Ahhh, finally! "That" letter...

I was afraid I wouldn't get "that" letter, but today it arrived. The one with the badge of the McHenry County Sheriff in the upper-left hand corner. The badge that reads "Sheriff - McHenry County Sheriff's Police".

At least this year they changed the return address from "Keith Nygren Sheriff" to "Citizens for Nygren", so I knew this one was a political campaign letter and not a summons or subpoena. It was just four years ago that I almost went through the roof, when a similar letter arrived and I found a campaign letter in what had appeared to me to be an official envelope.

Four years ago, I complained to some official office about the mis-use of the badge of office and the use of the office "Keith Nygren Sheriff" to get recipients to open his political mail.

The stationery for this year's letter is bad enough. At the top of the letter is the emblem of the sheriff's office, a seven-pointed star (badge) with the wording "Sheriff - McHenry County Sheriff's Police." Is there anyone in McHenry County who doesn't think that is the official badge of the sheriff's department?

Why is the badge of office, or its close likeness, allowed on political campaign stationery?

Only because the people in responsible state agencies or the County's election office or the County's Law & Justice Committee will not take a stand and say, "Stop! Desist! No more!"

The letter begins, "On behalf of all the men and women at the McHenry County Sheriff's Office..." What gives Nygren the right to include all his employees in a political campaign letter?

Then it continues, "...I would like to thank you for your on-going encouragement and support for our public safety mission." How does he know that he has the "on-going encouragement and support" of the people of the County? From what I hear, there are many, many people who are dissatisfied with the sheriff's department under Nygren and certainly more than a few employees who are not very happy.

And, no, the people have not "joined forces" to make our county safer. When I tried, I was told that I was wasting the time of the courts by reporting dangerous drivers and trying to get them ticketed. Who told me that? Sheriff Nygren. He'll remember the tape I played for him of the message he left on my answering machine.

And recall Dave Bachmann's efforts to halt drug activity in his Hebron neighborhood. He got so mad at the sheriff's department that he is devoting considerable time, money and energy to writing lengthy articles on http://www.dirtykeithvsdirtyharry.blogspot.com/

Now Nygren says that he began his police career in our county in 1971. Wait. Didn't he tell the Northwest Herald that he started in DeKalb in 1971? And what about the "over 42 years of law enforcement experience" that he claimed in 2009? (Examine how carefully his sentence is crafted. He did start his "police career in our county" in 1971.) What about the four years before 1971 that make up the first four years of his "over 42 years"?

"Experience has been a wonderful teacher", he says. I heard "experience" defined once as "something you wished to heck was happening to someone else." Which parts fit that? All the lawsuits against the sheriff's department? The training and supervision on mental health calls that result in a subject fatally injured only 43 minutes after deputies first arrived? Failure to halt serious drinking and impaired driving by deputies? Continuation of "professional courtesy" to deputies who wreck patrol cars (and don't get tickets)?

He concludes with "it is my sincere hope that you will consider casting your vote for me." You should. You should "consider" it, and then vote for Zane Seipler on February 2.

And then on November 2, vote for me. I shall guarantee you will never see a political letter with the emblem of office on it!