A little ditty about Jack and Suzanne
That’s Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham and his Director of Elections Suzanne Fahnestock, who both blew it big time Tuesday. Though, truth be told, the concept of screwing up ain’t foreign to either of ‘em.
I’m sure you all recall Cunningham’s capacity to make the kind of tax levy errors that affect school board elections, but I digress.
This time it was an Election Day disaster of almost epic proportions in which Elgin City Councilman Rich Dunne had to wait two hours and 20 minutes to cast a ballot. The wait at Batavia’ Fox Valley Christian Church was 90 minutes, it was an hour at ECC, the line at the Elgin Salvation Army was around the block, and voters had to park two blocks away from Fox Meadow Elementary School in South Elgin.
And I could go on.
The end result of this incompetence was a plethora of eager voters simply walked away disgusted, while others cellphoned the Clerk’s Office to express their abject dismay in no uncertain terms.
And there is absolutely no excuse for this fiasco!
Cunningham and Fahnestock have known where the bottlenecks are for years. They know that same day registration can slow everything down, but they refuse to make the appropriate adjustments. They know which polling places contain too many precincts, but they refuse to split them up. And a 38 percent turnout during a contested presidential primary is nothing new.
Thirty-seven percent of Kane County voters hit the polls in 2004, and 34 percent voted in the 2002 mid-terms. It’s called being caught with your pants down and there’s absolutely no good reason for it.
If any elected official has the temerity to question Cunningham’s consistent lack of judgement, his neck will puff up like a frilled lizard and he’ll immediately attempt to bully his subject into submission.
So please remember this the next time Cunningham runs – and he will because he’s addicted to running. Perhaps it’s time for a Director of Elections who isn’t married to the County IT Director too!
The loons are about to get loonier
I’m not surprised the Dundee Township anti-Longmeadow Parkway Bridge referendum passed for no other reason than the question’s wording was so bizarre it confused the crap out of everyone.
On the other hand, I am surprised that deadbeat dad, Jarett Sanchez (Yes! He doesn’t pay his child support obligations.) beat Kane County Board incumbent Joe Haimann. So whether it’s Sanchez or Republican opponent Roben Hall, there will be a Longmeadow Loon on the County Board.
If you’re keeping track, that means I’m 0 for 2 on those prognostications, but the thing is, despite my failures, neither one of these developments will change a bloody bridge thing!
Unless you can build consensus, and single-issue candidates rarely can, it’s impossible to accomplish anything on a 24 member county board. More likely, the impending loon will shriek and howl at every turn, turn full board meetings into a circus, and make committee meetings last twice as long. This, in turn, will alienate their board peers in two short months.
The problem for the rest of us is, the Loons fervently believe this referendum and election have changed everything, and when they realize it hasn’t, their already lofty wacko factor will explode exponentially. As KDOT head Carl Schoedel told me regarding the bridge this morning, “We will continue to follow the instructions the last five county boards have given us.”
So the Longmeadow Bridge will be built.
But as Larry and I keep sayin’ on Left, Right and You, “Before it’s over, someone’s gonna chain themselves to something!” Perhaps it will be a County Board Member!
The Tower Building takes off
They did it, man! The Elgin City Council wisely decided to give the developers those extra financial incentives which means the reconstruction of the iconic Tower Building will take off shortly.
This a great thing for the City and I can’t wait to see the construction progress as I arrive at the studio on all those Left, Right and You days.
Viva la Elgin!
Pick up your signs please!
I know it’s hard, especially after a defeat, but to all those folks who threw their hats and hearts into the ring, please collect your yard signs. Here’s why:
- First-time candidates temporarily disheartened by a loss will need them for their inevitable second run.
- Take the high road! There’s nothing more annoying than seeing a winner’s or sore loser’s discarded signs littering the landscape a month after Election Day.
- Some municipalities fine you for the failure to retrieve your signs and your name won’t go on any future ballot until those fines are paid.
- Signs are expensive
Yesterday, I helped a candidate gather his 4 by 4’s in those 50 mph winds which meant one false move and you land in Evanston. And I wasn’t even running for anything, so if I can do it, you can too!
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