2nd Maher throws hat in for Cook County board ... and Orland Township committeeman

Gerald Maher, who was soundly defeated in a bid to unseat Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin last Spring, has turned his sights against his own Republican Party and is soliciting signatures to challenge Elizabeth “Liz” Doody Gorman both as Cook County Commissioner and the GOP Committeeman.

Maher, a Republican, believes he didn’t get enough support from Gorman and the Orland Township Republican Party in his bid to unseat McLaughlin and even alleged that Gorman backed McLaughlin.

McLaughlin, a union communications director, is also the Democratic Committeeman of Orland Park. Here's how Maher and McLaughlin did in the past three elections:

2001

Dan McLaughlin      6771 votes

Gerald Maher          2704 votes

2005

Dan McLaughlin      9248 (unopposed)

2009

Dan McLaughlin      5427

Gerald Maher         3049

Gerald Maher denied his candidacy is intended to help the candidacy of Patrick Maher, the Orland Fire Protection District president and the son of Orland Park Village Clerk David Maher, a McLaughlin ally.

“I am running because I want to make a difference in the 17^th Cook County District,” Maher said Tuesday during a telephone interview while soliciting signatures for his petitions. “Liz Gorman has been in office eight years and what has she done? Nothing. But absolutely, this has to do with her not supporting me and not doing what a committeeman is supposed to do when I ran for office.”

Maher said he is running for both positions that Gorman holds including Republican Committeeman for Orland Township.

Gorman, who has been leading the effort to repeal Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s oppressive 1 percent Sales Tax, scoffed at Gerald Maher’s assertions.

“He’s a stalking horse,” she said. “I put out a mailer for every one who ran for office and the only group I endorsed who lost was Gerald Maher’s slate. The highest vote getter came from the Republican side and I am proud of that. I had him in the endorsement sheet and he didn’t even have a mailer,” Gorman said.

“At the end of the day, everyone will figure out that Gerald Maher is a disgruntled wannabe public official who is upset not because I and the Republican Party did not help him. He is upset because has tried repeatedly to win office and has been consistently rejected by the voters. ‘Liz Gorman’ didn’t make him lose. We did everything for him. He lost because the voters don’t like him. He did it to himself.”

Gorman also said that she finds it ironic that Gerald Maher and David Maher got into a high profile battle over who was using whose name to win votes. (Read the story on the Maher vs Maher name controversy?) She is referring to the letter that was published in the Orland Pairie newspaper just before the village election in which David Maher, the village clerk, blasted Gerald Maher for using their good name.

Gerald Maher said he despises the tactics David Maher used in the last election and he insisted his own candidacy is not an effort to boost David Maher’s son’s chances next year. He also denied that Gorman endorsed his candidacy, but Gorman showed me her Township GOP brochure that in fact did include Maher's Ad, discounted.

“Is my candidacy a plus or minus for Pat Maher. I see it as an absolute minus. Contrary to what his father claims, I have been to Tipperary, Ireland and that is where the Maher name originates,” Gerald Maher said.

“They don’t pronounce it Mah-her there. They pronounce it ‘Maer.’ That name belongs to me as much as it does anyone else. For them to think they have the ownership of that name is naïve at best. Is it helping Pat Maher? Absolutely not. It is just the opposite.”

In an unexpected move, Gerald Maher's brother Robert Maher announced his unequivocal support for Gorman, blasting his brother and blaming him for his own election defeat. Robert Maher served as Orland Township Supervisor and was ousted in the April 7 elections by Democrat Paul O'Grady.

"I lost the election to Paul O'Grady mainly because my brother Gerald ran against Mayor McLaughlin and that caused a lot of confusion. But I think worst of all is my brother Gerald ran a terrible race," Robert Maher said in a telephone interview.

"I want to make it clear that I wholeheartedly support Liz Gorman's re-election for the Cook County Board and for Republican Committeeman. She has led the fight to repeal the 1 percent sales tax and to challenge County Board President Todd Stroger. She could not have done more for me in my election bid and I believe she is one of the most effective Republican leaders and county commissioners we have."

