Keep close controls on government officials' spending
Who ate the beef tenderloin dinner, what happened to the six holiday throws and which staffers were thanked with a party at Saluto's Pizza and Pasta in Gurnee? The fact that the details aren't readily available to the public points up the need for tighter spending controls at the Wildwood Park District.
The park district, with an $819,000 budget to serve 4,000 residents in an unincorporated area near Gurnee, is a crystal clear example of why the many small government agencies across the suburbs need accounting practices as scrupulous as any larger agency.
Lackluster record-keeping and vague spending guidelines opened Director Maureen Jekot to criticism when some residents became upset over management of the park district's Valley Lake. When the unhappy residents focused on spending and pointed to about $6,000 charged on park district credit cards for food and gifts in 2013 and 2014, some details were missing. The reasons for some expenditures, the people at some dinners and some itemized receipts couldn't be found, as Daily Herald Staff Writer Bob Susnjara wrote Sunday.
Board treasurer Dan Van Erden said the park district has taken steps toward better record-keeping, including requiring lists be kept of people attending taxpayer-financed restaurant events. The expenses questioned by constituents include $120.45 in groceries, including two beef tenderloins and apple pie at a Pick 'n Save store four days before Christmas 2013; $177.20 for six "long winters nap" throws shipped to Jekot's home in December 2014; $288.50 in June 2014 for food from Saluto's Pizza and Pasta in Gurnee and $132.98 on a teacher appreciation luncheon in May 2014 at Giordano's restaurant in Gurnee.
Van Erden and Jekot said there was nothing wrong with how the money was spent. The food and restaurant costs were for staff appreciation events, they said, and the throws were for "staff safety annual awards."
That may well be true. The problem is when the records are not complete or clear, the public can't make that judgment, and the entire process is left open to question.
We suggest the board review guidelines for taxpayer-funded gifts and dinners to recognize staff and volunteers. If the guidelines aren't in writing, they should be. With charges on four credit cards in 2013 and 2014 in a park district that has three full-time employees, it seems clear there's room to tighten control over credit cards.
In September 2014, Jekot charged $193.14 on a Wildwood Park District credit card at Archer House River Inn in Northfield, Minn., near where her daughter goes to college. Jekot later wrote a personal check to the park district to cover the tab, but it suggests a casualness about the use of park district credit cards that should be reined in.
What's the easiest way to prove park district credit card use is above board? Post credit card expenditures and the reasons for the expense online every month. We suggest Wildwood Park District - and all government agencies - do so. When people come looking for answers, they'll be right there on the website, where anyone can find them.