Sponsored by League of Women Voters, Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Patch, Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Senior Center.

Candidate Forums Scheduled

Meet the Candidates Breakfast Meeting

The Cuba Township Republicans have scheduled a breakfast meeting for the public to meet their local candidates. They asked us to extend their invitation to our readers:

Please join us for our monthly Cuba Township Republican Breakfast to meet the candidates. This is your chance to ask questions, engage in conversation and support Republicans! The breakfast is open to the public; attendees include a mix of local officials, committeemen, staff and voters.

Date: Friday February 17, 2012
Time: 8:00AM – 9:00AM

Place: Chessie's 111 Grill
200 Applebee St.
Barrington, IL 60010
(847) 382-5020

Cost: $15 – full breakfast included

RSVP: Bruce Sauer, Chairman (847) 682-4620
Meet the Candidates at Breakfast Meeting Feb 17

Contrabanned Contraception?

One would think an institution known for the Inquisition and for tossing Galileo in jail and for playing footsies with the likes of Hitler & Mussolini would've sooner or later learned a lesson. But no, the Roman Catholic Church is now claiming as their God-given right the privilege to withhold contraceptives from its employees. According to the Northwest Herald ...

A health care reform battle raging over individual's rights to insurance coverage for contraception and whether the federal government can compel religious institutions to fund that coverage has spilled into church pews locally and across the country. Catholic congregations this weekend heard a call to rally and a demand that Congress reverse a Jan. 20 decision by the Obama administration that requires Catholic and other religiously affiliated hospitals, colleges and social services agencies to cover services contrary to their doctrines.
Contraceptive coverage irks local Catholics

As to any organization that risks being a caricature of the Church Lady on matters regarding birth control, your LakeCountyEye advises operatives to give them a wide berth.

Luckily Joe Walsh is not being advised by your LakeCountyEye. Walsh, banty rooster & 8th Congressional District Congressman, has thrown his iron into the fire and has made it known that when it comes to a choice between public health & medical science or religious dogma, he sides with religious dogma:

Forcing religious organizations to provide birth control to their employees is un-American and unacceptable.
Rep. Walsh Takes Stand Against Contraceptive Mandate

Ha ha, this Joe Walsh who believes it is suitable to withhold basic family planning resources from a segment of the labor force is the same Joe Walsh who is currently being sued by an ex-wife for child support. The same Representative who has made Illinois tea-party politics synonymous with deadbeat-daddery also wants to block access to birth control. Is it just your LakeCountyEye who sees the irony here?

Ops are advised to get down on their knees and hope & pray that Big Government shall never perish from the earth. Big Government is about the only thing that now stands in the way of any fundamentalist outfit that wants to drag everyone back into the 15th century. Just sayin!

Fundraising with Numbers

Your LakeCountyEye observes that a monster solar flare is currently bombarding the planet with mega-doses of radioactively charged mega-pixels, or some junk like that. Operatives are advised to immediately put on their tinfoil hats otherwise risk seeing their brains fricasseed like so many chunks of trout stewed in a savory Béchamel.

Ops who scoff at your LakeCountyEye's dire warnings no doubt may have donned their protective tinfoil hats a bit too late, as the neuro-cognitive effects of the toxic solar blast is already exacting a heavy toll on an unsuspecting Lake County. What else explains this Daily Herald headline?

Jarratt, Neal tops in 31st state Senate fundraising

One symptom of solar-flare-disorder is a comically impaired attention span, so your LakeCountyEye won't bore you with the details of this Daily Herald story. Suffice it to say the story is about how much money raised so far by candidates for the 31st Senate District -- which can be summarized with this handy LakeCountyPie Chart™:

Ha ha, if you believe the Daily Herald headline, Melinda Bush's $11,480 is topped by "Lennie" Jarratt's $7,480 and Joe Neal's $6,030 -- which is mathematically true only if Jarratt's and Neal's numbers are combined.

Your LakeCountyEye suspects the misleading headline was a summary of the story's first sentence ...

Linwood "Lennie" Jarratt and Joe Neal have led in fundraising among four candidates running in the Republican primary for state Senate District 31, state election documents show.
Jarratt, Neal tops in 31st state Senate fundraising

In the Herald headline writer's defense, your LakeCountyEye knows full well how difficult it is to get beyond one of these opening paragraphs. Attention deficit or no attention deficit.

An Endorphin Endorsement Rush

It is as sure as the tide goes in, the tide goes out: post a story here about Eighth District Congressman Joe Walsh, and watch this blog's web-metrics all shoot through the roof. On the other hand, post a story here about the 10th Congressional District and this blog's page counter actually rolls backward. (This is not a joke as your LakeCountyEye has had more than one reader demand a refund on their page clicks.) So as a public service and at great expense to your LakeCountyEye ... woo-hoo! it looks like there is a donnybrook brewing up in the 10th Congressional District.

There are about 10 Democrats maneuvering there for the opportunity to take on the Republican incumbent, Robert Dold, in the November election. Since no one knows who they are or even any of their names, your LakeCountyEye is at a disadvantage when it comes to handicapping this particular Primary. While they do not pass out tip sheets for elections -- like they do at the track -- luckily there is a rough electoral equivalent for a bewildered voter -- endorsements. And, according to the Patch, there are plenty of endorsements being tossed around in the 10th Democratic Primary:

John Tree also announced the endorsement of former Democratic National Committee Chairman David Wilhelm, Wheeling Township Democratic Chair Kathleen Sances and Palatine Township Democratic Chair Sue Walton.

Sheyman and Schneider have their share of endorsements as well.

Brad Schneider has the backing of Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the Democratic Congressional whip; former Rep. Melissa Bean (D-Barrington); state Sen. Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest); and state Sen. Jeff Schoenberg (D-Evanston).

Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-Chicago); Rep. Danny Davis (D-Chicago); Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ); and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) are backing Ilya Sheyman.
Tree Raises $101,000 in Fourth Quarter

From this your LakeCountyEye has divined the names of at least 3 Democratic candidates:

• John Tree
• Brad Schneider
• Ilya Sheyman

Both Tree and Schneider have garnered the endorsements of not only some of DC's Democratic power-brokers, but some local heavy hitters as well. Sheyman, on the other hand, has got endorsements from some Chicago Congressmen, as well as from some out-of-state Congressmen who represent the Rachel Maddow Show.

Without knowing anything else about the Democrats in the Tenth district, your LakeCountyEye is ready to call this contest: it's a slam-dunk for Sheyman.

The reason why: Sheyman is the only candidate who seems to appreciate Nixon's Dictum:

Richard Nixon famously advised Republican presidential candidates to run to the right in the primaries and to the center in the general election.
Framing the Republican Race

With Gingrich & Romney battling it out on the Republican side, your LakeCountyEye suspects the only voter who asks for a Democratic ballot in March is that voter who even recognizes names like Raul Grijalva and Keith Ellison. (Provided, of course, that voter remembers to vote.) Ha ha, operatives in the 10th may as well pack up their yardsigns and find honest employment somewhere else. Sheyman will win the Primary there in a landslide -- following the politically right-minded trail blazed by Richard Nixon.

Blogrolled!

Your LakeCountyEye received a press release from Jonathan Farnick, undaunted candidate for the 14th Congressional District. The 14th is Lake County's newest and least known Congressional District and it roughly coincides with those parts of the county that no one knows about.

The press release, besides announcing Farnick's candidacy, reproduces the home page of the Farnick Campaign website. Or maybe vice-versa. From the presser ...

Nowhere on this site will you see a link or button to "Donate Here". Jonathan wants your vote, not your money.
Jonathan Farnick for Congress

This is valuable information, because it is a well known fact that, if ever forced to choose, most campaign websites would choose your money over your vote.

Emboldened by the knowledge that there will be no rogue, embedded javascript surreptitiously nicking the PayPal account, your LakeCountyEye visited Farnick's Campaign website. Your LakeCountyEye naturally gravitated to Farnick's blogroll:

Operatives are invited to scroll down to see for themselves. But they won't find any Lakes or any Countys or any Eyes listed on Farnick's blogroll.

Farnick campaign operatives are advised not to expect an endorsement for their candidate to appear on this blog. Or a plug for their website.

Statement on Senator Kirk's Medical Condition

From a Press Release from Mark Kirk's Office:

On Saturday, Senator Kirk checked himself into Lake Forest Hospital, where doctors discovered a carotid artery dissection in the right side of his neck. He was transferred to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where further tests revealed that he had suffered an ischemic stroke. Early this morning the Senator underwent surgery to relieve swelling around his brain stemming from the stroke. The surgery was successful. Due to his young age, good health and the nature of the stroke, doctors are very confident in the Senator's recovery over the weeks ahead.

We wish the Senator a full and speedy recovery.

Did Santorum Outscorum?

Is 2012 over yet? It's been a rollercoaster ride so far for your LakeCountyEye. As readers of this blog are highly aware ...

Sanctum Santorum

your LakeCountyEye was riding high with the astoundingly accurate prediction that a Carmel High School graduate -- Rick Santorum -- would win the Iowa caucus. But as readers of this blog are sorely aware ...

The Santorum Post-Mortum

your LakeCountyEye was just as quickly shot down when the checkery-shirted Mitt Romney went all-Chicago all over Santorum and stole the election from him.

Well, ha ha, in politics they say it ain't over til it's over, and this one wasn't over until the fat lady sang. In this case the fat lady happened to be Rick Santorum. The singing happened to be a recount revealing that Santorum won after all. According to the Northwest Herald ...

Rick Santorum edged front-runner Mitt Romney by 34 votes in a surprise flip to the final tally of the Iowa caucuses
GOP officials: Santorum edges Romney in Iowa count

Your LakeCountyEye wants to send a tip of the eyeshade and special thanks to the operatives in Iowa who scared up those extra 34 votes. You know who you are. Treat yourselves to some beers and send the bill to your LakeCountyEye.

Walsh v Obama

Eighth District Congressman & banty rooster Joe Walsh is running for re-election in 2012 but your LakeCountyEye is not quite sure for what. Having ordered the President to quit lying and having boycotted a Presidential address last September, Walsh gives the impression that he is running against Barack Obama. When he announced his re-election candidacy, Walsh said ...

far too often elected officials forget who elected them, and instead focus more on what they need to do to get re-elected. I have made it clear that I will only serve six years in the House

Some quick math -- 2010 + 6 years -- yields 2016, the year when Barack Obama is expected to consolidate his Bolshevik take-over of the US government and run for an unprecedented 3rd term. (Well unprecedented if one ignores FDR's 3rd term.) Anyhow it is pretty clear what Walsh is up to:

President Joe Walsh in 2016

Operatives no doubt are wondering how the ambitious politician turns a flash-in-the-pan appearance with the Illinois congressional delegation into a four-year gig on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The answer is simple, do it the way Barack Obama did it.

Start off by running for election unopposed. Now regarded a standard of Illinois political legend, Obama won his first election to the Illinois State Senate by challenging the petitions of his Democratic opponents. And knocking all three off the ballot:

Illinois Senate career of Barack Obama
Illinois Senate elections of Barack Obama

Walsh won't be able to equal Obama's hat-trick, but he does have two Republican opponents for the Eighth Congressional District. Both candidate's nominating petitions are under challenge:

BROMLEY V CANFIELD
BROMLEY V EVANS

Obama cleaned house and parlayed that into a ticket to the Democratic Convention. Your LakeCountyEye anticipates nothing less than a fire & brimstone keynote address from Congressman Joe Walsh. Next August. In Tampa. At the GOP convention.

