Democrats seek to unseat Republican incumbents in Lake, McHenry Counties

By Susan Kuczka and Carolyn Starks | Chicago Tribune reporters
October 16, 2008

The top prosecutors in Lake and McHenry Counties face November election challengers who are upset with the status quo for very different reasons.

In Lake County, Democrat Michael Jacobs is making his second straight run at Republican State’s Atty. Michael Waller, claiming the 18-year incumbent hasn’t done enough to protect the public from sexual predators.

In McHenry County, Thomas Cynor, also a Democrat, claims Republican State’s Atty. Louis Bianchi has done too much when it comes to personnel issues.

“In the 31/2 years since Bianchi was elected, there has been a calculated 138 percent turnover rate,” Cynor said. “Lou has the right to bring in a new administrative staff . . . but there’s been a continuous revolving door since that time.”

Bianchi, who is completing his first four-year term, praised his staff as award-winning, experienced trial attorneys.

Of the four attorneys in McHenry County certified to be lead counsel in capital cases, three are on the state’s attorney’s staff, Bianchi said. Two of his assistants teach other prosecutors across the state.

“That’s the kind of quality people we have here,” Bianchi said. “I was elected to make change in the office, and with that goes turnover.”

Change is exactly what Jacobs said he’d like to see in the Lake County state’s attorney’s office.

“I think it’s time for a change,” said Jacobs, who got 45 percent of the vote in 2006. “I think 18 years in office is long enough for any one person.”

Waller disagreed.

“I’ve accomplished a lot, but there’s still things I want to do,” he said. “I love the job.”

Waller, 60, said he’s particularly proud of his creation of a “cyber crime” unit that focuses on identity theft and sexual predator crimes, especially against children.

It’s Waller’s prosecution of child sex offenders that has been less than stellar, according to Jacobs, who said a solution would be to better train prosecutors.

Jacobs, 47, an assistant in the Cook County state’s attorney’s office the past two decades, said he has spent most of his career defending county employees against a variety of claims, including sexual harassment.

What Jacobs doesn’t have, according to Waller, is the type of management experience that would prepare him to oversee a 135-employee office with a $14 million annual budget.

“You have to have experience and expertise in management to run this office,” Waller said.

Jacobs countered that his experience overseeing thousands of youths while serving as president and board member of the Gurnee Youth Baseball league, and his work as president of the Lake Prairie Adventures Guide, should suffice. He also serves on the Gurnee Village Board.

In seeking the McHenry County post, Cynor, 40, also cites his professional background, including trial experience as a private lawyer and public defender. He is the research attorney for the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court.

Like Waller, Bianchi, 65, is running on his record. Before running for the prosecutor’s job in 2004, he served as an assistant in the office from 1968 to 1974 and later practiced in both criminal and civil courts.

skuczka@tribune.com

cstarks@tribune.com

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