Patrick Maher is expected to file next week for the office of County Board in the Democratic Primary. He is expected to face Dr. Victor Forys in the February primary election. The winners of the Democratic and Republican primaries will face-off in the November 2010 general elections.

end

While Orland Mayor holds his own, Paul O'Grady moves in for a sweep

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

Rounding the corner to the election on Tuesday

Gerald Maher, the mayoral candidate for the Concerned Citizens of Orland Park, hasn't had a wealthy campaign, so he hasn't been able to buy the full color, glossy mailers that the incumbents, the Orland Park First Party led by Mayor Dan McLaughlin, have been able to produce.

Most of the literature has focused on the issues. And if there has been any "mud" thrown around, it's been by people unfortunately associated with Mayor McLaughlin. I don't blame Mayor McLaughlin. He is a part of a tenuous team. I definitely like the mayor and trustee Brad O'Halloran. I haven't heard a thing from Trustee Kathy Fenton and I am always suspicious of the politics and policies of Trustee Jim Dodge.

The letter published in the Orland Prairie last week attacking Gerald Maher and his brother, Robert Maher, the Orland Township Supervisor, which endorsed Paul O'Grady (the candidate for supervisor challenging Robert Maher) and Mayor McLaughlin, was about as dirty a letter as I have ever seen.

I don't think McLaughlin had anything to do with that.

But I do think that the incumbent village officials have a responsibility to 1) accept criticism and not brush it off as "mud" just because it challenges public policy and 2) they should focus on positive achievements instead of trying to pretend that Gerald Maher has been throwing mud. He hasn't.

Mayor McLaughlin is right about one issue that I even challenged him on. The Property Tax rebate was 80 percent of my property tax collections. I had calculated the property tax rebate on the entire property tax levied by the village, not just the portion levied on homeowners. I don't think it is accurate to say you rebated the property tax when you only rebated a portion of the property tax. But, McLaughlin was right, technically, and I was wrong. Homeowners who submitted their forms did get 80 percent of their property tax rebated.

But I think it is legitimate for Gerald Maher to campaign using his last name, even if the Village Clerk, David Maher, and his son Patrick Maher the President of the Orland Fire Protection District, all share the same last name. That issues is just ridiculous, but I blame that on the Paul O'Grady campaign.

Paul O'Grady is a decent person but his campaign has been all about mud, slamming Robert Maher very hard. I do think Robert Maher has to do a better job of communicating with the residents of the Township, but I think his original claim that O'Grady may be a front for the 19th Ward politicians resonated when O'Grady got 19th Ward bigshot County Sheriff Tom Dart to pose for a campaign brochure picture and make those annoying telephone calls to my home phone.

Mayor McLaughlin, for the most part, has done a good job with Orland Park. This is a great community. But, it is an even GREATER community when citizens of Orland Park become involved in local elections and challenge the incumbents. McLaughlin shouldn't be so bitter about being challenged by Maher -- although I suspect it's not McLaughlin really running his odd-couple slate that he has. It's the consultants. And putting out a las minute mailer accusing your challenger of throwing mud is "an old political trick" of the common kind.

Given how much has been spent, and how little local residents vote in local elections, I am going to predict that McLaughlin will win his 5th term. He's been a good mayor for 16 years and was a great trustee for 8 years before. In fact, I remember when he first ran for trustee and got involved in the Orland Township Democratic Organization, once headed by an old school politician, Tom Charnagorsky.

Mayor. You're going to win Tuesday. Be magnanimous and let the lesser of the candidates in your coalition who are vulnerable deal with the bitterness and animosity. You don't need to stoop that low and don't allow the others to drag you down to that level. Keep the rest of the campaign positive.

If Gerald Maher is bringing up issues of increases in property taxes and village debt -- which you contest -- he is doing it because like you, he cares about Orland Park. Saying that you raised fees (the fees on the water bill have increased in almost every area including actual water rate which you don't really control.)

I also know you agree that village board meetings should be broadcast on Cable TV and I hope in this next term, you will make it happen. Find new people to run the cable camera, though, mayor. Someone with some creative talent. Not every resident of Orland Park has the time to attend the meetings -- village officials attend because they are paid to attend and they run for office and that is a requirement. But tell some of your running mates that taxpayers who can't find the time to attend the village board meetings are not apathetic. They are just busy working hard. Make the village board meetings more accessible and make village government completely transparent. In today's day-and-age, every public document and record should be made available on the village's very well-done web site. It just needs more public records. Put the village board meetings on the Internet too. (You can do that for free with a fast Internet connection, computer and a good camera.)

You are better than the other candidates on your slate. Stay that way. Criticism is a part of being in office. Learn to take it, accept it and turn it into something positive.

