Makes You Wonder?

From the Beacon News..


A recent consultant study for Kane County pointed out that the 50 cents collected each month for every landline in the Kane County answering point area is not enough to cover costs. The consultant recommended the county consider a referendum to raise the fee from 50 cents to $1.

But County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay has said she will never consider asking voters to kick in more money until the government takes care of business first.

That business would be consolidation.

The four answering points in the ETSB should begin discussions on consolidating their systems. How that consolidation would be done is unknown. They could end up with one big answering point. They might share equipment, use the same equipment, consolidate things such as antenna points.

But there is no doubt that there is economy to be had by consolidating in some way.

The Tri-Cities system, known as Tri-Com, is the perfect example of how consolidation can work. It combines the resources of Batavia, Geneva and St. Charles, providing an economy of scale that is better than if the three cities tried to go their own way with 911 answering services.

Unfortunately, the answering systems -- including Tri-Com -- have rebuffed consolidation talks so far. That's a shame. Even if consolidation does not work out, there is nothing wrong with talking about it.

Especially with so much public money at stake.











The views expressed in these blog posts are those of the author and not of the Sun-Times News Group.

New News

Citizen panel to study Kane County pay raises

April 4, 2008
BY STEVE LORD Staff Writer
GENEVA -- A citizens advisory committee will study what, if any, raises Kane County elected officials should get.

County Board Chairwoman Karen McConnaughay said this week she will have a committee look at possible raises for the auditor, coroner, circuit clerk and recorder, similar to what was done two years ago when a citizen's committee looked at raises for the county clerk, treasurer and sheriff.

The advisory committee would come up with a recommendation to the full board, which is mandated by state statute to look at elected officials' salaries every two years, before the positions are up for re-election.

The board would not be bound by the advisory committee, but would get some input on what reasonable increases for the elected officials would be.

"We have the obligation to set the salaries," McConnaughay said. "It is not a pleasant task given us by the state Legislature."

It is particularly difficult for McConnaughay, because one of the salaries that must be addressed is county board chairman. Not only does she hold the job, she is running for re-election.

Her challenger in the November election, Democrat Sandy Kaczmarski of Elburn, came out this week against raises recommended by the board's human relations committee earlier this month.

The committee recommended a yearly salary of $95,000, beginning Dec. 1, for auditor, coroner, circuit clerk and recorder, to bring them in line with the salaries set two years ago for county clerk and treasurer.

The salaries would increase to $100,000 in 2009, $105,000 in 2010 and $110,000 in 2011, according to the committee recommendation.

The committee also recommended jumping the board chairman salary from $85,000 a year to $105,000 on Dec. 1, $110,000 in 2009, then frozen at that level for 2010 and 2011.

"I'm asking the board to rethink raising several county officials' salaries by as much as 23½ percent," Kaczmarski said in a news release. She called raising the board chairman's salary by $20,000 "stunning."

Kaczmarski said her husband, an instrumentation engineer for more than 34 years, recently received a 3 percent cost-of-living raise.

"I come from a working-class background and many of the people I know would be happy just to make half of what some of these people are making now," Kaczmarski said.

When the citizen's advisory committee looked at salaries for elected officials two years ago, members said they tried to look at the value of the elected official in private sector terms, how many employees they supervise, how much money they have to handle, and other considerations.

That committee, as well as the board, recommended a slightly higher salary for the sheriff, because of the specialized nature of the law enforcement work, and the danger the job brings. The county board does not set salaries for the state's attorney, the regional superintendent of schools or the director of the highway department. Those are set by the state.

The committee was made up of business, union, private and public sector workers and employers. McConnaughay said she still is looking for volunteers for the committee, but wants to get it appointed in time so the board can consider the salaries at its May meeting

Special Election Draws Up Big Costs

Few votes, a big cost for special election

March 10, 2008
BY DAN CAMPANA, AND ANDRE SALLES Staff Writers
Although few voters in the 14th District took advantage of Saturday's special election, one thing was certain before a single vote was cast: This election was a costly one, for the taxpayers and the candidates.

The special election, in which Democrat Bill Foster defeated Republican Jim Oberweis, was triggered when Dennis Hastert resigned his congressional seat in November. Election authorities were caught by surprise and suddenly were faced with funding an entirely separate election in addition to the two already scheduled.

