Orland Park resident Paul Cervenka challenges the taxing Orland Fire Protection District

Orland Park resident Paul Cervenka challenges the taxing Orland Fire Protection District


Video from the Orland Park Patch, credit Jesse Marx

For more information, check out this story: Orland Park taxes increase dramatically. The Orland Fire Protection District is one of the government bodies responsible. Click to read the story?

And this one, Time to ELiminate the Orland Fire Protection District (Nov. 2009). Click to read the story?

Can Maher survive the Fire Protection District race? Can taxpayers?

Can Maher survive the Fire Protection District race? Can taxpayers?

By Ray Hanania

Pat Maher’s miserable performance in the November 5 elections for Cook County Commissioner against incumbent Elizabeth “Liz” Doody Gorman raises questions as to whether he can survive a challenge in the April 5, 2011 elections.

But the bigger question is, can Orland Township voters survive another term with Maher as president of the Orland Fire Protection District?

The district spends money like it is going out of style. Maher’s lies about cutting taxes were exposed during his failed campaign for the county board. The Maher Orland Fire Protection District has one of the highest budgets in the state, spending more than $25 million a year.

For what?

The answer is simple, to get Maher elected to higher public office. After all, he is a relative of the powerful (thought the election suggested powerless) Hynes clan and he and his supporters (not many apparently) believe that higher office is an entitlement.

So, can Maher win office in Orland Township, even as an incumbent whose father is the Village Clerk of Orland Park?

Maher lost to Gorman in a stunning landslide defeat in the 17^th District, the bulk of which is based in Orland Township. Maher won only 34,686 votes (36.02 percent) while Gorman won 56,423 votes (58.59 percent).

Click here to view the complete results posted by the Cook County Clerk.

That wiped-him-out-pattern followed Maher through the district in the townships.

There were 30,213 votes cast in Orland Township alone, and Gorman’s victory was even stronger. Her percentage victory in Orland Township beat the landslide victory she won in the entire district. In fact, Gorman won more votes that Mayor Dan McLaughlin has won in past elections and McLaughlin is very popular.

In Orland Township, Maher won only 11,165 votes (34.92 percent) and Gorman won 19,048 votes (59.52 percent)

There are rumors Gorman may run for mayor in two years – she could hold both jobs as county commissioner and mayor. Peter Silvestri is both the mayor of Elmwood Park and a cook county commissioner. I wouldn’t be surprised if Gorman runs a full slate of candidates in both the village trustee races and also in the Orland Fire Protection District. A Gorman-backed slate would be formidable.

Maher barely won three of 85 Orland Township precincts, and that’s not good for someone who is the president of a Township wide office that few people understand, the Orland Fire Protection District.

Maher won the 69^th Precinct, the 17^th Precinct and the 3^rd precinct, all by insignificant, single digit numbers. (Must be 19^th Ward havens.)

Maher lives in the 62^nd Precinct, according to the Cook County Board of Elections precinct finder for his home address. Even his neighbors didn’t like him as a candidate. Gorman took that precinct 215 to Maher’s 154 votes.

I am not sure Maher is re-electable.

But you can be sure that to protect his job, in an all out “who cares about the taxpayers” fight for his life, Maher will use the resources of the Orland Fire Protection District to make himself look good in political and township mailings.

He will spend taxpayer money like there is no tomorrow. You watch.

But that’s always been Maher’s problem. He has these loser consultants around him who view elections on the basis of money – their money – and can’t figure out how to convince voters Maher is redeemable. That’s probably a good thing for voters.

With the crew Maher is hanging around with, he’ll probably lose a re-election bid meaning the spot is open to someone else who wants to put the best interests of the taxpayers ahead of their own entitlement-driven political privileged life.

Hurting Maher even more is the fact that property tax bills in Orland Township have skyrocketed by more than 20 percent; the Orland Chamber of Commerce says the tax rate only went up 17 percent. Yikes! But the actual impact on homeowners was dramatic and property taxes doubled in some cases.

Do Orland Township voters want to elect a guy to township office who spends taxpayer money like there is no tomorrow?

All of the traditional campaign strategies will actually work against Maher. Every time he sends out the information less Orland Fire Protection District newsletter, voters will be asking themselves, how much did this cost me?

Orland Fire Protection District watchdog Paul Cervenka is carefully monitoring spending and he says the spending is outrageous. He filed a complaint against Maher’s use of the District’s newsletter to promote his candidacy. Although the complaint was dismissed, the concerns are priority one for Orland voters and taxpayers.

Cervenka wrote me after a recent Orland Fire Protection District meeting, “our fire district spent 2 million dollars in 10 minutes. Perhaps a new record! Post card mailing announcing a new web site for $6000. Contract for renewal for Newsmakers Inc. for additional services for work on public service announcements another $3000, among others.”

That’s not the actions of a public official who cares about the taxpayers at all.

Of course, when this blog reported that Maher’s pals and Battalion chiefs were using district vehicles, paid for and maintained by taxpayers, to do personal business, Maher shrugged it off. That’s where he lost me and I bet where he continues to lose the voters, too.

-- Ray Hanania

www.RadioChicagoland.com

Property taxes skyrocket in Orland Township, as much as 20 percent

Property tax bills arrived this week across Cook County, conveniently after the bills were delayed until after the November elections -- there is no doubt in my mind that they were intentionally delayed (as they were eight months earlier) by county officials, but the county taxing system is so complicated the news media is incapable of determining who the real culprit is. So, let's blame all the county officials for that. They knew property taxes were going to increase dramatically, but they didn't want you to take it out on their county-wide and state-wide elections.