By the way, did we really need another issue of the "Orland Park Public" village magazine? That's a waste of money.

-- Ray Hanania
http://www.radiochicagoland.com/

Candidate Gerald Maher comes out swinging

Politics is starting to come alive in Orland Park with less than four weeks left to the April 7 election. That might tell you about how tough it is for non-incumbents to find the resources to challenge incumbents.

Gerald Maher is running a second time against Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin. They're both good men. They both love Orland Park, but one of them is the incumbent with a huge campaign warchest. The other is not, with a huge hurdle -- convincing voters to take notice.

While McLaughlin's warchest is significant -- I've written about it -- it does reflect his 16 years in office. He's built up a lot of alliances, good will and a decent track record. The current economy has put the spotlight on the village's taxes and the decision to trim back the property tax rebate has ruffled some feathers.

But it still takes a lot to mount a campaign.

Maher is focused squarely on the taxation issue, a smart move with taxes rising all around Orland Park and revenues dropping like fundamental words out of Chicago Mayor Daley's sentence structure. It is the heart of a two-sided, yellow flyer with black ink that was inserted into the weekly home-mailed edition of former Senate candidate Jack Ryan's Orland Park Prairie newspaper. It's an affordable way to get the word out, but far from what is needed.

His single disclosed campaign contribution came two days ago from Kang Lee, the restaurant in the heart of the controversial dust-up of the village's stalled multi-million dollar "Main Street Triangle" project and the planned razing of the Orland Plaza Shopping Center. It's the last parcel of land the village needs to begin plans to create an old town atmosphere around the train station west of LaGrange Road at 143rd Street. But the $2,000 from Kang Lee two days ago is small change to fuel the ambitions of the Concerned Citizens of Orland Park and its admirable slate of candidates. (Between now and the election candidates need only disclose contributions of more than $500 so the donation amount may not be a true indicator of what he has available.)

There are five positions up in the April 7 elections in the village. Mayor, clerk and three trustees. Two of the incumbent trustees running with McLaughlin are vulnerable, Kathy Fenton and Jim Dodge. The other incumbent is trustee Brad O'Halloran and the Village Clerk Dave Maher.

Dodge, who has more ambition than successes in politics, has a campaign photo that haunts him with a smile that looks like a bent tin can. He's close to Orland Township Republican Committeeman Elizabeth Doody Gorman, who doesn't have a great record in terms of helping the Republican Party at all, but that her friends in politics keep insisting has great potential. I've yet to hear from her and can only go by her public record. Gorman's biggest anchor is her political ties to Ed Vrdolyak, who pled guilty to corruption but managed to skate out of a jail term only through what observers conclude is either the senility of U.S. District Court Judge Milton Shadur, or political cronyism.

While Maher is known by many, his slate is not as well known, but courageous. They are Patrice Pykett, the candidate for clerk, and trustee candidates Kenneth Wzorek, Kenneth Houston and Marian Klemme.

Although Maher is basically a Republican, and McLaughlin a Democrat -- he's the Orland Township Democratic Committeeman, in fact -- party labels won't help much.

Maher's literature makes some good points, like addressing the village's mounting debt of $94.2 million. But using the term "pay-to-play" goes a bit too far. When asked about Maher's candidacy, McLaughlin asked where Maher has been the past eight years since the last election, but then took a swipe quoted in the newspapers that was too negative. Still, the election will help bring out issues citizens of Orland Park need to understand.

The expected turnout for April 7 will probably be low, though past mayoral elections have drawn some 9,000 votes.

But without deep pockets and more Kang Lee's, it will be very tough to mount the kind of campaign one needs to bring out the votes and crack McLaughlin's very tough to beat record.

It's going to take a lot more than an insert in the Orland Park Prairie to move people to vote on April 7 and Maher's people, despite a soft campaign warchest, are promising more. Money is the measure of a candidate's viability, not just the issues.

The Township race is also starting to percolate, too, with Maher's brother and Orland Township Supervisor Robert Maher being challenged by Paul O'Grady, who is not related to the former sheriff nor any of the powerful O'Grady clan. O'Grady's blue and white signs have already popped up on LaGrange Road.

