Broken Bush Promises

No, not that Bush, Melinda Bush in this case or, as she likes to differentiate herself Melinda (Willen) Bush in her campaign literature. Why the sudden use of the parenthetical maiden name? Apparently to distance herself from Bush as far as possible but where she matches up with our current president is promising things she can’t deliver.

In her latest campaign mailer she is making a grand number of promises especially on property tax increases. Her plan calls for forcing the County Assessor to reassess all homes to account for the current values versus the “inflated” values of the past. First of all, they weren’t inflated, they were a product of the booming housing market. Second, the County Board can’t force the County Assessor to do any such thing. Assessments are done by township assessors and the County Board can’t force the township assessors to do that any more than the Federal Government can force Illinois to change its sales tax rate. It’s not within their power.

Next she wants to integrate “state, county and local traffic planning”. Sounds like a wonderful idea but that already is done on a routine basis. The problem is, the state doesn’t have any money and the growing list of projects the state intended to do but wasn’t allowed to do by our current governor and legislature (both controlled by Bush’s Democratic Party I might add) is about ten times as long as the list of projects actually being done. The state is broke, this is not news to anyone, Bush as your county board member isn’t going to fix the state.

The most egregious of these claims though is her statement that Larry Leafblad “sat on the sidelines and did nothing while our property taxes soared 30-50%” as well as “He could have voted to cap assessments at 7% but he refused and the people lost.” This is an utterly and completely bogus claim.

First, Lake County is subject to the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law or “Tax Cap” which means, for most funds in most taxing bodies assessments can go up no higher than 5% or the cost of living (COLA), whichever is less. Up until last year that has been nowhere near 5% and way short of 7%. How Bush claims they went up 30-50% I have no clue, she doesn’t cite a source. What she is referring to in her mailer is the 7% cap that is part of the Alternative General Homestead Exemption, it only applies in Cook County. Why only Cook County? Only Cook County has adopted the alternative exemption, and the bill that Bush cites in her mailing, PA 93-0715, is being phased out by PA 95-0644! Under the only “7% cap” residents of Cook County had to apply to get the exemption and even then it was in lieu of the $5000 exemption the rest of us get, not in addition to it. While it could be some additional savings it’s being phased out in favor of a long term resident exemption that allows for a similar cap but only if you’ve been in your home more than ten years and only if you meet certain income requirements.

What does this all equate to? A whole lot of FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) about property taxes that the county board and any individual county board member has no control over. Unless Bush is somehow going to get Rod Blagojevich, Michael Madigan and Emil Jones to decide to lower our property taxes (good luck with those three!) it isn’t going to happen.

Finally, Bush claims to be “a leader with fiscal discipline”. Other than four years as a village trustee in Grayslake she hasn’t demonstrated much leadership outside of the Illinois Federation of Teachers. And oh, by the way, the union she’s a leader of just authorized a strike against Grayslake District 46. Call me silly but someone like Bush being an advocate for rising property taxes is a little like the fox being an advocate for the henhouse — it doesn’t pass the smell test. Good thing if she actually does win she’ll have almost nothing to do with property taxes in Lake County but the fact she claims that she can change it should be seen through by the voters.

Duffy Hits Endorsement Grand Slam

Not just a majority of the newspapers in the Illinois 26th Senate District endorsed Dan Duffy, all of them did. While his opponent continues to try to spin away admitted lies and allows a PAC to send blatant lies on his behalf, Dan and his message to the voters resonated with all the papers that endorsed him. Here’s a few excerpts:

Dan Duffy Endorsed by The Chicago Tribune
- October 23, 2008

26th District (north, northwest suburbs): Round Lake Mayor Bill Gentes, a Democrat, and Republican Dan Duffy of Lake Barrington, a computer consultant, are competing for retiring GOP Sen. Bill Peterson’s seat. Duffy is a smart, solid guy who has excellent real-world experience. He is troubled by the state’s anti-business climate and wants to hold the line on taxes. Gentes has …given voters a reason not to trust him. He said he was on a leave of absence from his job—but later admitted he had been fired. Duffy is endorsed.

Daily Herald Endorses Dan Duffy for State Senate District 26
- October 21, 2008

Dan Duffy earns our support for his advocacy of Illinois businesses and for his grasp of issues facing our state. His ideas for handling finances - a Web site where you could view every check written by state government - add a refreshing voice to widespread calls for reform.

