By KEVIN P. CRAVER - kcraver@nwherald.com

Maybe the McHenry County Board should re-think the idea of creating a new county seal – apparently, they can be trouble come election time.

You can find the present county seal, which is the state seal with the county’s name and June 1837 incorporation wrapped around it, on the campaign literature of several Republican board incumbents. It made a brief appearance on Democratic state’s attorney candidate Tom Cynor’s campaign Web site as well, until County Board Chairman Ken Koehler told him that doing so violated the county’s ethics ordinance.

County Democratic Vice Chairman Sam Melei called it a double-standard that incumbent Republicans such as John Hammerand, Nick Provenzano and Marc Munaretto are using the seal on their mailings, but Cynor, a county employee, cannot post it on his campaign site.

“Either it does violate the ethics ordinance, and among the violators is a key proponent of the ethics ordinance, or it’s not a violation of the ethics ordinance and you have Chairman Koehler playing political games at taxpayer expense,” Melei said.

County elected officials and employees are bound by the county’s 2004 ethics ordinance. In his May 2008 letter to Cynor, Koehler cited the provision forbidding use of county property in connection with prohibited political activities. Koehler said on Tuesday that he understood the rule would not apply to incumbent officials using the seal, and deferred comment to First Assistant State’s Attorney Tom Carroll.

But Carroll, who also serves as the county ethics adviser, said that if the county seal is defined as property, the ordinance as written forbids both employees and elected officials from using it for political ends.

“Honestly, I think it would apply in the same way,” Carroll said. “I think the better course of practice should be that no one should be using the county seal for campaign or political purposes.”

Carroll said that he in no way is suggesting that any candidates using the seal are being dishonest, and said he could see how incumbents would not consider the seal county property. Koehler copied his letter to Cynor to the board’s 24 members.

Provenzano, R-McHenry, said his mailer in question was the last 500 copies left over from the last election cycle. The 12,000 brochures he printed last month did not have the seal on them, in part because of the letter to Cynor. Provenzano said it was explained to him that he could use it as an elected official, but that a county employee such as Cynor could not.

Hammerand, who used the seal on a fund-raising reception invitation, called the idea that incumbent candidates could not use the seal on political mailers “a lot of baloney.”

“Would I get a call from the FBI if I used the American flag, the symbol of the United States?” asked Hammerand, R-Wonder Lake. “I don’t think so.”

Hammerand said the county should be more concerned about real issues such as whether board candidates are appropriately listing their property assets that may fall under county zoning than whether anyone reproduces a seal.

Carroll said his office cannot take any action, such as a letter to candidates, without receiving a complaint. Melei said he doubted that the party would file one, but instead decided to come forward with the problem.

Cynor said late Tuesday that his party had more important issues at hand with less than two weeks before the election, but he called the differences in enforcement unfortunate.

“If they’re going to look at this ethics ordinance as something to be proud of, maybe they should consider enforcing it,” Cynor said.