For more information, you can visit Gerald Maher's web site at www.CCOP.us. McLaughlin's slate does not have a campaign web site that I know of and I couldn't find one for Robert Maher, either, but you can find info on both McLaughlin and Robert at their official government sites, www.orland-park.il.us and the township's web site is http://www.orlandtwp.org/. Paul O'Grady's web site is www.otfp2009.com for the Orland Township First Party.

-- Ray Hanania
http://www.radiochicagoland.com/

Low vote turnout in 5th District foreboding for Orland Park?

The low voter turnout in the 5th Congressional District was really shocking. Literally, 10 percent of the registered voters in the district turned out to vote this past week on Tuesday March 3 to select a candidate to lead their parties in the April 7 election for congress.

Some might say the primary election is always low and the April 7 election will have a higher voter turnout. The voters are merely waiting to let the Democrats, Republicans and Independents fight it out amongst themselves first. And, they will then go to the polls April 7 to select from that final round.

If that is true, it only shows how naive voters really are. The primary election pretty much sealed the fate on that district. Fortunately, Cook County Board Mike Quigley, who won the Democratic nomination, will almost certainly become the congressman in the seat once held by Rahm Emanuel, a very controversial former congressman who is now President Barack Obama's Chief of Staff.

What does it mean for Orland Park. This week, candidates in the village elections and township elections will be able to start putting up their campaign election signs.

The key contests are between Village President (Mayor) Dan McLaughlin and his slate versus Gerald Maher and his slate, and on the Township level between Township Supervisor Robert Maher and his slate and his challenger Paul O'Grady and his slate. And, there is an important contest to fill one trustee seat on the Orland Park Fire District. There are four candidates and one known name, Cindy Katsenes along with a young candidate Chris Ciciora.

In the past, Orland's mayoral contests have drawn strong voter participation, more than 10,000 voters (our town only edged towards 60,000 population this past year so that's a great turnout). Will it last? It takes community interest in the issues, not the fluff, and it takes money to reach the voters.

I'll get into all three elections in the coming weeks.

-- Ray Hanania
http://www.radiochicagoland.com/

Odelson calls Orland Park candidate's challenge "meritless"

Election law attorney Burton S. Odelson said that although he knows Michael Davies, the Chicago Ridge trustee appointed by Circuit Court Chief Justice Tim Evans, he insisted they don't socialize and it had nothing to do with the ruling by the Orland Park Election Commission Friday night.

"Davies had nothing to do with the ruling," Odelson said. "Davies is an acquantince -- we don't socialize!!!"

The slate headed by Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin, called the "Orland Park First Party," was challenge by Gerald Maher, his challenger and head of the Concerned Citizens of Orland Park. McLaughlin and village clerk David Maher, who would have sat on the election petition review committee for the village, were replaced by their colleagues, Trustees Bernard Murphy and Ed Schussler. Evans appointed Davies as a third member of the hearing held Friday night at 5:30.

As for the challenge, Odelson stressed, "The objection was BS. It was stupid, frivolous and a waste of time. The lawyer [representing the challengers] quoted from two cases in the appellate court -- which were both my cases from the 1980's. I dont care who sat on Board, there was no legal merit, plain and simple."

Maher's camp indicated Friday they did not plan to challenge the ruling in the Circuit Court, where some challenges thrown out by local election officials often end up.

"We plan to win the election," a Maher aid said.

Meanwhile, Odelson is representing challenges in other villages in elections around the region.

-- Ray Hanania
www.OrlandParker.com

Stacked election review panel rules predictably Friday night

A predictable ruling in an unpredictable election

As everyone expected, the Orland Park Election Board threw out Gerald Maher’s challenge of Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin’s candidacy.

At issue was not the law, but the lawyers and the board's "objectivity."

The Orland Park election committee consisted of two incumbent Orland Park trustees, for the most part very fair. They are Trustee Ed Schussler and Trustee Bernard Murphy. Murphy and Schussler ran for re-election together in the 2007 village elections and they are considered allies – based on their vote – with McLaughlin and his slate of candidates who are now running for re-election in the April 7 election, incumbent trustees Kathy Fenton, Brad O’Halloran and Jim Dodge, and clerk David Maher.

Maher challenged McLaughlin’s petitions saying they violated the law. McLaughlin’s committee is described on the petitions as a “new” party but the Orland Park First Party is not new at all. It is an existing, established party. You cannot name your independent party after an existing established party according to a fair reading of the state election law.

But the law was never the issue. The deck was always stacked against Maher, who has McLaughlin on the run, however.

