Democrat Paul O'Grady, who pelted Orland Township with expensive and tough literature, appears to have pulled off the impossible in a suburban election defeating an incumbent, Robert Maher.
Here's the latest election results as of 9 PM CST from the Cook County Clerk's election monitoring web site.
Township Supervisor Orland
2 Candidates - Vote for 1
Precincts Counted: 56 of 88 (63.64%)
Candidates Votes %
Paul A. O'Grady (OTF) 4,609 65.02%
Robert J. Maher (OTP) 2,480 34.98%
The odds of overcoming that lead are slim indeed.
Mud and mean campaigning in a low turnout election has its merits. O'Grady's slate may make it a sweep across the board. Who knew 19th Ward heavy Sheriff Tom Dart had so much pull in Orland Township.
Meanwhile, Robert Maher's brother, Gerald Maher, is on his way to losing his second try at unseating incumbent Dan McLaughlin.
Orland Park Village President
2 Candidates - Vote for 1
Precincts Counted: 37 of 60 (61.67%)
Candidates Votes %
Daniel J. McLaughlin (OPF) 3,403 64.70%
Gerald F. Maher (CCO) 1,857 35.30%
-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com
Showing posts with label Orland Park elections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Orland Park elections. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Although Orland Park Village is hurting for money, its elected officials are not
Orland Park may be facing the toughest economic times, but the people who run the village are swimming in funds.
The village's problems have a lot to do with the poor planning of the Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin and his down-the-line domino trustees who nary challenge him, and do what they are told.
Orland Park has raised its property taxes and even gerrymandered the "fiscal year" from 12 to 15 months because they couldn't meet their expenses. They said they were changing the fiscal year in order to re-align it with the annual calendar. But many suspect the real reason is they just don't have the funds to pay all the bills in the 12 month budget and use a cute trick to turn the budget period to 15 months to cover 12 months of expenses. It's typical bad management to delay troubles until after the election April 7, 2009.
But that's the problem of the village and the taxpayers -- you and me, pal -- will be made to pay out of our hard earned tax dollars.
That's not the problem of Mayor McLaughlin and his running mates this year, trustees Brad O'Halloran, the Orland Park ambassador from the banana Republic of the Chicago 19th Ward; Kathy Fenton, and former Republican Committeeman Jim Dodge.
When you look at their campaign finance reports, you discover a whopping cumulative total of more than $275,000 in their combined campaign war chests. That is one of the largest gross campaign funds available to any local election outside of the Chicago Machine. And that assumes, of course, that this election has nothing to do with the Chicago Machine. (And I wouldn't assume that at all.)
That $275,000 breaks down as follows, based on the campaign disclosure filings this past month by all of the McLaughlin Machine candidates:
Every penny can be spent on inundating you with crafty spin, double-talk, happy talk, misleading campaign advertisements on issues like property taxes, fees and the tax rebate int he form of direct mail pieces.
They also have access to the very costly and slick regular village newsletter in which McLaughlin, like former Jane. M. Byrne 30 years ago, fills with references to his great achievements. The newsletter includes "reports" from O'Halloran, Dodge and Fenton, too.
And, they are regularly the stars of the Village's rerun self-promotional videos, paid for by the village taxpayers, of course, on Comcast Channel 4. Over and over and over again, ad nauseum.
Yet in the face of these overwhelming odds, one brave soul in the village has the guts to say that our elected officials must be accountable. They must be forced to explain why they raised property taxes, gutted the rebate program and increased fees, and cut back programs.
That one man is Gerald F. Maher and his slate of candidates who recently formed their committee, but have yet to report one dollar raised in their campaign.
That's why the local newspapers -- that feed on McLaughlin's good will and press releases -- keep hammering home that the last time Gerald Maher ran against McLaughlin, he got less than 30 percent of the vote.
Yet, that was 8 years ago when the economy was at its best.
Retail stores keep closing and vacancies fill strip malls like this was a neighborhood in a New York Ghetto. And if you think the tax increases they have approved are it, you are wrong.
-- Ray Hanania
http://www.orlandparker.com/
The village's problems have a lot to do with the poor planning of the Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin and his down-the-line domino trustees who nary challenge him, and do what they are told.
