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Rutland assessor shutters office Closing comes after township trustees deny transfers to cover salaries By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO sdibenedetto@shawmedia.com HUNTLEY – The Rutland Township assessor on Wednesday sent her employees home and indefinitely closed her office, one day after Rutland trustees denied additional budget transfers that would have covered the assessor’s payroll for the month. Both assessor Janet Siers and the four Rutland trustees were expecting
the budget showdown. Siers earlier warned that the $15,900 the board transferred within her budget last month would not be enough to cover her employees’ salaries through March 31 – the end of Rutland’s current budget year. With her payroll budget now exhausted, Siers told her employees Wednesday to go home since they wouldn’t be paid for the month. She said she expects her office to be closed at least a month, until the township’s
new budget year starts April 1. “They refused to transfer money, so we will close the office,” Siers said. “It’s unfortunate they feel they have to make a power play. ... It’s really disgusting the way that this has been handled.” Rutland trustees contend that Siers did little to address her payroll expenses after they repeatedly warned her since the summer about cost overruns within her budget lineitem for salaries.
Even with her office closed, Siers herself will still receive a salary and can continue doing assessment work, said Trustee Fred Bulmahn. The assessor’s office included one full-time and four part-time employees. “She was playing loose all year long, and we felt we needed to draw the line. Budgets mean something,” Bulmahn said. “It was important to draw a lesson.” Siers’ decision to close her office is an unprecedented one in Kane
Horses helping veterans
County. The county’s assessment office ultimately may have to cover the work of Siers’ employees at a substantially higher cost with her office now closed, Siers said. Mark Armstrong, Kane County supervisor of assessment, told the Northwest Herald he knows about the closure and will consult with the State’s Attorney’s Office on the process going forward.
See ASSESSOR, page A4
Former coroner appears in court Lantz case shuffled between local judges By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com
Photos by Daryl Quitalig for Shaw Media
Volunteer Sarah Gonnet of Schaumburg directs a horse through “Temptation Alley” at an equestrian therapy session hosted Saturday by Operation Horses and Heroes Inc. in Woodstock. In this activity, the participant attempts to get a horse to walk a particular route that has a number of obstacles along the way and pieces of food the horse must resist eating. Along the way, they experience successes and obstacles to success, which the horse would not be able to overcome without outside help. This is similar to challenges in human lives.
Nonprofit uses animals to aid those with PTSD, brain injuries By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – Mike McGonigal had never saddled a horse before. But on a chilly day in a greenand-white barn off Route 176, the Carpentersville-based recruiter for the U.S. Army had to walk another veteran through saddling a horse one-handed while another veteran served as the other arm, directed by another veteran. The day of horse-assisted therapy activities was a bit of a trial run for Operation Horses and Heroes, a nonprofit that looks to use horses as a tool to help veterans deal with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries and learn coping techniques. The organization is in its second year, but this year the program has been revamped to include only equine-focused activities, said co-founder and President Jerry Paulsen. The Elgin native sees the organization as a way to give back to his fellow veterans. He had left the Army after nearly three decades to raise his two kids as a single dad. “It’s a way to help,” Paulsen said. “It’s kind of like the saying in the military about having a battle buddy. Horses are my bat-
Robin Skierka (far left), U.S. Air Force veteran and board member of Madison, Wis., and Keith French (far right), U.S. Marine Corps veteran and board member, take direction from Staff Sgt. Mike McGonigal (second from left) of Crystal Lake and volunteer Janet Piazza of Palatine on saddling up a horse during the activity “Extended Appendages” at an equestrian therapy session Saturday. McGonigal acted as the one half of the “brain,” directing Skierka, his “arm,” and Piazza as the other half of the brain directed French. The arms could not take any direction from the opposite side of the brain, nor could they speak any thoughts. tle buddy, and now we’re giving this to them.” The program differs from many other equine therapy programs because it includes only ground activities, equine thera-
py expert Shannon Hautala said. Participants never get on the horse during the four or so days the program is tentatively set to run. “[Riding programs] don’t work
because they’re not actually digging into any of the underlying problems,” she said. “They’re not actually dealing with any of the
See HORSES, page A4
WOODSTOCK – Attorneys spent the morning shuffling between courtrooms as it’s becoming apparent that it could be difficult to find a judge to hear the case against a former coroner. Marlene Lantz, who was McHenry County coroner for 24 years, made her first court appearance Wednesday on charges of official misconduct and forgery. She was flanked by about a dozen supporters, including Jim Harrison, whom she backed last year in Harrison’s failed bid for McHenry County sheriff. Harrison ran against current Sheriff Bill Prim, who was supported by McHenry Marlene County State’s Attor- Lantz ney Louis Bianchi. Prosecutors allege that Lantz, 68, of McHenry failed to properly dispose of or bury the remains of a fetus that was found earlier this year in the coroner’s office. The fetus was miscarried at 7½ to 8 months in 1992 and never buried, according to court documents. The bill of indictment also alleges that Lantz in 1997 signed a false death certificate that indicates that the remains were buried. Jamie Wombacher, an attorney for Lantz, filed court documents Wednesday asking that the case be moved from McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather. From there, it went before Judge Gordon Graham. The state then filed its own motion for a substitution of judge from Graham. The state often moves cases from Graham’s call. Graham was the judge who approved the hiring of special prosecutors who eventually had Bianchi indicted on corruption charges that were later thrown out at trial because of a lack of sufficient evidence. After all of the shuffling, Lantz’s case landed before Judge Robert Wilbrandt, but he’s on vacation. The case is next up on March 19. Neither Wombacher nor Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Combs would comment on the reason behind asking for a new judge.
See EX-CORONER, page A4
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Illinois justices press state’s lawyer on reform measure / B3
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