The original village election board consisted of McLaughlin and Clerk Maher (no relation to Gerald Maher). They stepped aside and their colleagues on the board, Schussler and Murphy were named to take their place.

A third “judge” who would join the panel to review the challenge was named by Cook County Chief Justice Tim Evans, the former Chicago alderman who lost his bid to become mayor to Eugene Sawyer in 1987 following the death of Harold Washington. Evans is a very pleasant person, but very political too.

Evans named as that 3rd panel member, Michael Davies, who for the past two years has been a trustee in Chicago Ridge. For the 18 years prior to that time, he was a trustee on the Worth Township Board, a board that Burt Odelson’s powerful law firm represented for many years. Davies and Odelson are good friends.

Some say the connection runs deeper. But there is nothing nefarious there about Burt. I like Burt. Not everyone does. He's a frequent guest on my radio show and he is both knowledgable and informed. He doesn't pull punches and he is upfront and honest. And usually right.

But as controversial as Odelson might be, he is also one of the state’s best if not the nation’s best election law attorneys. Which means he knows the law better than anyone. And he knows when and how to interpret the law better than anyone. In fact, I would go as far to say that had Gerald Maher hired Odelson as his attorney, he would probably today be the only candidate for mayor on the Village of Orland Park ballot.

I asked Odelson, as McLaughin’s attorney, for his comment but couldn’t reach him late Friday night (hours after the election review board met, ruled and adjourned).

The real problem in all this, I think, is Judge Evans. Instead of appointing a truly objective arbiter to sit on the already stacked election board deck, Evans appointed someone that Maher’s people said "yelled a greeting" aloud at the beginning of the meeting to welcome Odelson. And, they said, he asked only two questions ... at the end of the session.

Maher’s people praised Schussler, a straight shooter when it comes to village politics. But, would he vote to remove his fellow trustees and mayor from the ballot? Murphy also is considered very ethical, too. But no matter how much ethics you have, voting to remove your best friends on the village board from their re-election would be almost impossible. (Murphy, Fenton, Dodge, Schussler and O'Halloran, and McLaughlin and Clerk Maher have all served together for years.)

Why do we, the taxpayers, tolerate, such a failed election review process where the pals (and sometimes enemies) of village incumbents get to decide who stays and who goes?

The whole process is shameful. But that’s not a knock on Odelson.

The fact that the challenge got this far, though, is a harbinger of the challenges McLaughlin and his “First Party” face. The real issue is whether the voters have had enough of unaccountable government, skyrocketing property taxes, the gutting of the popular property tax rebate plan, the millions spent on a development that hasn’t yet been developed. The plate is full.

Personally, I always favor candidates facing-off and oppose seeing anyone, even those deserving of criticism, to be knocked off ballots. I think the voters' interests are always better served when there is an election contest. That's the onlyw ay officials are forced to be accountable.

But this challenge wasn’t judged objectively. Some might argue, it wasn't fair at all.

And that’s something the people of Orland Park have become accustomed to receiving.

-- Ray Hanania
http://www.radiochicagoland.com/

Special hearing called to review challenge to Orland Mayor's candidacy

It’s unprecedented. A challenge was filed against the election candidacy documents of Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin and his running mates on the “Orland Park First Party" slate, Trustees Kathy Fenton, Brad O’Halloran, Jim Dodge and Village Clerk David Maher.

The challenge was filed by McLaughlin’s mayoral rival, Gerald P. Maher, and his running mates on the Concerned Citizens of Orland Park, trustee candidates Marian Klemme, Kenneth Houston, Kenneth Wzorek and clerk candidate Patrice Pykett.

Normally, challenges are filed by incumbents against their non-incumbent challengers, but McLaughlin’s party never filed any challenges.

This is all strange. You see, the people in power are usually the ones who decide if a challenger’s challenge will stand. So petition challenges against non-incumbents are frequent.

The review body that would normally consider the candidacy challenges in Orland Park would be the incumbents, and in this case, Mayor McLaughlin and Clerk Maher. But since the challenge is against them, they were forced to step aside. Two of his colleagues on the village board were appointed to take their places, Trustees Bernard Murphy and Ed Schussler.

