County should require agency's transparency

The Lake County Board annually makes a $387,690 contribution of taxpayer money to Lake County Partners, a private business advocacy group. This goes well beyond paying dues to an organization like the Lake County Chamber of Commerce. In fact, it is nearly 40% of Partners' budget and when contributions from other governmental agencies in Lake County are added, taxpayers are providing more than $500,000, which is 50% of Partners' total budget. And yet Partners' operates outside of transparency laws designed to protect taxpayer funds.

Beyond using taxpayer money to fund this private organization, six members of the 19-member Lake County Board/Forest Preserve Board serve on the Lake County Partners Board, in essence making Partners an agency of the Lake County government.

In the spirit of transparency and openness, the Lake County Board should require that as a condition of this $387,690 contribution the Lake County Board require Lake County Partners to operate under the guidelines of the Illinois Open Meetings and Open Records Laws.

Lake County Partners has refused to provide its budget, meeting minutes and a breakdown of its sources of revenue. Why the secrecy?

Bill Morris

Lake Forest