Despite the sales tax increase that is in effect and although half of it was repealed (not taking effect until next year), Cook County Taxes jumped about 15 percent for most homeowners.

Orland Township's taxes (village, library, roads and bridges and general assistance) went up about 12 percent. went up also, about 12 percent. My village tax bill went up in Orland Park from $319 to $362, about 12 percent.

But the biggest dollar increase came from the School Districts. Moraine Valley Community College increased their spending so significantly that every home was slammed with a 17 percent increase. My MVCC taxes went up from $164 to $194.

Consolidated High School District 230 taxes also went up about 15 percent on average; on my bill it went from $1,202 to $1,391.

The largest school tax hike came from District 135. And that is amazing considering that the normal cash reserves for any government is 20 percent and their reserve fund is almost 50 percent -- that means they don't need the cash, folks. School enrollment is down with only minor teacher cut backs.  Those taxes went up a whopping 18 percent. And considering District 135 takes the largest annual tax bite from our wallets, 18 percent in District 135 is massive compared to 17 percent at MVCC.

Overall, with those hikes, 70 percent of your increased bill came directly from the local schools.

Orland has great schools, but the tax hike is unjustified. They don't need the money.

The least surprising tax increase, however, came from the bloated Orland Fire Protection District headed by Patrick Maher, who claimed in his repeated campaign mailings in his failed challenge to incumbent Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman that he was fiscally responsible and he had cut our taxes.

Maher's claim, like his entire campaign, was an outright lie. One lie after another. The Orland Fire Protection District jacked up taxes, and then later, lowered them briefly just so he could claim he cut back taxes.

But now that the election is over -- and fortunately he lost -- Maher's Orland Fire Protection District went up about 20 percent on the typical homeowner's property tax bill. My taxes went up from $568 to $660.

The politicians will use a shell game and tell you that the Tax Rate went down. It did go down. But the tax rate is determined based on the total requested by each local government as a percentage of the whole. So, the bottom line is that the tax rate did not go down far enough to show no increase in tax dollars.

Each government asks for money and their spending is what increases your tax payments. Then the county's eight elected officials jack up costs to cover their inefficiencies and mismanagement (Assessor, State's Attorney, Treasurer, Health, etc). And that is where the increases come from.

There's still time to put the pressure on the local officials, and take back control of the Orland Fire Protection District by throwing out all of the incumbents. You can make your voices heard in the upcoming village elections for trustee, too. But conveniently, the tax bills didn't increase during the mayoral and clerk elections -- the clerk really needs to go, too.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Second lawyer, Carole Ruzich, enters race for Orland Park trustee

Second lawyer, Carole Ruzich, enters race for Orland Park trustee

Carole Ruzich announced her intentions to run for Orland Park Village Trustee in the 2011 election. Carole, a seventeen-year resident of Orland Park, has a strong interest in keeping Orland Park moving in the right direction. Carole wants to add to the youth recreation programs in the village. “Keeping children off the street and involved in healthy activities is the right thing to do for our children, as well as the community,” Carole said. “My own experience coaching, allowed me the opportunity to see the value in building self confidence in our children through their participation in outside activities.”

Carole also expressed a desire to use her legal background to help the many families struggling with the threat of foreclosure. “There are numerous options for people, and I would like to create a financial and legal counseling service to help keep families in their homes,” she said.

Carole was born and raised in Evergreen Park, IL, and graduated from Mother McAuley High School. She attended Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, IN and graduated magna cum laude in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government and History. Thereafter, she attended the University of Illinois Law School where she obtained her law degree in 1986.

After graduating from law school, she joined the law firm of Pretzel & Stouffer, Chartered, as an associate attorney where she practiced primarily in the area of medical malpractice defense. She also worked for a suburban law firm before joining a local community bank as a Staff Attorney. In 1999, Carole joined her family’s law firm, Griffin & Gallagher, LLC, where her practice areas include creditor’s rights, real estate law and estate administration.

Carole has been a member of the Orland Park Board of Fire and Police Commissioners since 1999, where she currently serves as the Secretary of the Board. She has been a long time volunteer at Saint Michael’s Parish, including serving as a member of the Parish Ministry Commission, the Education Ministry Team and the Athletic Board, as well as coaching grammar school boys and girls volleyball teams. She has also been a member of the Board of Directors of Palos Community Hospital since 2000.

Carole is married to Larry Ruzich, and has two children, Dan and Megan, and one stepdaughter, Kimberly.
Carole looks forward to the campaign and the opportunity to serve the residents of Orland Park as a village trustee.

end

Gira and Schussler will run for re-election as a team

Orland Park Trustees Patricia Gira and Ed Schussler will run for re-election in the Spring elections, Gira said. They will be running as a team on the same slate. The question is, will they have a 3rd running mate and who will that be?


Edward G. Schussler III, Trustee
Finance Committee Chair
Trustee from 1989 – 1993,
2002 - Present
Acting Village President from 1992 – 1993



Patricia A. Gira, Trustee
Parks, Recreation & Environmental Initiatives Committee ChairTrustee from 2003 – Present


end

Orland Elections will be interesting

Dan McLaughlin easily won re-election in the April 7, 2009 consolidated elections. About 8,300 total votes were cast in the village races that also saw the re-elections of three incumbent trustees (are there any other kind these days?), Kathy Fenton, Brad O'Halloran and Jim Dodge, who later ran unsuccessfully for Illinois Comptroller in in the February 2010 Republican primary, losing to Judy Baar Topinka. Good Start, but bad campaign management.

