Why I Oughta...

 Earlier this week, I received this text message letting me know that my ballot was received by the Clerk's office at DuPage County and has 'been processed'.  It came via the BallotTrax system that they are using for mail-in voting this year.   Have to say that the system is pretty great and gave me a lot of confidence that my ballot both was on the way to me AND that it had been received by the County for counting. BallotTrax bills itself like this : BallotTrax is designed to track mail ballots and absentee ballots through the postal stream and proactively push ballot status notifications to voters, thus increasing election visibility and vendor accountability.  By integrating with State and/or County election offices, print vendors and USPS, BallotTrax knows when a ballot has been printed and mailed to a voter, returned from a voter, received by the election office and accepted for counting by the election office. I've made it pretty clear that I don't love govern

With the close of one convention and the start of another one next week, I suppose it is time to remind anyone who is reading this blog post that, if they live in DuPage County, they should get on the stick and request their mail-in ballot.   The county has made it pretty easy - just head here to the DuPage Election Authority's page where you fill out a form with your name, Date of Birth and SSN .   The County Clerk also sent out this mailer that explains what they have planned for this year - and included instructions on the application.  But, she's also touting that - at some point later this year - you'll be able to 'track your vote-by-mail ballot', which is promising.  I will admit that my disposition is to not really like or admire the government, but if they can make tracking my ballot as easy as I can track my order from DoorDash or Uber Eats, I'll be pretty impressed.  The last day to request a mail-in ballot in DuPage County is Thursday O

In today's Daily Herald, Robert Sanchez covers Elmhurst School District 205 and their facilities .  It appears that the School Board is going to come to the taxpayers soon and ask for even more money.  Elmhurst Unit District 205 has released preliminary cost estimates for up to $151 million in building projects that could be included in a future referendum question. By more money, I mean...simply more.  The School District in Elmhurst appears to have an insatiable appetite for taxpayer money.  From 2007 to 2015, spending in the district increased 41%.  In just 8 years.  In 2007, they spent $78M.  In 2015 they spent $111M.   Source . That's $33M more EVERY YEAR in spending for the schools.  Did Elmhurst grow over that period of time?  The answer is no.  But the tax bill for the schools and their pensions sure did. And what did the average Elmhurst property owner get during that same period of time?  A 25% decrease in their property values.   Source .  (Elmhurst Scho

That image above is from the Cook County Clerk's election results page and shows the results of the ballots cast in the Maine Township District 207 School Board race.  The top vote getter?  My big sister Linda.  She worked hard to get that top spot.  (So did my Dad!)  Now when we address her Christmas card, we'll have to change the address to The Honorable Linda Coyle, I guess? She has a tough job ahead of her, but I know she's going to do a great job for the community and help make Maine South, West and East High Schools some of the best in the State of Illinois. Congrats, big sister.  We're all very proud of you!

Thanks to our good friend Dannee down the block, we were not only alerted to this awesome White House cookie kit - she also gifted one to us after one of her trips to Trader Joe's!  And guess what?  The girls loved putting them together.  Of course they did, right? What's more fun than a gingerbread house?  Nothing, I tell you.  Nothing. This is a pretty fun, seasonal item, that is a great way to do something fun with our kids, but also, kinda, sorta talk to them about the White House and the president and the upcoming election.  Did they listen to any of it?  Probably not.  But, still...frosting!  cookies!  Candy! And, from a business stand point, the person at the gingerbread factory who came up with this idea is pretty clever.  I can hear it now.... "Hey, Bob!  Fire up the ovens!  I have an idea." "But...it isn't Christmastime yet.  We have months to go until the public wants our stuff." "You're right...it isn't Christmas, bu

We start 'em young at the Parrillo household. If you read our family blog (which you most likely don't!), you've seen a few of the photos over the years of the girls on this very important day in our house:  election day.  I think I've chronicled (over there) every time we've taken them to the polls. For some history from this blog: Here's a photo of  the Babe back in 2010 when she voted for the 2nd time. And  here's the first time The Babe came to the polling place back in 2010 when she was just a month old . After all these years of supporting Tom Cross, we got our first chance to vote for him on the ballot.  It felt nice!

Do you know where to go to vote on Tuesday? Head here and plug your address into the little widget .  You should see your polling place and what races you can vote in.  Yes, the sad truth of the matter is that if you live in Illinois, our votes for President don't really matter. And, due to the Gerrymandering done by Speaker Mike Madigan, our votes for Congress likely don't matter that much either.  But, that doesn't mean you shouldn't vote, right?  It's our only opportunity to have your say. So....What time are you going?

First....Dannee Polomsky won!  Yahoo!  Congrats to Dannee and her family! Now...on to the voter post:  The Babe is getting very experienced at voting!  This was her third time at our polling place in Elmhurst.  Here she was at just a little older than one month old in February of 2010 and here she is in November of last year at 11 months old.  She's not likely going to remember any of these voting experiences, but it certainly brings a new perspective to voting for me:  the candidates we're electing today are going to shape the Elmhurst of tomorrow that the Babe is going to grow up in.

After weeks and months of campaigning, it all comes down to the voters in Elmhurst.  I've been actively supporting my neighbor and friend Dannee Polomsky in her bid to represent our  neighborhood on the City Council.  She's done everything she could in the campaign and more importantly, she did everything the right way.  Win or loose, she's going to be able to hold her head high around town - and that's just as important as anything else in politics.  I've been on the ballot three times.  Once as a Park District Commissioner, and two times as a Village Trustee (and like four times as a Precinct Committeeman, too), so I know what is going through the candidates heads.  Too often we loose sight of that, but tomorrow morning, one of the candidates is going to wake up a winner and the other is going to roll over, see the alarm clock and have to deal with loosing.  If you do the right things during the campaign, that Wednesday after the election isn't so bad.  Our

The Babe is 2-2 when it comes to voting as she turned up at the polling place yesterday with both Mom and Dad.   We took her when she was SO young to vote in the primary elections back in February .  She wasn't even 2 months old.  Can't believe how small she was in that post. This is her now - her second voting day.  She made such an impression that she was lucky enough to get a sticker from the poll watchers. Nat took her in the booth with her this time as I was able to bring her with me in the primary.  Forget Cubs or Sox, this is too important:  R's vs. D's!