Pillai challenges Brophy for Will County treasurer

The contest for Will County treasurer has been spiced up a bit with both candidates questioning whether the other has been as financially on the ball as he should be.

Plainfield accountant Raj Pillai is trying to unseat Will County Treasurer Tim Brophy in the Nov. 8 election.

Brophy, a former Joliet City Council member, was in the same position four years ago, when he won his first term as treasurer and beat the incumbent.

Brophy is the Democrat in the race, and Pillai is the Republican.

Pillai has yet to hold elected office but has been in the forefront of a controversy at the Veterans Assistance Commission of Will County, questioning a $495,000 no-bid marketing contract and even the legitimacy of the executive board that now oversees the agency.

“I think the system failed in the case of the VAC before the money went out, and no one questioned why we spend so much money on marketing,” Pillai said.

Pillai said Brophy is one of the officials that should have questioned the spending.

Brophy called the accusation “a nothing sandwich,” saying the treasurer has no authority to decide how the county spends money. The treasurer’s job is to make sure that funds are available and that checks are properly made out, he said.

“I don’t get to decide what checks leave the building or don’t leave the building,” Brophy said.

Brophy said his experience as a real estate broker and former banker, along with a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago, serve him well in the treasurer’s office, which collects property taxes as well as sends checks out from the county.

“Half of the problems we encounter with taxpayers are over errors made in real estate transactions,” Brophy said, saying that his real estate expertise as an asset in dealing with those issues.

Pillai points to his background as a certified public accountant.

“I was in the private sector auditing companies that were publicly regulated,” he said. “That gave me experience following how companies should follow strict government regulations.”

Brophy has raised questions about Pillai’s finance filings with the state elections board, contending that he should do better with his CPA experience.

“Campaign finance laws require that you file accurately and on time,” Brophy said. “My opponent has failed to do that.”

Not so, said Pillai, who contends that he has not filed late but has filed amendments to his campaign financing reports as allowed by law.

“People file amendments all the time,” he said.

In turn, Pillai pointed to a $300 fine levied by the state election board against Brophy in 2019.

Between the two of them, Pillai said, “he’s the only candidate who has been fined by the Board of Elections.”

More information about Pillai and Brophy can be found in their responses to candidate questionnaires posted in the election section on The Herald-News website.