A check with the Cuba Township Assessor's office in Lake County, however, showed Zielinski claiming a homestead exemption at 38 Lakeview Drive (23283 Lakeview under an older address system) for the tax year starting Jan. 1, 2012. That's only available for resident homeowners. Zielinski said the exemption renews automatically and he forgot to tell the Assessor he'd moved. He said he'd already filed an appeal with the Lake County Board of Review to correct the error, "I'm not going to tarnish my image and sink the campaign over a $6,000 assessment credit discrepancy that's in the public domain," said Zielinski in a followup message.
On the other hand, a check with the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation still shows Zielinski as a licensed Certified Resdidential Real Estate Appraiser in Barrington.
The Illinois Township code requires an Assessor to be a legal voter and resident of the township for one year. However, even deletion of the Cuba Township exemption might not mean Zielinski's a Grafton resident, according to Jana Blake Dickson, McHenry County Assistant District Attorney in charge, lately, of obscure legal questions. "Different statutes have different requirements of what is your residence," she said. As far as the Township code goes, she said, there are no standards listed at all. "It might be where you sleep or where you get your mail or file your income tax," said Dickson. Pointing to the controversy over Chicago Major Rahm Emanuel's legal residence she said, "It might take a lawsuit to decide."
Technically the question's still just theoretical. A check with Grafton Clerk Harriet Ford shows Zielinski hasn't actually filed his petition for Assessor yet. That's because, "You can't file until Nov. 19."
In the pic: Announced Grafton Assessor candidate Al Zielinski
40 comments:
Vague answers and poor excuses.
Carpetbagger!
I was a Zielinski backer, but this is getting fishy. Even I have to admit that his current actions are not very "transparent". And the whole..Being linked to Linda Moore thing....kinda kills it for me.
I agree with the above poster, I'm over this guy. And the more I look into it, Ottley's hands were tied by the county assessor. I think Zielinski was trying to "scare" up some votes. I use past tense because after being shown snuggling with Linda Moore, I think his campaign is over!
He "forgot" to tell the assessor?? That's interesting coming from somone who wants to be an assessor.
Nor he or ANYONE linked with Linda Moore will EVER get my vote!!!!
How stupid can Linda be by having her hubby and father-in-law in the original picture? I'm sure the family is interested in that!!!
Who care's this guy isn't going to elected. When he hitched himself to supervisor Moore he killed his chances of getting votes. Not too smart on his part.
Zielinski, righhhht..you"forgot" to tell the assessor.
And you want to be an assessor. And you have close associations with Moore. Yeaah, a qualified and trusted candidate you are...NOT!
Maybe we should review your tax return filings...possibly your memory was lacking here?
or maybe we should foia Linda Moore's phone records to see how many calls back/forth from your phone.
Can't wait for the Northwest Herald to start digging.
Your name continues to depreciate. Bet your family is so proud.
Seriously???
You don't forget something like this. You hope people don't find out. You also don't need to file an appeal to get them to change it. You file an appeal to reduce your assessment. Guess the Cuba Township Assessor doesn't live up to Al's standards of accuracy and work ethic either if you had to file an appeal there Al.
Then again, if you read her webpage, you will see she has the same outlook and challenges as Ottley. Fighting a broken system that even you can't fix. Hope this has been educational for everyone...including Al. A system Al seems to know how to work in his favor for his Lake Barrington property.
I have looked at the McHenry County forms online, and they don't even mention exemptions anywhere on the forms! I'm willing to bet, neither to the Lake County forms. So how did you inform them you don't get the exemption??? Telepathy???
For the record, I checked, and all you have to do is make a phone call to your assessors office and they can remove the general homestead exemption from your property.
So Al... Seriously??? - when was it that you remembered you had that exemption in Cuba...was it when we pointed it out???
Looks like we are getting to know the "real" Al Zielinski.
$6,000 homestead exemption x 5.792% Lake Barrington tax rate = $347.52.
FILL IN THE BLANK PEOPLE:
I would gladly pay $347.52 for:___________!
I saw this comment on another site:
The website from one of your business, Rent a COO, lists
• Results not excuses
• Ethics & core values
• Dynamic leadership
• Broad knowledge
We are reading your excuses.
We are viewing your lack of detail.
There is a huge contradiction between what your say and what you do.
We are not buying what you are selling, Al Zielinski.
http://www.rentacoo.com/
I would gladly pay $347.52 for: Ottleys re-election campaign - except he hasn't requested donations!
