If LaSalle County voters eliminate the elected auditor’s job, they may come to regret it. That’s the warning from Bob Grogan, the president of the Illinois Association of County Auditors. He says some people push eliminating the position as a cost saver. But Grogan says it’s actually a safeguard eliminator.
The LaSalle County Board put the auditor referendum on this fall’s ballots because of an alleged scandal that ended with no convictions and all three people accused of wrongdoing back at work. Auditor Jody Wilkinson had been accused of helping her two deputy auditors take extra pay for work they didn’t do. After more than two decades in office, Wilkinson is not running for reelection.
Grogan says any auditor who’s hired or appointed to do what an elected auditor does could aid corruption without ever explaining anything to the voters.