Make your voice heard and vote in the next Tuesday’s election!

From the Chairman

Thank you for taking the time to read the April edition of the McHenry County e-newsletter!

Next Tuesday, voters will decide who gets elected to their city councils, school boards, and other local units of government. While national elections capture a lot of attention, like the one we just had last November, the April 1 election is just as important. If you’re not sure how or where to cast your ballot, read on – and make your voice heard.

As the old joke goes, Illinois has two seasons: winter and construction. Work has begun on the multi-year project to widen and improve the northern segment of Randall Road in Crystal Lake and Lake in the Hills. Did you know that you can sign up for text alerts so you don’t get taken by surprise by lane shifts, new traffic signals and other work? Read on to learn more.

And also in this month’s edition, we’ll tell you about a new program to help people with plenary orders of protection, as well as congratulate McHenry County‘s spelling bee champion.

Spring is here, and the days are getting longer – let’s enjoy the return of warmer weather!

Warmest regards,

Mike Buehler
Chairman
McHenry County Board

Don’t forget to vote in next Tuesday’s election!

Voters in the odd-year election choose their representatives on city councils and village boards, school boards, township offices, park districts, library districts, community college board trustees and fire protection districts. If you live in Harvard, you’ll be voting on a proposed tax increase for the fire protection district.

Voters who are registered in McHenry County can cast their ballot at any of the early voting sites, regardless of where in the county they live – a number of them will be open on Monday, the day before the election.

Click here to learn more about the April 1 election and how to cast your ballot, whether you want to vote early, vote by mail, or vote at your assigned polling place on election day.

Sign up for Randall Road construction alerts

Visit the project website at randallroad.info and sign up for text alerts – and while you’re at it, be sure to like the McHenry County Division of Transportation’s Facebook page. For example, people who did learned ahead of time that the two temporary traffic signals at the Alexandra and Miller road intersections were turned on earlier this week.

The multi-year project, when complete, will improve traffic flow and ease congestion on the northern segment of Randall Road between Alexandra Boulevard in Crystal Lake and the Acorn Drive/Polaris Drive intersection in Lake in the Hills. It will add travel lanes, a sidewalk and shared-use path to link bike and pedestrian paths in surrounding neighborhoods, intersection improvements, and more.

HOPE card launched to help people with orders of protection

A HOPE card is a laminated card that includes essential information about a plenary order of protection which can be presented to law enforcement when reporting a violation of an order of protection or other related crimes. An individual with the card will no longer have to carry around their court paperwork.

The McHenry County Circuit Clerk’s Office will start issuing the cards, at no charge, starting March 31. Click here to learn more,

Thank you to Circuit Clerk Kathy Keefe and her staff for moving this idea forward!

McHenry County crowns spelling bee champion

The eighth-grade student won by properly spelling “commandeer” – the act of compelling someone for military service or seizing something for military purposes.

Tyler will represent McHenry County at the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. at the end of May – the Scripps bee is celebrating its centennial this year.

Congratulations to all the competitors, thank you to the McHenry County Regional Office of Education for putting this event together, and thank you to Bernotas Middle School, in Crystal Lake, for graciously hosting the event.

County again wins national budgeting award

Our Finance Department received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada for its current FY 2025 budget. The award, won by Chief Financial Officer Kerri Wisz and her team, recognizes that McHenry County met stringent and nationally accepted standards and guidelines in presenting its annual budget to policymakers and the public.

This is the 11th time that McHenry County has won the prestigious award; last year, McHenry County was one of a select few in Illinois and across the nation to receive the honor.

The full 2025 budget is on display through ClearGov, a powerful tool that allows viewers to easily examine it in as great a detail as they wish; it can be found on the McHenry County website at www.mchenrycountyil.gov.

Matt Kunkle

Pat Sullivan

DISTRICT 4

Joseph Gottemoller

Mike Shorten

DISTRICT 7

Brian Sager

Paul Thomas

Gloria Van Hof

John Collins

DISTRICT 5

Terri Greeno

Deena Krieger

DISTRICT 8

Larry Smith

Tracie Von Bergen

Carolyn Campbell

Eric Hendricks

DISTRICT 6

Pamela Althoff

Carl Kamienski

DISTRICT 9

Michael Skala

Jim Kearns