In April, three more village seats will open, and rumors are that incumbent Bernie Murphy has decided to pull a Rich Daley and retire. Often criticized as "Dr. No"for voting no on a lot of legislation, his retirement opens the door to a new face.

McLauglin will probably find someone to slate, but John Fotopoulos, the Orland Park attorney who has run for office in the past, decided not to wait and he released his intention to run in a lean news release issued this morning.

It's nearly impossible to beat an incumbent. But that could change if Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman decides to get involved. Gorman handily beat back Mark Thompson in the Republican Primary and Patrick Maher, the son of Village Clerk Dave Maher and the cousin of retiring Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes -- yes the powerful Hynes clan that has seen some major political defeats in less than one year. (Had Hynes known that Daley was going to retire, too, maybe he would have not run for statewide office, saved his money and threw his hat in for Chicago mayor. He would have been a formidable candidate in a Chicago race, especially with the revival of the Chicago Machine.)

Presumably Ed Schussler and Patricia Gira will run for re-election. But petitions do not get filed until Nov. 15, ending on Nov. 22. That also means Mayor Daley still has time to change his mind, or forever hold his peace about the new Machine run by Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan and Chicago Finance Committee Chairman and Alderman Edward M. Burke.

So, we'll.

Gorman could slate her own candidates and her involvement would be influential because many people see Maher's defeat as a major defeat of the Democratic Party and McLaughlins' rule. McLaughlin really had no choice and he had to endorse Patrick Maher, despite his undisclosed baggage -- misdemeanor conviction while in college. After all, Dave Maher is his party colleague.

But McLaughlin has always been a bit independent. And maybe he won't get involved in this election. So much campaign cash from his resources was lost in the Maher battle.

It will be interesting.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Fotopoulos: First candidate announces for Orland Trustee

Orland Park attorney Fotopoulos announces for trustee

Orland Park resident, John S. Fotopoulos, is announcing his intention to seek the position of Trustee for the Village of Orland Park in the April 5, 2011 election. 

Background:

John has been a resident of Orland Park since 1994.  He is married to Cary and has three children (Maria 6, Spyros 3, and Peter 1).John is a trial attorney and has his law practice located in Orland Park on John Humphrey Drive. 

Issues:

It is imperative that we get back to the basics. 

Family Comes First -  Improve the quality of life for our families.  Our most precious assets are our children. We must provide for the health and safety of our family in our community.  Our children deserve the best.

“We must make sure our children have football, soccer, and baseball fields as well as other facilities that are second to no other community.”

Fiscal Responsibility  -  We must get back to the basic formula.  2 + 2 = 4

Our elected officials must understand this simple concept.  If we have $4 we can only spend $4.  The Village must eliminate wasteful spending and get back to the basics.

“We cannot continue to spend more than what we bring in.  Furthermore, the solution is not to increase taxes either.  We must run a leaner government.”

end

Voters oust Peraica and reject 19th Ward suburban takeover in Orland Park

Voters oust Peraica and reject 19^th Ward suburban takeover in Orland Park

By Ray Hanania

Suburban Cook County Voters in the Southwest and West suburbs tossed out one incumbent Republican commissioner in the 16^th District and blocked a Machine Democrat from taking control of another in the 17^th District.

Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica (R-16^th), the often obnoxious and loudmouthed publicity hound who was shunned by his own party colleagues on the board, was thrown out of office Tuesday night.

Ironically, the woman and colleague he most scorned at board meetings, Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth “Liz” Doody Gorman easily defeated a challenge from Patrick Maher, the cousin of outgoing Comptroller Dan Hynes in a rebuff of the powerful 19^th Ward Democratic Machine.

Neither election was about party politics, though, although the 19^th Ward has tightened its grip on elections and government positions in Southwest Suburban Orland Park over the years. But the elections in both races were more about honesty and character.

The unofficial vote count is: Gorman 55,514 votes to Maher 33,819, and Tobolski 32,781 and Peraica 27,617 votes.

Only days before the election, Peraica was arrested late Saturday night after he was caught by police destroying campaign signs of his opponent, Tobolski. First, Peraica was stopped in Stickney, where police reported they suspected he was destroying signs but did not have a witness to file charges. Less than 20 minutes later, he was stopped in nearby McCook, where Tobolski is the mayor, and arrested when police saw him drive out of a driveway of an 80 year old woman’s home where a Tobolski sign had been destroyed.

During the stop, which occurred at 11:15 pm, a neighbor came running out claiming he also saw the suspects destroying the signs on his property. The suspect turned out to be Tony Peraica driving around with an aide and carrying a large fireman’s poll often used to pull down debris from burning buildings.

Peraica was dressed in black and a cap on his head and claimed he was merely driving around to put up his own signs. Of course, Peraica had no signs of his own in the white van. He was charged, booked and jailed until authorities released him at 3 in the morning on an I-Bond, not requiring a cash deposit.

In his usual self-destructive style, Peraica immediately called a press conference on Sunday and then again on Monday to spin his version of the story. But voters could not erase the image of an elected official acting so foolishly, driving around in the middle of the night in all black tearing down the campaign signs on private property of another candidate. Peraica

rejected publicity hound Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica handing his rival McCook Mayor Jeffery Tobolski a landslide victory on Tuesday.