Musical Board Chairs?

Truisms come and go -- and this one is as true as they go:

As goes the McHenryCountyBlog, so goes the nation.

But, look out, there's a new truism in town:

When your LakeCountyEye talks, the public sector pensioners listen.

As soon as State Rep Jack Franks filed a Bill to mandate the direct election of the McHenry & Lake County Board Chairpersons, your LakeCountyEye was all over it like tread on a waffle. No Springfield Bill gets out of committee without the prior approval of the McHenryCountyBlog. And as readers of this blog are eggotistically aware, your LakeCountyEye went directly to the source for their verdict ...

Ballotations for the Chairman, Now?

Less than 48 hours later an acknowledged spokesperson from the McHenryCountyBlog responded on this blog with a prepared statement.

Your LakeCountyEye will not divulge whether of not the McHenryCountyBlog is all thumbs-up or thumbs-down over Franks's Bill. Operatives are directed to that blog, to learn what McHenry County's blog-of-record thinks of the idea ...

Actually, that would be so much fun to watch, I might be talking myself into favoring Franks' idea.
What Is Jack Franks' End Game?

In related news, the Lake County Board issued a statement saying that its voters are not ready for democracy, and condemn those influences from the other side of the border who seek to impose their foreign way of life upon Lake County.

Q the Eye/01.15.12

Dear LakeCountyEye,

I waited my turn patiently for 20 years. I carried water -- and you don't want to know what else -- for some big elephants. Waiting paid off, I'm now the Chairperson of my County Board. But some meddling legislator in Springfield wants to change the rules and let the voters elect the County Chair. That's no fair -- I played by the rules.

Why is everyone always picking on me?

Charlie Brown

Dear Stolen Thunder,

State Rep Jack Franks filed a strikingly similar Bill that would require some counties to directly elect their Chairpersons, as readers of this blog are strikingly aware ...

Ballotations for the Chairman, Now?

The idea is gaining some momentum; the newspaper of record in Lake County, the Daily Herald, likes it. Sort of ...

But state Rep. Jack Franks has a point with his proposal to have the Lake and McHenry County Board chairmen elected directly. Lake and McHenry residents should give it some thought.
Good idea, wrong forum

Predictably Lake County Board Chair David Stolman is not so keen on the idea. According to the Daily Herald again ...

Stolman said it does not make sense for someone who doesn't live in Lake County to change the form of government there. He added that county residents, not legislators, should decide on such changes. "If our voters wanted to change the form of government and have an elected county board chairman, then it is certainly up to our voters," Stolman said. "I don't think a legislator should try to legislate that."
Stolman questions proposed county board chairman change

Now, Franks's Bill does not specifically mention Lake County, but is written to apply to counties with more than 300,000 residents. Also Bills put before the Springfield Legislature are passed by a vote of the entire legislature, and not by a vote of a single legislator who doesn't live in Lake County. Your LakeCountyEye does recognize that these are technical legal concepts that an uninformed layperson might not understand.

Also, Stolman is absolutely right, it is up to the voters how Lake County chooses its Board Chair. But your LakeCountyEye notes that a plebiscite of that nature requires a ballot referendum. And referenda are put on the County ballot by a vote of the Lake County Board. Which is controlled by -- ha ha -- David Stolman.

Too funny. Anyhow to answer your question, your LakeCountyEye recalls a Bufffalo Grove Trustee who was endorsed by and elected with the help of David Stolman. Your LakeCountyEye does not recall her name, but this politician proved to be so politically inept that the Village of Buffalo Grove was forced to pass a recall ordinance just to get her recalled.

Long story short, the answer to your problem is simple: enthusiastically support the Franks Bill and help it become law. Then find this ex-Trustee and endorse her candidacy as County Board chair. Turn that millstone into a stepping stone and run against her in the general election!

If you are an elected official, or a previously elected official, or just a private citizen under indictment, send your political questions to Q the Eye c/o ... LakeCountyEye@gMail.com

Ballotations for the Chairman, Now?

The Numerological Hotline forecast is unequivocal this week: the auspicious number is 300,000. So while searching for Internet lottery tickets, your LakeCountyEye noticed a related news item in the Northwest Herald. State Rep Jack Franks filed a Bill that ...

would require counties with more than 300,000 residents to directly elect the county board chairman. McHenry County has 308,760 residents, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. If approved, the law essentially would apply only to McHenry and Lake counties, because Cook and the remaining collar counties – the only other ones with more than 300,000 people – already make the chairmanship popularly elected. Franks said his sole motive was to empower citizens, and is not aimed at longtime McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler, R-Crystal Lake.
Bill aimed at allowing voters to elect County Board chairman

The Northwest Herald doesn't like the idea of making voters directly elect their County Board Chair. However they do like the idea of making the voters pass a referendum that will make them directly elect their County Board Chair:

While we favor having McHenry County voters directly elect their County Board chairman – we’ve taken this position in the past – we’re not in favor of state government mandating it from Springfield. County voters should decide themselves, via referendum, if they prefer to elect their board chairman rather than having County Board members do it themselves.
Our view: Allow voters to decide on board leader

Conspicuously absent from online the discussion is the Northwest Herald's arch nemesis: the McHenryCountyBlog. To date, there has been nary the peep from the public sector pensioners at the McHenryCountyBlog about this vital issue of public policy.

Typically when there is a story about empowering citizens and sticking it to the politicians; and when a story is about Jack Franks; then the McHenryCountyBlog is all over it. Like half-baked beans are over, well, franks.

