Why do We Need a County Auditor?

From McHenry County Board candidate Ersel Schuster:

Auditor’s Position in McHenry County Board Chairman’s Crosshairs

Is it my imagination; or, have you also noticed the number of irresponsible, inappropriate actions of our county board since the first chairman was elected at large?

One year into this new level of county government, on issue after issue, it does not look like we are off to very good start.

Of considerable interest is that the same person, instrumental in adding this new layer of government, and shouting from the rafters that he was not interested in the position, has succeeded in being elected to that very position.

From the first day of that elected term, McHenry County Government has been in a power grab, the likes of which we’ve not seen before.

The chairman, enabled by enough “cowed and/or threatened” county board members, allow this power struggle to play out as we slip deeper into Madigan style governance.

After several highly questionable actions already undertaken by your county board, we would be wise to step back and take a long hard look at those actions to understand what is happening.

Currently in the chairman’s crosshairs is the elimination of the county auditor’s position.

Once again, there are no facts to support the proposal; just as there has been no factual documentation justifying the elimination other governments.

The only benefit is that politicians can grab headlines and the media can sell newspapers.

The County Auditor is an elected position, answerable to the taxpayers.

When a similar position is filled by appointment of the chairman/county board, we lose that privilege.

Those with nefarious intentions will get away with just about anything without thi

Jack Franks under scrutiny of the Edgar County Watchdogs August 23, 2017.

s independent oversight.

As a stand-alone position, the auditor’s office provides an independent, financial check and balance for county government.

Simply put, with a budget of $225,000,000 (+/-), there is tremendous opportunity for inappropriate spending.

Contract fulfillment, whether on a large or small scale, is rife for trouble without the independence of the auditor’s review.

Over-and-over again, inappropriate payments have been called out for non-payment by this office.

There are two benefits of eliminating the auditor’s position:
1). The chairman, together with county board, will fill a similar position(s) with obedient servants
2). The door is opened for “nasty things” to slip through the cracks.

If the county places a question on the ballot (a referendum), asking if we want to abolish the auditor’s position, we need to ask ourselves; do we want to perpetuate a “cozy” relationship between those spending our taxes and oversight; or, do we want an independent watch-dog between the spenders and our tax dollars?

Of all the elected positions in county government, the auditor is the one best representing taxpayers and best suited for keeping the bureaucrats honest.

 


Comments

Why do We Need a County Auditor? — 23 Comments

  1. Ersel hits the nail on the head again, as she always does.
    Vote for Ersel and help drain the McHenry Board swamp.

  2. Sorry Ersel, but after 40 years of Illinois, I’m convinced Government is far to important to be entrusted to elected people.

  3. @DJ Well someone is going to overlook the Government. You have a choice having few people in charge with little to no oversight or at least spread that power amongst the elected officials. If you want a King then it is best to move to another country where Socialism is thriving. Keep the Auditor separate.

  4. The humorless whynot weighs in.

    If I understand your scrawl, this election cycle should make all the difference after decades of Illinois electoral lunacy, right?

    Now your making me laugh!

  5. State statutes provide as follows:

    (55 ILCS 5/3-1001) (from Ch. 34, par. 3-1001)
    Sec. 3-1001. Auditors in counties of 75,000 to 3,000,000. In all counties containing less than 3,000,000 and over 75,000 inhabitants by the last federal census, there is created the office of county auditor, whose term of office shall be 4 years and until his successor is elected and qualified.

    So the office cannot be eliminated by resolution of the County Board and would require a binding referendum similar to that which will be on the ballot for the elimination of the Recorder, assuming that can even be done for this office.

    I would think that such a referendum, if legal, would kick off a firestorm of debate as to why this is being requested.

    The current appointment process for replacement of Pam Palmer will only result in a temporary auditor until the general election. It will be up to the county GOP at a committeeman meeting to determine if the individual selected by the Chairman and approved by the Board will even be on the ballot as there will be no time for the primary election in this cycle.

    I would anticipate that such a meeting would be scheduled right before the Convention at which new party officers are selected, to ensure maximum turn out.

  6. As a result, the Party will have a real role to play here. By selecting someone who either favors or does not favor elimination of the position, it will become a major public issue.

    Each committeeman will get a vote. If the meeting is held before, rather than after, the Convention start time, the current elected committeemen will hold the vote.

    If it is afterwards, the newly elected committeemen will do so.

    Either way, it will not be up to the Party officers, but the rank and file elected committeemen.

    So there will be a real value to the position of elected committeeman.

  7. Does ‘Fair Play” have one of those prescriptions?

  8. @DJ every election cycle counts especially in this State! Go down the slippery slope and it just keeps going. Mike Madigan didn’t get so powerful overnight. It took yrs. Won’t take as long in the County to get that kind of power locally!

  9. Ersel Schuster is one of those outstanding American Conservatives who truly represents the people. She is an independent thinker who is always looking for ways that government can be smaller and more efficient, and for making sure that protections remain in place to prevent politicians from getting away with corruption, greed, and power-mongering. That is why Ersel wants an elected Auditor position to remain in the County. The County Board needs to heed what Mrs. Schuster is saying–the only way the taxpayer has a chance at having someone representing their best interests is for them to be able to elect an auditor who works directly for them. Getting rid of this position eliminates the oversight necessary to keep the politicians honest.

  10. @whynot – the GOP controlled MfHenry county for decades! Townships, local, county government – all were overwhelmingly, 99% controlled by the GOP. Franks wins office and suddenly there’s a conspiracy that he’s trying to become an unelected, unbridled, unhinged King destroying the very foundation of what the county stands for and replacing it with a dystopian, Madiganian regime looking to defraud taxpayers and deliberately deteriorate life as we know it. C’mon.

    Shuster made a career: Failed businesswoman, failed candidate and now is back at the government teet looking for another paycheck. How about her highly unquestionable actions as a failed candidate, politician, and entrepreneur?! What has she really accomplished recently other than bimonthly rants on this blog aimed to corner all 80 people that read this blog in her primary corner.

    It’s out with the old, in with the new, NOT out with the old, in with the old.

  11. Ah ‘Stand4Crap’ weighs in along with a Jack Frans minion ‘Fair Play’.

    Schuster is NOT for bigger govt. She’s for following the rules and weeding out corruption!

    Vote ORV BRETTMAN and ERSEL SCHUSTER for County Board! Two Great Americans!

  12. Franks has: ” become an unelected, unbridled, unhinged King destroying the very foundation of what the county stands for and replacing it with a dystopian, Madiganian regime looking to defraud taxpayers and deliberately deteriorate life as we know it.”

    Could not say it better myself.

    The voters made a mistake when they selected the current Chair; they made a mistake when they approved the Public Sector pension guarantee; they made a mistake by continuously electing ‘double-chin’ to Springfield; they made a mistake when they sent Smith to the County Board instead of Schuster.

  13. @Conservative Voter – Apparently sarcasm is lost on you, but just goes to show that the only thing you have to do to gaslight Cal Blog Readers is to write incendiary sentences with IL POLS buzzwords.

    Ersel seems to understand this in spades.

  14. Excellent post by Ersel Schuster.

    We need an “independent” auditor elected by the voters and accountable to the voters and not the chairman.

    Also, I associate myself with the comments by LincolnSays at 4:52 PM yesterday.

  15. In Bred Winner world, it seems like that being a “republican” is a perceived necessary condition for an elected official to be accountable to the taxpayer.

  16. Why can’t there be an Independent Inspector General appointed by County Board?

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