Northwest Herald

- October 24, 2008

We are endorsing Duffy. A 42-year-old Lake Barrington resident, Duffy states that his goal if elected is to reduce spending and taxes. Duffy said another of his top priorities if elected will be to change the anti-business climate in Illinois. Duffy also favors ethics reform and more transparency in government. Duffy is knowledgeable about statewide issues and would be a fine state senator for the 26th District.

DAN DUFFY FOR 26TH DIST. STATE SENATE
- Oct. 9, 2008

As a small business owner, Dan Duffy found out how hard it was to struggle with the costs of taxes and health
care. One of the biggest issues Duffy wants to take on is corruption throughout the state government. Duffy has been successful throughout his business career. He has taken on more responsibility and leadership roles with groups like the Illinois Leadership Council for the National Federation of Independent Business and the Lake and Cook County Area Action Council for Independent Businesses. He continues to fight to resolve the issues facing small businesses and citizens throughout the area. This style would serve the residents of the 26th District well. We endorse Dan Duffy for the 26th District of the Illinois Senate.

Trib: Gentes Regrets Lying - But Stops There

State Senate candidate says he regrets lying about his professional background — chicagotribune.com

Gentes still refuses to discuss leaving his previous employer further:

“I did not disclose this fact because I was embarrassed,” Gentes said. “That’s my statement on it.”

Apparently Gentes doesn’t feel the voters are entitled to any more information on this matter. Again, I think he should come clean with what happened and release his former employer from confidentiality in discussing it. This is not the simple matter of a “tough economy” when his former employer has endorsed Dan Duffy and their PAC has donated to the Duffy campaign. Makes you wonder why they would do that if Gentes left on good terms or was laid off, doesn’t it?

Daily Herald Endorses Duffy For Senate

Photo by Team America.

Today the Daily Herald made it official by endorsing Dan Duffy for State Senate. While his opponent’s lie to their editorial board about his employment status has been much covered here and elsewhere, they instead focused on Dan’s great qualities that he brings to the table and why I endorsed him as well.

Dan’s a successful businessman and is the youngest of eleven children, that’s right, eleven. I don’t know what better way to prepare you for the dog-eat-dog nature of Springfield than growing up with 10 brothers and sisters, especially when you’re the youngest! Seriously though, Dan has survived the tough world of building your own small business and would bring that perspective to Springfield with him.

When I met with him I was instantly at ease with his genuineness, his sincerity and his down to earth nature. Here I was, a school board member and he made time to meet me for lunch for some one-on-one discussion of the issues facing our state. It didn’t take me long to figure out Dan was the man for the job.

The Daily Herald agreed joining the News Sun and the Pioneer press along with myself and a host of others in endorsing Dan. I encourage you to get to know Dan some more if you have not yet decided and I think you’ll find he’s the clear pick to represent you in Springfield.

Gentes Short Of Full Disclosure

Photo by Cal Skinner.

Bill Gentes wrote of contrition in his letter to the editor in the October 17 Daily Herald, however he states the reason why he was not truthful about his employment was that he was embarrassed to be unemployed. Gentes made it a point to tell the Daily Herald editorial board and others during his campaign that he took a leave of absence from his job, yet only after the Daily Herald looked into this claim was it determined he was, in fact, terminated.

The larger issue is that, by his own admission, he was fired, not just out of work. Now we the voters are supposed to assume that it was through no fault of his own that he was terminated and give him a promotion when his previous employer fired him? It’s pretty tough for an average person to get another job after they have been terminated but any good employer will look into it and get both sides. The people are not getting both sides though since Gentes’ former employer is bound by confidentiality.

In the interest of full disclosure not only should Gentes explain why he was fired, he should release his employer from confidentiality in talking about it. Let his employer give their reasons, if they care to, why he was terminated. Mr. Gentes can make his case and then let the voters decide. Normally this would be beyond the scope of what voters are entitled to know, but Gentes opened the door when he lied to the Daily Herald and lied to the people.

Daily Herald | Round Lake school hoping to reclaim control

Daily Herald | Round Lake school hoping to reclaim control

As indicated in the article last night the Board of Education and the SFA met to discuss transition plans. No school district in Illinois has emerged from an SFA, they either dissolved or continue to be governed by an SFA (East Saint Louis, Chicago, Hazelcrest).

