Category Archives: Politics

Tired of Plastic Bags Littering the Countryside – San Francisco and Other Communities Are Doing Something About Them!

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20140323-214823.jpgGo down any street in most American Cities and you see old plastic bags along along the streets. Not too many years ago all stores gave you paper bags which would disintegrate in the land fills. These plastic bags will take 1000 years to breakdown in a landfill. Recycling is one answer, and would certainly contribute to reducing the problem. Today only a small per cent of the bags are recycled with rest ending up our landfills and and even in our oceans. San Francisco has banned plastic bags. You go into a store, and you must furnish your own bag or pay a minimum of 10 cents for a compostable or recylable bag. Perhaps, it is time for the rest of the country to follow San Francisco’s example.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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O Paddy dear, and did ye hear the news that’s goin’ round?
The shamrock is by law forbid to grow on Irish ground.

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They’ll be wearin’ the green at the Freeport City Meeting on Monday, March – Let’s Just Hope They Won’t Be Spending the Green!

Meeting at 6:00 pm 524 W. Stephenson Street, 3rd floor – watch live on Comcast Channel 17.

Items of interest:

2nd reading of ordinance on litter caused by handbills and newspapers – It’s about time something was done about these unwanted papers.

1st reading of ordinance to extend date for implementation of rental ordinance to June 2, 2014. Rules will be suspended and this will be voted on at the meeting. See posting on March 13 in regard to this ordinance. The extension and general implementation issues remind one of Obamacare!

Purchase of two Zoll Cardiac Monitor Defibrillators for fire department at cost of $59,030.40.

See complete agenda at

Click to access A20140317.pdf

If you get bored, listen to Wearing of the Green at
http://www.ireland-information.com/irishmusic/thewearingofthegreen.shtml

City of Freeport Threatens Property Owners – Letter to All Property Owners Shifts Burden to Taxpayers to Prove They Don’t Own Residential Rental Properties!

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On March 6 all property owners in Freeport received a letter from the Freeport Police and Community Development Departments advising them of the requirement to register their rental properties. The letter stated that it was being sent to residential rental property owners based on information obtained from the Stephenson County Assessor’s taxpayer records. That Assessor’s Office is certainly a mess if they think every taxpayer in Freeport owns rental properties. The burden is put on the taxpayers of Freeport to notify the City by email or calling if the letter was sent to the taxpayer in error (means taxpayer does not own residential rental properties).

Another bureaucratic nightmare! Why don’t they send letters to every taxpayer in Freeport asking them about the condition of the streets around their homes?

When will the Freeport City Council wake up and start doing its job – instead they are in chronic slumber land!

Freeport City Council Meeting on Monday, March 2 to Consider Expanding West Avenue TIF to Include Jo-Ann Fabrics

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Freeport City Council Meeting at 6:00 pm
City Council Chambers at 524 West Stephenson Street, 3rd Floor
If you have Comcast Cable, go to channel 17 to watch live.

A few items of interest:

Annual report of Freeport/Stephenson County Convention and Visitors Bureau, read report at

Click to access CVB%20201312_20140303.pdf

Summary of City’s financial condition compared to last year

Memorandum on expanding West Avenue TIF (Tax Increment Financing District or also known as SHIT which is an acronym for Shift to Homeowners Incrementally Taxes) to include Jo-Anne Fabrics. To be fair every other small business in Freeport should be included in this TIF so improvements can be subsidized by other taxpayers in this community. Wait a minute – that would mean the whole City would be in a TIF. Oh, why not! What’s good enough for Wal*Mart should be good enough for the rest of us!

Appointment of Steering Committee for City Hall Public Outreach – this committee should be called “Committee to Decide Fate of City Hall.”

1st reading of a couple of ordinances and seven resolutions dealing with items such as the sale to Alber of part of Rawleigh Complex, expanding TIF referred to above, and hiring Fehr Graham for engineering services (this firm should have an office in City Hall – surprise that Shelly Griswald is going from City Hall to work for this firm)
For a complete agenda to follow during the meeting go to

Click to access A20140303a.pdf

Buy a Can of Soda and You Will Help Feed the Pigs in Springfield!

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Illinois State Senator Mattie Hunter (Chicago Democrat) pictured in the red dress is proposing another new tax – a penny per ounce on each sugary drink sold in sealed containers. Said tax is under the guise of helping people eat a healthier diet. What a joke! Allegedly, the money raised would be used to pay for some health services and educational efforts. As usual in the State of Illinois, the solution to every problem is more taxes. Tell this state senator not to worry about the people in Illinois. She should spend her time finding ways to reduce spending instead of more taxes. Don’t worry about the taxpayers of this state getting too fat – the only ones getting fat at our expense are the pigs in Springfield who continue to over feed with our hard earned income. The politicians in Springfield should not give us advice while gorging themselves at the expense of the taxpayers of this State.

Stephenson County Board Meeting February 13

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Next meeting on February 13, 2014 at 6:30 pm at the County Board Room at the Stephenson County Court House, 15 N. Galena Avenue, Freeport.

For a complete agenda go to http://co.stephenson.il.us/board/mins.asp

Coming soon to Good Day Illinois a new feature called – How Much Are The Real Estate Taxes On This Building?

