By Dale Bowling
We all know what kind of shenanigans happen in places with one-party rule: Lack of Transparency, Lack of Accountability, Incompetence, Corruption and Fraud.
County government of DuPage County, Illinois has been Republican-dominated for six decades - in essence, we've experienced one-party rule.
This has created a series of problems for DuPage County over the years.
Most recently the Forest Preserve Board has been accused of a lack of transparency, lack of accountibility, incompetence, corruption and fraud.
Sound familiar? It should. These are the artifacts of one-party rule.
The Forest Preserve Commissioners have salaries of $56,000 per year and full benefits for a 10 hour/week job. Surrounding counties (Cook, Lake, Kane Will) have larger forest preserves to manage, but their commissioners make between $0-$3000 per year. Some get a $30/stipend per meeting.
Recently, two employees of the Forest Preserve were arrested for having defrauded DuPage County out of $150,000 over six years. Six years! They were approving invoices for goods and services that were not delivered and splitting the money with a private contractor.
The Forest Preserve has created a several hundred million dollar operating reserve with no apparent purpose when the budget for the Forest Preserve is something like $40 million/yr. The reserve, like the Forest Preserve Department is funded by DuPage County taxpayers.
This reminds one of the case a few years ago where the Water Commission built up a huge reserve and then lost track of it and ended up with a deficit that was passed on to DuPage taxpayers.
Institutions create clubbiness by their very nature. When one political party, which also protects its own, controls an institution members rubber stamp each other's actions to the detriment of us all. This results in a lack of accountability, promotes corruption and rewards incompetence.
DuPage County deserves better.
VOTE DEMOCRAT for DuPage County offices on Nov. 6!
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