Check-Writing in McHenry County

I have a fairly short leash for stupid things and, when I started receiving small checks from McHenry County payable to PHILPOTT GUS, I wondered why. These checks are a small stipend from a project of the Mental Health Board, where families participate and provide input for, hopefully, improving mental health services to residents of McHenry County.

After inquiring of the organization and also with one of my District 5 County Board representatives, I thought the problem was fixed. My checks began arriving, addressed to GUS PHILPOTT.

I was naive enough to think that the problem had been addressed and that all who receive these stipends would thereafter receive checks payable to them as FIRSTNAME LASTNAME. Right?

Wrong! I learned that only my check was changed and that others continue to receive checks payable to LASTNAME FIRSTNAME.

This morning I called McHenry County Government Center. Payroll transferred me to the Auditor's Dept., which tried to transfer me to the Purchasing Dept. I ended up at the State's Attorney's office! I called back and got the receptionist inthe Purchasing Dept., who told me that it is set up that way so that someone searching for a last name can find the person for whom they are looking.

How old, ancient, archaic is the County's computer system? Are they still using punch cards?

This is a very simple programming issue. You look for the field that reads FIRSTNAME and that's where you put the person's first name. With me so far? Then you look for the field that reads LASTNAME, and that's where you put the person's last name? Am I going too fast for you?

Then you tell the computer to print checks with the FIRSTNAME first and the LASTNAME second, with a space in-between. OK? Still with me?

And, when you are searching for a person, you search the LASTNAME field for the last name. What kind of programmers are there at the County offices? Or what kind of software did they buy, if it doesn't permit this?

I hate things that are done just "because that's how we've always done it."

I was reminded of a temp job I had in Richmond, Va., before moving to Woodstock in 1996.

Every night an insurance company printed 1,100 pages, double-sided, and then I was supposed to search one column for entries and list them. They had been doing this for years.

I asked why the programmer didn't just sort and print only the rows with data in the certain column. The answer was that they'd never done it that way. I contacted a CPA "upstairs". She was outraged at the waste, and the next day (and thereafter) only 10 pages were printed with all the needed data.

It's the Drivers, not the Road!

This week’s Woodstock Independent carries a front-page article about traffic concerns on U.S. Highway 14 near Centegra Memorial Medical Center.

According to the paper and, presumably, the Woodstock Police Department, there have been 185 accidents in the past three years between Lily Pond Road and Lake Avenue – the light in front of Farm & Fleet.

It was quite interesting to read that Woodstock PD presented its concerns about these two miles on Hwy. 14 to IDOT last August (2006).

They would have been preparing their presentation right about the time I tried to file charges against a westbound driver for passing me illegally in the dip just east of the hospital, clearly in a no-passing zone. When I passed Lily Pond Road and was approaching the first hillcrest to the west, there was an older grey 4-door sedan about ¼ mile behind me, almost to Lily Pond Road. Suddenly there was Pontiac TransAm right behind me; I mean, right on my bumper.

In the dip between Lily Pond Road and Doty Road, that driver accelerated and passed me in the no-passing zone. His speed was high and his pass was clearly illegal, so I telephoned the Woodstock PD to see if an officer could get him stopped. They know I will go to court and testify.

No officers were on the road, so I drove to the police station on Lake Avenue. An officer left rollcall and came to the lobby. He didn’t introduce himself, didn’t ask my name, didn’t have a notepad or pen ready, didn’t shake hands, and wouldn’t look me in the eye. It was so obvious that he had been told to come down to listen to me that I said, “What did they do in rollcall, draw straws to see who would have to come and talk to me? And you got the short one?”

He refused to accept my complaint, and I then spoke with his sergeant. The sergeant also refused to accept my complaint. I went home and emailed Chief Lowen, and the next afternoon both the officer and the sergeant pretended to be happy as clams to take my report. I submitted a two-page typewritten statement with the short handwritten report, and the officer’s report mentions my typewritten statement. But it never got to the City Attorney’s office for the attorney who would prosecute the case in court.

We went to court. The prosecuting attorney from the Woodstock City Attorney’s office was not prepared, and he wouldn’t talk to me before the trial. The other driver and his passenger lied about the location where he passed me, and they got away with perjury.

In 11 years I have never seen a Woodstock police car monitoring traffic between Lily Pond Road and Lake Avenue. Is it any wonder that drivers speed, pass illegally, tailgate, run off onto the shoulder or across the center line?

I have recommended use of Woodstock PD’s radar speed trailer there; has it ever been there?

It's not an engineering issue or a speed-reduction issue. It's driver carelessness and willful disobedience of traffic laws. If the P.D. wrote 100-200-300 tickets a week along that two-mile stretch and publicized them well with newspaper articles, radio reports and a billboard with changeable numbers for the number of tickets issued, guess what? No accidents, no speeding and every driver would pay attention.