Failing School District Cavalier About Not Teaching Children for Three Days! Yes, It Is Freeport District 145!

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Freeport School District has cancelled classes for eight days this winter due to cold and snow. Only five emergency days were included in the schedule, so the District should make-up three days. The district does not want to make up the days, so it is asking for waiver from the regional superintendent. This way they do not need to hold classes for three additional days and will get state aid as if they were holding classes. If one is running a failing business like this school district, I would think you would want to work every day possible. So much for caring about educating the children in this District.

This is the same District that is increasing its tax levy 1.83% and also wants a special 1% sales tax added to the present sales tax.

This is the same District where the most of students are in failing schools which do not meet state averages.

What does it all mean? This administration gets an F for educating the students in this District, but it does get an “A” for finding excuses not to hold classes or to make-up cancelled classes!

The Good and the Bad – People, organizations, governmental agencies, and taxing bodies which deserve special recognition. This Month the Bad – Freeport (Illinois) School District 145!

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Freeport School District Has A Lot in Common With The Politicians in Springfield – The Solution to Every Problem Is More Taxes!

Real Estate Taxes in the City of Freeport are some of the highest in the country with the rate going up each year. Ask your local politicians about the rate for next year.

The school districts in Stephenson County led by Freeport want another 1% added to the sales tax so Freeport will be 9%. Spend $10 and pay almost $1 in taxes! They say it will be used to pay off existing bonds. A sales tax increase is only justified if there is a corresponding decrease in real estate taxes dollar for dollar – and that must be guaranteed which is joke. Give the bureaucrats running the school districts more money, and they will just spend more money. Schools in the Freeport District received failing grades since not one grade met state averages, and has the lowest graduation rate of school districts in Stephenson, Carroll, and Jo Daviess Counties. So much for more money for failing schools. More money is not the answer.

The Freeport School District has already announced it is increasing its levy 1.83% and that an owner of $100,000 residence will pay an additional $120 more in real estate taxes!

Yes, Freeport School District is recognized this month for consistently raising our real estate taxes and now it wants a special sales tax to raise even more money. Perhaps, it will request a special exit tax on everyone leaving the community until no one remains! True bureaucrats don’t care as long as they get paid – since they can just move on to their next victim when a community is destroyed.

For more details and to compare this district to schools in other districts go to http://fh.suntimes.com/reportcards/search/index

Freeport (Illinois) City Council Meeting, Monday, February 3 – Looks Like The Council Will Get Home Early, Not Much on Agenda!

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The meeting will be at 6:00 pm in City Council Chambers at 524 West Stephenson Street, 3rd Floor.
If you have Comcast Cable, go to channel 17 to watch live.

Items of interest:

Vote to accept low bid for police pursuit vehicle from Bocker Group for 2014 Impala, $20,987.45

One resolution to apply to apply for grant funding for storm water management including design projects intended to control rain water, green street designs, planter boxes, permeable pavement, etc. to reduce storm water flow, control flooding and slow run-off into surface water in the City’s East Side Neighborhood

No readings of any ordinances

For the complete agenda of the council meeting, go to

Click to access A20140203.pdf

Freeport City Council Meeting, Tuesday, January 21 –

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The meeting will be at 6:00 pm in City Council Chambers at 524 West Stephenson Street, 3rd Floor.
If you have Comcast Cable, go to channel 17 to watch live.

Items of interest:

Presentation by students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School of Urban and
Regional Planning on projects such as passenger rail, housing, Tutty’s crossing, and public transit.
This should be an interesting presentaton. Go to http://urpl.wisc.edu/ for more about the Department.

Update from Dave Young, Director of Northwest Illinois Development Alliance (NIDA). Probably wants more money!

1st Reading (no comment allowed since there was a public hearing) of Ordiance for Variation for Group
Home (eight residents) for special need individuals at 325 West Rye Ridge. Since there were no written
objections and a unanimous recommendation from Planning Commission, it can be voted on with only one only one reading. In the minutes of the meeting, Laura Kelly who represented the applicant,
Northwest Illinois CILA, LLC, of Galesburg, Illinois, when asked what types of disabilities the residents would have stated that the primary disability would be developmental/mental retardation. The use of the term “mental retardation” which many people find offensive has been replaced by the term “intellectual disability” by most organizations and governmental agencies such as Social Security. It is surprising that someone in this field who purports to be an advocate in the area of helping individuals with special needs would use such a term. Someone should ask Ms. Kelly if she has heard of “Rosa’s
Law.”

Now for the big question that no one asked – How much will this home pay in real estate taxes or is it just another tax exempt parcel in Freeport which will demand city services and pay nothing towards them? A similar home for individuals with intellectual disabilities at 1774-1776 S Hance Dr pays –you know the answer – no real estate taxes!

The minutes of the Planning Commission hearing are informative and can be found at http://www.cityoffreeport.org/OrdRes/SUP%20325%20RYE%20RIDGE%20_20140121.pdf

For the complete agenda of the council meeting, go to http://www.ci.freeport.il.us/citygovernment/Agendas/A20140121a.pdf