In the neighboring 17^th District, voters trounced the campaign of Patrick Maher, the controversial head of the Orland Fire Protection District and the cousin of 19^th Ward scion and outgoing Comptroller Dan Hynes.

Maher and Liz Gorman were in a tight race months ago as Democratic activists from Orland Park and the 19^th Ward flooded Maher’s campaign with funds and volunteers.

But weeks before the election, FOX Chicago News reporter Dane Placko reported that Maher was hiding a secret. He had been arrested and charged with a felony in the brutal beating while a college student of another student. That student today remains with brain damage. Maher went to trial but later agreed to a plea bargain misdemeanor assault.

Making matters worse, Maher did not disclose the conviction when asked on campaign forms by several local news media. And, it appeared that Maher had intentionally tried to hide the conviction, using a different birth date on his records. Changing a birth date makes it almost impossible for anyone to determine in a person has had a prior conviction. Maher’s father is the Clerk of Orland Park and an employee of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.

“I’m thrilled to have the backing of the voters,” Gorman told me last night during her victory celebration. “I’ll continue to fight to defend their rights against excessive taxation and bloated county budgets.”

Maher tried and failed to link Gorman to outgoing County Board President Todd Stroger. In reality, Gorman was Stroger’s political nightmare. Gorman led the fight to repeal Stroger’s one cent sales tax hike. And when the move was rebuffed by Stroger and the board seemed to wane, Gorman persisted and reintroduced the effort several times until it passed and half of the tax was repealed.

Her colleague Peraica tried to introduce similar legislation but not on member of the Cook County Board would second his efforts, showing that he had no friends or alliances on the county board.

Peraica and his minions, including two writers at extremist WIND AM Radio and two activists in Justice, were constantly attacking anyone who questioned his failed leadership.

“I am honored to become the representative for the voters of the 16^th District of Cook County,” Tobolski told me last night. “I will fight for their rights and make their interests and needs a the priority.”

The election contests were overshadowed by the statewide battles for the U.S. Senate between Republican Mark Kirk and Democrat Alexi Giannoulias, and Illinois Governor between incumbent Democrat Patrick Quinn and downstate Republican challenger Bill Brady.

Kirk has claimed victory while the race for governor remains too close to call at this writing.

Nationally, Republicans took control of the U.S House, a tradition that has repeated itself in most off-year elections. The party that controls the White House has lost control of the U.S. House in every election except two, once right after the Depression and once right after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Democrats expected to lose control of the House as Republicans lost control of the house during the second term of President George W. Bush.

The changing of control of the House now puts the pressure on Republicans to confront the deteriorating economy and the increasing job losses that began under the Bush administration. During the first two years of the Obama administration, the Republicans were in lock step rejecting everything Obama introduced.

end

9 PM: Liz Gorman set to trounce Pat Maher, establishing herself as the most influential elected official in Orland Park

Gorman projected winner in 17th District as count continues with heavy lead

9 pm: The vote count is not yet completed, but with 213 of 278 precinct reporting, Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth "Liz'Doody Gorman (R-17th) is leading by a strong margin. Gorman has 42,444 votes to Maher's 26,174 votes. That's about 70,000 votes cast in 213 precincts. With 65 precincts remaining, that means if the vote totals hold consistent, that there are about 23,000 more votes left. To catch up, Maher would need 16,000 votes, leaving about 7,000 votes to decide the race.

In other words, Maher would have to take almost 20,000 of the remaining 23,000 votes in the remaining 65 precincts to win, a statistical impossibility.

He could close the gap, but it is a wide gap. The Orland Parker Blog is projected Liz Gorman the winner.

That makes Gorman the kingmaker in Orland Park and she shut down, singlehandedly, the Orland Park Democrats who went full court press with money (from unions and the Hynes clan -- Maher is a cousin of Dan Hynes) to defeat Gorman.

But Maher's undoing was listening to whomever is the moron who advised him to try to hide or disguise his past. His past conviction and his efforts to hide it, including using a false birth date so that reporters and rivals might not discover the conviction, was his undoing.

You can't hide the truth.

And Maher's strategy to link Gorman to failed Cook County Board President Todd Stroger was a preposterous and stupid strategy.

Gorman singlehandedly stood up to Stroger's repeated tax hikes and when the other commissioners were prepared to give up, Gorman rallied them to a second and third try until half of the one percent sales tax was repealed.

Maher's poor leadership of the Orland Fire Protection District also was an albatross he could not disguise either with false claims that he cut taxes. The Orland Fire Protection District is one of the highest taxed fire districts in the state and one of the two highest in the nation. $25 million to run one fire protection district. It's outrageous.

Other projected winners: State Rep. Kevin McCarthy over Tea Party Republican Jeff Junkas. And, the balance is out there as Jeff Tobolski, the mayor of McCook, continues to lead with a healthy margin in the race to unseat mercurial and loud-mouthed county commissioner Tony Peraica. The Peraica-Tobolski battle will be close but Tobolski got a boost when Peraica was arrested when he was caught destroying election signs on Saturday night. Peraica was arrested, jailed for four hours and had his mug shot taken, forever burning the image of him as a Ninja dressed in black.

What was Peraica doing in Stickney and then McCook at 11 pm at night wearing a black outfit and driving around in his van?

Voters are not stupid, Peraica. At least most of them are not.

To review the final tallies:


CLICK FOR ELECTION RESULTS FOR COOK COUNTY
CLICK FOR ELECTION RESULTS FOR CHICAGO 


-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Tony Peraica, cook county commissioner in the 16th District, arrested and jailed in McCook

11:45 am SUNDAY

Tony Peraica, cook county commissioner in the 16th District, arrested and jailed in McCook

Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica was arrested late Saturday night when he was caught ripping down political signs from private property.

