It's not too late to stop the DuPage County sales tax increase

There is a bill being considered in Springfield (HB4717) which would require the DuPage County Board to affirmatively approve the extra quarter-cent sales tax increase for "public safety."

If the bill is approved, and the County Board votes against the increase, then the sales tax increase effective April 1 would only be a quarter-cent in DuPage County, not a half-percent.

UPDATE: The bill has been pulled and won't be considered. Click here for a newspaper article.

Why won't our DuPage County elected officials step up and stop this tax increase?

/s/ Robert "Bob" Brandt
Candidate for DuPage County Board - District 3

The same old political rhetoric...

The allegations made by Manzo in the second paragraph of her February 16, 2008 letter to the editor (“DuPage frustrated with GOP leadership”) are almost too ridiculous to warrant a response. In fact, I thought she was talking about Schillerstrom and his DuPage County Board when mentioning taxes going through the roof, government jobs and contracts going to patronage hacks, and ignoring corruption and waste.

Manzo needs to do her homework about DuPage Democrats before making such wild generalizations. I have proposed reducing the size of county government and cutting spending; I have been on the record as against the sales tax increase from the beginning and it turns out the threat of losing public safety jobs was a “bait and switch” followed by “tax and spend;” I am adamantly opposed to home rule for DuPage County; I will soon propose an ethics reform package to eliminate “pay to play” politics from county government.

Republicans like Manzo can keep repeating the same old political rhetoric in the hope that it distracts voters from the failed leadership of Schillerstrom and the 100% Republican County Board. But they can’t fool voters forever. And their time is up.

Robert “Bob” Brandt
Candidate for DuPage County Board – District 3

DuPage voter turnout since 1980

DuPage voter turnout since 1980

Year	Turnout	Ballot	GOP	Dems
1980	46%	126,981	101,681	25,164
1984	37%	121,476	75,612	43,514
1988	44%	141,029	92,893	46,157
1992	50%	178,255	111,030	63,288
1996	38%	145,830	114,894	26,417
2000	27%	129,570	96,863	27,576
2004	25%	150,642	86,836	63,806
2008*	44%	242,917	109,132	132,434

February 5, 2008 primary election results

February 5, 2008 primary election results:

DuPage County Board Member - District 3

Democrat - 22,778 ballots = 23.9% voter turnout

(vote for one)

Robert "Bob" Brandt - 16,887 votes

Republican - 18,679 ballots = 19.6% voter turnout

(vote for two)

Michael F. McMahon - 10,460 votes

John Curran - 10,363 votes

Thomas F. Bennington Jr - 7,609

(click here for full DuPage results)

DuPage County:
Democratic ballots - 131,635
Republican ballots - 108,582

Now on to the general election on November 4, 2008.

/s/ Robert "Bob" Brandt
Candidate for DuPage County Board - District 3

Money in District 3

The money in politics today is mind-boggling. The Presidential candidates have raised a total of $582 million so far and they may end up raising $1 billion by November. But what about local races?

In DuPage County District 3, incumbent Forest Preserve Commissioner Wally Brown has raised $10,000 to date and has loaned himself a staggering $185,000 since 2002.

Challenger Linda Painter has raised $5,000 and loaned herself $20,000.

County Board incumbent Tom Bennington has raised $37,850 (this includes $12,500 given to him by County Board Chairman Schillerstrom) and loaned himself $20,000.

County Board Incumbent Michael McMahon has raised $88,250 (this includes $12,500 given to him by County Board Chairman Schillerstrom) and received a loan from a family business for $12,000.

County Board Challenger John Curran has raised $33,500.

/s/ Robert "Bob" Brandt
Candidate for DuPage County Board - District 3

Illinois State Rifle Association endorses Bennington, McMahon

The Illinois State Rifle Association Political Victory Fund has endorsed two candidates for DuPage County Board - Tom Bennington and Michael McMahon. Click here for the Press Release.

Birkett comes to McMahon's defense

When incumbent DuPage County Board Member Michael McMahon (District 3) was not endorsed by the Hinsdale Doings, DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett came to his defense. See Birkett's Letter to the Editor.

And why did Birkett do that?

Perhaps its because McMahon's relatives have loaned Birkett's campaign fund $600,000 since 2002. McMahon's relatives have also donated over $78,000 outright to Birkett; McMahon's law firm has donated $16,750 to Birkett; and McMahon has personally donated $2,800 to Birkett. Click here for more information.