Orland Park has raised its property taxes and even gerrymandered the "fiscal year" from 12 to 15 months because they couldn't meet their expenses. They said they were changing the fiscal year in order to re-align it with the annual calendar. But many suspect the real reason is they just don't have the funds to pay all the bills in the 12 month budget and use a cute trick to turn the budget period to 15 months to cover 12 months of expenses. It's typical bad management to delay troubles until after the election April 7, 2009.
- Property taxes have skyrocketed.
- Fees continue to climb.
Once free programs now cost money. - The Tax Rebate program has been gutted to barely nothing.
- Millions have been wasted in poorly managed projects.
But that's the problem of the village and the taxpayers -- you and me, pal -- will be made to pay out of our hard earned tax dollars.
That's not the problem of Mayor McLaughlin and his running mates this year, trustees Brad O'Halloran, the Orland Park ambassador from the banana Republic of the Chicago 19th Ward; Kathy Fenton, and former Republican Committeeman Jim Dodge.
When you look at their campaign finance reports, you discover a whopping cumulative total of more than $275,000 in their combined campaign war chests. That is one of the largest gross campaign funds available to any local election outside of the Chicago Machine. And that assumes, of course, that this election has nothing to do with the Chicago Machine. (And I wouldn't assume that at all.)
That $275,000 breaks down as follows, based on the campaign disclosure filings this past month by all of the McLaughlin Machine candidates:
- Citizens for O'Halloran, $12,000
- Jim Dodge for Trustee, $20,000
- Citizens for Kathy Fenton, $13,000
- Orland Park First Party, $5,000 (all loans from Dodge, O'Halloran, McLaughlin and clerk David Maher)
- Citizens for Daniel J. McLaughlin, $61, 905
- Citizens for Daniel J. McLaughlin investments, $163,239 (up $6,000 which McLaughlin amended since my first report).
Every penny can be spent on inundating you with crafty spin, double-talk, happy talk, misleading campaign advertisements on issues like property taxes, fees and the tax rebate int he form of direct mail pieces.
They also have access to the very costly and slick regular village newsletter in which McLaughlin, like former Jane. M. Byrne 30 years ago, fills with references to his great achievements. The newsletter includes "reports" from O'Halloran, Dodge and Fenton, too.
And, they are regularly the stars of the Village's rerun self-promotional videos, paid for by the village taxpayers, of course, on Comcast Channel 4. Over and over and over again, ad nauseum.
Yet in the face of these overwhelming odds, one brave soul in the village has the guts to say that our elected officials must be accountable. They must be forced to explain why they raised property taxes, gutted the rebate program and increased fees, and cut back programs.
That one man is Gerald F. Maher and his slate of candidates who recently formed their committee, but have yet to report one dollar raised in their campaign.
That's why the local newspapers -- that feed on McLaughlin's good will and press releases -- keep hammering home that the last time Gerald Maher ran against McLaughlin, he got less than 30 percent of the vote.
Yet, that was 8 years ago when the economy was at its best.
Retail stores keep closing and vacancies fill strip malls like this was a neighborhood in a New York Ghetto. And if you think the tax increases they have approved are it, you are wrong.
-- Ray Hanania
http://www.orlandparker.com/
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
New taxes and higher fees headed for Orland after the election?
They're talking candidly about how Lt. Gov Pat Quinn will either help or be the victim of massive income tax and fee increases in the state after he takes over as acting governor from his former colleague and running mate Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Isn't that the way? Always raise taxes and fees in a sneaky way?
Quinn takes the fall and then Mike Madigan's daughter Lisa Madigan, the Illinois Attorney General, will point fingers of blame at Quinn and spend, spend, spend like there's no tomorrow.
And now, I read this in the Southtown/Star from Orland Park Trustee Brad O'Halloran, the chief ally of Mayor Dan McLaughlin and the strongest link in the 19th Ward Chicago Machine chain:
O'Halloran said the board had asked village staff during budget sessions last spring to explore ways to increase revenue and cut costs. But the timing for the proposal does not seem right now.
The village of Orland Park was going to raise the fee on vehicle stickers, and then backed down after we blew the whistle on the plan that was to be presented, quietly, to the village board next week. But fear of a public backlash obviously derailed that increase.