How about signs in both directions: “High Accident Zone”? “Do not tailgate”? “Speed Limit – Zero Tolerance”?

This problem doesn’t require throwing millions of dollars at it. All that is needed is enforcement of existing laws.

Driving Drunk

DuPage County State’s Attorney Jane Radostits killed herself while driving drunk on May 11.

After a bomb scare at the SA’s office others and she took off for errands and a lunch of appetizers and drinks for three hours.

The DuPage County sheriff’s report indicates that she was speeding about 85MPH in a 45MPH zone, may have been on her cell phone and was not wearing her seatbelt when she lost control of her car.

A poster in the Daily Herald wrote that many, if not most, drunk drivers pulled over are first-time offenders. Sorry, but I think he is wrong. They might be getting caught for the first time, but it’s not the first time they were driving while drunk. They have just been lucky too many times before, because there are too few cops on the road looking for drunk drivers and, when they stop one, they are tied up far too long with paperwork and then miss many more.

And what if Radostits had been stopped before she caused the wreck? Would she have flashed her ID card at the cop? Would she have been passive or belligerent? By nature of her work, might she have become at least “assertive” with the officer who stopped her? Would she have gotten a “pass”? Been taken home? Had her husband called to pick her up? Been driven home by the cop’s supervisor or commanding officer? Called one of her State’s Attorney drinking buddies to come and get her? Taken to a coffee shop to “sober up”?

Professional courtesy, don’t you know? I guess it all depends on where she got stopped and the level of the cop’s integrity.

Had I stopped her (when I was a deputy)? Ignore the State’s Attorney ID. Disarm her, if she was carrying a weapon. Roadside sobriety check. Handcuffs. Have her car towed. Off to the pokey. Breath or blood tests. Arrest, photographs, fingerprinting. Jail. Bail. Court date. Prosecution and, hopefully, conviction and jail.

What about her drinking buddies that day? Why didn’t the DuPage County Sheriff’s report dig more deeply into their own consumption of alcohol? Sitting for three hours in a restaurant, eating only appetizers? Does anyone else wonder just how much alcohol each really had to drink?

And what about right here in McHenry County? Where are the favorite water holes of the bureaucrats, politicians and cops?

According to the Daily Herald (not the Northwest Herald) on May 26, McHenry County State's Attorney Louis "Bianchi has a standing agreement with his staff: If, for any reason, they cannot drive, he personally will reimburse them for their cab fare home."

Thanks, Daddy. I presume that he will not charge taxpayers for this cost on a County expense reimbursement form. It's pretty nice that he plays "Daddy" for his employees. Of course, what employee is going to call him at 2:00AM? "Lou, I'm too drunk to drive and need a cab home" or "Lou, I was too drunk to drive last night and took a cab home. Here's the bill for $100."

Do you speed? Why not?

If a top cop in McHenry County speeds, why shouldn’t you?

Several years ago one of the top McHenry County law enforcement officials told me how fast people drive in Wisconsin, adding that he “had to” drive 85MPH just to keep up with them. Wisconsin’s maximum speed limit on highways is 65MPH, so I immediately wondered why a top cop is speeding 20MPH over the posted speed limit instead of driving at the speed limit in the right lane! He didn’t “have to” speed. He didn’t “have to” keep up with them. He “chose” to do so, thereby violating the lawful speed limit and his oath of office.

On Sunday mornings at 6:00AM on Star 105.5 and Y103.9 is a community service program called Northwest Spectrum, hosted by Stew Cohen.

On May 27 Stew interviewed Capt. Jeff Hedrich of the Illinois State Police (District 2, which includes McHenry County) and Undersheriff Gene Lowery of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department. The topic was speeding and traffic violations.

During the short program, which begins just before 6:00AM, Stew mentioned the driver who in January was clocked by the Illinois State Police on Kishwaukee Valley Road at 150MPH.

Both Capt. Hedrich and Undersheriff Lowery “went soft” on traffic violators. Instead of hammering drivers for their willing disobedience of traffic laws, they were gentle and without force during the program. It was a PSA of which their superiors would be proud, and it changes nothing.

I am filing a Freedom-of-Information Act Request with the State Police for information about the Kishwaukee Valley Road speeding violation and will check court records for action and fine amounts. I tend to read the Northwest Herald pretty carefully for items of this nature, but I missed it.

I have sent the following email to them, with copies to Sen. Althoff and Reps. Tryon and Franks:

“I heard Sunday morning's interview that was broadcast at 6:00AM (when the people who needed to hear it were asleep), and I was sorry that you didn't hammer the traffic violators for what they really are. Drivers today ignore traffic laws, because they have not been rigorously enforced for years.