Linda Moore is all about control, evil , half truths and definately not management material. Why would anyone connect themselves to her? Ottley is the one to support. He has done an excellent job as assessor,in spite of Linda Moore's hurdles she keeps throwing in front of him.
I would gladly pay $347.52 for: The refreshments at Linda's going away party!
Anyone check with the McHenry County Courts yet to see if Moore has made a bee-line to file an injunction against the residency statute so that Mr Zielinski can be free and clear to seek the job in Moore's Cabinet?
And why do these obscure legal issues keep popping up in Grafton Township for the last three odd years?
I would gladly pay $347.52 for AN ORANGE JUMPSUIT!!!!!
Grafton folks need to invest in a few NO MOORE Signs with a few bulleted notes below NO MOORE and post them within strategic locations when her election is near.
The forensic financial audit should begin soon. Let's see how much data will be deleted. Hee Hee.
Hey Moore - your relatives in Montana thanked me for Sunday's picture! Hee Hee.
Hey Zielinski - we are in process of sending your updates to members of the Barrington Chamber. tsk, tsk.
Bravo Anonymous @ 4:37pm!!!!!
I wonder if Mr Zielinski would agree to release (redacted) copies of his tax returns filed this year, to illustrate which address he used for filing Federal and State tax returns? He could of course redact his income, SSN, any sort of confidential data. All we really need to see is the City and Zip Code.
If that's the best use of your time, go for it.
I publish openly under my own name and have yet to have anyone provide viable evidence that anything I said requires retraction.
I spoke openly with the Editor of this blog and will continue to do so.
My focus remains bringing accurate (and timely) assessments to the taxpayers of Grafton Township.
The well-being of the community is far more consequential than this banter.
It IS the best use of our time. Know why? Because we REFUSE to let anyone that has ANYTHING to do with Linda Moore be part of this township anymore. You, unfortunately couldn't see that, so now here you are.
The Board of Elections will have more than ample evidence should they request proof of residence.
They are the ones who matter.
Zielinski, Zielinski, Zielinski .... your true colors have been widely illustrated; your credibility shot. political aspirations? Not in McHenry County.
Please point me to anyone investing in your election...I have some land on Mars.
Forgot to tell the assessor? Yeah right. What else is he keeping hidden? When a person acts like is and does you know the closet is not empty of skeletons. Stick with honest Bill Ottley.
Just say NO MOORE!Take back the township I had a NO MOORE t-shirt made up. Maybe some baseball caps are next!
Nice. Now you need to add new t-shirts:
ZAP ZIELINSKI!
Regarding the 5:22PM posting where it was stated that "(the Board of Elections) are the ones who matter". Are you saying that the voters don't matter? How about your political alliances?
Al feels he has had enough scrutiny and that he is now properly vetted.
Al's back on the attack. Remember how Linda got elected . . . she told everyone she would lower taxes and her opponent will raise taxes. Al is doing the same thing. That's his "Warrior Ethos," blah, blah, blah. His Rent a COO website carries this message ""Will Al Zielinski fit within our organization?
The likely answer: an emphatic no."
Mr. Zielinski,
Responding to your 5:22PM post on Wednesday, you are saying the Board of Elections will have ample evidence? I assume you already know you are going to have challenged nominating petitions in early December, and the township electoral board (Supervisor Moore, the clerk, and a trustee) will be the first hearing. Given the feedback here on FEN and McHenry County Blog, you know your opposition is going to take you to court, so you better have your legal house in order, given your oversight on the Lake County property you still own.
You think your message, and your rescue dogs, will win the day over the voters? Do you not think Grafton Township Republican primary voters are going to question your motivation for running when you've barely lived in the township for a year?
Just like the appointed state representative who lost the Republican primary this year, one of the biggest reasons for his loss is his relatively recent move into the district he wanted to represent, meaning he had no ties to the local community. Like it or not, you are in the same boat.
It'll be interesting to see how your message between now and February 26th will evolve, given your amount of time living in the township. Voters are not fools. The publicity stunt "blizzard" you did on Sunday has left a bad taste in mouths, especially seeing Supervisor Moore prominently displayed in the picture taken by FEN.
But if the primary were held today, I believe a large majority of voters will back the incumbent's re-election, given what we've seen out of your candidacy to date.
Mr Zielinski at least is capable of Professional sounding responses, unlike his friend Linda Moore. But Al, you need to stop claiming that you are honest and that you only want to focus on issues, when you have your girlfriend (whose address you use in Grafton Township)posting anonymously on Huntley Neighbors in support of you.
