Q&A with Sandor

1. Why are you running for this office, whether for re-election or election the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you, and if so, what? What will be your main priority?

I believe that the office of Kane County Auditor for a number of years has become increasingly ineffective and has had the responsibilities of that office diminished through acts of both the current and past administrations rendering it unable to fulfill the duties assigned to it by state statute. I seek this office to revitalize the office and provide the taxpayers of Kane County with independent analysis and oversight of the assets they entrust to the county .

2. For incumbents and non-incumbents. If you are an incumbent, describe your main contributions. Tell us of important initiatives you've led. If you are not an incumbent, tell us what contributions you would make.

As an accountant with 35 years in both public and private practice, I would bring fresh set of eyes to the office of auditor. My professional experience is in a wide range of areas such as real estate accounting and transactions, fraud investigation, payroll administration as well as general accounting. Between 1991 and 1995, I was one of the lead accounting investigators for the attorneys hired by the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System to investigate and recover over 500 million in misappropriated funds from the state pension system. Also, as a former member of the Elgin City Council, I bring the perspective and experience of an individual who was in a policy making role and understands the types of information and analysis needed by the policy makers in order to make an informed decision on the utilization of assets.

3. Should the auditor's office take more control over how tax money is expended within various county departments? Or should each elected official have total control over the dollars within his or her budget? Specifically, define how you view the auditor's oversight responsibility.

By statute and practice, the auditor's office does not and should not have direct control of how tax money is expended by the county and its departments. It is the responsibility of the county board, with input from the elected department heads, to determine the amounts budgeted from all revenue sources to administer county governments. The role of the auditor is to assure that internal control systems are in place to safeguard the assets allocated to each department and to act as independent oversight into the disbursement and receipt of those funds. Additionally, the auditor should be a resource to department heads and county board members when it comes to issues related to internal control and decisions on the allocation of assets and provide analysis and alternatives for consideration.

4. What would you do to improve the effectiveness of the position?

I would institute a system of periodic internal control audits of each department. Currently, department-wide internal control audits appear to be done only on the change of officeholder or at the request of the department head. I propose to set up a system, where every department has an internal control audit once every two years. I also would propose to publish all reports of the office of auditor, along with recommendations and responses from the entity under audit on the county Web site. This is not currently being done and would give the citizens of Kane County a greater insight into they way their government handles funds entrusted to it.

5. Not including those issues already identified above, is there another issue you believe will affect the auditor's office over the next four years? If so, define it and explain how you would like to see it addressed.

The key issue facing the auditor in the next four years will be the ability to provide effective services and information to county government during times of a decline in revenue. As the economic downturn continues, it becomes increasingly important to make sure that internal control and oversight are in place and monitored to minimize the errors or misappropriation of assets under the control of the county. This function has been made more difficult by the fact that the office of the auditor has a very small staff in relation to the amount of transactions and assets under its oversight.

6. Please list the names of all relatives employed by or involved in contracts with Kane County, their relationship to you and their position or area of business.

To the best of my knowledge I do not have any relatives employed by or involved in contracts with Kane County.