Who's to blame for water commission mess?

In the wake of the DuPage Water Commission's discovery that at least $19 million has been misappropriated from its reserve fund, the finger-pointing has begun.

The commission should have about $26 million in reserves, but preliminary investigations indicate only about $7 million remains. Commission officials believe reserve dollars were improperly used to pay for operational expenses, and the depletion was never recorded. The commission is now looking to borrow $30 million in order to help pay off nearly $53 million worth of construction debt that comes due between now and May 1.

Much of the blame is being heaped on the commission's former finance administrator, Max Richter, who went on sick leave about two months ago and then abruptly resigned in October. The commission's auditing firm is also feeling the heat, as is commission General Manager Robert Martin. Both missed the reserve spending and accounting errors allegedly perpetrated by Richter. Residents are also blaming board members for failing to monitor the commission's cash flow.

There's even a cadre of critics blaming DuPage County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom because the county received $75 million of the commission's reserves seven years ago when the fund had bloated to roughly $115 million.

"That is absolutely not the case," Schillerstrom said Thursday. "It's clear as day that this was caused by mismanagement by the staff of the water commission."

The state legislature granted the county access to the $75 million through $15 million increments over five years, and the funds were used to help plug the county's budget gap.

Commission board member and Carol Stream Village President Frank Saverino said that was a bad move on the legislature's part.

"I think the problems started there because the commission was afraid the county was going to do that again," he said.

But other commissioners disagree with Saverino.

"It's ridiculous," said board member Jim Zay. "It's been two years since the county stopped collecting that money."

Longtime commission board member and Lombard Village President Bill Mueller said he's waiting until a special "forensic audit" is completed before he casts blame on anyone, but he doesn't believe the county's cash grab had anything to do with it.

"That's an issue of the past," he said. "This was caused by sloppy record-keeping."

Schillerstrom, who is responsible for appointing commission board members, said the board was not at fault.

"The board did nothing wrong, and it's possible they were actually misled by staff," he said.

The board meets Thursday to discuss the loan further and will also discuss behind closed doors possible legal action against the commission's auditing firm that missed the mistakes, board members said.