It is a well known sociological fact: as goes the McHenryCountyBlog, so goes the nation. Their silence over this substantive issue is deafening. Lake County wants to know who will be choosing its next County Board Chair.

Rebuffing with Faint Praise?

An operative from Mettawa received a Campaign Mailer Legislative Update in the mail from State Senator Dan Duffy. The op forwarded a scan from the Duffy newsletter to your LakeCountyEye, along with a question:

I recognize Sen Duffy in the photo. Who is the fellow (posed like Jack LaLanne) standing next to him?

Operatives are invited to search high and low throughout the mailer for some mention of the unidentified fellow's name. But if you are anything like your LakeCountyEye you too will be coming home with neither hide nor hair to show for your efforts.

In desperation your LakeCountyEye made a call to the archivist. The LakeCountyEye archivist does have compelling evidence to think the man of mystery is actually Duffy's co-host at the Children's Health and Safety Fair, State Rep Ed Sullivan:

Safety Blitz

If Sullivan was indeed co-host of the Fair, there is no mention of that, either, in Duffy's mailer.

Q the Eye/01.07.12

Dear LakeCountyEye,

I will be on the ballot in Illinois and many other states for a high elective office. I'm surging in the polls and now my handlers are demanding a complete wardrobe makeover and they threw away all my sweater vests. I like to dress manly, but in a heterosexual way. What should I wear?

Divested Assets

Dear Rick on a Roll,

Since it is in their best interests to see you elected to high office, you ought to listen to your operatives. As readers of this blog are sartorially aware ...

The Santorum Post-Mortum

Sweater vests may look good on some gents ...

but are not proper attire for a Presidential candidate.

Every election cycle is different and 2012 is the year of the Republican power shirt. Take a close gander at your front-runner ...

Your LakeCountyEye sees three things: checks, bold & bright. All of which will add up to a big W in November. Nothing exudes the alpha-wolf-virility that every Presidential candidate needs like a Republican power shirt. Just take a look at how the right shirt magically transformed one non-descript Illinois congressman:

Your LakeCountyEye urges that you get over to T.J.Maxx and right away. The sooner your closet is restocked with a couple dozen of these super-bad chex the sooner your handlers will all be singing Hail to the Chief!

If you are an elected official, or a previously elected official, or just a private citizen under indictment, send your political questions to Q the Eye c/o ... LakeCountyEye@gMail.com

Historical Fiction on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Taliban

The Stevenson Center will host a program on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Taliban:

Adlai Stevenson Center on Democracy

Historical Fiction on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Taliban

Local author M. Salahuddin Khan has written a multiple award-winning novel, Sikander. A work of historical fiction, it covers the origins of the war in Afghanistan and America's complex relationships with Pakistan, the Taliban, and other forces in the region. Come hear Mr. Khan discuss these events and read from his book which will also be available for purchase and signing.

• Sunday
  January 8, 2012
  2 PM
• The Stevenson Center on Democracy
  25200 N St Mary's Rd
  Mettawa (Libertyville), IL 60048
  847-816-7433
• $15
• Coffee and conversation following

The Santorum Post-Mortum

Oh noes! So typical of a Carmel High School alum: Lake County favorite son Rick Santorum squandered what was widely believed to be an easy victory in the Iowa caucus.

As readers of this blog are mistakenly aware ...

Sanctum Santorum

Lake County operatives went to bed last night popping champagne corks and dreaming of K-street lobbying gigs and lucrative positions in a Santorum administration Treasury Department. They awoke this morning however to the dyspeptic news that Santorum lost by a landslide to Mitt Romney.

What went so terribly wrong? Now, every blogger with a sausage to slice has their explanation, but you're here for the unvarnished scoop and not some Internet baloney. It goes without saying that 99% of running president is looking like a president. So your LakeCountyEye wants to know ...

Does This Guy ...

Look Like a President?

Or Does He Look More Like ...

This Guy?

Does Santorum ...

Look Like This Guy?

Or More Like ...

These Guys?

The evidence is startling.

Some free advice to the operatives on the Santorum for President committee: schedule a big bonfire celebration outside your headquarters -- and stoke the flames with all those sweater vests in your candidate's closet. And when Lake County favorite son Rick Santorum becomes president he can thank your LakeCountyEye with a cabinet position. Secretary of Golf will do.

Sanctum Santorum

Operatives who stayed up into the wee hours of the night, waiting on the numbers from the Iowa caucus, would have been better served had they just RSSed this blog on Sunday. As readers of this blog are presciently aware ...

Rick Santorum: The Miracle from Mundelein
Defying any & all rational expectation, a graduate from Carmel HS wins the Iowa caucus.
Happy Day After New Year's Eve

Carmel High School alumnus & Lake County favorite son Rick Santorum came out of nowhere to beat Mitt Romney by a huge landslide in the Iowa caucus. A little known provision in the US Constitution stipulates that if a Carmel HS grad defies all rational expectation and wins in Iowa, he automatically gets to be the new President of the United States. Hail to the Chief, President Santorum!

You Say You Want a Resolution

If the date above this blog post is to be believed, it must be 2012 already. Since only two days ago it was still 2011, this is around that time of the year when every blogger on the blogosphere gins up some hackneyed New Year's resolution top ten list or something. Your LakeCountyEye of course is no exception, but ginning up some decent last-minute resolutions is not as easy as it sounds. It's only January 2 for Pete's sake -- two days into 2012 -- it won't be any sooner than July or early August before your LakeCountyEye has some inkling about what sort of resolutions need to be made.

Being out of ideas, it goes without saying, is a signal from above that it is time to steal someone else's ideas. In this case that someone else is TeamAmerica10th, who recently posted a note to his commenters ...

