Kendall County Board Chair Weighs in on Koukol Meeting Pay
Chairman John Purcell said independent audit not needed.
Kendall County Board member Dan Koukol has agreed to credit the county for three meeting payments - and Chairman John Purcell thinks that should be the final word on the matter.
Purcell reviewed Koukol's meeting pay vouchers over the past year and found that Koukol, of Oswego, was improperly paid an $85 per diem three times over the past year. County board members request meeting payments by submitting vouchers, usually once a month, so Koukol is going to attend three meetings without requesting the associated $85 pay, Purcell said.
Purcell's review sharply contrasts with Finance Committee Chairman Anne Vickery's review, which found Koukol was improperly paid for more than 50 meetings since taking office in December 2010. Purcell started his review with June 2011 because other board members had claimed, in May 2011, that Koukol had improperly been paid for about 15 meetings. They decided to review the rules with him last May.
Purcell said he thought there was no ill intent behind Koukol's pay requests over the past year.
"Others made mistakes, too," Purcell said. "It's interesting that we're not looking at all board members."
Purcell did not have an itemized list of both his and Vickery's findings at Tuesday's County Board meeting, but Purcell thought Koukol, who chairs the county's Economic Development Committee, appropriately sought payment for attending meetings and functions associated with economic development. Vickery has said she did not believe those meetings - which are separate from the county committee meetings - were covered.
Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis suggested the board hire an outside auditor after recent Kendall County Board candidate Todd Milliron filed a complaint with his office, seeking a criminal investigation of Koukol's pay, and of Purcell for allegedly conspiring with Koukol. Weis estimated a review of all 10 board members' pay could cost $5,000 to $10,000.
After hearing Purcell's announcement Tuesday, county board member Jessie Hafenrichter said she thought the matter needed to be discussed and aired publicly. She thanked Purcell for clarifying his thoughts on payments for meetings related to economic development functions and organizations.
“I think it was the chairman’s assignments that were in question," Hafenrichter said.
For his part, County Board member Robert Davidson said he wanted to avoid the cost of an independent audit.
“There’s no way I’m going to spend $10,000 or $15,000 when we’ve got negotiations coming up," said Davidson, referring to contract talks with 10 of the 11 unions covering county employees. "Every dollar we can save we’ve got to save.”
YorkVillain
2:04 pm on Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Why do the liars get to judge the thieves? Davidson for some reason doesn't want to spend money on an audit that will shed light on the County's per diem scandal but a month earlier found enough of our money to vote with a clear conscience to continue to suck up tax payer funded heath care. While Purcell effectively states that what Koukol did was okay and since he is Chairman he knows what is best for everyone else and he will fix it without any serious pain for his friend and political ally, good ol' Danny K. Not one of these highly moral Republican County Board officers has advocated on behalf of the citizens of Kendall County or even suggested anything more than just sweeping this under the rug. Do the only thing you can do and call the States Attorney's office and ask them to investigate 630-553-4157
It all comes out in the wash
5:03 pm on Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Well stated Yorkvillain. 1st of all the 10k is an estimate and from the documents that have been published and your own policies it wouldn't take long to flush out the crooks. This is OUR money and if we believe we have CROOKS in office then let the audit take place. Who are you to play judge and jury for this board. The states Atty recommended to have an auditor. Enough is enough... I supose it was ok for your wife to continue to receive full pay while out for months on family leave (TWICE) while we paid for a replacement too. Where the heck has ethics, morals, and honesty gone with these people. If this was an employer criminal charges would have been filed and you would lose your job. You want to save us money then stop all the entitlement abuse and spending your doing on yourselves. Why not start with health care....that 10k is looking pretty cheap about now.
Travis McGee
2:17 pm on Wednesday, June 6, 2012
"Others made mistakes, too," Purcell said. "It's interesting that we're not looking at all board members."
If others made mistakes, too, wouldn't this be an argument made to INCREASE the need for an independent auditor? At minimum this points to very lackadaisical internal controls by the county board and calls into question whether the entire board has shirked its fiduciary duty to the tax payers. The county SHOULD look at ALL board members! The county should also do away with the pay per meeting compensation system which is rife for abuse.
sarah b.w.t.
4:21 pm on Thursday, June 7, 2012
Completely agree.
Karma Gonna Get You
9:34 pm on Wednesday, June 6, 2012
This county needs an ENEMA! A BIG OL' ENEMA!! Starting with Johnny and Danny Boy....
mecando
10:42 am on Thursday, June 7, 2012
I agree Karma, a giant ENEMA..........
Todd Milliron
11:06 am on Thursday, June 7, 2012
This does not pass the smell test, all but three meetings is not less than half; see on the record quote from current patch story and past patch stories on this “Unauthorized Per Diem Payment” issue and my written request for outside agency to investigate.
First paragraph = Kendall County Board member Dan Koukol has agreed to credit the county for three meeting payments - and Chairman John Purcell thinks that should be the final word on the matter.
http://yorkville.patch.com/articles/milliron-requests-meeting-pay-investigation
Documentation attached to Milliron’s complaint also alleges Koukol sought and received payment twice for a handful of meetings, including meetings on May 19, Sept. 6, Sept. 7, Sept. 13 and Sept. 15.
(Eric Weis) “We will review it and see what course of action needs to be taken,” Weis said. “… The documentation isn’t going to change. I know it’s there; someone’s going to have to go through it all. I’m just not sure who that is yet.”