» Click to enlarge image Precinct 55 election judge Eduarda Bolitho (left) sets out rows of "I Voted" stickers at Fox Meadow Elementary School in South Elgin on Saturday.
(Shauna Bittle/Staff Photographer)

RELATED STORIES• Foster won't celebrate for very long

Adding to the expense: Gov. Rod Blagojevich set the special election for a Saturday, which meant election authorities had to pay to open polling places that normally would be closed.

Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham, who has been outspoken about the cost associated with running the special elections, estimated Saturday's vote cost his office around $487,000.

"I can't guarantee it won't be a few dollars more," Cunningham said last week.

With 50,026 votes cast in Saturday's election, that translates to about $9.75 per vote. Still, Cunningham knows the bottom line is about fostering the electoral process, not making or saving money.

"We can't run elections like a business," he said.

Aurora Election Commission Director Carole Holtz estimated her cost for the special election at roughly $170,000 -- or about $15 for each of the 11,012 votes cast.

Aurora pays the bills for the Election Commission, but they're reimbursed yearly by Kane County for an amount tied to assessed valuation. The more land values in Aurora go up, the more money the city gets.

In 2008, Kane County is expected to pay $460,000. But the city's on the hook for the rest, and because of the two special elections, that cost is expected to skyrocket this year. City estimates show that Aurora could end up paying $606,000 over and above the county's costs in 2008.

In Kendall County, officials didn't project a total cost. Clerk Rennetta Mickelson said the county board told her to "do what it takes" to run the special election.

"One of the costs I'm looking at is a lot of overtime," Mickelson said last week. "It's an election, but it's not an elective. It truly is important to me that people get a chance to vote."

She also wishes taxpayers got a better return -- meaning higher voter turnout figures -- on their investment, especially when much of the money spent to run elections goes toward making the process simpler and more accessible. The onus is on voters to step up and get involved, Mickelson added.

Officials said 12,701 ballots were cast in Kendall County, or 21 percent of registered voters. Aurora and Kane came out ahead with 22 and 24 percent turnout, respectively.

No local election authority spent quite what the campaigns did. Oberweis spokesman Bill Pascoe said Saturday that the campaign had spent $1.8 million on the special election -- or roughly $18 per vote cast. And the Foster camp paved its victory with over $1.5 million, which translates to just over $15 per vote.

Overall, 98,917 ballots were cast in the special election, with an average of 20 percent of registered voters casting a ballot.

Election Analysis Democrats.

We are in the process of contacting several more Democrat activists for analysis of these races. To be continued.

Post Election Analysis Republican

14th Congressional District: Jim Oberweis deserves credit for mobilizing various factions in the district to bring him into the primary victory lane. He still needs to reach out to more independent and conservative 14th district voters to fight back the large number of Democrat voters likely to be coming to the polls in November. It appears that Kane County is no longer a solid lock as a GOP County. The Kane County GOP needs to do all it can to encourage cooperation and respect among various personalities that have worked tenaciously in this primary. It will only be through cooperation that success will be ensured.

Kane County Legislative Races: Kudos to Kay Hatcher and Tim Schmitz. They had solid results on Tuesday. They should always be aware of weary taxpayers as they attempt to control spending in Springfield.

Kane County Judicial Races: Analysis as numbers are completed

Kane County Chairman Race: Karen McConnaughay won handily in this race. It is true that she was strongly supported by endorsements of every newspaper. Her mail pieces were professional and informational. That being said, she would be wise to reach out to the 13,000 plus supporters of her opponent and to reach out to work alongside the energy obviously displayed by those who are concerned with some county issues. This would help the County GOP enormously as the challenge facing them is of concern. The spending in this race was better left to the general election effort. McConnaughay (as in 2004) spent far too much money in this race. After a well earned celebration she should lead by remaining on a path of civility so that all GOP interests are pulling together in the fall.

We have already not posted "stick in the eye" comments from winners and losers in the congressional, countywide and county board campaigns. At this point in time analysis is appreciated but anger is not. Comments that actually review races without emotional responses will be posted.

Last Minute Campaign News..Reports from Campaigns Welcome

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