Rotheimer unveils three-point plan for county board

Democratic Lake County Board candidate Denise Rotheimer has unveiled a three-point plan she says will make property assessments fairer, curtail wasteful spending and reduce nepotism in county government.

One strategy calls for regular audits of the county budget. Another calls for a ban on hiring relatives of countywide elected officials.

"It creates too many conflicts of interest," she said.

Her Republican opponent, longtime incumbent Stevenson Mountsier, agreed "it looks bad" when relatives of county officials are on the county payroll, but questioned whether the county board legally could enact such restrictions. It may be a fight for the General Assembly, he said.

Mountsier also said the county already audits the budget.

"We've been doing that for years," he said.

Rotheimer, of Barrington, and Mountsier, of Lake Barrington, are competing for a 4-year term representing the 17th District in southwestern Lake County. County commissioners also serve on the Lake County Forest Preserve District board.

Mountsier has served on the county board since 1996. Rotheimer is making her first bid for public office.

Property taxes was one of the issues Rotheimer railed about in a recent statement e-mailed to the Daily Herald.

She said she backs capping property assessment increases at 7 percent annually. A four-year-old law leaves the decision to county boards, but it's been unpopular so far.

Critics have said an assessment cap doesn't change how much money a government collects in taxes, just who's paying. A cap could especially hurt businesses and apartment dwellers who'd face rent increases, they've said.

The Lake County board reviewed the cap proposal in 2004 but didn't think it was a smart move, Mountsier recalled.

Rotheimer also targeted the spending habits of the county board and forest board. She called for line-by-line, independent audits of both agencies' budgets that would examine the disbursement "of each and every dollar of local, state and federal revenue."

Just because the budgets are balanced doesn't mean money's being spent appropriately, Rotheimer said.

Mountsier countered by saying the county's spending plans already are audited, during the budget-making process and during the year.

Additionally, budget-related meetings are open to the public and the documents can be reviewed by anyone, Mountsier said.

Finally, Rotheimer pledged to introduce an ethics plan that would ban relatives of countywide elected officials from being employed by the county or the forest district.

She pointed to Sheriff Mark Curran and his wife, Irene, who leads the state's attorney's child support division, as being problematic. She also singled out Circuit Court Clerk Sally Coffelt, who employs five relatives in her office.

Banning such hires would eliminated favoritism and other potential problems, Rotheimer said.

Mountsier agreed public perception of nepotism isn't good. However, he believes the issue likely would need to be taken up in Springfield.

The county board doesn't have any power over the politicians elected to countywide office, Mountsier said.

The 17th District includes the Barrington-area municipalities, Tower Lakes, Deer Park, Island Lake, portions of Lake Zurich and parts of Wauconda Township.