Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Rockford Register Star outraged by Winnbago Co. Chairman’s private use of county purchased equipment

  • Our View: Politics, health have nothing to do with perceived abuse of Winnebago County tax dollars

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  • By The Editorial Board
    Rockford Register Star

    Posted Jan. 20, 2016 at 5:00 PM

    Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen is “disappointed in journalist for taking advantage of personal health issues for headlines.”
    We’re outraged that Christiansen thinks it’s OK to have an item paid for by taxpayers delivered to his home for personal use.
    In typical kill-the-messenger fashion, Christiansen took to Facebook to complain about reporter Isaac Guerrero’s story headlined “FBI seizes county sauna.”
    The story is not about Christiansen’s privacy rights or health issues; it’s about perceived abuse of taxpayer dollars. It’s not a lot of money — the sauna cost about $4,200. It's the principle of the thing — public dollars used for private purposes. Christiansen’s use of the sauna may not be illegal, but it shows a lapse in judgment.
    We expect public officials to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. They often disappoint.
    Christiansen has been County Board chairman since he was appointed in 2004. The Editorial Board has praised many, if not most, of his initiatives so much so that other elected officials have asked how they could get equally favorable opinions written about them.
    Our response has been: “Do the right things in the right ways.”
    Christiansen diverged from the “right ways” mantra with his personal use of a taxpayer-funded item.
    He does not dispute the facts.
    — FBI agents seized a sauna Dec. 17 as part of the agency’s investigation into county purchasing irregularities.
    — The sauna had been in Christiansen’s home for about a year before he and his brother dismantled it and took it to the basement of the downtown Public Safety Building where it could be used in the county’s wellness program.
    Check with your boss (we did). If you had something paid for by the company delivered to your house for personal use, even if it is for a “trial period,” would you have a job tomorrow? (Our boss said no.)
    Christiansen’s defense is lame: “To try to tie a federal investigation into an effort to treat a health condition is inappropriate and simply politics of the worst kind,” he posted on Facebook.
    Our reporter made the connection based on facts that became public after FBI agents confiscated the sauna. Christiansen volunteered information, acknowledging that he was waiving his HIPPA rights. Also, for Christiansen to hint that our reporter pursued the story because this is an election year is beneath Christiansen.
    Christiansen is being challenged in the March 15 Republican primary by Frank Haney, chairman of the Rock Valley College board of trustees,
  • It’s never good news when the feds are investigating what’s going on within a taxing entity in your community. They tend to be very thorough so there’s no telling what they might dig up.

If the feds find more improprieties, “disappointed” would not be a strong enough word to use.

Above is from:   http://www.rrstar.com/opinion/20160120/our-view-politics-health-have-nothing-to-do-with-perceived-abuse-of-winnebago-county-tax-dollars/?Start=2

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