This shows the enormous progress the district has made in just 7 short years since the Financial Oversight Panel (the predecessor to the SFA) was put into place. Short term debt has been eliminated, long term debt is well under control, fund balances are up across the board and the district has more cash on hand than many districts would ever dream of having.

There are many folks responsible for this: first the taxpayers who absorbed a tax increase when the tax cap was reset three years ago, the FOP members who first helped to start getting us on track, Walter Korpan our former business manager and CFO, Dennis Stonewall who helped right the ship in a number of areas and worked building bridges with the community, the current SFA members who have gradually allowed the Board to take back most control as we have continued our recovery. Finally Dr. Ben Martindale deserves a large amount of credit for coming in with a plan to get our district back to local control. After almost a year and a half we are well on our way.

I’ll be running for re-election in April and I hope to be fortunate enough to be returned to office and help with our transition back to local control. I’ve had many proud moments in the past few years on the board but of that accomplishment I would be the most proud.

October President’s Letter

Another school year is already in full swing in Round Lake Area Schools and the Board of Education is excited about the number of new programs and restructuring of current programs we are offering for your children this year. The centerpiece of these changes has been the re-opening of Magee Middle School thanks to the support of you, the Round Lake Area taxpayers. With careful use of your referendum dollars we have rebuilt a building we believe the community can be proud of — a beacon in the middle of Round Lake, bearing a proud name, rising like a phoenix out of the ashes to signify to those within and outside our community that Round Lake Area Schools is back.

Now with two middle schools we were able to create true middle school programs of 6th, 7th and 8th grades thus relieving some of the overcrowding at our elementary schools. This opened a door to our next opportunity — full-day kindergarten. The earliest years of a student’s life are some of the most important ones where many of the basic concepts they will carry forward with them are formed. Studies have shown that quality and quantity of instruction during these years provides for better results down the road. We’re proud to be one of the first schools in the area to provide full-day kindergarten to the families of Round Lake thus giving them an early leg up on learning.

With these important projects now completed the board is still keeping its eyes on the future and isn’t done yet. Later this month the Board of Education and School Finance Authority will be meeting to put together a transition plan. This plan will see Round Lake Area Schools become the first district to have local control by the school board returned to it after state intervention. We are very excited at this opportunity to return our district to normalcy the way the Illinois State Constitution intended for it to be — local residents, elected by the community to represent them, in full control of the school district and the education of the community’s children. This simply hasn’t been done before and Round Lake is setting the example for other school districts to follow thanks to your support during a very difficult period of our existence. It says to the whole state that in Round Lake, yes we can do better, yes we can do it ourselves, and yes we will set the standard for others to follow.

Again, we cannot thank the community enough for its support and its interest in the present and future of Round Lake Area Schools. Each day you show to us all and remind us why we are here — to build the foundation for the future of our children and our community. We continue to work hard to exceed your expectations and realize there is much work yet to be done. With your support we are able to do so and able to prove day after day that yes, we can!

It’s The Lie That Gets You

Photo by Cal Skinner.

Richard Nixon learned a cold hard truth of politics and paid the price, Bill Clinton nearly did the same. That truth is, no matter how bad the thing is that you’re trying to cover up, it’s the lie that people remember and the lie gets you every time.

Apparently Bill Gentes, Round Lake village president and candidate for Illinois Senate District 26 didn’t get the memo because he decided to outright lie to the Daily Herald editorial board, on his website, and elsewhere. What was the lie? That he was on a leave of absence from his job when he was actually fired six months ago.

Per the Herald article:

When asked Monday about handling all that goes with running for the open Senate District 26 seat, Gentes responded he’s on a leave of absence from his full-time job as operations director at the Realtor Association of NorthWest Chicagoland.

However, association Chief Executive Officer Peggy Kayser refuted Gentes in a statement issued Tuesday.

“On advice of counsel, I cannot give the terms of his separation, but Bill stating he is on a leave of absence is an outright lie,” Kayser said.

In fact, his former employer has endorsed Dan Duffy, his opponent in the upcoming election.

To be honest with you, I had a lot of respect for Bill Gentes at one point and, like many residents, thought he had done a great job for our village. Then before long I started to look deeper into things and had more personal dealings with him and that opinion changed.