The candidate endorsed by the Doings is a Cook County Prosecutor.

Money talks.

/s/ Robert "Bob" Brandt
Candidate for DuPage County Board - District 3

Bob Schillerstrom = Boss Hogg?

I found this posted by John Ruskin.

The newspaper article is posted here.

/s/ Robert "Bob" Brandt
Candidate for DuPage County Board - District 3

Bait and switch, then tax and spend

For months, the DuPage County Board has threatened to cut 200 law enforcement jobs unless voters approved the county's $40 million sales tax referendum.

However, Chairman Schillerstrom went behind our backs and convinced Springfield to raise the sales tax by $47 million, which made the county's referendum unnecessary.

But now, Schillerstrom and the County Board says they really only needed $10 million to prevent those job cuts and they plan on spending the remaining millions from the sales tax increase on other projects.

The old “bait and switch” trick followed up by the old "tax and spend" trick both executed perfectly by DuPage County Republicans.

Does anyone else feel duped?

/s/ Robert “Bob” Brandt
Candidate for DuPage County Board – District 3

Bennington, McMahon commercial?

DuPage County Board Members Tom Bennington and Michael McMahon (District 3) are running a television commercial. A commercial? Has that ever been done in a DuPage County Board election? You can view the commercial here.

A couple of items need to be corrected:

Narrator: Bennington and McMahon have "held the line on taxes."

FACT CHECK: The DuPage County Board has raised property taxes for three years in a row; they voted for referendum to raise the sales tax; they convinced Springfield to raise the sales tax for them instead and now have $47 million more tax dollars to spend every year.

Narrator: Bennington and McMahon are "keeping our families safe and criminals off the street."

FACT CHECK: Michael McMahon is a criminal defense attorney. He works to get criminals off the hook, not off the streets. www.DolciMcMahon.com

Rule #1 in politics - Never let the truth stand in the way of getting re-elected.

/s/ Robert "Bob" Brandt
Candidate for DuPage County Board - District 3

Transparency and Home Rule in DuPage County

Today, I participated in a press conference with other candidates for DuPage County Board on the topics of transparency in county government and the possibility of "home rule" for DuPage County.

Transparency: DuPage County taxpayers have a right and need to understand where their tax dollars are spent....(however the) entire process seems to be designed to thwart transparency, rather than to enhance it.

I call on the County Board to create a web-based database of all county personnel and vendors.

Home Rule: Home rule power is an unlimited ability to increase taxes...Home rule makes raising taxes easy. Raising taxes should never be easy...Home rule power will bring "pay to play" politics to DuPage County.

If elected, I will fight against any attempt to bring home rule power to DuPage County.

My full remarks are posted here.

/s/ Robert "Bob" Brandt
Candidate for DuPage County Board - District 3

The "Schillerstrom" amendment

Click here to see the "Schillerstrom" amendment - the three little words that Schillerstrom snuck into HB0656 (the transit bill) in order to go behind our backs and raise our taxes.

/s/ Robert "Bob" Brandt
Candidate for DuPage County Board - District 3

The Doings picks Curran, Bennington as best Republican picks in DuPage County District 3

"First-challenger John Curran not only has an impressive resume, he has a lot of good ideas. The Doings endorses Curran as the best nominee for the Republican Party in the DuPage County Board District 3 race...."

..."So for the second seat The Doings endorses incumbent Tom Bennington, who has achieved a lot in his nine years of service to District 3...."

The full endorsement is posted here.

The other Republican candidate - Michael McMahon - was not endorsed by the Doings. He was also not endorsed by the Chicago Tribune in his last election (2004):

"District 3 - 2004 election: Republican board member Michael McMahon, a Hinsdale attorney, has had an unremarkable tenure, except for what he said after he voted for a $3.5 million settlement with three former defendants in the Jeanine Nicarico murder case: "If it was up to me, we'd take these three guys into the basement and shoot them." Democrat Richard Moss, a corporate recruiter from Downers Grove, is a far better pick...."

The Democratic nominee - Robert "Bob" Brandt - is uncontested in the Democratic primary.

/s/ Robert "Bob" Brandt
Candidate for DuPage County Board - District 3

Latest transit plan - new Schillerstrom end-around

In the latest transit plan - currently sitting on Gov. Blagojevich's desk - the sales tax in DuPage County would be increased by a half-percent and the county could use half of that half-percent for public safety.

"The measure was helped by the addition of a provision to allow the suburban collar counties to use a portion of their sales-tax increase to fund public safety, a feature that helped attract the votes of three DuPage County senators.