We like having viewpoints challenged, records of candidates and politicians examined and debated, and healthy debate about the issues of the day (try to get fair treatment like that on a liberal blog).
Happy New Year and a Look at the Presidential Matchup

Your LakeCountyEye concurs with a hearty hear hear! Why is it that all the lakeside Lake County liberal blogs have their reader comment sections locked down? And while all the conservative McHenry-County-side blogs may have open comment sections, these attract the sort of AOL-dialup type of reader who doesn't know how to post a comment on an Internet blog. If you're an operative in Lake County and your comment needs to be aired now, then you don't have a lot of alternatives other than moderate, non-partisan blogs like TeamAmerica10th and this blog, LakeCountyEye!

In that same post, TeamAmerica10th also sent his commenters a shot across the bow ...

I'm giving everyone fair warning that comments that are just juvenile and have no redeeming intellectual value are going to be deleted. If you have something of value to add to the discussion, regardless of your viewpoint (and our track record proves that we respect all comers who have something intelligent to say), it'll be recognized. If not, see ya.
Happy New Year and a Look at the Presidential Matchup

Now, for your LakeCountyEye's money, juvenility and without-redeeming-intellectual-value are synonymous with, if not the Internet itself, at least the Internet blogosphere. Just sayin!

And having said it, your LakeCountyEye does have one New Year's resolution. No comment posted on this blog -- regardless of how juvenile or bereft of redeeming intellectual value -- will be deleted from this blog. So trolls, n00bs, sockpuppets, spammers, drivebys, haxxors, griefers, flamethrowers, y'all have a home & are welcome on this blog to exercise your First Amendment Rights. (That still means you cannot shout FIRE in a crowded theater.) Just try to get fair & balanced treatment like that on any other so-called fair & balanced blog!

Happy Day After New Year's Eve

Your LakeCountyEye woke this morning with the certain knowledge that if this is what all New Year's Days are to be like, then it is a good thing that the new year comes but once a year.

The new year is traditionally a time for reflection and for resolutions. Your LakeCountyEye resolves not to milk that stupid gag one more time where this blog's readers are all wished a happy new year in a bunch of different languages. Ja-Ja Ha Ha!

Speaking of the trite but true, most bloggers will take this opportunity to segue into some hackneyed look backward at the top stories from the previous 12 months. Your LakeCountyEye, it goes without saying, is no exception to the rule. There are many news items to choose from, too many in fact to shoehorn into a blog post. Luckily since this blog is about Lake County, your LakeCountyEye has the privilege to handpick only the best local stories to review. All ten of them:

The Ten Biggest Lake County Stories of 2011

Rod Blagojevich is convicted. Irregularities in the handling of DNA evidence by Michael Waller's State's Attorney Office puts the conviction in legal jeopardy. Osama Bin Laden is killed by Navy Seals in his safe house near Abbott Labs Abbottabad. The Fielders Dodgers declare bankruptcy. The Gold Pyramid House in Wadsworth is the epicenter of the Arab Spring. Democracy spreads throughout Lake County. Lake County's team, the Green Bay Packers, wins the Super Bowl. The Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami permanently puts the Zion Nuclear Plant out of commission. Much of Lake County is without power after July 11. Charlie Sheen is fired from his TV show. Sheen then goes on a nationwide tour, opening as the headline act at Waukegan's Casino. Prince William marries Catherine Middleton at Westdeerfield Abbey. Steve Jobs dies. Jobs is best remembered in Lake County for the video poker app. Rick Santorum: The Miracle from Mundelein Defying any & all rational expectation, a graduate from Carmel HS wins the Iowa caucus.

Look for your LakeCountyEye, making up that 2012 Top 10 List.

Little Bridges

Motorists driving through scenic Long Grove this holiday season may need to remember that their seat cushions are also flotation devices. The covered bridge there on Robert Parker Coffin Rd may be falling down. According to the News-Sun, the bridge ...

will be in need of repair soon, and village officials say they no longer have the money to cover even routine maintenance.
Long Grove's iconic covered bridge needs repairs

Your LakeCountyEye has been told that no one at the Lake County Department of Transportation looks forward to the prospect of vehicles plummeting to their fiery demise into the 1000 ft sheer-drop crevice beneath the bridge. However, it still remains a favorite destination for wireless device users, as the bridge provides cover to anyone who likes to text while driving and without being distracted by law enforcement officials.

It has been proposed that the life of the crumbling structure can be extended by building a roundabout at the intersection of Rbt Parker Coffin and Old McHenry Road. Drivers who do not avoid these confounding traffic circles altogether, are projected, after a couple of go-arounds, to succumb to frustration and end up eventually in neighboring Buffalo Grove. It is estimated this will reduce traffic over the covered bridge by up to a factor of 100%.

The Village of Long Grove may simply want someone else to pay for their bridge repair and is blaming another road project, the Route 53 Extension. Long Grove Mayor, Maria Rodriguez, campaigned unsuccessfully in the 2010 Eighth Congressional District Republican primary, in part on a platform to build the Route 53 Extension. However in 2013 she would face re-election in decidedly anti-Route-53-centric Long Grove. As reported in the News-Sun, Rodriguez is now saying that Long Grove is having difficulty paying for existing infrastructure problems, like ...

stormwater runoff, which will likely worsen if the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority succeeds in extending Route 53 next to Long Grove. "(Route) 53 is going to compound that by a thousandfold," she said. Rodriguez is a member of both the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission and the tollway's 53 Advisory Committee.
Long Grove's iconic covered bridge needs repairs

Your LakeCountyEye has learned that there is a compromise plan being discussed. The Route 53 extension would be built along Robert Coffin Parker Road. And a toll-plaza would be constructed over the covered bridge. It is projected that the covered bridge would pay for itself within less than fifty years. Seems like an out-and-out win-win to your LakeCountyEye!

