County consulting fees an election topic

Kane County board candidates in Districts 26 and 14 are lining up on either side of the consultant fee question.

Drew Frasz of LaFox, who is seeking the District 26 seat, told the Daily Herald editorial board that in reviewing the county board budget he noticed an increase from $47,699 in 2005 to $343,454 for consulting fees in 2006, and is concerned that consultants might be making contributions to politicians' campaigns in exchange for contracts.

Frasz also said he has no connection to the campaign of county board chairman candidate Jim MacRunnels, though his campaign Web site does feature a link to MacRunnels' campaign Web site.

Frasz' opponent, incumbent Jan Carlson of Elburn, defends the consulting fees.

"We are in a growth mode," he said, noting major county road and building construction projects under way or recently finished, and said that the majority of the consultants are engineers. He expects spending on consultants will decline as those projects end.

In District 14, challenger Tina Yagla of Geneva also cited the 620 percent increase in consulting fees from 2005 to 2006.

"We have engineers and lawyers who should be able to put in the time to work through these things," she said. She was particularly critical of the $15,000 the county board recently agreed to spend as part of a joint $65,000 study on how to get Pace to keep the Route 529 Randall Road bus route.

"I can't imagine what it would take to spend $65,000 to study this route," she said.

Her opponent, incumbent Mark Davoust of St. Charles, said the 620 percent figure might not be accurate, as projects are rolled over from budget year to budget year. He also cited the number of big projects the county has had as a reason for increased consulting fees.

"In committee, I ask is it something we truly lack the expertise in, and are we learning from them." Davoust said. The Stearns Road bridge, the new jail -- "these are things you want to get right the first time."