Prior to Tuesday’s election, Disclosure is bringing you the coverage we’ve given of the majority of our readership area so you’ll be aware of the contested races. This information is appearing in the current print version on stands right now, so if you need a hard copy of it, hurry and get out to pick one up; the new issue is due to hit the stands beginning April 16 and 17, which means we’ll have a full recap of election results in the new issue. In the interim, we’ve opted to go ahead and post the contents of the current issue’s front-page coverage of the ballots by county, to spur interest and ensure that everyone gets out and VOTES. There may not be many contested races, but that doesn’t mean these offices are not important. The school boards, township officials, aldermen/council seats, mayoral races and other items on the ballot, including ballot questions (such as whether a location should remain ‘dry,’ or whether a public safety tax should be imposed) are the bottom-line basics of public service…and they’re being abused daily in Illinois (and everywhere), so it’s important to PAY ATTENTION TO THEM. And the best “attention” you can pay to them is to show that we can do a better voter turnout locally than something in the teens or 20s.
So here is the fifth of the posts, which will conclude Monday and will be run alphabetically between now and then, continuing with Hardin.
Hardin County: Oh Heck NO
Hardin County courthouse
As if residents in the village of Elizabethtown weren’t abused enough for many years under the Heck Rose administration—this coming to an abrupt end in 2011 with Rose’s resignation—they’re now faced with having to put up with his belligerence and cluelessness once again.
Yes, Eddie “Heck” Rose is on the ballot in E-town along with incumbent Bertis Cook for village president. And it’s not that Cook is doing such a bang-up job with the presidency, but villagers have expressed that he’s a damn sight better than Rose ever was, and they’re wondering why, if he resigned a year and a half ago stating it was for health reasons, would he once again put his health at risk by wanting the position?
Perhaps Rose feels he’ll be propped up by his sister, Sandra (“Sandbags”) Rose Conkle, who is another perpetual ballot name for village trustee, along with, this time, Bruce Hemphill and Rebecca Barnard, three for three on the slate.
Mayoral, city commissioner races
Contested races in the little county’s other burgs are for mayor (village president) in Rosiclare: Roy W. Tolbert and James (Rusty) Warren; and for Cave-in-Rock, Perry Foster and Marty Kaylor.
Rosiclare also has a hot ballot for city commissioner. Vying for four seats are Bob Winchester, Margo Stoker, Bryan Keith Stone, Robert Brazell, Ricky Williams, Donald Wayne Lane, Brett Oxford, Wesley Atkinson and Waylon Hayden.
School board race; ballot question
The beleaguered Hardin County School District is seeing seven candidates vying for four seats: Ricky D. Williams, Jimmy Stunson, Diana Kumorek, Natalie J. Vaughn, Christy L. McClenahan, Jerry D. Fricker and Bobby (Tubby) Ramsey.
The likelihood that at least one of those getting kicked off that slate—Jimmy Stunson—is a very good one.
A ballot question is included this election, also regarding Public Safety Tax: “To pay for public safety purposes, shall Hardin County be authorized to impose and increase o its share of local sales taxes by one percent? This would mean that a consumer would pay an additional $1 in sales tax for every $100 of tangible personal property bought at retail.”
This question is, of course, asked under pressure of “raising property taxes,” always the looming threat. the problem is, in a place the size of Hardin County, where there isn’t a lot of “sales” to “tax,” the county fathers discover that the PST isn’t bringing in enough revenue and raise property taxes ANYWAY. So the likelihood that it will pass is a slim one.