Using position to point fingers

I should have paid more attention to the endorsements of the Tribune and Daily Herald when each characterized the state senate career of Kane County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen as quixotic.

I did not heed these warnings and voted for Lauzen. I also voted for my friend, Rob Russell. Russell ran for coroner in 2012 in an attempt to restore order, honor and integrity to an office that had been marred by scandal.

Russell and Lauzen won their elections and started work in December of 2012.

Russell then began the task of getting the office accredited and Lauzen began the task of repeatedly questioning Russell's actions as coroner. He took to micromanaging Russell's budget, even paying a former coroner $20,000 to audit the office, in order to insure Russell was not doing unnecessary autopsies. As a taxpayer, I am befuddled by the irony of paying $20,000 out of one office to see that another office does not exceed budget.

Russell achieved his goal for accreditation this summer. Instead of credit for the accomplishment, Lauzen attempted to discredit Russell by false statements about his proposed budget. Rob recently explained to me why Lauzen's attacks were a distortion of the facts. This was unnecessary, as I know Rob, and the tremendous character he brings to everything he does.

Things like his recent advocacy for heart and vascular screenings. Activities like this demonstrate that Russell is not only concerned about less autopsies but also less deaths in the county and is using his position to advocate for the people of Kane County.

Lauzen seems to only use his position to point fingers and diminish the work of true public servants like Russell. In 2016, I hope voters remember this, and make Lauzen's bid for a second term an impossible dream.

David Roller

Carpentersville