Peraica is planning his own press conference later today to call the arrest and jailing a set-up, claiming that the arrest was made in McCook where his opponent, Jeff Tobolski is the mayor.

But Tobolski reports that Periaca, who was dressed in black, and another man, were driving around in a white van tearing down signs when a Stickney police officer observed them tearing down the signs and pulled them over. They were given a warning and allowed to leave, according to Tobolski.

About 15 to 20 minutes later, the same van was seen driving through McCook in what many would describe as a last-minute political trick, tearing down signs. The van was observed by a McCook Police officer pulling out of private property with several signs destroyed on the ground.

"The police officer stopped the van. It was late at night. And as he was questioning them about what they were doing on the property and if they had anything to do with destroying the private property, the owner of the property came out yelling that they destroyed his signs," Tobolski said.

The property in question is the McCook Bohemian Restaurant on Joliet Road.

Peraica was charged with criminal trespass and destruction of private property. The complaint was signed by the owner of the bar. Peraica was held in the McCook Jail until McCook authorities allowed Peraica to be released on an I-Bond without having to post money.

The fact that Peraica was in McCook driving around in an unmarked van in black clothing is evidence enough that Peraica was up to his old mischief. He'll do his best to claim it was a political set-up but you have to be an incompetent imbecile to be allowed to be put in to a position of being caught like that.

"Peraica should resign from office immediately. When you drive through McCook you will see several large signs for Peraica and no one has bothered them or destroyed them or taken any of them down because I believe every candidate has a right to campaign without the fear of your property being destroyed," Tobolski said.

"There are many signs out there for many candidates and we don’t touch any of them. I’m not taking any signs down because I respect the right of the voters to vote for whomever they are right. Obviously, Tony Peraica doesn't feel the same way. What’s he going to do next, storm my home? His erratic behavior of a strange man is outrageous and I think every voter in Cook County and the 16th District must question his ability to run a county district and to represent anyone in this county. I am shocked a man who ran for state’s attorney and a lawyer would knowingly break the law like this.

Peraica was unavailable for comment, but he told the media he was putting his signs up late at night and on public property, even though there are laws in most municipalities that prohibit the placing of political signs on public property.

This event shows Peraica to clearly be one of the most unethical, most despicable candidates running for office. On Tuesday Nov. 2, voters can throw that kind of dirty politics out the window."

-- Ray Hanania

www.RadioChicagoland.com

Maher: A campaign strategy "Out of touch with reality"

Maher: A campaign strategy "Out of touch with reality"

A lot of political flyers have been landing in our mail boxes these past few weeks. The race between 17th District Cook County Board member Liz Gorman and challenger Patrick Maher president of the Orland Fire Protection District is by far the hottest race out there.

Gorman and Maher have been duking it out accusing each other of distorting the facts. Gorman's campaign benefited from the mother of the young man who Pat Maher brutally beat up while he was a student at Illinois State University. She did a telephone audio robo-call to every voters in the huge county wide district.

Maher has been telling everyone the charges are false, which is the most outrageous response. Maher was charged with felony assault and then after a deadlocked jury, he plead guilty to misdemeanor battery. The mother of the student he and one of his friends pummeled is the voice behind the robo-calls.

But the biggest lie came out when Maher sent out a mailer to voters alleging, again falsely, that Gorman has supported Todd Stroger's tax increases.

Are you kidding me? I don't know who is advising Maher but he has run one of the worst campaigns I have ever seen. The best strategy they can come up with to respond to the disclosures of Maher's past conviction (and his lying about those convictions) is to lie about Gorman.

The latest flyer falsely claims:

"Two times, we elected Liz Gorman to the County Board on her promise to cut taxes. Two times, she's let us down by voting YES on Todd STroger's bloated budgets. Gorman supported almost $3 billion in Stroger spending in 2007 and another $2.9 billion last year."

What Maher is saying is that he would reject any budget adopted by the county and bring the county to a standstill?

Gorman fought EVERY tax increase Stroger has proposed and led the fight to repeal the one percent sales tax hike and is leading the fight to repeal the second half, a sales tax she voted against.

The ridiculous assertion that Gorman is an ally of Stroger is so stupid, it makes Maher look like a neophyte, inexperienced leader. It's just dumb.

The flyer is intended to target voters who are out of touch with reality. And those voters rarely vote anyway. So why did they waste their money on a lie like that? Well, first, they have few issues. Second Maher's consultants are in fact the big shot Machine form the 19th Ward which has turned Orland Park in to one of their satellite machine territories.

The only people out of touch with reality are Maher and his political consultants.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Worst candidate I have seen in years

Worst candidate I have seen in years

By Ray Hanania

As voters, we’re used to bad choices. But the Nov. 2 election for the Cook County Board presents residents in the suburban 17^th District with one of the worst candidates to seek public office, Patrick Maher.

Maher is in a mudslinging battle with two term incumbent Liz Gorman. Maher has claimed that Gorman is a puppet of the hated outgoing Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, alleging she supported Strogers many tax increases, which is all a lie, of course.

Gorman single-handedly kept the board from giving up and despite several failed attempts, and she put together the votes by pure stubbornness to repeal half of the Stronger 1 percent Sales Tax hike. She has been the strongest voice against tax increases on the board.

