Phone lines fail at Animal Control

Here we are, only two days into the new year, and already phone services at a County department are falling apart.

This morning I wanted to find out when the Animal Control sub-committee of the McHenry County Department of Health (MDOH) meets. Shouldn't be that hard; right?

Nothing on the County calendar of meetings for January 2011 (later I found it under an AC menu);
No answer at Animal Control about 9:30AM. They operate on banker's hours", opening at 10:30AM;
Got shuffled around at the County Government and left a message for someone at the Health Department. No callback within five hours;
Called Animal Control at 3:47PM. Twice. No answer. Phone rang unanswered.

Trying to find out when the committee is going to consider the Cat Tax. I think the meeting is Wednesday, January 5.

When I called MDOH back, I reached a very nice woman who had been trying to get an answer for me and after more than 10 minutes still hadn't been able to get it. Apparently, the mice have been playing with the phone system at Animal Control, and all the cats are kept in cages, so ...

4:02PM Betty called me from Animal Control. The Animal Control Advisory Committee will meet tomorrow, Wednesday, January 5, 7:00PM, at Animal Control, 100  N. Virginia St., Crystal Lake. There is no Agenda item to discuss the "cat tax." If you are interested in this tax and in speaking about it (for example, against it), you might show up and put in your 2¢ worth in an effort to persuade the Committee not to even discuss it later in the year.

Animal Control Palace

Should we all be amused, or terrified, by the project to create a palace for the McHenry County Animal Control folks?

Terrified, I’d say.

Kevin Craver wrote in this morning’s Northwest Herald (5/26/07, Page 1B) that McHenry County “…will bid out a scaled-back Animal Control building…”

What I want to know is, how did it ever get “scaled-up” above the $3,700,000 budget in the first place!

Cutting $27,000 for aesthetic millworking? Aw, gee…. Won’t the poor little doggies and kitties feel slighted when dragged biting and clawing into a plain-looking building?

Cutting back the number of plumbing fixtures? Just how many employees are there? One restroom for visitors is plenty, and make it uni-sex. Oh, wait; OSHA probably has something to say about that. Just like it did in a mining camp in the Colorado mountains, when OSHA required two old brothers to provide separate restrooms for men and women – even though they didn’t allow women in their mine!

How could inflation significantly affect a remodeling estimate established only a few months ago? Didn’t the Management Services Committee or the County Board include inflation (hey, we’re not running 20% inflation that I know of…) in its considerations before approving the $3.7 Million?

And a “redesign based on staff recommendations”? Come on, folks. Give us a break here. The staff had its chance BEFORE the $3.7 budget was approved. Has McHenry County slid east into Washington, D.C. or south into Springfield? Or, worse, just a little east into Chicago?

We, the People, need to start attending County Board meetings and meetings of the Board’s Committees. And don’t just sit there. Register upon arrival to speak and then speak up. Let our elected representatives know what you think and what you want. Tell them what you want; ask them to do what you want; ask them what they intend to do (i.e., how do they intend to vote on a certain issue).

Most importantly, follow up and find out just how they DID vote. Then thank them – or ask why they changed their minds!