An analysis of the 2009 West Deerfield Township Consolidated Elections shows just how outraged voters can become when elected officials engage in underhanded and questionable activities.

A case in point is West Deerfield Township Supervisor Morrison and her band of Trustees (we use that term as a title and not as a descriptive word).

An investigation by concerned citizens indicates Morrison and her Trustees voted themselves a secret pay raise during a meeting unattended by the public, or at best, a meeting only attended by a few of their friends. Instead of mentioning the pay raise in the minutes of the meeting as should be done, Morrison & Company buried the pay raise as an attachment to the meeting minutes. To further confound the public, the attachment was then misnamed.

Fortunately for Township residents, the Independent Party uncovered Morrison & Company’s deceptions and brought the issue to the front burner during the recent 2009 election cycle. Unfortunately, the Independent Party had only so much working capital and could only reach a portion of the voters. Their press release regarding the matter was all but ignored by the media including the Pioneer Press (Deerfield Review, LakeForester, etc), the Chicago Tribune, and the Chicago Sun Times. Regardless, Morrison & Company took a major “hit” in the polling booth because of the hard work and perseverance of the Independents.

Morrison & Company’s “Stroger Like” underhanded pay raises were only one issue turning voters against the incumbents. Other issues included building Morrison’s Taj Mahal (the Township building) and leasing office space in the Taj Mahal to friends for ridiculously low rates. Even Morrison’s self promoting Township newsletters (paid for at your expense) did not stem the tide of those deserting Morrison & Company.

To put this in perspective, consider the following voter support numbers obtained from the Lake County Clerk’s web site:

As you can see from the above, Morrison & Company lost support hand over fist as documented by the recent 2009 Consolidated Elections. In fact, there is much speculation in political circles whether the West Deerfield Township Independent Party could’ve cleaned their clocks for good if they had started campaigning a week or so earlier.

But that was not to be. Since Morrison & Company refused to release critical information to the challengers until it was too late, most voters didn’t have a clue regarding what was really going on behind their backs. In fact, the challengers had to file under the “Freedom of Information Act” (FOIA) before they were able to uncover just how far the incumbents’ deceitful ways had permeated the Township psyche.

Are you mad? You should be! This is nothing less than “Stroger Politics” on The North Shore, brought to you by Morrison & Company!

To join in the Independent Party’s “Party Building” effort, you are invited to participate in an online discussion and debate being held on the WDTIP blog by clicking HERE.

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