Grafton Township in-fighting

I got to thinking that I ought to be planning ahead for the next catfight in Huntley and maybe even make a reservation for the Press Box. So I went to the Township website (www.graftontownship.us) to learn when the next meeting is. Ready?

The "next" meeting is February 11th at 7:30PM. And the "next" Special Meeting is February 22nd at 7:30PM.

Now, wouldn't you think that with a Township Supervisor (earning how much?) and a Township Administrator earning $35,000 and a Township Supervisor's Assistant earning $40,000 that one of them could update the website with accurate dates for the next meetings?

Seeing the Pledge of Allegiance on the agenda is nice. The Woodstock District 200 school board opens its meetings with the Pledge; if I recall correctly, so does Judge Weech in his courtroom.

According to the Township website, meetings are at the Huntley Recreation District, 12015 Mill Street, Huntley.

Who knows? Are the Regular Meetings of the Township on the second Thursday of the month at 7:30PM?

They certainly use some "interesting" wording at the top of the Agenda. What business will be conducted? It reads, in part: "... regular Township Board Meeting of the Grafton Township Board, McHenry County, Illinois will be held on Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. for the purposes of considering the following agenda."

Boilerplate wording gets carried forward month-to-month without anyone's really taking a close look at it. What do you suppose is plural about the "purposes" of the agenda? And are they convening to "consider" the agenda? I don't think so. The agenda is the program for the night. They won't "consider" it; they'll follow it. Hopefully...

Another "interesting" aspect of the agenda is the public participation portion of the Meeting. Each speaker gets three minutes, and only 30 minutes is allocated for the public to put in its 2-cents' worth.

And another "interesting" observation? The Township's legal beagle faxed the Agenda to the Township. Did it only review the agenda or did a lawyer write it? What did either of those legal services cost the Township? It's pretty sloppy to post the fax copy of the agenda, when the Township Clerk or Supervisor probably has the responsibility for publishing it. Why not publish a "clean" copy of the agenda, even if they do have the lawyer preview it? And why publish the blank third page?

March 11? See you there. Maybe the Supervisor and the Administrator will have hired a mediator by then. Hopefully, they won't hire a lawyer to mediate their differences. Lawyers are adversarial. A mediator's role is to bring the parties closer together. After all, there is something on which they do agree. It's that they don't agree! A skilled mediator will start with that.

Man! Where is Bob Anderson when you need him? Get busy, Bob. Let's get rid of townships in Illinois. But then, who will provide the entertainment in Huntley?