And quit saying that you want to focus on the issues - no, you don't. You just don't want anyone to focus on your Residency or your qualifications. I'm sure you need the job - you seem to run around 5 different websites and your name and Lake Barrington property comes up in Bankrupcy proceedings from 2010.
actually I looked at it too and I think it is foreclosure proceedings, not bankrupcy. Likely to take advantage of HARP programs to reduce his mortgage. the early HARP programs required you to be behind on payments to get the banks to work with you. After all, he does seem to run 4 or 5 different "companies" as an appraiser. wouldn't it be funny if Cal and Linda's good pal used a "big government" program to reduce his own mortgage? hee hee
It is a Preforclosure proceeding from May 2010. The Mortgage company initiating the foreclosure was GMAC Mortgage. a Search can be conducted on the Lake Barrington address to confirm that the Foreclosure proceedings were initiated in Lake County IL on May 14 2010. At that time, the balance of the mortgage was $192,462. The address in question was 38 Lakeview Dr. Lake Barrington IL 60010
You can find it on the Illinois Foreclosure Listing Service. keep in mind that it takes many many many many months of missed payments to enter Preforeclosure.
I know it's hard work to actually check stuff out but Grafton's Alan Zielinski hasn't declared bankruptcy. A check of U.S. Seventh Circuit records does show one for an Alan Zielinski but that guy's an HVAC tech who lives in Stickney. I'd already checked this last week.
Speculation about possible HARP enrollment is...speculation. If you're actually interested, check it out. Then explain to me how you did it before you post it, please.--ed.
oddly my post with the pre-foreclosure details populated after the Editor's note, but here is the link to the preforeclosure filed against Alan D Zielinksi's property in Lake Barrington IL 60010
I certainly agree there could be other people with the same name, which is why it is good to search on the property address itself. The preforeclosure can be confirmed by name and by address.
http://ilfls.com/free/search_result.php?estate_id=271593
It's a commercial database, not an original source. I can't let readers post supposedly factual information without vetting it myself. If necessary, I'll shut comment down again.--ed.
Everybody has their shorts in a knot. Take a chill pill.
"You think your message, and your rescue dogs, will win the day over the voters?"
Yes, because the core of my message is fairness: equity, the first descriptive adjective of my campaign.
My message is also based on education and experience, the second and third descriptive adjectives of my campaign.
My service as a Foster Home for rescue dogs proves the fourth descriptive adjective of my campaign: empathy.
"...no ties to the local community."
I'm not running for political office; I'm running for assessor.
The functional utility of Grafton Township residences is no different than those which I've appraised for more than a decade (numerous were in Grafton Township).
So, yes, when the "static" clears and my message is clearly conveyed outside blogs where people can personally ask questions and receive answers, I have complete confidence in the wisdom of Grafton Township's voters.
I think Pete is right. He runs a legitimate news site, and can't post rumors. However, there are simply too many odd things that don't add up.....the residency, the potential preforeclosure, the Linda Moore link, supporter / roommate Michaelena posting anonymously on Huntley Neighbors......it all smacks of unprofessionalism. And "Moore" problems ahead.
"...you know your opposition is going to take you to court, so you better have your legal house in order,..."
We already have and yours should be as well.
Whoever files that action on your behalf will/should be familiar with Illinois Supreme Court Rule 137.
Let's see if that bridge even materializes before we discuss crossing it.
Al, stop threatening IL Supreme Court 137, it just makes it seem like you are hiding something. The residents of this township have a right to proof that you are actually eligible to run for the office that you seek to hold.
You think it won't make you look even more guilty that you won't provide proof, and then threaten to sue anything who wants to see the documentation? Frankly, it isn't frivolous, there is a basis to have doubts, given that you, who supposedly know enough to become an assessor, accepted a 2012 Homestead exemption in another township.
Yes, please do fight it. it will look fantastic on campaign literature, an innocent person has nothing to hide and would release definitive proof publicly. Keep in mind this didn't come out of nowhere - it is because YOU accepted a 2012 Homestead exemption. You of all people, who should know better.
OK, folks. Readers have been running out of control posting "facts" and now Al's jumped in to argue with everybody again, at length. I'm shutting comment down.
1. Call me about "facts" so I can check them (assuming I haven't already).
2. Call me for paid political ads.
FEN rates are a bargain.--ed.
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