John Darger for MCC Trustee and Change for Nuda Campaigns Join for Phone Banking

Please join us for a co-operative voter calling party this Sunday, March 1 from 12 to 3 PM at Pauline Walker's house, 233 Third Street in Crystal Lake. Volunteers will be calling identified Democratic voters on behalf of John Darger’s campaign for McHenry County College Trustee, and the Change for Nunda candidates Meredith Reid Sarkees and Patrick Murfin.

If you are not familiar with John Darger, you should be. A former candidate for the McHenry County Board, Darger is a leading McHenry County Democrat who worked full-time as an Obama Fellow this past summer in Saginaw, Michigan, the town where his parents grew up, and worked weekends for Obama in northwest Indiana. Now he is applying that hard earned political acumen to making our community college work for all of us.

Darger is a sale representative for a leading independent publisher, W.W. Norton and has the intellectual curiosity of a true bibliophile.

He has also been a strong supporter of MCC, as well as a vocal critic when this vital community institution has strayed away from its mission. Many observers point to him as critical to crystallizing opposition to the Board’s ill advised scheme to build an addition with a minor league baseball stadium last year. And he has been skeptical of the current proposal to locate the world’s tallest free standing broadcast antenna on land sold by the college.

Bring your cell phones and join us this Sunday!

And the Winners are…

Change for Nunda candidates Patrick Murfin and Meredith Reid Sarkees congratulate the winners of the Republican Party Primary, Tom Palmer, Joni Smith,
James C. Schlader, and Kelvin “Lee” Jennings. We look forward to engaging them in a vigorous debate about the future of our township. The vote totals courtesy of McVote are:

NUNDA TOWNSHIP TRUSTEE

Vote for 4

Precincts Reporting 29/29 100.00%

TOM PALMER 581 19.95%
JONI SMITH 540 18.54%
JAMES C. SCHLADER 512 17.58%
KELVIN JENNINGS 480 16.48%
RICHARD MEYERS 412 14.14%
KEVIN SARNWICK 388 13.32%

All four trustee candidates ran together as part of Team Nunda, which was led by powerful Highway Commissioner Don Kopsell, who was unopposed in the primary. Dennis Jagla crushed Alan Weaver, the candidate who ran as a “soft” Republican and who appealed for Democratic support with a disingenuous mailer.

All in all, it was a triumph for the regular Republican political machine and business as usual. Team Nunda can leave out all of those campaign signs already dotting the township. They probably believe that they can sprint toward victory in the April 7 Consolidated Election while hardly breaking a sweat.

But only about 850 voters participated in the primary. They represent, for the most part, the core of party diehards. The spring election is also typically a low turn-out affair. But this time Democrats and the many Independents, who are loath to identify party preference to their friends and neighbors, will be in the mix. And these voters are eager to see the refreshing winds of change and reform blow through this corner of the county as they have blown through Washington. They know that the economic crisis faced by all of us will bring new challenges to township government that can only be met with fresh eyes and hands.

Democrats and Independents have often skipped the spring off-year election because the races are low profile and they have assumed the contests—when there are any—have been decided by an unchallengeable GOP machine. But if we can get only one quarter of the folks who cast Democratic ballots in the 2008 Primary or who in the privacy of the voting booth changed the political landscape of McHenry County forever by decisively supporting Barack Obama, we can win. Yes we can!

It is our job to make sure those Democrats and Independents know what is at stake. You will be hearing from us. We will be reminding you to vote—and to cast your votes only for Sarkees and Murfin.

You can help us get the message out by hitting the PayPal button in the left-hand column and donating now to the Friends of Murfin and Sarkees.

--Patrick Murfin

NUNDA TOWNSHIP—Only Votes in April Election Can Elect Democrats

McHenry County Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Bergan Schmidt addressed confusion over the upcoming Republican Party primary elections in Algonquin and Nunda Townships in a recent statement.

“The only way voters can support Democratic candidates in these townships is to cast their ballots in the April 7th Consolidated Elections,” Bergan Schmidt said.

Republicans chose to select their candidates in a primary election scheduled for Tuesday, February 24. Democrats elected to choose their candidates by caucus, which Bergan Schmidt noted was a considerable savings to tax payers.

Winners of the Republican primaries will square off against Democrats for trustee seats in both townships. Frank Hyden, Robert Frank, and James McTague are the party nominees in Algonquin Township. Patrick Murfin and Meredith Reid Sarkees will be on the ballot in Nunda Township.

“If a voter chooses to participate in the Republican primary, however, he or she can still vote for Democratic candidates in the April election,” Bergan Schmidt pointed out.

Voters with questions should contact Friends of Murfin and Sarkees at 815 814-5645 or e-mail changefornunda@yahoo.com.

Meredith Sarkees Mourns the Loss of her Father

My condolences to my running mate, Meredith Sarkees, whose Father has passed away in Niagra Falls, New York. Our prayers are with Meredith and her family.

