Quick Hits – Finishing off the Elgin Cabal

Before we move on to other things, to put a period on our two-part Elgin cabal story – at least for now – let’s cover some of their generally amusing lesser nefarious and incompetent endeavors. There’s quite a bit to choose from in that regard, but let’s start with former State Senator and current 16^th Circuit Judge Mike Noland, who can’t even handle the Aurora traffic court call.

You see, what the judge utterly fails to understand is, by law, the men and women in black cannot campaign for, support, endorse, or help any political candidates in any way. And they can’t engage in those activities because it reflects poorly on and calls the integrity of the judiciary into question. But that hasn’t stopped Noland from making proclamations like “Kane County needs another Democratic Judge” and the like.

So, while it’s going to take some time to remove Judge John Dalton from the bench, given his infamous inability to remain silent, those kinds of ethical breaches mean Noland should be gone in a scant two years.

And speaking of Judge Dalton, it’s come to my attention that he and husband Rich Jacobs regularly use Elgin Township Supervisor Franklin Ramirez as their private limo service – on Township time. That means the citizens of Elgin are paying Ramirez to drive our dynamic duo to their Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, home, and in return, Ramirez gets to enjoy that residence when the owners aren’t there.

For the uninitiated, Jacobs was Noland’s Elgin “Chief of Staff,” who now serves current State Senator Cristina Castro in the same capacity. A legend in his own mind, Jacobs somehow thinks he was the one who got elected, and as a result, he acts as if the Senators’ constituents are but a mere annoyance.

Most legislative aides actually answer the phone when folks call, but not Jacobs. Having to contend with the peasantry is something that’s quite beneath him.

Then there’s Senator Castro herself! To be fair, she does have a number of redeeming personality traits, but those qualities haven’t evidenced themselves since she moved from the Kane County Board to Springfield.

Castro, who believes she’s la reina hispana de Elgin, was not at all amused by Elgin City Councilman Rose Martinez’ refusal to fall in line and support Baldemar Lopez’ 2019 city council run. For reference purposes, we covered Mr. Lopez’s follies last Wednesday.

When charm and cajoling wouldn’t work, Castro quickly resorted to outright threats, which didn’t get her very far. If any of you know Rose, then you also know threatening her tends to generate an equal and opposite reaction. So, now Castro is desperately trying to mend fences, but Rose will have nothing to do with that level of insincerity.

Another fun fact regarding the Castro posse is their willingness to use other peoples’ legal misfortunes against them. Since turnabout is fair play, I issued a FOIA request seeking any Elgin police report involving she and her husband Joe McKeown. And sure enough! I found a fascinating tale of how Castro should’ve been arrested for intimidating another candidate’s campaign workers.

Other than the fact Penny Wegman had the temerity to run against her, I don’t know the root cause of the feud between the two. But apparently it got bad enough that Castro pinned a Wegman campaign volunteer’s car in place and proceeded to berate and threaten the high schoolers within.

She then used her car to block to block River Bluff Boulevard in a manner such that the campaign volunteers had to turn around and go the other way. And we all thought Donald Trump behaved poorly.

Castro’s husband proceeded to stalk Wegman – regularly driving by her house, etc. – for the rest of the campaign. To put that in perspective, Penny Wegman is so politically innocuous, that starting a feud with her would be a lot like picking a fight with Mr. Rogers.

I provided Ms. Castro with every opportunity to explain her antics and she declined to do so.

So, there you have it! A bought and sold city council member, two of the worst judges to ever don the black dress, a political lackey who’ll do anything for a dollar, and then there’s State Senator herself.

These shenanigans would be almost funny if these weren’t the people purporting to represent and serve you Elgin, and they’re counting on your continued inattentiveness to get away with all of it. But now that you know, all I ask is that you choose a bit more wisely going forward.