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County health department gets new leader Health professional from Texas chosen; will assume job in Oct. By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com
Illustration by Kristina Peters – kpeters@shawmedia.com
HIGHEST MONTHLY BILLS BY SUPERINTENDENTS IN 2013-14 The following shows what superintendents use their district-issued credit cards for and how much expenses they compile in a year. The featured districts are high school districts comparable to Community High School District 155. Crystal Lake School District 47 is included to show differences between high school and elementary districts. CRYSTAL LAKE DISTRICT 155 $5,235.03 $4,253.04 $1,931.46 2013-14 Total: $22,745.71
DISTRICT 47 $6,199.27 $5,459.16 $3,311.72 2013-14 Total: $20,973.55
GLENBARD $6,040.59 $2,596.43 $2,339.76 2013-14 TOTAL: $18,612.87
LEYDEN $9,578.86 $6,449.16 $3,679.57 2013-14 TOTAL: $25,543.14
ON THE NET View the credit card statements of the superintendents for Distrtict 155 and Distrcit 47 online at NWHerald.com.
How Crystal Lake D-155 superintendent’s credit card spending stacks up By JEFF ENGELHARDT jengelhardt@shawmedia.com CRYSTAL LAKE – From a $2,000 tab at Emeril’s in New Orleans to costly stays in San Diego, the business of education has become expensive for superintendent perks. In a comparison of three similar-sized high school districts, including Community High School District 155, superintendent credit card spending came in at the $20,000 range at each district during 2013-14. Leyden High School District 212 led the way at $25,543.14, District 155 was second at $22,745.71 and Glenbard High School District 87 was third at $18,612.87, which does not include June 2014 numbers that would have pushed the total to more than $20,000. David Larson, superintendent of District 87, said in his 16 years of serving as superintendent for multiple districts the costs of the position have increased. National conferences have become larger and more expensive to participate in as evidenced by the National School Board Association’s annual conference in New Orleans this past spring. As conferences are hosted in pricier hotels, it is important to have a system in place to keep spending in check, Larson said. “You have to have a second and third set of eyes looking regularly at expenses,” Larson said. “If someone is out of bounds, they may not realize it. It’s the organization’s moral compass that has to kick in and have a mechanism in place to let [a superintendent] know if something isn’t covered and should be reimbursed.” The responsibility can come
with a learning curve as each district is different. Johnnie Thomas, who will enter his third year as District 155 superintendent, said different districts use the card in different ways. At District 155, official business with board members is covered on the card, which is usual in many districts, he said. But because the card is tied into accounts that are part of budgeted expenses each year, Thomas said there are internal controls that limit the spending. Deciding which conferences to attend, such as a national certification program in San Diego, and which to pass on becomes the difficulty. “A lot of the costs are truly determined by the conference, so there is a little less control on our end,” Thomas said. “There are tons of conferences we have to pass over.” While conferences set the hotels and locations of events, government watchdog groups say potential for abuse still exists. Hundreds and thousands of dollars can be spent on meals or gas, and it can get tricky to determine what is appropriate and not. On District 155’s statements, examples of more than $100 spent at Panera Bread to $7 spent at McDonalds can be found, with the latter perhaps the more concerning. “It goes without saying that transparency is critical with credit card statements available to the public and press for scrutiny,” said Andy Shaw, president and CEO of the Better Government Association. “Our position is there should be as few of these cards – p-cards included – as possible, to limit potential problems.”
See SPENDING, page A4
WOODSTOCK – The McHenry County Board of Health chose an El Paso, Texas, health professional to lead the county’s department. Board members voted Monday evening to hire Michael Hill as the next public health administrator. He will assume the job in October and replace Patrick McNulty, who retired at the end of May after 35 years with the department, 13 of them as administrator. Hill is presently the executive director of the Pasa Del Norte Health Information Exchange, a nonprofit agency that connects information systems and records for area hospitals. Before that, Hill served as the CEO of the Texas Association of Local Health Officials, and spent more than four years as the public health director for El Paso, population 674,000. He said he looks forward to the challenge and to build on the department’s strengths.
He beat out 11 other finalists drawn from a pool of 55 applicants. “We’re doing pretty good. How can we get from pretty good to excellent, and make sure we’re doing what the [board of health] needs us to do?” Hill said. The health department oversees a $7 million budget – a balance of grants, local taxes and fees – and 135 full-time-equivalent employees, according to its 2013 annual report. Its responsibilities include restaurant inspections, animal control, monitoring disease outbreaks, health education and administering the federal Women, Infants and Children nutrition assistance program. Hill’s starting salary will be $135,000, according to the health department. While he will get four weeks of vacation, his contract is in line with other county employees and will not allow him to roll them over without limit.
See LEADER, page A4
AP file photo
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner answers questions Aug. 28 during the Metropolitan Planning Council’s annual luncheon in Chicago. Rauner and his opponent, Gov. Pat Quinn, appeared separately before the group for 25-minute moderated Q&A sessions.
Illinois governor’s race gets personal The ASSOCIATED PRESS CHICAGO – The Illinois governor’s race got personal Tuesday as Gov. Pat Quinn and Republican Bruce Rauner took pointed jabs at each other’s character and honesty over issues such as hiring, taxes and finances while sitting side-by-side during a televised editorial session. The nearl y 9 0 - m i n u t e Gov. Pat meeting before Quinn the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board was a clear sign the gloves are off in the nationally watched race in which the GOP sees a chance to take President Barack Obama’s home state, one of the last remaining Democratic strong-
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holds in the Midwest. Quinn, a Chicago Democrat, accused the venture capitalist of bribing lawmakers to oppose a pension overhaul he supported, lying about state pension business, “profiteering” and not taking responsibility for companies in which he had a stake. Rauner claimed Quinn misled taxpayers, harmed the state’s business climate, took money from special interests and continued the hiring practices of now imprisoned ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich. “You are engaged in the same patronage, the same corruption, the same cronyism that has plagued Illinois for decades, just like your partner and friend Rod Blagojevich,” Rauner said. Quinn said Rauner dodged
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See RACE, page A4