At 4:59 pm on Wednesday, Clerk Maher’s office posted a notice of a special meeting to review the challenges to take place at 5:30 PM on Friday night, just slightly more than 48 hours notice, just meeting the requirements of the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

The challenge argues that the name being used by McLaughlin slate, the “Orland Park First Party” is not a "new" party, as designated in the election filings. Instead, and we all know this to be true, the name is an “existing” party that McLaughlin and his same trustees used in 2001 and in 2005, when they ran unopposed.

The law says you can't use the name of an existing "established" party and then file it as a "new" party. It's an important technicality, the kind of technicality that usually will get challengers thrown off of ballots, usually not incumbents. Technicalities like these cause election losses.

Who decides these issues?

I'm going to say that Murphy and Schussler are very friendly and sympathetic to McLaughlin, their colleague and friend. In fact, I can't recall an instance where either trustee has ever seriously challenged any of McLaughlin's decisions. But Murphy and Schussler are under pressure to do the right thing and to follow the letter of the law. Chief Judge of the Circuit Court Tim Evans appointed a “third” person to join the review panel -- the name of that person was not immediately made public.

The law is very clear that candidacy petitions must be precise in language and form. The whole system of incumbent officials in a village reviewing their own challenges is really ludicrous because there is no real impartiality. It’s a serious flaw in the county's election system that should be changed, but won't. Usually, these challenges end up in the courts.

When the challenge was filed in the village hall offices of Clerk Maher on Monday, sources said McLaughlin came rushing down from his own office to Clerk Maher’s office. There, challenger Gerald Maher’s filer sat for 40 minutes until an official in Clerk Maher’s office finally provided a one-sentence typed receipt acknowledging the challenge was officially filed. Forty minutes to type one sentence. That's a record!

Not the most efficient re-election strategy

I’m going to say that this election is not going to be the synch for McLaughlin many had expected. The terrible economy, the dramatic increases in property taxes and village fees, the cutbacks in programming and new charges added to programs that previously were free have caused much alarm among village taxpayers.

When a proposal was made last week to hike the village vehicle sticker fee, even nominally, fear that it would be the hike that broke the camel’s back forced the village to decide to put it on hold – probably until after the election. (It's a strange thing. Taxpayers complain about but will accept property tax hikes, which are imposed a year after they are hiked and paid as a part of a monthly mortgage payment. But vehicle fees, for some reason, really tick voters off even though the increase are only a few dollars.)

In the shadows of all this are rumors that not all is copacetic in Camelot or in the Orland Park First Party where issues of egos seem to be clashing. Was McLaughlin really considering not running for re-election or, was it that one of his close allies wearing the robes of a 19th Ward Brutes, might have been planning a coup?

Who knows?

But I will be SHOCKED if the challenge is upheld. That, my friends, would truly be unprecendented.

-- Ray Hanania
http://www.orlandparker.com/

Names drive many races in Orland Park and Township

Names mean a lot. It's a fact that if you have an Irish name, for example, you have a better chance of winning a spot as a judge, if you are not already appointed to one by the Chicago Democratic machine.

If you have an Arab name, chances are even before Sept. 11, 2001 in Orland Park, you couldn’t get elected to any office, not even to a racist school district board.

But the ethnicity of names is one factor in elections. The similarity of names is another.

For example, there are four people named "Maher" either in office or seeking office in Orland Park.

There is Robert Maher, the highly praised incumbent Supervisor of Orland Township. Robert Maher blew the doors off of Thomas Mahoney and ousted him from the supervisor's office in 2005. Mahoney barely beat his own predecessor Michael Brennan in 2001 – winning by only 207 votes out of more than 13,000 township votes cast. Mahoney was plagued by criticism of his performance, and is engaged in a lengthy lawsuit against Maher that I think is purely political.

Robert Maher’s brother, Gerald Maher, is running a second time against the unaccountable Village of Orland Park President (Mayor) Dan McLaughlin. Gerald Maher ran against McLaughlin in April 2001, and nearly took 30 percent of the vote at a time when McLaughlin was riding high on a great economy and high public hopes for the village.

This time things will be different for McLaughlin. The economy tanked and the Mayor has been forced to break all of his promises. But instead of standing up and forthrightly explaining his new property tax increases, fee increases, new fees for formerly free programs, the trimming of programs and his failure to better protect the village from the economic fallout of a crash in the retail market, he prefers to run government by “Happy Talk” press releases which ignore all he problems and paint a fairy tale image of the village.