Meredith has returned to Niagara Falls and will remain there for some time as she attends to the needs of her family. In the mean time, we will continue the campaign for Change in Nunda Township to which we are both committed.

--Patrick Murfin

Republican Candidate Sends Phony Democratic Mailing

I came home from work and was mystified to find a slick postcard mailing splashed with Democratic blue and featuring prominent donkey logos promoting Alan Weaver for Nunda Township Assessor. I went to his web site and confirmed that he is running in the Republican primary. My guess is that this was a special targeted mailing to Dems to get us to vote in the Republican primary under the theory that anyone opposed to the incumbents are our allies. It does mean that he is pretty well financed for a Township campaign if he can afford to print and send a special mailing to Democrats. I am not sure if he will succeed in attracting any votes. I think his message is confusing. And as a real Democratic candidate for office in Nunda Township, I certainly won't be voting in a Republican primary or encouraging anyone else to do so.

Patrick Murfin,

Candidate,

Nunda Township Trustee

MEREDITH REID SARKEES

Meredith Reid Sarkees and her husband John are natives of Niagara Falls, New York, and moved to Nunda Township after living there and in Romeo, Michigan.

Meredith spent most of her career as a professor of political science at Niagara University and DePaul University, while John is an automotive engineer. Meredith is currently working as a consultant and an author, while retaining an honorary appointment as a faculty fellow with the Women & Politics Institute at American University.

She has written extensively on issues relating to women's leadership, the making of American foreign policy, and international wars. As Director of the Global Women’s Leadership in International Security (GWLIS) project, she is interviewing women who are leaders in the realm of international security, including women in both governmental and non-governmental organizations. This project led Meredith to create ties with women's organizations in Sri Lanka, where she did volunteer work in the wake of the 2004 tsunami.

Meredith has become involved with a number of local organizations, particularly the McHenry County Democratic Party. She was appointed and then elected as the Precinct Representative for Nunda 14.

Meredith received her B.A. in political science from Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio; her M.A. in international affairs from George Washington University in Washington, DC; and her Ph.D. in political science from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

PATRICK MURFIN

Patrick Murfin was born in Montana on March in 1949 and grew up in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The family left Cheyenne and relocated to Skokie, Illinois in 1966.

Patrick attended Shimer College, then in Mt. Carroll, Illinois and Columbia College in Chicago, where he studied creative writing. As a student he became involved in the anti-war movement. In the summer of 1968 Patrick was a participant in most of the major actions around the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

In1969, Patrick joined the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW.) He served the union in many positions including Editor of the Industrial Worker and, at the age of 23, General Secretary-Treasurer. With Fred W. Thompson he co-authored The IWW: Its First Seventy Years 1905-1975.

Patrick was a member of the staff of The Chicago Seed, the city’s underground paper in the early ‘70’s.

Patrick was tried, convicted, and sentenced to prison 1973 for refusing induction into the Armed Forces. He served six months.

He returned to active participation in the labor movement. He helped found the first Chicago labor support committee for the United Farm Workers, marched with Cesar Chavez, and helped organize the city’s first grape boycott. While working as a drill press operator at Dietzgen Corporation, he was elected Secretary of the Employees Association and served on the bargaining committee.

He also became involved in community organizations. He drafted the constitution and by-laws for what became the Ravenswood East Association and was active in the Logan Square Neighborhood Association where he coordinated gang awareness, graffiti removal projects and neighborhood watch programs.

He got involved in electoral politics as a volunteer for Independent Democratic aldermanic campaigns and was active in Harold Washington’s mayoral campaigns.

In 1981 Patrick married Kathy Brady-Larsen, a young widow with two daughters, Carolynne and Heather.

After the birth of daughter Maureen in 1983, the family moved to Crystal Lake in 1985. Patrick found work as a school custodian.

In the fall of 1989, Patrick became a Precinct Committeeman in the McHenry County Democratic Party and has served continuously ever since. Later, when the office of Vice Chair of the Party was left vacant by a death he was appointed to fill out the term and was elected in his own right the next year. Upon Chairman Bob McGarry’s death he served briefly as County Chair. He was elected Secretary in the 2008.

Patrick has twice before been a candidate for office. In 1997 he ran for Crystal Lake City Council and in 2002 ran for County Board District 3.

Patrick has been a long term lay leader at the Congregational Unitarian Church in Woodstock.
In 1995 Patrick helped found the Diversity Day Festival in held annually on Woodstock Square and is now its Executive Director.

He served a term on the Crystal Lake Human Relations Commission.

Patrick was among the founders of the McHenry County Peace Group, which he has served as press and public relations spokesperson.

In 2004 Skinner House Books of Boston published his poetry collection We Build Temples in the Heart.

The same year Patrick was retired as a Head Building Custodian. He is currently Communication Manager and Non-Profit Consultant for Oaktree Capital Corporation in Woodstock.

Patrick launched his blog, Heretic, Rebel, a Thing to Flout, in January of 2006.