Nunda Township Senior Services Audit Discussed in County Committee

For your information, here are McHenry County Finance Committee minutes concerning the Senior Services grant audit which Nunda Township and McHenry County have refused to release.

Both used the excuse that the Freedom of Information Act allows “internal” audits to be withheld from public view.

MCHENRYCOUNTY

FINANCE & AUDIT

MINUTES ● JULY 25, 2014

Public Meeting County Board Conference Room 8:15 AM

667 Ware Rd, AdministrationBuilding, Woodstock, IL60098

McHenry County Page 1 Updated 7/28/20143:29 PM

1. CALL TO ORDER

PRESENT: McCann, Barnes, Hammerand, Heisler, Kurtz, Provenzano

ABSENT: Skala

Also in attendance: Anna May Miller, County Board; Pam Palmer and Jim Bernier, Auditor’s Office; Leslie Schmerhorn, Board of Education; Jana Blake, Assistant State’s Attorney; and interested public and the press.

2. PUBLIC COMMENT

Mike Lesperance, Nunda Township Highway Commissioner, joined committee members and provided his public comments as follows: “A staff member of mine, in my office, was mistaken when we claimed that Mrs. Kopsell deleted the gas FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) information the day after the election. After more completely understanding the system, we were able to print all reports requested and forwarded them to the Auditor and the State’s Attorney’s Office. The only thing Mrs. Kopsell uninstalled from our computer is Sage Business Works which she turned over to our Supervisor’s Office for their use as they are our Treasurer, or they act as our Treasurer for the road district and keep our financial records, which is the purpose of Sage Business Works. In conclusion, I wish to publicly apologize to Mr. and Mrs. Kopsell for any and all embarrassment, or harm to their reputation, that my office has had a part in. Thank You.”

Attorney Rebecca Lee, Woodstock, Illinois joined committee members and provided her public comments as follows: “I represent Donna Kopsell. I assume that you all know that my client has maintained that the internal audit that is the subject of this morning’s meeting is factually erroneous. We believe that the many errors contained within the internal audit report are attributable to two things: the gross misinterpretation of certain documents, and bad input. As I think was underscored by Mr. Lesperance’s comments this morning, on its face, the report suggests that the source of the information of the report was with the agency for seven days when he provided the information. To correct the errors, and to provide the accurate information that was sought by the Auditor, Mrs. Kopsell provided a written explanation and significant written documentation in support thereof. It is our understanding that the internal audit report was not corrected to reflect that information, nor were the documents incorporated into, or attached to the report. I would submit to you that to pass a resolution which will most certainly lead to the release of a wildly-flawed internal audit report that you know, or should know, contains many errors is reckless. That said, Mrs. Kopsell and I are here this morning to ask that to the extent that you insist on voting to unexempt this internal audit report from FOIA, that you amend your resolution to include the documentation that was submitted by Mrs. Kopsell, both her written explanation and the substantial written documentation that was submitted in support of her written explanation. Thank you.”

3. NEW BUSINESS

1. Resolution to Waive a Freedom of Information Act Exemption Relating to an Internal Audit of a Senior Services Grant to the Nunda Township Road District

Ms. Barnes provided her comments on why she will be voting no for this resolution. She stated that she does not see that this audit is any different than any of the internal audits that are done. The results of this audit were different, and it had a different direct subject topic, but without a policy informing them when exemptions are allowed and when they are not allowed, she thinks that it would be dangerous to choose this audit to be the first audit that is released. There are rules about

2.2

Packet Pg. 16

Minutes Acceptance: Minutes of Jul 25, 20148:15 AM (Minutes Approval) Minutes Finance & Audit July 25, 2014

McHenry County Page 2 Updated 7/28/20143:29 PM


Comments

Nunda Township Senior Services Audit Discussed in County Committee — 3 Comments

  1. “I would submit to you that to pass a resolution which will most certainly lead to the release of a wildly-flawed internal audit report that you know, or should know, contains many errors is reckless.”

    Anyone have the FOIA statute handy?

    What’s the “we really, really, really disagree with what’s in this document” exception to the FOIA law?

  2. McSeeney and Duffy want to work on this one?

    Sounds to me like SOMEONE needs to step in and FORCE the audit to be made public.

    IT WAS TAXPAYER DOLLAR EXPENDITURE WHICH WAS BEING AUDITED USING TAXPAYER DOLLARS TO DO IT!!!

    We want answers!!

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