Why you should vote for Joe Tirio rather than his opponent.

I had been running a fully positive campaign focusing on my accomplishments until I realized that my opponent was lying about me and my record. I cannot sit idly by as she lies to voters to steal their votes. This is the truth about me, Mary, and why honesty is so important.

There's something about Mary

I’ve been running a very positive campaign so far, focusing on the accomplishments of the last six years. As to what I bring to the table, let’s start with six years’ experience. That means on December 1, when I am sworn in, you will have a Clerk in office that can actually contribute on day one. My opponent can’t say that. She will spend the next 1-2 years learning the jobs before she can make any meaningful contribution.

When I first ran for office six years ago, I made some big promises:

to eliminate nepotism and patronage from my offices
to waive my right to the lucrative IMRF pension
to eliminate the elected position of County Recorder and put the responsibilities back into the Clerk’s office

I did all this two years sooner than promised and have saved nearly $3 Million since taking office.

I will list some of my other accomplishments later in this note.

My opponent, on the other hand, has run a strongly negative campaign. She claims you can “count on” her and that she will “do things right”. I don’t believe that, and will make my case in three points.

As Township assessor since 2013, she has not met minimum standard metrics even once! The International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) defines standards for assessments. One of those measures is the Coefficient of Dispersion (COD). COD is a bit like an error rate. For example, given a COD of 15, a property worth $100,000 has a 50% chance to be assessed between $85,000 and $115,000. The IAAO specifies that the acceptable range for COD is below 15. Mary has never achieved that standard. According to reports filed with the Illinois Department of Revenue, it could be argued that she is one of the worst Township Assessors in the county based on this measure. Ultimately, it means that it is highly likely that McHenry Township residents were not accurately assessed by a substantial margin and have not paid correct taxes since she took office in 2013. If she can't do that job right after nearly ten years, who would think she could do a better job as Clerk than the current Clerk?
She literally doesn’t know what she’s talking about. As stated above, this is a complicated job and some of her assertions reveal some very basic misunderstandings. From believing that Election Days are a holiday (only for this November) to believing that 5% of votes must be hand counted after an election (a process that I developed and is only in use in McHenry County). On her first day in office, she will be more of a burden than a benefit to McHenry County.
She’s lying to you. On her website, she makes a number of false statements including “Miscounted ballots in every election”, “Incorrect ballots in every election” and others. These are simply 100% false. If she is willing to lie to you to get the job, how could you ever rely on her once she has it? How could you ever trust her? Obviously, you can’t.

In closing, I realize that you can support and vote for whomever you choose. I also realize that it may not seem so unusual to hear about a politician lying, but your County Clerk is the keeper of the County's history and the defender of its destiny. You must be able to trust your Clerk as they calculate your taxes, run your elections and protect your vital records.

I hope you will carefully consider your choice for this important race.

Kindest Regards,

Joe Tirio
County Clerk

Other accomplishments:

Only county in Illinois doing a post-election hand-counted audit
Fair precinct maps
Reduced fees while reducing Recorder processing time from more than four days to less than a day (often, less than an hour).
Added signature verification to Election Judge training
We now get regular data from the Circuit Clerk and Coroner to clean voter rolls more quickly
Recognized women’s suffrage in the 2020 election year with a commemorative “I voted” decal featuring Susan B Anthony
Provided land records search tools to Township Assessors at no cost where there had been a charge in the past.
Provided Township Assessors near real-time delivery of property transfer tax records allowing Assessors to remove unearned exemptions sooner, if appropriate. Oddly, my opponent is one of two Assessors that have refused this free service.
Implemented new voter registration/election management system in the Clerk’s office
Implemented new recording system in the Recorder’s office
Implemented electronic return of documents saving material and personnel cost
Kept both offices fully operational during the pandemic
As I am currently a member of the State Board of Elections Advisory Board, I am one of a handful of Election Authorities from around the state with a seat at the table when it comes to new legislation and often contribute to its interpretation and implementation. My presence means that McHenry County is represented in this venue and that our concerns will be heard. If Mary is elected, you will lose that very important voice.