The county has threatened to cut police and prosecutor jobs if voters don't approve a Feb. 5 tax increase."

I guess Schillerstrom didn't trust DuPage residents to make the right decision on the sales tax referendum so he went behind our backs.

A newspaper article is posted here.

/s/ Robert "Bob" Brandt
Candidate for DuPage County Board - District 3

New ad campaign for $40 million sales tax referendum?

I'm not sure I like the DuPage County Board's new ad campaign for their $40 million sales tax referendum on the February 5, 2008 ballot.

(This is obviously not a real ad - although it resembles a real magazine cover from 1973 - and no dogs were harmed during the making of this spoof).

Robert "Bob" Brandt
Candidate for DuPage County Board - District 3

Schillerstrom tries an end-around on the sales tax increase

On January 6th, DuPage County Chairman Robert Schillerstrom (R-Naperville) was quoted:

"My belief is that the people of DuPage County are smart people who use their money wisely and if they understand the issue, (the quarter-point sales tax referendum) is something they've got to be supportive of."

But on January 9th, when the latest transit bailout in Springfield failed:

"The transit bailout was based on a quarter percentage point sales tax increase, but the same plan would have given those counties the authority to approve their own quarter point sales tax increase to fund transportation or public safety issues.

That provision was inserted at the request of DuPage County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom, whose county is facing its own financial crunch and has repeatedly, but so far unsuccessfully, turned to lawmakers for help."

I guess Schillerstrom was worried that the people of DuPage County weren't smart enough.

Or maybe...that we're too smart.

A newspaper article is posted here.

Robert "Bob" Brandt
Candidate for DuPage County Board - District 3

$600,000 in loans, $100,000+ in donations

Public records indicate that relatives of DuPage County Board Member Michael McMahon (District 3) have loaned DuPage County States Attorney Joseph Birkett's campaign fund $600,000 since 2002. McMahon's relatives have also donated over $78,000 outright to Birkett; McMahon's law firm has donated $16,750 to Birkett; and McMahon has personally donated $2,800 to Birkett. Click here for a list of the loans / donations to Birkett.

That’s a lot of money, but it’s not illegal. But there's more….

Michael McMahon, besides being a DuPage County Board Member (which is a part-time job), is also a criminal defense attorney. He routinely represents criminal clients who are prosecuted by the DuPage County States Attorney's office for DUI, drug offenses, sex offenses, domestic violence, etc. Click here for his law firm's website.

Do you think $600,000 in loans and $100,000+ in donations from McMahon, his relatives, and his law firm to Birkett's campaign fund have any effect on those prosecutions?

You be the judge.

Hawthorne Melody (Joseph McMahon) loaned $200,000 to Birkett and contributed $20,000 to Birkett.
JP McMahon (James McMahon) loaned $200,000 (two $100,000 loans) to Birkett.
Edward McMahon loaned $150,000 to Birkett and gave $12,000 to Birkett.
Anthony McMahon loaned $50,000 to Birkett and gave $10,450 to Birkett.
McMahon Foods (Frank McMahon) gave $35,500 to Birkett.
Dolci & McMahon (Michael McMahon) gave $16,750 to Birkett.
Michael McMahon donated $2,800 to Birkett.

Robert "Bob" Brandt
Candidate for DuPage County Board - District 3

"You gotta trust your elected leaders...?"

Quote from a recent newspaper article on the $40 million sales tax referendum on the February 5, 2008 ballot in DuPage County:

"You gotta trust your elected leaders and if they need the money, we should vote for it..."

Okay, show of hands - who trusts their elected officials?

Anyone?.....Anyone?.....Bueller?......

Just say "no" on February 5th.

The entire article is posted here.

Robert "Bob" Brandt
Candidate for DuPage County Board - District 3

www.StaySafeDuPage.info

For more information on the $40 million sales tax referendum on the February 5, 2008 ballot, go to www.StaySafeDuPage.info.

Vote early, vote often? 106% voter turnout in one precinct

In the November 7, 2006 election, voter turnout in one particular precinct in Milton Township was an astounding.....106%. That's right - 106%. There are 577 registered voters in Precinct 21 but they officially recorded 610 votes. The surrounding precincts averaged around 60%. Click here for the official canvass.

There could have been a couple of provisional ballots. But 263 of them? No way.

The DuPage County Election Commission has some explaining to do.

Robert "Bob" Brandt
Candidate for DuPage County Board - District 3