Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS October 23, 2014 Volume 47, Number 34 - $1.00
Hawks Win Again
Wellness Fair
Barn Fire
The Hawks football team comes from behind to beat Mendota 21-17. Next up, Stillman. B1
Health was the topic at the Rock River Center on Oct. 17. A7
A rural Rochelle man was injured when his barn exploded on Oct. 16. B3
Questions raised over audit of Sheriff’s tow fund Auditor speaks at two meetings on Tuesday By Vinde Wells Editor An auditing firm’s findings about the Ogle County Sheriff’s tow fund left county board members searching for answers. James Sullivan, director of dispute advisory for Sikich LLP, Naperville, told the board Tuesday night that his firm’s forensic examination revealed that more than $10,000 is unaccounted for and that $61,713 was deposited into the tow fund that was meant for the General Fund.
The tow fund ledger was inaccurate and incomplete, Sullivan reported. Cash payments were kept in a file drawer in the Harn’s executive secretary’s office, which was sometimes left unlocked, he said. In many cases records simply cannot be found, Sullivan said. “There are some outstanding issues we can’t get answers to,” he said. “We identified a complete breakdown of internal controls.” Board member Martin Typer, Stillman Valley, said the situation is an offense to other county departments and employees who do their best to carefully spend and account for their funds. Board chairman Kim
Gouker, Byron, agreed. “This whole situation is an unfortunate stain on this county,” he said. “This gross malfeasance has hurt everyone.” Sullivan told the board the forensic examination revealed that more than $10,000 is unaccounted for and that $61,713 was deposited into the tow fund that was meant for the General Fund. The tow fund ledger was inaccurate and incomplete, Sullivan reported. Cash payments were kept in a file drawer in the Harn’s executive secretary’s office, which was sometimes left unlocked, he said. In many cases records simply cannot be found, Sullivan said.
“There are some outstanding issues we can’t get answers to,” he said. “We identified a complete breakdown of internal controls.” Gouker said the lack of records makes it impossible to determine if money was misappropriated. Sullivan said the very first deposit made into the tow fund was a check from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency for $12,920 which should have gone into the General Fund. Besides that, only 10,000 of the check was deposited. The whereabouts of the remainder is a mystery, Sullivan said. “The check was from IEMA, and it had no business being in the tow fund,” Gouker said.
Board member Pat Saunders, Polo, said her understanding is that the check was a grant to cover deputies’ overtime for working during a blizzard. Board member Dick Petrizzo, Davis Junction, asked if Harn has seen the forensic examination report. Gouker said that he has. “He’s upset this happened. He knows it’s his fault,” Gouker said. “I asked him if he was coming to the meeting tonight. He said he was not.” Board member Lee Meyers, Byron, asked if Harn had violated any laws by putting money meant for the General Fund into the tow fund and spending it. “I don’t know if he’s violated any laws, but he’s violated a lot of ethics and the
public’s trust,” Gouker said. Petrizzo said that in light of the report’s findings he thought about asking for a forensic examination of the sheriff’s county-issued credit card. However, he decided it would be better to wait until new sheriff Brian Van Vickle, Rochelle, takes over Dec. 1. Van Vickle defeated Harn in the March primary election for the Republican Party nomination for sheriff and is running unopposed in the Nov. 4 general election. Besides being sheriff, Harn is also Forreston Village President and was hired in May by the Forrestville Valley School Board as maintenance coordinator for the district. Turn to A9
Hazardous waste will be disposed By Chris Johnson Reporter A long line of vehicles was a welcome sight for workers at the hazardous waste collection last Saturday morning in Oregon. “We had 441 vehicles representing 520 households at the collection this year,” said Ogle County Solid Waste Management Director Steve Rypkema. “The morning was the busiest time of the event.” Residents were allowed to bring batteries, old paint, and chemicals to the collection to ensure they were properly recycled and disposed. Rypkema said overall numbers for the event were lower then he expected, but that could be due to education. “It is hard to predict the turnout for these events,” said Rypkema. “Next time we would like to do this in the spring.” The department has been working on educating the public over the years about proper disposal of household chemicals. “We have educated the public about all the options available for proper disposal
and this event is only one of these options,” said Rypkema. “It is very important to keep these chemicals out of our sewers and rivers.” Once chemicals enter the water system it can cause numerous side effects for plants and animals. “We need to avoid accidental poisoning and we need a solution to the common items that are hazardous,” said Rypkema. “Even CFLs (compact florescent light bulbs) are hazardous.” Those bulbs contain mercury, he said. “CFLS were a stepping stone to reducing waste and now we have LEDs which do not have the danger and last for years,” he said. No exact totals were tabulated for the collection, but there were 85 lead acid batteries and hundreds of gallons of chemicals and John Haley, Lamont, pushes a cart of old paint Saturday morning during the hazardous waste collection hosted by paint. the Ogle County Solid Waste Department. Photo by Chris Johnson The collection also included clothing for Serenity Home and Hospice. “We had 10 bags of clothing donated for hospice,” said By Chris Johnson Rypkema. “This was the first Reporter time that we collected for
Ramp will help Oregon homeowner
Turn to A2
Promises over the years to build a handicapped ramp were finally realized for one Oregon homeowner following a fire last month. Michelle Schoening, who uses a motorized wheel chair for additional mobility, had a small kitchen fire on Sept. 4 at her home on Moring Court. She was unable to exit the home. Oregon firefighters who responded to the scene knew they needed to fix this situation. “The Oregon Firefighters Association agreed to build a ramp for her home,” said assistant fire chief Randy Travis. “We knew after that Volunteer Mark Vice and firefighter Randy Travis work on a new ADA compliant ramp Steve Rypkema, Director of the Ogle County Solid Waste fire that this was a safety at the home of Michelle Schoening Monday morning. Schoening had a small fire in issue that we could fix.” Department, directs traffic at the hazardous waste the home on Sept. 4 and was unable to escape the home so the Oregon Firefighters collection Saturday morning. Photo by Chris Johnson Turn to A2 Association agreed to build the ramp. Photo by Chris Johnson
In This Week’s Edition...
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B5
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B3 Public Voice, A8 Property Transfers, B4
Sheriff’s Arrests, B5 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B5
Deaths, B4 Orrie L. Allen, Barbara Jean Bordner, James A. Daws, Dorothy V. Martin, Robert B. Pelsma, Hazel V.A. Schwiegart, Roy Van Raden
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com