Candidates for Kane County Auditor face off at forum

Incumbent Kane County Auditor Penny Wegman, a Democrat, faced off against her Republican opponent Gretchen Butler Monday, Sept. 30 in the first of three candidate forums co-hosted by local Leagues of Women Voters.

Wegman, Butler and other candidates participated in the forum at Batavia City Hall in contested races on the Nov. 5 general election ballot.

Butler cited her 25 years of business experience - some of that owning a hardware store and running all the financials, plus being a project manager.

“I feel like I’m qualified for this position,” Butler said. “Looking at all the small and medium-sized transition audits that are being done outside of the office, bringing those in. Providing non-partisan leadership that crosses party lines.”

Butler said she would hold educational sessions through “a great portal that demonstrates transparency and authenticity, make myself available to groups that want to dive in a little more and want to learn more, be able to use that tool efficiently.”

In seeking a second term, Wegman cited her experience as the auditor since 2020 and having earned a master’s degree in business administration in 2016.

As a past Kane County Board member, Wegman said, she “gained knowledge and experience of county codes, policies and state statutes as well as understanding how the Kane County Board operates.”

“Today, we have increased access to the online county checkbook, developed an internship program, identified and helped the county board close policy gaps and created a purchase card audit process that increased transparency and increased revenue,” Wegman said.

Purchase cards are county credit cards issued to department heads.

Earlier this year, Wegman’s office received the Innovator Award from the International Association of Government Officials.

“We have accomplished a lot in the last four years, but we are not done yet,” Wegman said.

Wegman said of the three primary responsibilities of the auditor, “We audit all claims against the county.”

“That’s a huge one for us, takes up most of our time. We are the holder of all the contracts in the county and we do the quarterly reports.”

Butler the most important thing was “giving transparency to all expenses and things that are in the budget.”

“Also making sure that everything on the website and on that portal is accurate,” Butler said. “And then lastly, of course, that audits are done in a timely manner.”

Best candidate for the job

Butler said she has 25 years of business experience in bookkeeping and managing projects and managing a hardware store.

“I have a plethora of information as far as experience in managing people of all ages, as well as education levels,” Butler said. “I think it’s important to have the personality, the personal skills to be able to manage and interact with board members, county people. ... Lastly, I think I have what it takes to do the job.”

Wegman cited her MBA, the past four years as the auditor providing her knowledge of what applies to the office, laws associated with the position, codes, statutes and county policies that govern the office.

Why care about who’s auditor?

To a question of why should voters care about electing an auditor, Wegman said, “Ultimately, we have the most important role in the county.”

“We see every piece of finance that goes through the county, we see all the bills. We are the independent aspect of the county,” Wegman said.

“We have the ability to conduct audits without any interference from the county board or any other elected officials. Our job is to get the information out there,” Wegman said. “So it is – in my opinion – it is the most important position in the county.”

Butler said the auditor’s role is “extremely important” in that the auditor works with the finance director and treasurer’s office, county departments and leaders.

“In order to have transparency, it does need to be an independent office. It does need to be elected ... have transparency among the voters so that they know the money is taken care of and that it’s watched properly,” Butler said.

Goals

As to goals in the next term, Wegman said her office would continue looking at internal controls, increase transparency, do all audits, update training and “consistently diving deeper into purchases and contracts.”

“Currently, we are working with Purchasing and the Finance Department to look at updating outdated county financial policies, redefining the county travel policy, putting together and conducting updated ... accounts payable training, as well as the everyday auditing of accounts payable, where we are consistently diving deeper into purchases and contracts,” Wegman said.

Butler said she would look at all the policies and procedures, doing audits and streamlining the efficiencies, looking for areas that could be improved and “providing nonpartisan leadership.”

“I think it’s really important, especially in a day and age where we are very polarized in our parties ... it’s not a political office ... we’re basically protecting everybody’s money,” Butler said.

The Leagues of Women Voters of the Aurora Area, Elgin Area, and Central Kane County co-hosted the forum, and have scheduled two more.

The forums will be posted on BATV at mybatv.com and on the IL Voter Guide website illinoisvoterguide.org.