Read the sentence above. " ... the timing for the proposal does not seem right now."
Ah, O'Halloran and McLaughlin are up for re-election April 7. The key word in this is the word "timing."
They have hiked property taxes, raised fees for water related services, cut programs, imposed fees on previously free programs, and are watsing a fortune on that 143rd Street Bermuda Triangle project to nowhere.
Why stop on a puny little vehicle sticker hike?
Oddly, the huge property taxes really hammered everyone, but it is always the small thing that people actually pay themselves out of their checkbooks that wrankles the public. We have to write the check to buy the stickers. My property taxes are taken automatically out of my mortgage payment, a year later for the year of the hike.
I'm glad at least one newspaper is writing about the tax hike proposals. The village officials know they don't have to be accountable. They don't have to explain anything. Few people attend the board meetings. None of the board meetings are broadcast on Comcast Cable TV (instead we have those worthless parades that people barely show up for, running over and over again and the PR flak kissing up to the officials interviewing them all the time as if the public isn't worth anything.)
Orland Park needs accountability and if the elected officials we have now won't give it to us, then we need to insure that there is an independent voice either running the village as mayor or on the board of trustees. Someone who will stand up to bad policies and tax hikes and wasted spending and poor leadership and lack of accountability.
We all know what the problem is. The question is, are we going to fix it or continue to let the Chicago Machine run our community like a Soviet satellite banana republic?
It only took a little fear to stop them from raising the vehicle stickers. Imagine what might happen if people stood up and said something?
Hey sheep! Wake up. Start the mantra :) ... "Baaa ram mo. Baaa ram moo. (From the movie "Babe!") You raise taxes you'll be in deep doo doo."
-- Ray Hanania
www.OrlandParker.com
Isn't that the way? Always raise taxes and fees in a sneaky way?
Quinn takes the fall and then Mike Madigan's daughter Lisa Madigan, the Illinois Attorney General, will point fingers of blame at Quinn and spend, spend, spend like there's no tomorrow.
And now, I read this in the Southtown/Star from Orland Park Trustee Brad O'Halloran, the chief ally of Mayor Dan McLaughlin and the strongest link in the 19th Ward Chicago Machine chain:
O'Halloran said the board had asked village staff during budget sessions last spring to explore ways to increase revenue and cut costs. But the timing for the proposal does not seem right now.
The village of Orland Park was going to raise the fee on vehicle stickers, and then backed down after we blew the whistle on the plan that was to be presented, quietly, to the village board next week. But fear of a public backlash obviously derailed that increase.
Read the sentence above. " ... the timing for the proposal does not seem right now."
Ah, O'Halloran and McLaughlin are up for re-election April 7. The key word in this is the word "timing."
They have hiked property taxes, raised fees for water related services, cut programs, imposed fees on previously free programs, and are watsing a fortune on that 143rd Street Bermuda Triangle project to nowhere.
Why stop on a puny little vehicle sticker hike?
Oddly, the huge property taxes really hammered everyone, but it is always the small thing that people actually pay themselves out of their checkbooks that wrankles the public. We have to write the check to buy the stickers. My property taxes are taken automatically out of my mortgage payment, a year later for the year of the hike.
I'm glad at least one newspaper is writing about the tax hike proposals. The village officials know they don't have to be accountable. They don't have to explain anything. Few people attend the board meetings. None of the board meetings are broadcast on Comcast Cable TV (instead we have those worthless parades that people barely show up for, running over and over again and the PR flak kissing up to the officials interviewing them all the time as if the public isn't worth anything.)
Orland Park needs accountability and if the elected officials we have now won't give it to us, then we need to insure that there is an independent voice either running the village as mayor or on the board of trustees. Someone who will stand up to bad policies and tax hikes and wasted spending and poor leadership and lack of accountability.
We all know what the problem is. The question is, are we going to fix it or continue to let the Chicago Machine run our community like a Soviet satellite banana republic?
It only took a little fear to stop them from raising the vehicle stickers. Imagine what might happen if people stood up and said something?
Hey sheep! Wake up. Start the mantra :) ... "Baaa ram mo. Baaa ram moo. (From the movie "Babe!") You raise taxes you'll be in deep doo doo."
-- Ray Hanania
www.OrlandParker.com
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