DuPage sheriff apparently not talking to chairman
DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin says he's willing to sit down and talk with Sheriff John Zaruba about a budget disagreement.
But Zaruba apparently doesn't want to meet with Cronin.
The county's top cop hasn't communicated with his fellow Republican since sending a letter last month voicing displeasure with Cronin's proposed $443.8 million county budget for the 2016 fiscal year, which starts Dec. 1.
If approved in its current form, the budget plan would increase the sheriff department's annual spending from roughly $40.4 million to about $40.8 million. But the department isn't slated to get as much as Zaruba sought, and his request to purchase body cameras has been rejected. DuPage County also doesn't plan to buy replacement squad cars next year.
In addition, the county is looking to reduce the authorized full-time head count at the sheriff's office by 10 positions to 520 employees.
Zaruba wrote in his Sept. 18 letter to Cronin that the proposed budget “will not only reduce my ability to perform my statutory duties, it will dilute my ability to perform any critical supportive public safety function.”
Cronin strongly disagrees, saying public safety is his “No. 1 concern.”
“If he doesn't like our budget, come in here like a responsible adult, and let's talk about it,” Cronin said. “Maybe there are trade offs and things that we can do.”
With the county facing a Nov. 30 deadline to approve the budget, a face-to-face meeting between Cronin and Zaruba has yet to occur.
Cronin says Zaruba's refusal to meet is the latest in a string of failed opportunities for them to work together.
“I am very proud of the progress we have made here at the county,” said Cronin, adding he and other countywide elected officials have worked to find ways to save taxpayers money.
“But the one major obstacle to comprehensive reform and realizing the full potential of our savings and efficiencies has been the sheriff,” Cronin said. “He has been a large, immovable obstacle.”
Calls and emails to Zaruba and his spokeswoman weren't returned on Friday.
County government in DuPage is facing “some monumental” financial challenges because of the budget impasse in Springfield. Cronin said there's a strong possibility the county will get less money from the state.
Zaruba, meanwhile, continues to battle Cronin and the county board when it comes to his department's budget, officials said.
“He doesn't engage with us,” Cronin said. “He doesn't participate in any discussion about how we can find savings and efficiencies. He doesn't collaborate. He just goes back, hides and sends out intermediaries to fight us — to object.”
One example is sheriff's office Chief Al Angus telling the Daily Herald that the department's three-person cold-case unit “may have to be reassigned” because of the proposed head count reduction.
“The sheriff's office is already running as lean as it can with the services that we provide,” Angus said. “The reduction of 10 will have to be evaluated as to where they will come from. It appeared that the chairman wants these cuts to come from the law enforcement side.”
In August, Zaruba requested a budget of roughly $40.9 million for the sheriff's office for 2016. His request to replace aging video cameras in squad cars with a new recording system that includes body cameras would have cost the county more than $1.1 million.
He also asked for the department's head count to remain at 530.
But John Curran, the county board's vice chairman, says the sheriff's office has been operating below its 530 head count for the past three years. This year, the department has averaged 522 full-time employees.
Curran said the sheriff's office could reduce its staff through attrition.
County board members, meanwhile, say they're willing to work with Zaruba to find ways to trim the department's budget without affecting public safety.
Still, county board member Paul Fichtner, who is chairman of the finance committee, said he hasn't been contacted by Zaruba “regarding any aspect of his budget.”
In fact, Fichtner said he didn't know about the budget's impact on the sheriff's cold-case unit until a reporter told him about it.
“You mean to tell me that he's made overtures about having to cut specific things based on the budget that's been presented, and this is the first time we're hearing about it?” Fichtner said.
Fichtner said the county board each year asks Zaruba to provide specific details about how his budget is being spent. He said the sheriff refuses to provide that information.
Curran said the information Zaruba does provide “doesn't give the board any ability to learn and examine the very diverse areas of the operation.”
As a countywide elected official, Zaruba gets the final say on how he spends his budget. In his letter Sept. 18, he accused Cronin of “knowingly and intentionally attempting to interfere with the internal operations of my office through your power of appropriations.”
Cronin said he simply wants Zaruba to do what every other countywide elected official has done — to work cooperatively with the county board.
“We know there are huge savings that could be realized if he would just be part of the team,” Cronin said. “We need him to step up and be part of the solution — not part of the problem.”