“You are right that "education" is the key. Writing traffic tickets one-at-a-time will never fix the horrendous problem that exists today. A cooperative effort by local police and sheriffs, IDOT, the Tollway, the Illinois State Police and the Secretary of State's DMV is needed. How simple and cheap it would be to put driving safety messages on the rear of public vehicles. I have also suggested driver education messages on envelopes used by the DMV.

“I observe all traffic laws. I drive the speed limit on all roads. I stop at red lights. I prepare to stop when approaching a stale green light. I must be on my guard that I am not rear-ended if I stop when a light changes. I don't use a handheld cell phone.

“I am a frequent target of road rage because I drive at the speed limit in the right lane on the Tollway. I have been passed by drivers who leave the right lane to use exit and entrance lanes to pass me on the right and I have been passed on the right shoulder. I am harassed when I drive at the speed limit on two-lane and four-lane highways throughout McHenry County.

“I am frequently passed in no-passing zones because I am "poking" along at the posted speed limit.

“I favor use of rolling blockades, unmarked cars, aircraft, PhotoRadar and a crackdown on drivers who fail to display front license plates, obscure front and rear license plates with tinted lens, and operate vehicles with illegal front heavily-tinted side windows. These are the speeders, reckless drivers, tailgaters, red-light runners.

“More publicity is needed regarding driving violations. Court Supervision should be terminated. All convictions should be reported to the Secretary of State's office.

“One other thing: police officers, deputy sheriffs and politicians should obey all traffic laws, including speed limits. When I am passed by a cop or a legislator who is just "going down the road" at 15 (or more) over the speed limit, I identify this as a primary cause of disobedience by the rest of the driving public.”

More on Real Estate Signs

This week-end I counted 262 illegal real estate advertising signs along Route 120 and Route 47 within five miles of Woodstock. 23 different developers had signs out. Seven developers accounted for 50% of the signs. The biggest offenders?

Neumann Homes 22 8.4%
KB Homes 21 8.0%
Railway Estates 20 7.6%
Epcon Homes 19 7.3%
Kirk Homes 19 7.3%
Ponds of Bull Valley 17 6.5%
Ryland Homes Bryn Mawr 14 5.3%

What amazes me is that in about three years of complaints to the McHenry County Planning & Development Department, there has been no meaningful action to halt the illegal placement of these signs. Every Friday night they magically sprout along the rights-of-way and by some mysterious act they disappear on Sunday night.

My viewpoint is that the developers know that the signs are being placed illegally (at their direction and expense). When a key person at the Planning & Development Department wrote to me that developers take them down on Sunday night because they just want them up on week-ends to attract the attention of motorists driving around looking at new houses, I laughed so hard I almost had to go to the hospital. Yeah, sure. That’s right. That makes sense. You bet. Incur the expense of putting them out and taking them in, and then not leave them up for commuters to see during the week, who might like to shorten their commute by buying one of the new houses? Har-har-har.

Now the Planning Committee of the McHenry County Board is giving a little attention to these illegal signs. But is it giving enough attention? Wouldn’t the solution be for the Committee to direct the head of the Department to get rid of those signs? Sounds pretty simple to me. The law already exists. All that is needed is for someone to take a deep breath and drop the hammer.

Two letters to developers would take care of the problem.

The first letter could explain the problem, the law, the violation, and ask the developer to cease putting his signs in the highway right-of-way. If he doesn’t cease, the County will remove them and bill him for the expense of doing so.

The second letter could inform the developer how many signs were removed and enclose the bill for, say, $25.00 per sign.

This week-end there were 262 signs just on Route 120 for five miles northeast of Woodstock and on Route 47 for five miles south of Woodstock. Fines of $6,550 (262 x $25) should cover three hours of overtime for 2-3 County employees in a truck and two hours of secretarial time, plus $9.43 worth of postage.

Farmers’ Market on Woodstock Square

The new configuration around the Woodstock Square for the Saturday Farmers’ Market eliminates parking spaces on the left side of the roads around the Square.

Is this a proper allowance and decision by the City?

Vendors park the vehicles and trailers parallel to the inside curbs (contrary to angular parking space striping) and then set up their tables and tents for the Farmers’ Market. I didn’t count the number of vendors or customers, but I hope the City will track. Should be easy, because a business license or permit should be required and sales tax collected on all business transacted.

When the City allows a public roadway to be taken out of use on a regular basis for promotion of commercial business interests (vegetables, fruit, baked goods, other merchandise), is this a proper and legal use of public property?

Of course, the City will say it’s OK because they approved it. But, is it legal to approve it? Input from citizens to the City Council is important.

What impact does this have on the (other) businesses on the Square? Does the Farmers’ Market bring business to them? Or does it drive business away from the businesses on the Square because their customers cannot find places to park?

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!