Frank God it's Christmas

While it seems unrealistic to swear off Joe Walsh stories for 2012, your LakeCountyEye had resolved to go cold turkey through the end of the year. Ha ha that won't be happening either -- the Congressman from the Eighth District, in the way of a seasons greeting, has flipped the holiday bird.

As readers of this blog are truculently aware ...

Merry War On Christmas!

there is a war on Christmas that is waged every year, around now, i.e. at Christmastime, and uncoincidentally so. And when there is fightin' to be done and a safe perch atop a grandstand to do it on, can Joe Walsh be far behind? The Sun-Times posed the question thus ...

Should members of Congress be able to say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Hanukkah" in taxpayer-funded newsletters to their constituents? Rep. Joe Walsh, R-McHenry, was incensed to learn that he could not under current House rules.
Rep. Walsh on crusade for Christmas, Hanukkah mailing

At stake is whether your congresscritter should be allowed to mail out campaign lit, not only disguised as Christmas cards/newsletters -- but more importantly, campaign lit paid-for by your Federal government. Note to operatives: to succeed, frame this sort of battle against a backdrop of the first amendment or political correctness or the sanctity of Christmas or some other hot-button issue. The average voter will forget your primary goal is to pick their pocket.

Walsh, according to the Daily Herald, has declared Mission Accomplished ...

the beltway paper The Hill reported that House leaders have now received new guidelines on holiday correspondence. "The Franking Commission has spent the last year coming up with a whole host of revisions, and those are before the leadership now awaiting approval," Illinois Republican Rep. Aaron Schock, the chairman of the House Franking Commission, told the paper. Walsh told The Daily Herald Friday evening that he was pleased his voice had been heard on the issue
Walsh's Christmas mission is successful

Ha ha, operatives of all religious and non-religious affiliations in the Eighth District are now advised to watch their mailboxes for that Christmas greeting from Congressman Joe Walsh. You paid for it.

Merry Christmas turkeys!

Merry War On Christmas!

During this very special holiday season your LakeCountyEye wishes each and every reader of this blog a joyful and merry war on Christmas!

• God ferie
• أعياد سعيدة
• Aw ni kɔnze duman
• Весели празници
• Bones festes
• 节日快乐
• 節日快樂
• Sretni blagdani
• Veselé svátky
• Prettige feestdagen
• Joyeuses fêtes
• Felices festas
• Frohe feiertage
• Καλές γιορτές
• חג שמחआपकी छुट्टियाँ आनंददायक हों
• Kellemes Ünnepeket
• Gleðilega hátíð
• Selamat Hari Raya
• Buone feste
• 楽しいホリデーシーズンを
• 해피 할러데이즈
• Laimīgas Brīvdienas
• Džiaugsmingų švenčių
• Gledelig høytid
• تعطيلات خوش بگذره
• Wesołych świąt
• Boas festas
• Sărbători fericite
• С праздником
• Srećni praznici
• Срећни празници
• Vesele praznike
• Felices fiestas
• Habari Gani
• God Helg
• عید مبارک
• Nghỉ lễ vui vẻ
• Happy Holidays!

The Loyal Opposition?

Not since the christening scene in The Godfather has one local power broker as swiftly and cleanly eliminated his rivals from his turf. Ha ha, as readers of this blog are utterly aware,

Unnatural Election

Darlene Ruscitti unexpectedly dropped out of the Eighth District Primary leaving the field wide open for incumbent GOP Congressman Joe Walsh.

Operatives may suspect that in stone-cold eliminating his Primary competition, Walsh has shot himself in the foot. Without a Primary opponent, media attention will naturally gravitate toward Walsh's Democratic opposition -- in case you've forgotten, Tammy Duckworth and Raja Krishnamoorthi are also competing for the opportunity to be on the Eighth District ballot.

For operatives uncertain about how long Walsh could withstand prolonged exposure to a media vacuum before impolding, your LakeCountyEye advises not to worry. There are currently a couple of GOP chumbolones who have filed and presumably were sent to keep it real and provide Walsh with some token Primary opposition ...

GENERAL PRIMARY - 3/20/2012

While front runners typically try to duck out of debates against lesser known opponents, don't look for Walsh to follow suit. Your LakeCountyEye does not expect Walsh to pass any opportunity to play his Mr Natural shtick on the debate stage against a couple of Flakey Foonts. In all likelihood Walsh will demand and to get as many debates as can humanly fit into a campaign schedule. Look for Walsh to be up-front reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and in general practicing his patented brand of histrionics regularly on the YouTubes from now through March 20 -- and sucking all the air out of the Eighth District, away from Duckworth and Krishnamoorthi.

Unnatural Election

If Johnsburg was Atlanta and if Schaumburg was Savannah and if Lake County was the State of Georgia then the juggernaut that is the Joe Walsh re-election campaign -- now rolling through the devastated remnants of the Eighth Congressional District -- would be Sherman's March to the Sea. Ha ha, the latest casualty in what all observers agree will be a long war of attrition in the new Lake-County-Free Eighth District is GOP footsoldier Darlene Ruscitti. According to the Daily Herald, Ruscitti, the DuPage Superintendent of Schools, who was ...

expected to be a tough GOP primary challenger for Joe Walsh in the 8th District, has backed out of the race. "Today, after careful consideration with family, supporters and friends, I have decided not to run for Congress in the 8th Congressional District," the statement, released Wednesday afternoon, reads. Ruscitti said her campaign "collected over 4,000 petition signatures, signed up hundreds of volunteers and gained the support of dozens of elected officials -- but my role as a leader within the Illinois Republican Party and a desire to avoid a costly primary outweigh my personal political aspirations."
Ruscitti bows out of 8th District GOP primary

As it goes in warfare so it goes in politics. According to Illinois Election Law those 4000 signatures are regarded as the electoral equivalent to spoils of war, and now all belong to Walsh's re-election campaign. Those same petition signatures will no doubt be summarily dispatched to the Walsh campaign paper shredders. The whereabouts and ultimate fate of the "hundreds of volunteers" and "dozens of elected officials" remains unknown.

