Just when I thought ...

Just when I thought the Republican Party in Orland Township was getting their act together and showing leadership, I see that it is asking not telling its members who to vote for.

That may sound good, but the choice isn't between two Republicans for office. It is between Republicans and Democrats, all running on the non-partisan April 7 election ballot in Orland Township.

It's significant because so far the race has not seen much real activity. No mailers inundating our mail boxes. Some fluff pieces with no real substance in the local newspapers, but nothing that even suggests there is an impending election.

Instead of endorsing the Republicans who are running in the Township races, Orland Township Committeeman Elizabeth Doody Gorman is asking her precinct captains and paid GOP members (all of them) if they want to support Democrats who are running, not just Republicans. Ooops!

If you are a Republican, that has to be disappointing. It's another example of Gorman's failed Republican leadership. She did a poor job as county chairman, and has been replaced by the very active and energetic Lee Roupas. And now she is not doing a very good job as Orland Township Republican Committeeman, either. She launches a great web site that touts all of the Republican party achievements, that far outshines the non-existent web site of the Orland Park Township Democratic Organization, headed by Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin.

And then she goes and does this.

The Democrats have to be happy, though.

A GOP precinct captain recently wrote that the GOP and Democratic Party are prohibited by law from slating candidates in the local elections. That's not true, but maybe that's the pitch being made to explain the GOP's double-edged non-action. The GOP could have slated Republicans in the election primary Feb. 24. Running as "Republicans." That's the election for "established" parties. Instead, the Democrats and Republicans are running on "independent" and "new party" slates. But anyone can see who they are and what their party affiliations are.

On the Township Level, that's Township Supervisor and incumbent Robert Maher, who is a Republican. He's done a great job although he is getting challenged by Paul O'Grady, who is a Democrat and is NOT tied in anyway to the 19th Ward Republican commissars insinuating their way into local politics.

Who is the GOP backing? Gorman has a habit of supporting herself over other Republicans. The rumors are strong that she may step down from her county board seat and give it to Paul Vallas, the former Chicago schools CEO who is running against Mr. Taxman Todd Stroger for president of the county board. Having a seat on the board would give Vallas a forum to challenge Stroger and do what many on the county board are failing to do, fight Stroger's tax Tsunami.

That might be the best thing Gorman can do for the Republican Party.

AROUND THE VILLAGE AND TOWNSHIP

In the village, incumbent Mayor Dan McLaughlin is a Democrat for sure. He's the Orland Township Democratic Committeeman. Under his watch, Orland Park has grown tremendously and has much to showcase, although I do have some issues with property taxes, the tax rebate and a few other issues like some of the people around him. He's the favored to win with a long record of wins. He's being challenged by Gerald Maher, who ran against him once before and lost, but that loss was before many of today's taxation and economic issues were around. It is a new ballgame. Gerald Maher happens to be Robert Maher's brother, although they are not working together.

And of course, neither Robert nor Gerald Maher are related to David Maher, the incumbent candidate for clerk who is running for re-election, too, and who is the father of Patrick Maher, the head of the Orland Park Fire District, which faces many confused issues that need to be better sorted out like the change in ambulance service.

Turns out what Patrick Maher is trying to do is NOT sock residents with an ambulance charge, but is trying to get the help of residents who have insurance to make the insurance companies reimburse the district for ambulance service. It's all confusing, but the bottom line is if you don't have insurance, no one is going to make you pay for an ambulance. If you do have insurance, make those insurance company robber barrons pay. The district needs you to give the insurance forms to the insurance companies so the district can get paid. The district lost as much as $1.3 million a year from not getting reimbursed.

Patrick Maher, who is not running for re-election, is working for some of the candidates, too. And maybe it's in the bi-partisan spirit we're talking about here. He is supporting O'Grady in the Township race, but backing Patricia Thompson and Marty McGuire, incumbents on the re-election slate of Robert Maher. He insists it is not for political reasons, but because they asked him and I believe him.

In elections, there is one important rule about voters and support. If you don't ask, you don't get. I remember the stories of elected officials who told me they met voters and shook their hands and the voters said they loved them. But when it came time to vote, the voters voted for the opponents. When the candidate asked the voter why, the voter said, "You never asked me for my vote."

And even though you didn't ask for my opinion -- or maybe you did by visiting this blog in record numbers -- I'll give it to you. Robert Maher is a solid candidate with a good track record. Paul O'Grady is not a front for the 19th Ward, though, and is NOT related to any of the famous O'Grady's. Gerald Maher is an important independent voice in the village and deserves credit for challenging the incumbent. And Mayor McLaughlin, who I have chided in the past for his poor choice of associations, is re-examining those ties and still has the edge.

Of course, the election is about six weeks away. Sounds confusing.

Orland Park residents hammered with new fee from Fire District

With the Orland Fire Protection District already in political disarray and conflict, now they decided that the best way to deal with their incompetence is to hammer residents with an excessive charge for ambulance service -- something that TAXPAYERS ALREADY PAY FOR IN THEIR TAXES.

Not that anyone in Orland Park cares, though, right? I mean Mayor Dan McLaughlin only cares about his union clout and his prestige, and the Orland Park Village trustees -- most of them -- only care about their re-elections and are pals with the Orland Park Fire Protection District.

No one cares about the taxpayers. That's obvious from the total disregard we get from our elected officials, from the Village Clerk David P. Maher who continues to violate the Open Meetings Act by placing wording at the top of his public meeting notices declaring the notices are not for newspaper publication. (Hey, even Mayor Daley has a lifelong difficulty with the English language and you can't nottin' to no one.)

Now, the board that Maher's kid controls, the Orland Park Fire Protection District, thinks that the best way to protect their salaries and pensions and political clout (since so many relatives of village employees, political activists and government officials work on either side of the Village-OFPD fence) is to not protect the residents of Orland Park.

The Orland Park Fire Protection District has a history of poor decisionmaking and poor leadership under its current boss, Patrick Maher, the son of David Maher. Read this from the Better Government Association Web Site.

The Fire Protection district and several village officials are the target of a lawsuit that coulds cause major financial problems for the District and Maher's leadership there. Here's the link to that story that no one wrote about.

The Fire Protection DIstrict said they made the stupid decision in public and didn't try to hide anything. Sure. They know that if they don't tell you they are going to do something important at a board meeting, the public -- which works at REAL JOBS -- won't have the time to show up at the the meetings to hold Maher and his crony's feet to the political fire. Of course, instead of important issues, the OPFPD did promote their "rodeo" ... read that story? The OPFPD loves to promote the fluff, but not something serious, of course.

The DailySouthtown reported one ambulance bill topped $760 and the Fire Protection District is squirrling away cash with more than $7 million in a surplus, which in local tax terms means that they have been gouging taxpayers. (They are not the US Budget and don't need a surplus ever). The people hurt the most are senior citizens and those in need.

Imagine, someone in your family needs an ambulance and the OPFPD shows up and hammers you with a $760 bill. Outrageous, but, what we are used to in "Orland Peyton Place Park."

But then, what do you care? It's just your money and Mayor Happy McLaughlin and OFPD Chief Maher just do whatever they want anyway.