Never let interested party write specs

Does McHenry County need a Czar? A King?

In 1986-87, when I was VP of Membership Services for an 1,100-member chamber of commerce in the Kansas City area, I met a businessman who told me an interesting story.

That man owned the company which placed barricades in construction zones for highway projects. You can imagine that those orange barrels weren't all that popular. He himself wasn't all that popular, because he kept catching the political bigwigs and legislators in Kansas with their pants down. Well, not literally; but close.

He was required to place barrels that had reflectorized sheeting on them to warn drivers that the big 55-gallon barrels were standing there on the side of the road. You know, the orange reflectorized coating. The coating that is supposed to bounce light back at you, when your headlights shine on them. So, when you're drunk, you have a better chance to swerve at the last minute and miss the barrel.

No problem during the first year that the coating was out in the weather.

So KDOT (you know, like IDOT) mandated the type of coating. KDOT had specifications for the coating. And one of the specifications was that a certain ingredient must be used in the manufacture of the coating. KDOT allowed a manufacturer of reflectorized sheeting to "help" write the specifications. What did they do?

That manufacturer slipped into the specifications a requirement that a certain patented product be used? Who held the patent? That manufacturer! Whose reflectorized sheeting did KDOT then have to buy? The original sheeting seemed to last only one year, so there was a good and continuing market for replacement sheeting - which had to contain the patented ingredient.

Now, what does this have to do with McHenry County?

There will be a referendum about a County Executive. State Rep. Jack Franks pushed the referendum through by getting the required number of signatures.

Now he feels "entitled" to write the "educational material" (propaganda, in my opinion) to give voters an unbiased source of information on which to base their voting decision. Yeah, sure...  Just ask the wolf for the rules for guarding the hen house...

Jack is not "entitled" to anything on the County level. He can voice his opinion, make his suggestions, ask questions, give opinions, etc.

Personally, I believe there is no way that McHenry County should be ruled by a King. The present County Administrator is doing a good job. The County government is functioning. Voters elect 24 to represent them. Many think that's too many, but that's what we have. The County Board directs the County Administrator.

When it is your turn to vote on the referendum for county executive, vote NO. Not just "No", but NO.

By the way, see the Letter to the Editor in today's Northwest Herald by Blake Hobson, of Lakewood. It's a good one. If you hurry, you can read it here.