Illinois' new auditor general questioned about campaign expenses

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• By Judith Crown, Better Government Association

   

• Posted Feb. 14, 2016 at 10:00 PM

• Frank Mautino is off to a rocky start as Illinois auditor general.

  Not long after the former Democratic state representative from Spring Valley and House deputy majority leader took office Jan. 1, he was faced with questions about his use of campaign funds.

  Reports filed with the State Board of Elections show the Committee for Frank J. Mautino made loan repayments to a local bank that far exceeded the amount borrowed. The committee spent large sums on car repairs and gasoline at a single service station. In addition, Mautino’s political fundraising continued after he was confirmed as auditor general.

  The auditor general’s office serves as a financial watchdog over state agencies. The office ensures departments spend and report funds properly and comply with state and federal rules and regulations. Mautino succeeds William Holland, who retired after 23 years on the job.

  “The auditor general must adhere to the highest ethical standards,” said state Rep. Jason Barickman, R-Streator, co-chairman of the Legislative Audit Commission that oversees the auditor general’s office. Some of the reported campaign expenditures “don’t pass the smell test,” he said.

  Among the campaign spending in question:

  * Mautino’s campaign paid about $95,000 for repayment of loans and interest between 1999 and 2015, reports show, even though he took out loans from the bank totaling only $26,000 beginning in 1994.

  * Mautino’s campaign committee spent nearly $250,000 for car repairs and gasoline at the same service station in Spring Valley — Happy’s Super Service Station — since 1999 and more than $200,000 of that in the decade between 2005 and 2015.

  That averages to more than $50 a day for gasoline and repairs. About one third of the payments to Happy’s are in rounded numbers such as $1,500 or $800, unusual for garage bills, which typically tally specific charges for parts, labor and tax.

  * After his confirmation as auditor general on Oct. 20, Mautino continued to raise funds that he said were needed to shut down his legislative office and to clear campaign debts. His quarterly disclosure statement filed with the State Board of Elections as of Sept. 30 showed that had nearly $10,400 in funds and no debts or obligations. He raised $17,500 in the final quarter of the year.

  'Irregular' spending

  Mautino said in an interview last month that his final race in 2014 depleted his campaign funds and he “had bills to pay,” including the cost of closing his legislative office and paying staff.

  As for the other aspects of his campaign expenditures, Ryan Keith, a spokesman for Mautino, said in a late January statement that Mautino’s committee “fully disclosed and reported all spending by the campaign in compliance with Illinois campaign finance and disclosure laws. His reports fully detail campaign expenditures that were made to help defray the standard, reasonable expenses incurred while Frank performed the governmental and public service duties of serving as state representative of his large, mostly rural district.”….

• The Edgar County Watchdogs, which was at the forefront of raising questions about Mautino’s spending patterns, is pushing the auditor general to provide receipts and other documentation for his transactions. Meanwhile, Adam Andrzejewski, founder of OpenTheBooks.com, is calling on Mautino to step down….

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