County Board v. Mental Health Board

Why do so many on the McHenry County Board seem to hate the Mental Health Board?

It's like children playing in a sand box, throwing sand in the eyes of the smaller kids over in the corner.

Read and re-read this morning's article in the Northwest Herald.

The Northwest Herald reports "County Board member Joe Gottemoller, R-Crystal Lake, told the committee that all 24 board members agree that the Mental Health Board, also called the 708 Board, is 'a mess' that needs to be fixed."

I wonder how he came up with that. Did he poll the other 23 Board members?

County Board member Anna May Miller is exactly right when she warns that the current "atmosphere has the potential to scare off future nominees to boards and commissions."

Twice in the article the writer used the term "squeaked through", when referring to the vote by the County Board's Public Health and Community Services Committee on the nomination of Scott Summers to the Mental Health Board. Summers is imminently qualified. He is an attorney and he has an MBA. Could it be that not being a Republican had a lot to do with the County Board's decision and the tone of the article?

Summers didn't "squeak through". The vote by the Committee was 4-3 in his favor. Yet the County Board, in its infinite wisdom, voted 6-18 against Summers.

The "unprofessional and mean-spirited" process caused the runner-up for the appointment, Denise Barreto, to withdraw from further consideration. That's what Anna May Miller is talking about.