Wasted money at the Bermuda Triangle development near 143rd Street and LaGrange Road, the gutting of the property tax rebate plan he implemented and promised would off-set the burden of his .75 percent sales take hike in the village make him the perfect target for ouster.

Then there is McLaughlin’s running mate. I’m not talking about the unaccountable trustees who share in McLaughlin’s arrogance. I’m talking about David Maher, the village clerk. Although David Maher and I had a brief dispute over the issue of the Open Meetings Act – which I believe he violated, but is slowly correcting without admitting a mistake – David Maher has done a good job.

His one duty is to make the village’s public records public and he hasn’t hesitated to do that. And that makes David Maher accountable, which is the only thing the public can demand from their elected officials besides honesty and doing the best job they can.

McLaughlin and his Chicago Machine cohorts from the Chicago 19th Ward – who over the years have transformed Orland Park into a satellite Chicago ward (we don’t even get garbage can lids here like they do in Chicago in exchange for votes!) – could learn from David Maher’s record.

But then, it’s not always like father and like son. David Maher’s son is Patrick Maher, the controversial and politically driven head of the Orland Park Fire Protection District, who recently decided to force senior citizens to pay when the Orland Fire Department ambulance comes to pick them up in emergencies. And he has been involved in some controversial law suits that have entangled the Village.

Who is paying for the 8 or more attorneys representing all of the defendants in the Orland Fire Protection District law suit? You should see the list of the lawyers squeezing money out of that one!

The Maher name is not unfamiliar to village residents who have lived here for a while. There was William F Mahar – slightly different spelling, the former Illinois State Senator and his father who served before him. (I should note that Bill’s brother, Tom, was my fraternity brother at Northern Illinois University and we were best friends, although we lost contact during the political years after.)

Then there are the "trickster" names that play on popular names to draw away votes.

For example, in the Orland Township elections, Donald Yunker, who I have criticized in the past but have come to like after more carefully examining his record and talking to constituents, is being challenged by “Brian Younker,” a colleague of the Orland Hills police attorney Paul O’Grady who is challenging Robert Maher for Township supervisor.

Paul O’Grady is an interesting chap, although I always look at anything carefully when dealing with controversy plague Orland Hills.

The word on the "street" is that O’Grady was picked to succeed Mayor McLaughlin, who everyone expected would retire this year. I’ve emailed O’Grady (there’s a familiar name in politics) to get his response to the widely held rumors that he was to be Orland Park’s new mayor and his response to some who believe he is too closely tied to 19th Ward politicians like the Sheehans, Joyces, and Hynes.

Regardless, this election in April is going to be a hopper.

The voter turnout in the village of Orland Park has been around 9,000 or so. And in the township, the numbers will be about 13,000. Those are the numbers to watch. We’ll help keep tabs on the campaign financing and where the money is coming from and being spent by the candidates.

And we’ll be talking about the Orland races on upcoming segments of my morning radio show on WJJG 1530 AM Radio (Monday – Friday, 8-9:30 am.) It’s broadcast live on radio and simulcast on the Internet, too, at www.RadioChicagoland.com.

(Check out this Southtown/Star story for a good rundown of the Orland area contests.)

-- Ray Hanania
http://www.orlandparker.com/

Orland Mayor posts $61,905 in campaign warchest for re-election

Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin posted a campaign warchest under "Citizens for Dan McLaughlin" of just under $62,000 going into what many expect will be his toughest contest for village president. Additionally, McLaughlin reported $157,083 in a Campaign Warchest Certificate of Deposit that presumably can be tapped for election expenses that is held at the Suburban Bank in Elmhurst -- not Orland Park!

McLaughlin will face-off with Gerald Maher in the April 7, 2009 village elections. Both men have full slates of candidates behind them including for clerk and three trustee spots. But it looks like that although the "McLaughlin Group" will work together, they will be running separately from separate budgets.

Mayor McLaughlin, criticized for failing to anticipate the massive drop in sales tax revenues in a village that relies heavily on the retail revenues, had $36,000 in his campaign warchest at the end of June, 2008. Since then, he raised $54,680 and spent about $28,959, leaving the $61,905 remaining in the fun that is available to him to run for re-election.

McLaughlin can also raise funds between now and the election. Any additional funds raised will have to be reported in filings 30 days before the election, and any contribution of $500 or more during the final 30 days before the election will have to be reported within 2 days of being received.