Maher has to lie because Maher has a bad secret. And in political life, there are no secrets. When he was a college student, he brutally beat up a fellow classmate over a girl, who later became his wife. Maher was charged with aggravated felony assault but the jury deadlocked over the fate of a rising star of one of the state’s most powerful political families. Instead, he plead guilty to one count of misdemeanor battery.

The man he beat at Illinois State University in 1991 is Curt Bellone. Bellone is from New Lenox.  (Click HERE to read a story on the conviction.)

This week, Bellone’s mother voiced a robo-call (a political term for a phone call that plays a recorded message to targeted voters) telling the story and urging voters to reject Maher’s candidacy.

In the passioned phone call, which I received and heard, Bellone’s mother, Karen Peterson (who is now 65), says:  "Patrick Maher brutally beat my son and has spent 19 years trying to hide that fact. Patrick Maher has spent his campaign for Cook County commissioner lying about this crime, refusing to be accountable for the crime to which he pled guilty and denying the damage he did to another human being. ... He should never be put in a position of public trust such as Cook County commissioner."

Click HERE to listen to the entire audio message from Karen Peterson about the beating of her son.

Maher is a decent person. I’ve met and spoken with him. He’s just surrounded by the usual rabble of cheerleaders looking to find their place at the public trough, and has the oppressive weight of a political dynasty on his shoulders.

He is the cousin of Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, a scion of one of Chicago’s most powerful Machine Organizations, the 19^th Ward. His father  is Orland Park Village Clerk Dave Maher. The Hynes family and friends funds much of their elections.

Maher was put in charge of the Orland Fire Protection District, quickly transforming it in to a Chicago-like bureaucracy with one of the most bloated budgets of any fire protection district in the state.

But to go higher, Maher had to bury his criminal past. He never mentioned it in media candidate questionnaires (except once, after FOX News reporter Dane Placko started investigating).

(Here is Placko's news report)

(Click HERE to view it on the FOX 32 Web Page.)

Maher’s birthdate was also changed by one day. He says it was a mistake. But everyone knows that without an accurate birth date you cannot find a criminal record.

Maher’s past is not the issue. But covering it up, is. And covering up a past instead of being a man to address it makes him a poor choice for public office, one of the worst, in fact.

When this election is over, he should quit the Fire Protection District and instead of listening to the pressures of his political aristocracy, find his place in society, one where he can raise his head up and find respect.

It’s not there, though, in this election.

(Ray Hanania is an award winning columnist and Chicago radio talk show host. He can be reached at www.RadioChicagoland.com.)

Ed Vrdolyak's hand slapping: Is there any doubt the system is corrupt?

Ed Vrdolyak's hand slapping: Is there any doubt the system is corrupt?

By Ray Hanania

Let me get this straight.

Ed Vrdolyak, one of the slipperiest politicians in Illinois who everyone assumed was guilty but had a Teflon career for years until this week, gets 10 months in jail for his role in a $1.5 million kick back scheme involving a Gold Coast property.

And the same Feds are trying to put Rod Blagojevich in jail for 30 years for never taking one cent for his personal use, but did what every politician (including Vrdolyak) in pushing contractors and friends to donate to his campaign.

This is the poster image for Illinois’ infamous and oft cited “culture of corruption.” The culture of corruption isn’t just about the politicians who slip through the cracks and eventually get caught – it only took 30 years to finally put Fast Eddie in a cushy prison after another federal judge – and friend – sentenced him to probation and community service that had him making calls from his limousine to raise money for his clout-heavy cronies.

The culture of corruption in Illinois is endemic to the state government and applies more directly to the system in which the corrupt politicians play.

It’s the system that is corrupt and the people who haven’t gone to jail and the ones pulling the strings.

So what Vrdolyak got caught. Ed Vrdolyak is Mr. Personality. Mr. Popular. The pal of friend and foe. He is one of the smartest politicians in Illinois and pal-ed up to politicians he supported and fought with.

He was well-liked by the political establishment which made it easy for him to rise to the top of the grunge when he led the infamous Vrdolyak 29 to lead a race-based campaign that succeeded in stymieing the administration of Harold Washington during his first term as mayor.

This was the Ed Vrdolyak who found it so easy to bring judges of all sorts to his home for the annual private picnic in a backyard partially built on a Chicago street he managed to acquire without raising one eyebrow from the Feds.

This was the Ed Vrdolyak, who when he lost his power in the Democratic party, slipped easily into the comforting leadership of the Republican Party.

He was liked. And because Ed Vrdolyak was liked, he got a pillow slap from the first judge, who doesn’t deserve to remain on the bench. And now he is getting a slap on the wrist to make the public feel better.

Even the prosecutors, who failed to get the three and one-half year prison term for Vrdolyak that they originally sought, were excited that Fast Eddie was sent to prison at all.

Meanwhile, the unliked and woefully disdained Rod Blagojevich is being forced to defend himself against trumped up charges from the U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.

Oh the Vrdolyak decision to go to summer camp for 10 months must have made Fitzgerald feel extra good, considering that things haven’t been going his way as of late.

Fitzgerald’s crew failed to win a conviction of Blagojevich in the first trial on the 23 of the 24 charges. They did get the jury to agree that Blagojevich lied to the FBI. But they couldn’t get a unanimous jury nod of the serious charges of corruption.

But Blagojevich is easy to attack and Vrdolyak is difficult. The public doesn’t care too much for either, although Blagojevich has gained much support by going public to respond to the public outcries by the federal government that characterized their 18 months of pre-trial public lobbying.

