Citizens group makes suggestions to improve Lake County government

A nonprofit organization formed 12 years ago over concerns about property tax assessments and appeals has resurfaced to make suggestions to the reconstituted Lake County Board about transparency and fairness in various departments.

Citizens Action Project is not alleging wrongdoing but believes it's a good time to make the case for continued progress in various areas as there are several new board members. They include Grayslake resident John Wasik, who co-founded the group but is no longer affiliated.

"Since we started in 2007, we've been very pleased with the county in general," said Steve Minsky, Citizens Action Project president. "It's really well-run, but we felt things could be better."

In a letter to Interim County Administrator Amy McEwan and all 21 board members, the organization introduced itself and attached a document outlining opportunities to improve county government with respect to fairness, accountability, transparency and optimal costs.

Observations are listed by department and vary in terms of specificity and the outcome sought. Examples include polling the court system and law enforcement to determine needs for transparency that should be addressed in the coroner's office, and determining the cause of increases in the information technology department when technology is supposed to streamline and consolidate county actions and duties.

There also are some meatier requests, such as evaluating the county health department's performance and procedures in addressing the issue of toxic emissions from companies.

The stated goal of Citizens Action Project is to make fairness, accountability and transparency the rule rather than the exception in government. The group is best known for working with state legislators on a transparency law that led to the blue assessment notices sent to property owners.

The organization says that over the years, it has held many sessions to help taxpayers understand their assessments and property tax bills, and it has been successful in making rules and assessment hearings more fair and transparent.

The letter was briefly mentioned Friday during the county board's informal committee-of-the-whole session in which Tuesday's meeting agenda and other items are discussed.

Board member Judy Martini, who represents Fox Lake and areas to the south, asked whether the county would respond.

"I'm sharing it with departments," McEwan said. "We don't respond to every letter we get."

Board Chairwoman Sandy Hart said she did respond and thanked the group for its interest. Suggestions will be taken under advisement, and some could surface during budget discussions, she later said.

There appears to be a chance some could surface sooner.

"There were quite a few issues here I would welcome (board) committees to discuss," Martini said.