Your LakeCountyEye does send a tip of the green eyeshade to Darlene Ruscitti. She volunteered for what is largely regarded a political suicide mission: run as something more than the token GOP opposition candidate in the Eighth District. And then after Walsh decided he wanted all along to be that GOP candidate instead, Ruscitti volunteered again -- this time (in what is also regarded a political suicide mission) to be thrown under the campaign bus. Ruscitti has proven to be more than a good sport for taking one two for the team.

Smittened?

Whoever said politics is show business for ugly people never envisioned Mitt Romney. The front-runner in the GOP Presidential sweepstakes, Romney is blessed with the sort of preternatural male allure that one expects from their network news anchors and BVD models. In the imperishable words of the immortal Harry Caray ... there goes one good-lookin' player.

Of course Romney isn't the only GOP contender for the highest office in the land. Rick Perry from the Lone Star State has some of the rugged cowboy machismo that a Jake Gyllenhaal exudes on the silver screen but, in your LakeCountyEye's opinion, is no match when held up against a Romney's urbane & knowing je ne sais quoi.

Other Republican Presidential candidates include the toadish Newt Gingrich. As well as political queen bee, Michele Bachmann. There is someone's old grandpa, Ru Ron Paul. And a guy you never heard of so you'll have to Google him yourself, Rick Santorum.

Against a wooden field like this, Mitt Romney certainly has the leg up. Romney may not have a straight path to the White House ahead of him but he certainly has the muscle that, quite candidly, no one else can beat.

That said, it should come as no surprise that Illinois junior Senator Mark Kirk endorsed Mitt Romney this week:

Mark Kirk says Mitt Romney will boost GOP ticket in Illinois

Your LakeCountyEye does suspect however that Kirk was privy to confidential polling data before issuing his endorsement.

The Screaming Memes

An actual conversation overheard in a Lake County bar:

Joe Walsh:	THIS IS WAR, PEOPLE, THIS IS A REVOLUTION FOR THE VERY SOUL OF AMERICA. THE MEDIA DOESN'T GET IT. THE PARTIES DON'T GET IT. IT'S HIGH TIME WE PULLED OUR HEADS OUT OF THE SAND. SO, YOU SIR, I HAVE TO ASK YOU ONCE AGAIN ... RESPECTFULLY ... WHY DO YOU HAVE A BANANA IN YOUR EAR?!
Barfly:	Could you speak louder, please? I have a banana in my ear.

Ha ha, it's not for nothing that one Illinois Congressman totally owns his awesome nickname, Screamin' Joe Walsh.

Of course, it was not always thus. It was well into this summer when when Screamin' Joe was still just Plain Ol' Joe -- Walsh. And then back in July your LakeCountyEye dropped the S-Bomb ...

Touch Wood

Truth be told, despite high hopes Screamin' Joe did not become an instant Internet meme. And as readers of this blog are mimetically aware, there were a couple of subsequent half-hearted attempts to give the Congressman from the Eighth District the Internet recognition he deserves:

Daddy-Owe

Got Any Gum?

But politics is like show-biz, there is a lot of sitting around and waiting involved. Well, your LakeCountyEye had to sit around and wait until the 2012 Primary started to heat up before Screamin' Joe Walsh became a household word in cyber-households (whatever those are):

Joe Walsh - Running & Screaming in IL 8

Ha ha, Tammy Duckworth, please send that royalty payment to:

lakecountyeye@gmail.com

By the way, your LakeCountyEye also does message development. Cheap. Just Google

Screamin' Joe Walsh

for a referral.

Re:Pete After Me

The new congressional map is now officially the law of the land in the Land of Lincoln, as readers of this blog are lincolnesquely aware ...

Q the Eye/12.18.11

All of which means Lake County will increase its congressmen-for-life tally from two to three. Chris Krug, editor of the Northwest Herald, observes that if you live in the new Sixth District ...

you'll have your pick next November of Republican incumbent Peter Roskum or one of three Democrat challengers: Leslie Coolidge, Geoffrey Petzel or Maureen Yates.
Map-tastic

Your LakeCountyEye doesn't know much about the new congresscritter from the far west burbs, and Roskam is no doubt a novice when it comes to Lake County politics. Operatives wishing to do their homework will see better results Googling R-O-S-K-A-M and not R-O-S-K-U-M:

Peter Roskam

Chris Krug's spelling boo-boo might be attributed to the fact that Peter Roskam's name is not pronounced like it is spelled:

Do Not Say: räw’scam

Rather Say: räw’scum

This is the sort of vital information that gets one noticed at that next RALC meeting!

Those operatives still reading are asked to provide their own Beavis & Butthead joke here.

Q the Eye/12.18.11

Dear LakeCountyEye,

I need to run for Congress. This year.

Mr Smith Goes to Washington

Dear Mr Smith (if that's your real name),

With Congressional job approval numbers hovering in the low negative digits, you've picked a good year to toss your hat in the ring. An angry electorate is in a mood to throw the bums out, while hoping for nothing more than to meet-the-new-bum-same-as-the-old-bum in 2012.

And as reported in the Sun-Times, you're also in luck because a Federal court has just put their seal of approval on Illinois's new congressional map:

Illinois GOP lose congressional remap case; Democratic map stands

The controversial decision will yield its share of winners and losers but the number-one big winner has to be the Illinois GOP. With the new map set in stone, Illinois's GOP is now on course to divest itself of its biggest blunder since Alan Keyes, namely Eighth District Congressman Joe Walsh.