Blagojevich is disliked by the politicians and Vrdolyak is held in high esteem despite his political shenanigans.

I liked Vrdolyak, too. He was a crafty shell game manipulator. But he always went too far, including in his role in the Town of Cicero with former President Betty Loren-Maltese who was sent to prison for 8 years for her role in stealing $10 million – another injustice in that the sentence was too lenient considering how much she stole from the taxpayers there.

Vrdolyak had a pattern similar to that of Loren-Maltese. While they stole, they were doling out favors to many. And in Vrdolyak’s case, many in the public who benefited from Vrdolyak’s charity wrote letters on his behalf that “swayed” the federal judge.

Vrdolyak gets 10 months and Blagojevich gets threats of 30 years.

Did you need anything more to demonstrate the state’s culture of corruption and how bad it really is?

(Ray Hanania is an award winning columnist, media strategist and morning radio talk show host. He can be reached at www.RadioChicagoland.com.)

The Chicago Newsroom Weekly TV Program: The old and new media

The Chicago Newsroom Weekly TV Program: The old and new media
Hosted by Ken Davis
In this week's program, Ken Davis is joined by Sun-Times columnist, Esther J. Cepeda, Thom Clark, President, Community Media Workshop, Ray Hanania, independent columnist, and Neil Tesser, Chicago jazz writer. The panel discusses "The New News", a report on the state of Chicago's online media.This program was produced by Chicago Access Network TV.



# # #

Here's what your five page ballot looks like for Orland Park

Here is what your ballot will look like for most if not all residents of Orland Park. You can vote early now through the election. I recommend voting no against any judge for retention unless you know the judge personally. Please vote no for retention on Bill Kunkle.

The rest is up to you.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Senator, U.S.

6 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Mark Steven Kirk	Republican	1
Alexander "Alexi" Giannoulias	Democratic	2
LeAlan M. Jones	Green Party	3
Mike Labno	Libertarian	4

Senator, U.S. (Unexpired Term)

Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Mark Steven Kirk	Republican	9
Alexander "Alexi" Giannoulias	Democratic	10
LeAlan M. Jones	Green Party	11
Mike Labno	Libertarian	12

Governor and Lieutenant Governor, State of Illinois

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Bill Brady & Jason Plummer	Republican	17
Pat Quinn & Sheila Simon	Democratic	18
Rich Whitney & Don W. Crawford	Green Party	19
Lex Green & Ed Rutledge	Libertarian	20
Scott Lee Cohen & Baxter B. Swilley	Independent	22

Attorney General, State of Illinois

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Steve Kim	Republican	24
Lisa Madigan	Democratic	25
David F. Black	Green Party	26
Bill Malan	Libertarian	27

Secretary of State, State of Illinois

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Robert Enriquez	Republican	30
Jesse White	Democratic	31
Josh Hanson	Libertarian	32

Comptroller, State of Illinois

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Judy Baar Topinka	Republican	35
David E. Miller	Democratic	36
R. Erika Schafer	Green Party	37
Julie Fox	Libertarian	38

Treasurer, State of Illinois

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Dan Rutherford	Republican	41
Robin Kelly	Democratic	42
Scott K. Summers	Green Party	43
James Pauly	Libertarian	44

Representative, 1st District

2 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Raymond G. Wardingley	Republican	47
Bobby L. Rush	Democratic	48
Jeff Adams	Green Party	49

State Senator, 19th District

2 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Adam Wojcik	Republican	50
M. Maggie Crotty	Democratic	51

State Representative, 37th District

2 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Jeffrey L. Junkas	Republican	52
Kevin A. McCarthy	Democratic	53

Commissioner, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, MWRD

6 Year Term, Vote For 3

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Paul Chialdikas	Republican	55
Jimmy Lee Tillman II	Republican	56
Mariyana T. Spyropoulos	Democratic	57
Barbara McGowan	Democratic	58
Michael A. Alvarez	Democratic	59
Diana Horton	Green Party	60
John "Jack" Ailey	Green Party	61
Nadine Bopp	Green Party	62

Board President, Cook County

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Roger A. Keats	Republican	63
Toni Preckwinkle	Democratic	64
Thomas Tresser	Green Party	65

Clerk, Cook County

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Angel Garcia	Republican	66
David D. Orr	Democratic	67

Sheriff, Cook County

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Frederick Collins	Republican	68
Thomas J. Dart	Democratic	69
Marshall P. Lewis	Green Party	70

Treasurer, Cook County

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Carol A. Morse	Republican	71
Maria Pappas	Democratic	72

Assessor, Cook County

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Sharon Strobeck-Eckersall	Republican	73
Joseph Berrios	Democratic	74
Robert C. Grota	Green Party	75
Forrest Claypool	Independent	76

Commissioner, Cook County Board, 17th District

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Elizabeth "Liz" Doody Gorman	Republican	77
Patrick Maher	Democratic	78
Matthew J. Ogean	Green Party	79

Commissioner, Cook County Board of Review, 1st District

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Dan Patlak	Republican	80
Brendan F. Houlihan	Democratic	81

Judge, Illinois Appellate Court, 1st District (Vacancy of McNulty)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
James R. Epstein	Democratic	84

Judge, Illinois Appellate Court, 1st District (Vacancy of O'Malley)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Aurelia Marie Pucinski	Democratic	85

Judge, Illinois Appellate Court, 1st District (Vacancy of South)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Mary Katherine Rochford	Democratic	86

