Oh God, please vote for Thom Hayes! But that will cost $5.44

 

As Village President Pro Tem, helping Adolph Rittmueller celebrate his 100th birthday at the Lutheran Home on January 18, 2013. Happy Birthday, Adolph!

Picture source: Village President Pro Tem Hayes at Lutheran Home/Facebook, Inc.

 

Arlington Heights Village President Election

 

There were three candidates for Village President on April 9, 2013, Mr. Thomas W. Hayes, Mr. Ron Drake and Mr. Mark Hellner. According to the Cook County Clerk's office only 10,281 lonely souls, of the 51,405 Arlington Heights registered voters or about 20% cared enough to vote for Village President.

 

The Illinois State Board of Elections (ISBE) has posted the candidate April election finances on it's website under the Committee Search tab. All three President candidates spent a total of $57,933 for the 10,281 votes or $5.64 per vote. Here is how it broke down between each President candidate:

 

Mr. Thomas W Hayes, Committee Name: Citizens for Thomas W Hayes

 

According to his ISBE D-2 quarterly reports Mr. Hayes' total expenditures were $25,143, by far the most of any candidate. Mr. Hayes received 4,619 votes, 45% of the total votes cast, or $5.44 per vote. 

 

Itemized Individual Contributions, those that contributed more than $150 to a campaign. This can be a good proxy for the candidate's ability to raise money from local individuals and businesses.  The larger percentage of money spent on the campaign that comes from Itemized Individual Contributions could indicate strong local support.

 

Mr. Hayes' Itemized Individual Contributions were $8,350, the lowest amount of the three candidates. Mr. Hayes also loaned his own campaign $11,500 as an A-1 loan, i.e. a loan over $1,000 that may or may not be paid back.

 

Mr. Hayes received $300 from Mr. Dan Patlak, Republican Cook County Board of Review Commissioner. He also received $500 from the Rosemont Il. law firm, Storino, Ramello and Durkin;  frequent contributors to Mrs. Mulder throughout her long tenure as Village President. Storino, Ramello and Durkin have been major players in Village business since 1975. (Also see Pay to Play Park on this blog). 

 

Mr. Ron Drake, Committee Name: Vote Ron Drake

 

According to his ISBE D-2 quarterly reports Mr. Drake's total expenditures were $14,276. Mr. Drake received 3,476 votes, 34% of the total vote or $4.11 per vote.

 

Itemized Individual Contributions to Mr. Drake were $9,153, the most collected of all three candidates. He also loaned no money to his own campaign.

 

Mr. Mark Hellner, Committee Name: MarkHellner4Mayor

 

According to his ISBE D-2 quarterly reports Mr. Hellner total expenditures were $18,514. Mr. Hellner received 2,186 votes, 21% of the total vote or $8.47 per vote. Itemized Individual Contributions to Mr. Hellner were $7,210. He loaned his own campaign $6,869.

 

 Let's Face It, This is Not a Democracy

 

It appears all candidates complied with ISBE election regulations and Village of Arlington Heights Municipal Ethics Code Section 1-607. Certainly nothing here means to imply that any candidate did anything illegal. But consider the financial requirement to run for this local office is on average $19,311. Unfortunately this is the real problem. And do not depend on any of the elected officials to address this problem.

 

Not many local residents have the resources or time available to compete for a local office on this scale. Or how many residents have the political connections and money as does Mr. Hayes to run for local office? As a result this severely limits the pool of available candidates that are able to serve, again drastically reducing democracy on the local level.

 

Yes there are local elections, but it is not democracy.