Winnebago County Courthouse
First it was Matt Sorensen, the Republican County Board Chairman of McLean County who was indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
He resigned from that top job in the Blooming-Normal county.
Now the Republican County Chairman of Winnebago County, Scott Christiansen, has resigned after the FBI started looking into a $4,200 sauna he had installed his home.
The probe was “sparked by purchasing irregularities in the Winnebago County Purchasing Department,” according to the Rockford Register-Star.
The same article revealed,
“Sally Claassen, who had led the county’s purchasing department since 1997, resigned in September amid an internal investigation of purchasing irregularities in her office. The county turned over its findings to the FBI.”
Were are all the law abiding republicans?
Hope they lose their pensions like Blago did.
The Winnebago County one might, because his alleged wrong doing is connected to his official duties.
That of the McLean County one is not.
The following is a statement of opinion:
Almost ALL elected officials who have been in office for more than two terms have been subject to being ‘slobbered’ on by staff.
Staff will kiss the shoes of any elected official who will do their bidding (votesing to support continuous increases in wages / benefits plus little attention paid to his / her performance AND automatic approval of any and all federal / state grants which will result in increased public sector employment). Any elected official who works on behalf of the taxpayer is treated like a pariah.
It takes a person with strong character and a very supportive family to withstand being ostracized.
Not many people running for political office possess this quality.
Those ‘slobbered’ on officials appear to get the ‘feeling’ they are ‘untouchable’ and can do no wrong.
They ‘bend’ the rules relative to open meeting laws, take payment for questionable expenses and take political contributions in return for working to support zoning changes, property assessments, favorable treatment relative to regulation violations, support increases in benefits / wages in union contracts, etc.
Before you vote for anyone, you should look into the real reason he / she is running for office.
BTW we have a lot of educated idiots who wave their formal education credentials all over but have not one iota of ‘common sense’.
Rockford Register Star
FBI seizes nearly $300K from former Winnebago County purchasing director’s bank accounts
By Isaac Guerrero
February 13, 2016
“The FBI seized nearly $300,000 from bank accounts belonging to former Winnebago County Purchasing Director Sally Claassen and her husband as part of an ongoing federal investigation of county spending.”
http://www.rrstar.com/article/20160213/NEWS/160219715