Judge, Cook County Judicial Circuit (Vacancy of Berland)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
William H. Hooks	Democratic	87

Judge, Cook County Judicial Circuit (Vacancy of Bronstein)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Terry MacCarthy	Democratic	88

Judge, Cook County Judicial Circuit (Vacancy of Dolan)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Susan Kennedy Sullivan	Democratic	89

Judge, Cook County Judicial Circuit (Vacancy of Hayes)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Raymond W. Mitchell	Democratic	90

Judge, Cook County Judicial Circuit (Vacancy of Kelley)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
John Patrick Callahan, Jr.	Democratic	91

Judge, Cook County Judicial Circuit (Vacancy of McCarthy)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Maureen Masterson Pulia	Republican	92
Daniel J. Gallagher	Democratic	93

Judge, Cook County Judicial Circuit (Vacancy of O'Malley)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Thomas V. Lyons	Democratic	94

Judge, Cook County Judicial Circuit (Vacancy of Riley)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Sandra G. Ramos	Democratic	95

Judge, 15th Subcircuit (Vacancy of Lipinski)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Linzey D. Jones	Democratic	96

Judge, 15th Subcircuit (Vacancy of Panichi)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
George F. Scully	Democratic	97

Judge, 15th Subcircuit (Vacancy of Phelan)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
John C. Griffin	Democratic	98

Judge, Illinois Supreme Court (Retention)

Candidate Name	Yes	No
Charles E. Freeman	200	201
Thomas R. Fitzgerald	202	203

Judge, Illinois Appellate Court, 1st District (Retention)

Candidate Name	Yes	No
Joseph Gordon	204	205
Shelvin Louise Marie Hall	206	207

Judge, Cook County Judicial Circuit (Retention)

Candidate Name	Yes	No
Sophia H. Hall	208	209
Irwin J. Solganick	210	211
Alexander Patrick White	212	213
Donald J. O'Brien, Jr.	214	215
Vincent Michael Gaughan	216	217
William D. Maddux	218	219
Robert W. Bertucci	220	221
Richard J. Billik, Jr.	222	223
Jennifer Duncan Brice	224	225
Thomas Michael Davy	226	227
David Delgado	228	229
Deborah Mary Dooling	230	231
Timothy C. Evans	232	233
Allen S. Goldberg	234	235
Susan Ruscitti Grussel	236	237
Cheyrl D. Ingram	238	239
Raymond L. Jagielski	240	241
Dorothy F. Jones	242	243
Daniel E. Jordan	244	245
Carol A. Kelly	246	247
Bertina E. Lampkin	248	249
Jeffrey Lawrence	250	251
William Maki	252	253
William D. O'Neal	254	255
Robert J. Quinn	256	257
Leida J. Gonzalez Santiago	258	259
Daniel J. Sullivan	260	261
Sharon Marie Sullivan	262	263
Susan Frances Zwick	264	265
Susan Jeanine McDunn	266	267
James Patrick McCarthy	268	269
Paul P. Biebel, Jr.	270	271
Nancy J. Arnold	272	273
Arnette R. Hubbard	274	275
Thomas L. Hogan	276	277
Nicholas R. Ford	278	279
Charles Patrick Burns	280	281
Thomas P. Fecarotta, Jr.	282	283
Denise Kathleen Filan	284	285
LaQuietta J. Hardy-Campbell	286	287
Nathaniel R. Howse Jr.	288	289
John Patrick Kirby	290	291
Diane Joan Larsen	292	293
Daniel Joseph Lynch	294	295
Kathleen Mary Pantle	296	297
Kevin Michael Sheehan	298	299
Paul Stralka	300	301
John D. Turner, Jr.	302	303
LeRoy K. Martin, Jr.	304	305
Paula Marie Daleo	306	307
Laurence J. Dunford	308	309
Robert Balanoff	310	311
Jeanne R. Cleveland Bernstein	312	313
Kathleen Marie Burke	314	315
Kay Marie Hanlon	316	317
Michelle Jordan	318	319
Thomas J. Kelley	320	321
William J. Kunkle	322	323
Clare Elizabeth McWilliams	324	325
Mary Lane Mikva	326	327
Patrick T. Murphy	328	329
Timothy Patrick Murphy	330	331
Sheryl Ann Pethers	332	333
Jim Ryan	334	335
Edward "Ed" Washington, II	336	337

Here is the Referenda:

itle	Question	Yes	No
Proposed Amendment to the Illinois Constitution	The proposed amendment, which takes effect upon approval by the voters, adds a new section to the Suffrage and Elections Article of the Illinois Constitution. The new section would provide the State's electors with an option to petition for a special election to recall a Governor and for the special election of a successor Governor. At the general election to be held on November 2, 2010, you will be called upon to decide whether the proposed amendment should become part of the Illinois Constitution. If you believe the Illinois Constitution should be amended to provide for a special election to recall a Governor and for a special election to elect a successor Governor, you should vote "YES" on the question. If you believe the Illinois Constitution should not be amended to provide for a special election to recall a Governor and for a special election to elect a successor Governor, you should vote "NO" on the question. Three-fifths of those voting on the question or a majority of those voting in the election must vote "YES" in order for the amendment to become effective. For the proposed addition of Section 7 to Article III of the Illinois Constitution."
Village of Orland Park - Pension Reform Referendum	Shall the Illinois General Assembly and Governor take immediate steps to implement meaningful public safety pension reform which will relieve the extensive burden on local taxpayers now that the General Assembly and Governor have reformed the pension systems for all other public employees?