Political squabble behind Antioch Township assessor's office move

Antioch Township leaders admit political infighting is at least partially to blame for Assessor Heather Kufalk-Marotta's moving out of the township building on Deep Lake Road and into an $1,000-a-month Main Street office two months ago.

However, officials said the move has created a more peaceful work environment for clashing employees and public officials.

"I think the move was, at least, partially political," Township Supervisor Steven Smouse said. "But since the move, it has been nice and calm at the office. We now work in a nice, tranquil atmosphere."

But one township official said the move was and will continue to be a waste of taxpayer money just to put space between employees and township officials who can't seem to get along.

"It's completely ridiculous," township Trustee Peter Grant said.

At issue is Kufalk-Marotta's decision to leave the township building July 13 and move the assessor's office to a downtown strip mall July 17.

The cost of the move and renovations to the office totaled about $12,000, Kufalk-Marotta said. The township will pay $1,000 monthly in rent, as well as utility costs.

The money is coming out of the assessor's $324,000 annual budget, Kufalk-Marotta said. She said she did not seek additional funding from the township to pay for the move.

Kufalk-Marotta said the benefits of moving include easier building access for senior residents and a more open floor plan that allows for better interoffice communication. The rented office is 1,000 square feet, about half the space she shared with township employees at the previous office.

"It seems bigger because we are not sharing a space," Kufalk-Marotta said.

The largest benefit is that her office's employees are no longer required to assist township employees in the main office, she added. Previously, she said, assessor employees would have to answer phones and help customers when township employees were out to lunch or out of the office.

"This is a better environment for us in the assessor's office," she said. "I was elected as an assessor, not a supervisor. But we were doing the supervisor's work, not the work of the assessor's office."

Smouse said tensions between the two offices began after he defeated Jack Fields for township supervisor in 2013. Kufalk-Marotta threatened to put up a temporary wall to keep the office staffs from interacting, but cooler heads prevailed and it was never done, Smouse said.

After Smouse won re-election this year over former township Trustee Tom Shaughnessy and Denise Mandigo, the infighting resumed, he said. This time, Kufalk-Marotta made good on the threat and purchased temporary divider walls for $4,232 to partition the two offices, invoices show.

However, shortly after the walls were delivered, Kufalk-Marotta found the downtown office space and moved out of the township building. The temporary walls lie uninstalled at the township supervisor's office, Kufalk-Marotta said. She said she intended to return the dividers to the manufacturer, but a mix-up when moving the walls around resulted in the packages' being opened, making them not returnable.

"We are debating what to do with them (the walls)." she said.

The office lease, which started June 1, at 1490 Main St. in downtown Antioch runs for four years. Rent will increase $50 annually. Meeting minutes show the township board did not approve the lease until June 8.

"I've heard a lot of taxpayer complaints about this," Grant said. "If she spent only $10 on this move, it's still a waste of taxpayer money."