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Chris Lauzen makes pitch for more power in Kane County

Kane County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen wants the county board to give him all the powers the state's attorney has told him he lacked. But board members didn't rush to rewrite his job description Tuesday night.

Lauzen engaged the board in a discussion about why he believes he should have at least the same spending authority as a county administrator or most other countywide elected officials. That discussion comes just weeks after one of those officials, State's Attorney Joe McMahon, said Lauzen illegally spent taxpayer dollars and improperly hired an outside law firm to pursue ideas to bring new income to the county.

Lauzen said that unlike officials in other counties, he serves as both a ceremonial chairman and supervisor of the day-to-day operations. At least that's what he believed when he ran for the elected office.

"I may be wrong, but I would suggest that an administrator can't do his or her role without the ability to spend money," Lauzen said.

He argued he needs that power to maintain smooth operations and a balanced budget. But only county board member Deb Allan spoke in support of Lauzen.

She said the county ran "like a well-oiled clock" until McMahon said Lauzen broke the law. She said she's not interested in hiring a full-time administrator or having the board run the operations.

"None of us is here thinking that we are going to operate the county on a daily basis, and it does operate on a daily basis," Allan said. "Every chairman designs that job as he or she saw fit. You're elected; you do the job."

Allan, along with board member Bill Lenert, has been among the few vocal supporters of Lauzen in recent weeks.

On Tuesday, Lenert spoke in favor only of reviewing existing job descriptions and organizational charts to see if any need improvement.

But board member Mark Davoust said he didn't see the need given how well even Lauzen speaks of the county running before McMahon's recent ruling.

"I'm not aware of any change to the structure," Davoust said. "The structure does work, and we have worked together, as a team, in Kane County. I think there's a reason that we have the structure that we do. I'm not eager to change it."

It didn't appear the rest of the board, though silent, was eager, either. Lauzen repeatedly asked the board for permission to bring in government efficiency experts to discuss the best county organization structures.

He also asked about making sure every county board member reads the existing rules and job descriptions.

"Is it all right for me to assume that everybody will read those pages?" Lauzen asked. "Who will pull the project together? Who will initiate, or which group of you will pull the project together to get that done?"

No one answered.

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