Longtime critic of townships blasts McHenry County Board member for holding 2 elected offices

Nunda Township Supervisor-elect Mike Shorten, who also serves on the McHenry County Board, does not plan to resign from either office – despite a call to do so.

Wonder Lake resident Bob Anderson, who for years has advocated for ending township government, called on Shorten this week to resign from the County Board, contending Shorten is “double-dipping” by holding both offices.

Anderson said double-dipping “is a person holding more than one paid elected office; these politicians garner multiple taxpayer-funded salaries, pensions and other benefits, all too common in Illinois, while working families struggle with everyday life.”

Anderson went on to say: “The McHenry County Board has a history of members of political double-dipping with township governments. These members, in addition to collecting multiple taxpayer-fund salaries and benefits, have a serious conflict of interests subject to the consolidation, or elimination” of the 17 township governments in Illinois, which he noted date to the 1800s.

Anderson called out a couple of examples of previous board members holding township supervisor offices, including the late Donna Schaefer. She served as McHenry Township supervisor from 1988 to 2014 and on the County Board from 1988 to 2000.

Anderson called on the board to pass a resolution barring members from holding multiple paid offices at the same time and for Shorten to resign.

Shorten later noted that he was appointed to the county’s township consolidation task force in 2015 and was part of McHenry County Citizens for Township Consolidation at the time.

He said he was recruited to run for township supervisor, that he talked to a mix of elected officials and constituents about it and said nobody raised any concerns about his holding both offices.

He said he recognizes some people view holding two offices as a negative, but he pushed back on that notion. He said people can hold down more than one job.

“I don’t consider it double-dipping,” Shorten said. When asked to elaborate, he said he wasn’t clear on what the term meant.

Shorten said the two jobs have definitive responsibilities. He said he has statutory requirements to fulfill as supervisor and whether it be him or someone else doing one or both, the jobs would still be filled.

Anderson himself was elected to the McHenry Township Board in 2017 on a platform of cutting costs while continuing to pursue state legislation to abolish townships. During his term, cuts were made to emergency assistance and senior busing services that proved unpopular and were eventually reinstated, and Anderson did not pursue a second term.

At at the same time, he also served on the Harrison District 36 school board, according to previous reporting. However, he did not receive compensation as a school board member.

At Tuesday’s meeting, County Board member Joe Gottemoller, who represents the same district as Shorten, said the board doesn’t make rules about who gets to run for office because it doesn’t have the authority. He noted the attorney general’s office made a decision years ago that the offices are able to be held simultaneously.

The roles aren’t “inconsistent” and thus the board has nothing they can do on it, Gottemoller said.

Shorten had promised during the campaign that he would lower the salary of the supervisor by 40%. Last year, the township board voted to raise the supervisor salary for a four-year term that will overlap with Shorten’s. The supervisor, whose total compensation has hovered around $98,000, including benefits, will receive a 5% salary raise in year one and 2.5% each year after. That’s considerably more than his $21,000 salary as a County Board member, not including the health benefits he receives through the county.

But when asked Thursday about the salary, Shorten said he will review it when the time comes. That review will be in 2028 and any change would apply to whoever is elected in 2029.

Shorten said he takes office May 19 and will focus on transition-related matters early on. Shorten said his instinct is to sell the converted house that the supervisor works out of, but the board will talk about it, and the community is welcome to weigh in.

During the campaign, Shorten said he wanted to move the supervisor’s office into town hall, which his opponent, incumbent Supervisor Leda Drain, said she had looked into but thought it was not financially feasible.