McHenry County State's Attorney Patrick Kenneally launches investigation into local townships

WOODSTOCK – Top prosecutor Patrick Kenneally is combing the books of two McHenry County townships to glean whether officials spent taxpayer money in accordance with the law.

The McHenry County state’s attorney would not comment on the scope of his exploration or what his office has discovered to date – but records show that Kenneally’s office has requested financial documents from both Nunda and Grafton townships, where officials have burned close to 100 hours and reams of paper to respond.

Assistant State’s Attorney Jana Blake Dickson sent Freedom of Information Act requests to Nunda Township and Grafton Township officials asking for financial records from 2013 to 2017 including:

“... any and all documents relating to the procurement of goods and services by the township, including the highway district and road commissioner, and any and all documents related to the expenditure of township or highway funds for any purpose other than payroll or funds expended under the township’s public assistance program ...”

The assistant state’s attorney shared the intentions behind the request: “We intend to review these records to ensure that all financial transactions are lawful and strictly for the purposes of conducting township business.”

This investigation comes at a time when townships are under much scrutiny from taxpayers and state lawmakers who are filing legislation to abolish the controversial form of government they call corrupt and wasteful – while proponents contend it is the most local and responsive form of government residents have.

‘It doesn’t make sense to me’

Kenneally’s request puzzled Grafton Township Supervisor Eric Ruth.

“What are they doing? I don’t know,” Ruth said. “They didn’t tell us, and to be honest, I didn’t ask.”

Ruth and township staff responded instead – a task that took more than 40 hours and a banker’s box full of documents to complete.

In Nunda Township, officials also spent 40 hours and used reams of paper to answer the inquiry.

“It doesn’t make sense to me, but I don’t know what they’re using the information for,” Nunda Township Supervisor Lee Jennings said.

Jennings said the request disturbed him because of how much time it takes his small staff to fulfill.

Those feelings surfaced again
Jan. 12, when Kenneally's office sent a second records request asking for more documents.

“This one might be even bigger,” Jennings said.

The most recent request asks for more specific documents, including ledger reports, “receipts for all receipts,” financial statements, budget reports, payroll registers, employee earnings reports and W-2 statements spanning from April 1, 2013, to Sept. 30, 2017.

The latest request offered the same explanation: “We intend to review these records to ensure that all financial transactions are lawful and strictly for the purposes of conducting township business.”

As of Friday night, Grafton Township officials did not receive a second records request.

Grafton Township has been the center of public scrutiny in the past.

Political infighting led to $734,431 in legal bills that nearly bankrupted Grafton Township a few years ago – a one-year battle that nearly caused a government shutdown and an overhaul of the township's leadership.

Township officials have their theories on why the state’s attorney would be interested in township government, pegging to recent controversy in Algonquin Township, where former Highway Commissioner Bob Miller is the subject of a grand jury probe investigating misconduct.

“I think it’s a fishing expedition,” Jennings said.

The grand jury

In the past year, Kenneally has sent multiple subpoenas seeking financial records to Algonquin Township officials.

The subpoenas sought financial statements, receipts and billing documents presented to the highway commissioner during a portion of Miller’s tenure inside the road district, according to documents reviewed by the Northwest Herald.

Kenneally said he could not comment on pending grand jury proceedings.

Grand jury proceedings are kept secret; however, court filings in a lawsuit between Algonquin Township’s recently elected Highway Commissioner Andrew Gasser and Township Clerk Karen Lukasik shed light on some details investigators might be exploring.

In an Oct. 30 court document filed in response to questions from Miller’s attorney, Thomas Gooch, Gasser accused the former highway commissioner of giving away government property to political allies, bid rigging, using township credit cards to buy personal items for family members and falsifying government documents.

Gasser accused Miller of covering up the delivery of two truckloads of the township’s road salt to the Illinois Railway Museum in Union.

The salt “was an asset to be used by the road district for use on the roads of Algonquin Township and not to be given away to private organizations and/or people to further Robert Miller’s political relations,” Gasser wrote.

Allegations describe the “purchases of Disneyland tickets for his personal use and Anna May Miller’s personal use.” Anna May Miller is Bob Miller’s wife, who worked as his secretary.

Gasser accused Bob Miller of carrying out a “scheme and artifice to rig bids in connection with a street sweeper sold to [the] Algonquin Township road district.”

Despite repeated phone calls and voice messages to his cellphone, Gasser could not be reached for comment.

Before Bob Miller lost his seat in an upset during February’s election, the Miller family had controlled the department since the 1960s. Bob Miller, who served as highway commissioner for more than two decades, has not been charged with a crime.

Bob Miller would not comment on the grand jury or Kenneally’s investigation of townships.

Targeting townships

Township government has become a target in the political trenches of McHenry County and beyond.

Following on the heels of a bill he filed that could give McHenry County residents the power to eliminate township governments at the polls, state Rep. David McSweeney commended Kenneally’s efforts to uncover financial misconduct inside those public offices.

“I strongly applaud the state’s attorney for looking into allegations of wrongdoing,” the Barrington Hills Republican said. “I did not know about that [Freedom of Information Act] request, but I think that’s positive.”

McSweeney's bill appeared in tandem with the in-house lawsuits, budget-busting legal fees and corruption allegations that have engulfed Algonquin Township. The legislator said he plans to use Algonquin Township as the "poster child for a township government that needs to be eliminated immediately."

Gasser is a friend of McSweeney's who helped him on the campaign trail in past elections. McSweeney donated $6,300 to the political efforts of Gasser, according to campaign finance records. Gasser previously supported township consolidation when he served on the McHenry County Board.

“Township government is under the microscope right now because a lot of people see it as a wasteful form of government,” McSweeney said.

Proponents of small government have said the dysfunction inside Algonquin Township is not representative of townships as a whole.

“It’s ugly what’s going on with townships right now, and it’s a shame,” Ruth said. “I think townships, when run properly, are a very important part of our community.”

If township government goes away, officials said residents will see a dramatic decline in services they depend on.

“Township government, when run properly, is very efficient and is a service to residents that would otherwise not be getting that service,” Jennings said. “If you live on a township road, and suddenly the township goes away, who do you think is going to service that road?”

Bryan Smith, executive director of Township Officials of Illinois – an advocacy and educational organization that represents nearly all of the state’s 1,431 townships – said any misconduct at Algonquin Township should not be an indictment of township government as a whole.

“There are bad apples everywhere,” Smith said. “You don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. ... You have people everywhere that are pleased with township government.”

KNOW MORE

The McHenry County state’s attorney’s most recent public records request asks Nunda Township officials for these documents:

• General ledger reports for all financial statement accounts for the period from April 2014 to September 2017

• Report(s) of Receipts for all receipts for the period from April 2014 to September 2017

• Financial statements for the periods from April 2015 to September 2017 on a monthly and year-to-date basis

• Budget reports for the fiscal years 2013 to present

• All payroll registers, annual employee earnings reports, W-2 statements and W-3 statements for all pay dates from April 1, 2013, to September 30, 2017