Some expect McLaughlin to raise another $40,000 to help him off-set growing angst among Orland Park residents who blame him for the village's poor economic standing. McLaughlin has touted Orland Park's positive achievements but has always avoided discussing the village's challenges.

The McLaugfhlin administration significantly increased property taxes, bungled the development of the Mian Street Triangle area, that some refer to as the "McLaughlin Bermuda Triangle." How many of millions were wasted on that project, which remains stalemated? And how much did that money weaken the village's budget, causing a whopping shortfall of some $5 million this year.

The problems have forced the village to gut the popular property tax rebate, which McLaughlin initiated after imposing a .75 percent increase in the slaes tax under Home Rule powers back in 2002. McLaughlin said the full property tax rebate for residents who remove the sales tax burden from them and keep it on non-residents who travel to Orland Park to make purchases at local retail stores and the shopping malls. But, with the economy tanking -- everyone saw it except McLaughlin, apparently -- sales tax revnues have dropped and the rebate will only be about 25 percent of the full property tax collected from homeowners.

Although the property tax rebate has dropped like a lead balloon, taxes continue to climb along with increases in other village fees.

The most disturbing aspect of all this is that village officials are so arrogant they REFUSE to be accountable and explain anything fully and openly. Instead, they have dropped news of the tax tragedy piecemeal to the Orland Park Prairie, which doesn't deal with the controversial news but does a great job of providing popular features.

McLaughlin's campaign fund report was posted Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009.

I'll have more analysis in upcoming reports.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Orland Park Mayoral race heats up: Maher challenges McLaughlin's missteps on village property taxes

Orland Park Mayoral candidate Gerald Maher said growing dissatisfaction with increases in village fees and property taxes expose his rival, Mayor Dan McLaughlin, to a possible defeat in the village's elections in April 2009.

Maher, discussing the tax issue on "Mornings with Ray Hanania," said that he suspects the increases in property taxes may be tied to the wasted spending tied to the village's attempts to rebuild the land northwest of 143rd and LaGrange Road.

More than $35 million has been spent but much of the money has gone to fight legal fights and to underwrite failed land development at the Main Street Triangle site, Maher said during the radio interview on WJJG AM 1530 Monday, Jan. 12, 2009. Maher called it the "McLaughlin Bermuda Triangle."

Property taxes have increased 17 percent over last year. But taxpayers in Orland Park face a double whammy with the decision by McLaughlin to gut the popular property tax rebate program McLaughlin implemented in 2002 to off-set his decision to raise the sales tax in the Southwest suburb .75 percent.

In past years, all of the property taxes were rebated to residents to off-set the sales tax hike. This year, though, only about 25 percent of the property tax is being rebated and Maher charged that McLaughlin is misleading residents falsely claiming that the rebate has been "saved."

"It's not only a big issue. It is a huge issue," Maher said noting local media polling showing as much as 74 percent of the population is upset over the real estate property tax increases.

Maher also faulted the mayor for his "poor planning" by tying the village's economic future to the retail industry. With the economy tanking, the sales tax revenues have dropped significantly with little option for the village except to raise the property tax, fees and to cut back on promised tax rebates.

Click HERE to listen to the full interview.

Maher's web site is www.CCOP.us.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Orland Mayoral Candidate Gerald Maher joins Radio Chicagoland Monday to discuss his candidacy

Gerald Maher, the independent candidate for mayor of Orland Park, will be the guest Monday at 8:20 am on Radio Chicagoland (WJJG 1530 AM radio, at 8:20 am). The show is broadcast live on the radio and simulcast on the Internet at www.RadioChicagoland.com.

Maher will discuss his candidacy and the issues he feels are important to residents of Orland Park who have been slammed by increased village fees, property taxes and cut-backs in services.

Here is information on all of the candidates running on the Concerned Citizens of Orland Park slate:

• Gerald F. Maher for Mayor, Orland Park
• Patrice Pykett for Village Clerk, Orland Park
• Marian M. Klemme for Trustee, Orland Park
• Kenneth Houston for Trustee, Orland Park
• Kenneth Wzorek for Trustee, Orland Park

Orland Park is one of the largest suburban communities in the Southwest Suburbas between Chicago and Joliet. Invites have been extended to all the candidates in the Orland Park elections in April 2009, and also in other suburban areas.

Maher's web page is www.CCOP.us.

The station call-in number is 708-493-1530.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com