Walsh's no-holds-barred media histrionics is a source of embarrassment for the Illinois GOP while translating into a bonanza of fundraising dollars for both national and Illinois Democrats. The Illinois GOP's nightmare scenario was an unmuzzled Walsh winning re-election over and over and over again in a safe Republican congressional district. But the federal ruling gave the Illinois GOP the time and opportunity to exile Walsh to a newly drawn Eighth District where he is on track to be summarily dispatched by the Tammy Duckworth juggernaut in November of 2012.

No longer will operatives be subjected to the cringe-worthy spectacle of local GOP blogs in desperate search of nice things to say about Walsh:

Hopefully that's the way Congressman Joe Walsh is taking it, since the New York Times published a nice hit piece on Walsh yesterday. The NYT goes through Walsh's various troubles with his divorce and other tidbits (have you heard his driver's license was suspended? Twice? Horrors!) to set up the real question so that us parochial voters here in Illinois can hopefully understand it -- don't you people see what kind of a hypocritical, loose-cannon you losers out in the cornfields have elected? The thing about Joe, though, is that he cares little for what anyone thinks about him, especially an outfit like the NYT, except that he does care for the people who elected him.
The New York Times Takes a Swing at Joe Walsh

TeamAmerica10th and McHenryCountyBlog and the rest all owe the Illinois Democrats a debt of gratitude for not redrawing the congressional map in a way that the Eighth District became a safe Republican vote-sink -- and where a then-incumbent Joe Walsh would win re-election over and over and over again.

Anyways, you have until December 27 to submit your nominating petition. The requirement is 600 signatures, drawn from any one of Illinois's eighteen congressional districts. Your LakeCountyEye personally recommends the Eighth.

If you are an elected official, or a previously elected official, or just a private citizen under indictment, send your political questions to Q the Eye c/o ... LakeCountyEye@gMail.com

Municipally Munificent Mundelein

All politics may be local but all local politics is boring, the very thought of which is enough to make your LakeCountyEye's eyes glaze over. Which is why you are rarely subjected to a rehash of some petty hometown political drama on this blog -- your LakeCountyEye prefers to examine the big pressing national issues of the day, instead. Like the War on Christmas.

A knuckle-biter in Mundelein city hall this week however does deserve a brief mention. According to the News-Sun ...

A 60-day extension to iron out details between the Village Board and a downtown redeveloper over building a new Village Hall sparked a split vote Monday night. On a 4-3 vote, three trustees — Lentz, Meier and Voss — voted against the extension. They questioned whether the Board was on the right track in proceeding with a public-private partnership with Weston Solutions, Inc. to build a new Village Hall that will replace the quaint but deteriorating Hawley Street building. However, Trustee Ed Sullivan strongly favored the arrangement, pointing out the extensive site planning and initiative that the company has already put into the proposed project.
Delay sparks concerns over new Mundelein Village Hall

Operatives not familiar with the aforementioned Weston Solutions, Inc. may recall when the company was named Roy F. Weston, Inc.. More details from the News-Sun ...

Weston Solutions has already done an estimated $325,000 in site planning design and preliminary engineering services on the project. The plan would be to build a two-story, 32,000-square-foot structure with the Village occupying the first floor and Weston Solutions Chicago area headquarters leasing the second floor under a seven year lease, with options for an additional six years. Weston Solutions would serve as general contractor for the job, and would serve as the owner's representative interfacing with Village officials during the construction phase. Additionally the company would provide fee-for-service consulting on architectural design and resolve zoning issues.
Delay sparks concerns over new Mundelein Village Hall

If the company still does not ring a bell, operatives may want to double check if Weston Solutions, Inc. made a past contribution to one of their candidates:

Illinois State Board of Elections: Contributions List

Your LakeCountyEye also went to the trouble of embedding a web widget to aid in your research:

Weston Inc : Individual Contributions

Overall, a big win for big government and big government's advocates.

Challenge Challenged?

Note to operatives searching for that last-minute gift: If any of the candidates who filed in Illinois Senate District 26 or Representative District 52 are on your gift list, your LakeCountyEye recommends presenting them with a framed copy of their birth certificate. Ha ha, as readers of this blog are postnatally aware ...

Unidentified Flying Objections

Sharon Meroni has filed objections against every candidate in Senate/26 and Rep/52 -- for not providing documentation to prove they are US citizens. Legal-eyed operatives may observe that proof of citizenship is not a ballot requirement in Illinois. On the other hand, it costs nothing to file a ballot objection.

So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Meroni's were not the only objections filed there. According to the Daily Herald ...

David McSweeney of Barrington Hills is trying to clear out his competition in the GOP primary for the Illinois House by challenging the petition signatures turned in by his two opponents, incumbent state Rep. Kent Gaffney of Lake Barrington and Danielle Rowe of Island Lake. McSweeney sent out a statement that said, among other things...

"I have taken this step in order to sustain the integrity of the petition process and to respect the high ethical standards that the people of the 52nd should expect from candidates and elected officials. I believe that the Illinois State Board of Elections will determine that both of my opponents will not qualify to be on the ballot."

As it turns out, McSweeney's petitions have been challenged as well.
A primary challenge challenge

(Note #2 to operatives: if you're an election lawyer in Representative District 52, life is good.)

The Herald story never actually names who challenged McSweeney's petitions, mentioning instead an unreturned call to Kent Gaffney and an on-the-record comment by Danielle Rowe that McSweeney is acting like a "bully." Those operatives who would assume the unnamed McSweeney challenger is Gaffney or Rowe would be wrong. Currently the only pending objection against McSweeney is ...

MERONI V MCSWEENEY

Once McSweeney digs up a birth certificate he's in the free & clear. Your LakeCountyEye can't say as much for Gaffney or Rowe.