In fact, that opinion did a 180 last summer after a tense meeting at the village hall with myself, district administrators and Bill where he demanded RLAS come to an agreement with a developer to lower our impact fees or he would dictate to us what we would get. We had researched our impact fees before adopting them and they were in line with other school districts. But because the developer had been quoted fees from several years ago and had already negotiated impact fees with other entities they were unwilling to give RLAS what we wanted. Here I thought Bill would step in on our behalf, we’re under state oversight after all and we’re talking about critical funds to help provide infrastructure for the additional kids we would take on, and he was telling me our fees were way out of line.

He then accused me of threatening him when I said I would take my case to the village trustees and said, “Do you know who runs the village, Guy?” I hesitated and replied, “the board of trustees.” Bill leaned forward in his chair towards me at that point and said, “No Guy, the mayor does” as he pointed a finger into his chest looking dead at me. In a matter of a few moments my opinion had totally changed and it was clear to me that Bill was not the person I thought he was. So this latest admission on his part comes as no surprise to me.

Things might be a lot easier for me if I kept my experiences to myself, didn’t work to support candidates I believe in and I know some people think I should step back and be impartial. School board is non-partisan but not un-partisan. I shouldn’t have to forfeit my rights as a citizen to say what I believe in just because I serve on the board.

When the future of our state is at hand and a rare opening of a state senate seat is at stake I think people are entitled to know who they’re voting for. I’m not supporting Dan Duffy simply because he’s not someone with a skewed sense of power like Bill Gentes. I’m supporting him because he’s a down to earth man with a beautiful wife and family who built his own business. He knows what it’s like to struggle just like you and I do from day to day and he knows what an impact the General Assembly has on our everyday lives.

I took my time to get to know him asking to sit down one-on-one which he gladly accepted several months ago. I think if you take the time to get to know Dan you’ll find he has the makings of a great state senator. Elections should be about the candidates and who they are, what they stand for, what standards they embody — not the party banner they carry and most definitely not about who’s running for President of the United States.

Bill forgot the second most important lesson of politics — you don’t run anything, the people do and at the end of the day you will be answerable for what you have done and what you have led people to believe. When you lie to the people to try to get their support they remember, and I think they will remember the first Tuesday in November.

Gentes Needs Some Workin’ On The Railroad

Photo by David McNeary.
In today’s Daily Herald, Bill Gentes, village president of Round Lake and candidate for the Illinois State Senate 26th District is crying foul about his opponent, Dan Duffy, pointing out the numerous real estate ties in Round Lake of Gentes and his wife.

The classic Shakespeare line “thou doth protest too much” instantly popped into my head knowing the nonsense that Gentes’ campaign has been throwing around concerning railroads. Gentes has made it a point to let everyone know the Duffy campaign has taken a $2500 donation from Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and then linking that to support for the highly controversial issue of Canadian National’s proposed acquisition of EJ&E.

First off, Gentes claims he’s just noting the donation and it has nothing to do with the CN issue — hogwash! The Lake County Democratic Party’s website proudly touts “Bill Gentes is the only state Senate candidate in our area who has pledged to fight against this acquisition, which will be disastrous for our communities.” He has been repeating the allegations in person when meeting with people as one Daily Herald letter writer states. All of this despite clear support from Ela Township Clerk Bill Donnan and one of Barrington Communities Against CN Acquisition’s founders, Dave Nelson. This is a clear case of the candidate saying one thing to the paper (where he is certain to get picked apart with this ridiculous non-issue) and then saying another thing in person to people and having his campaign circulate it as true.

So, I have a lesson for Gentes on railroads because apparently he spent too much time playing Monopoly and not actually understanding how business works with this silly linkage of one railroad to another. BNSF, you know, the modern day equivalent of “the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe” (great tune!) is a completely different railroad company than Canadian National, the operative word being Canadian. Saying that taking money from BNSF shows support for CN is a bit like saying someone taking money from Chevrolet shows their support for Toyota. It’s utter nonsense.

Dan Duffy is from Barrington, he’s been in the lead on the issue of the CN acquisition, he understands how it would impact our community and has been against it from the start. Look through the smoke and mirrors of his opponent’s campaign and you will see that Dan Duffy is the right candidate for the 26th.

RLHS Music Alumni Wanted

The RLHS music department is looking for alumni participation in Homecoming this year. Check out the attached PDF for more info!

Fine Arts Boosters Alumni Letter

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