McHenry mayoral race already heating up on social media, with election 4 months out

Although election day is still nearly four months away, the McHenry City Council and mayoral race is shaping up to be one of the most-contested in McHenry County.

Each of the four ward seats up for election next spring have at least two candidates. Two people are seeking the mayor’s seat and the campaigning is already well underway for that race – at least on social media.

McHenry Mayor Wayne Jett is regularly posting to a personal Facebook page and on other McHenry-focused pages touting his eight years in the role. Campaign signs touting his April 1 reelection run can already be seen on lawns and elsewhere around town.

His challenger, 4th Ward Alderwoman Chris Bassi, said she does not plan to begin campaigning until after the holiday season.

“We just finished a national election. Now we have the holidays. My plan is I will not be starting until mid-January,” Bassi said of her plans to actively campaign. She did agree to speak to the Northwest Herald.

It was the lack of anyone challenging Jett, now finishing his second term, that prompted Bassi to decide to run, Bassi said.

“There were others I spoke to who wanted to run for mayor but decided not to because they knew they would be heavily outspent and did not want to be on the receiving end of Jett’s Facebook tirades,” Bassi wrote in a text. “Only when no one else stepped up to run did I decide to, since I am used to being on the receiving end of his Facebook tirades.”

She and Jett have bumped heads several times since she was elected to the City Council.

In July, she and other council members indicated in a straw poll they would not be in favor of Geneva-based Shodeen Group’s proposal suggesting nearly 800 condo units on two city-owned parcels on Green Street and Waukegan Road. She also did not support a Shodeen proposal a month before that would have added apartments, parking and retail space at the old city hall site, 1111 Green St. A development deal with Shodeen fell apart over the lack of local support, much to the mayor’s chagrin.

Bassi wrote an opinion piece submitted to the Northwest Herald in advance of the July discussion, calling the proposal – which included a new Tax Increment Finance district and an potential entertainment tax – “a gross misuse of taxpayer money.”

Around that time, Jett indicated on social media that Bassi had voiced support for using eminent domain to acquire an active business property for part of Shodeen’s plans.

Later, at the Aug. 5 City Council meeting, Jett corrected himself to say that Bassi did not support the eminent domain idea, adding, “I apologize for the wrongful statement.” Jett said he had erred when consulting his notes from a closed City Council session meeting prior to making the statement.

Jett vacillated earlier this year on whether he would run for a third term as mayor, particularly after finishing up September’s RISE Up music festival. Founded by Jett and his wife, Amber, three RISE Up shows have raised $1.2 million for McHenry. That money has funded a splash pad at Fort McHenry and a portion of the upgrades to Miller Point Park. Funds from the 2024 show are earmarked for an accessible playground at Veteran’s Park.

His reticence to run again came from concerns he was not spending enough time with his children, Jett said.

“A lot of it was my family. My youngest was a newborn when I ran in 2017,” Jett said. “There was a point in my life when it was, ‘Is it worth all of this?’ You have one life to live and I want to have an impact on ... my family.”

But then he heard Bassi planned to run for mayor, and he decided “I needed to continue for four more years, to continue as a community.” His children support the choice, he added.

In a letter Bassi sent to residents in conjunction with her run, she said she chose to oppose Jett because of a fundamental difference with how the city is developing.

“I ran for City Council because I believed the City did not prioritize the residents whose taxpayer money funds the City and that our neighborhoods were not being given equal attention, with the bulk of resources and funding going to the Downtown District at the expense of the City as a whole,” Bassi wrote. “After 18 months on City Council, not only do I believe this even more, I believe the only way to change course is with new leadership.”

Jett points to the redevelopment of McHenry’s downtown, including his and his wife’s own initial investment in the Downtown McHenry Theater (now The Vixen) and The Hub Market to kickoff that development, as a highlight of his tenure. The two have since completely stepped away from any financial interest in the two businesses.

Jett said he understands that some McHenry residents “want that small community, and to keep McHenry small. We have to grow and innovate as a community. If we do not we will die.

“We are at a good point now,” Jett said, adding that the sales tax collected from the downtown redevelopment has offset the sales taxes lost when big box stores left.

He fears a change in council that could inhibit McHenry’s growth, Jett said. “It is important that (voters) really find out who they are voting for and who their alliances are. They are going to look to stop growth.”

Bassi said her campaign platform, addressing her ideas for downtown, would come in January.