CONT. Part 1 of 2
Todd Milliron
11:09 am on Thursday, June 7, 2012
Part 2 of 2
http://yorkville.patch.com/articles/kendall-county-finance-committee-tackles-meeting-pay
Koukol offered to write a check or provide cash for the $4,165 on the spot Thursday; Vickery told him that was not necessary.
And
(Koukol) Very few of the meetings I attend I draw a per diem,” he said. “The ones I have, which is way less than half, I had permission from the chairman of the board … It is money well invested and much more economical than sending staff.”
Vickery denied that Purcell had that power.
“I’m not sure where the idea came from that the county board chairman can bless you going to a meeting,” Vickery said. “That has never, ever been the case, unless you have stood in for the chairman on a committee or something he needs to be involved in.”
When asked outside the meeting, Purcell said he had given Koukol permission to attend some functions, but he had not documented them and was unaware if they were among the 49 meetings in dispute.
Tim
11:14 am on Thursday, June 7, 2012
It is amusing watching Todd claim there is a 'conspiracy' between 2 board members, when it could not be more obvious that this is his projection of his own actions.
Even though Ann Vickery is the chair of the committee that APPROVES the per diem payouts, she only noticed this after she lost the election. Teaming with Todd, they both decide to focus on the two people that handed them a defeat in the last election. Not a close defeat either, they both finished almost dead last in votes received.
For months, Ann Vickery voted to approve all of these payouts. YEt now she wants to play political games? Ann and Todd lost for a reason, and they continue to prove what that reason was.
Amazingly, the only payouts in question are exactly the ones I pointed out to Todd over a month ago, 3 meetings on the same day as other meetings. Todd continued to not understand the rules, no matter how many times it was explained to him that he was wrong. Yet he still wants an audit that will cost over $10,000 to reclaim $85? Anyone that thinks the Todd/Ann combination cares about the taxpayers is fooling themselves.
It all comes out in the wash
11:28 am on Thursday, June 7, 2012
The simple fact is there are several documentated abuses going on while all our taxes continue to go up and property values go down. More political crooks to add to the list of Illinois elected officials who think they can continue to abuse their power. A thief is a thief.. and the 10 is a estimate. So read the facts and dig a little deeper at all the shenanigans going on. Who cares Todd lost he's doing the same thing he's been doing for years and informing this community while the crooks continue to have no ethics. How many meetings have you attended? How may documents have you sorted through?
Tim
11:50 am on Thursday, June 7, 2012
I would think it was obvious how many documents I sorted through, when it has just been stated today that the same number of duplicate meetings were found by the chairman, as I tried to explain to Todd last month - 3.
Dan attempted to pay back every single meeting brought up by Ann Vickery, but she decided not to have him do that. Ann/Todd are clearly not interested in anything but their own sour grapes. Every week that goes by, the number drops more and more. From over $4k to be paid back, to now only $85.
Todd, the demand still stands, that you set up an escrow account to pay for this 'audit'. if you are correct, what do you have to lose? If you are not correct, as has been shown to you for over a month now, your political nonsense can be paid for out of your own pocket, not the taxpayers. You claim to be on the side of the taxpayers, but your actions do not line up with your words.
Open the escrow account, deposit $10,000 in it to pay for the audit. Back up your grandiose view of yourself with your actions, not just your words. The longer you refuse to do this, the more people are going to realize your true motivations are purely political.
Travis McGee
1:36 pm on Thursday, June 7, 2012
$85 X 3 is $255 and that is by Purcell's reckoning - the same person who has said that there were other Board members who made "mistakes" which implies that Purcell is aware of even more instances of overpayment to other board members. I believe that the county could find a CPA in Kendall County who would perform the audit on a Pro Bono basis. If the board has nothing to hide, it should embrace transparency. The more it tries to distance itself from an independent audit or create arguments against it (i.e. it will be too expensive), the more I am convinced that there is something amiss that the County Board does not want us to find. The fact that the County Board has not taken any steps to shore up its internal controls to prevent future "mistakes" is also troubling.
States Attorney Eric Weis, in weighing the evidence. must also believe that there is something to the complaint. Otherwise, he would not have provided legal counsel that the board should engage in an independent audit.
Todd Milliron
11:33 am on Thursday, June 7, 2012
@Tim, Win or lose is not the current issue, the primary election is over. I will keep doing the hardworking people’s work for us taxpayers who by the way just made our first property tax installment yesterday, just as I always have. The critical ongoing issue is about having ethical and honest county officials that use our tax dollars for our collective benefit, not theirs or for individual gain or enrichment. Maybe you should have Mr. Purcell provide an explanation why his wife does not have to follow the county's employment practices and policies set by the Kendall County Board and then have him explain to us taxpayers why these policies do not apply to his wife, please see the facts I presented in my last Blog, which is well documented.
SEE = http://yorkville.patch.com/blog_posts/does-kendall-coroner-ken-toftoy-need-a-raise-and-should-i-vote-for-him
It all comes out in the wash
12:02 pm on Thursday, June 7, 2012
I as a Tax payer want the entire board audited by someone other than a board member. The state atty recommended this too...but no we're to accept the rooster watching the hens. Please this smells like a coverup. I see lots of abuse going on and the 10k was an estimate. My guess is that the cost will be far less than other expenses this board has spent on themselves including that coroner and all his entitlement . I have no allegiance to anyone on this board. I do however believe ethics and honesty is something we all should demand from our politicans.