Local governments need reform, too

Buffeted for months by allegations of corruption dictating how business is done by our state government, we in Illinois at least have begun to grimly hope that we've heard it all; that we're getting to the bottom of it.

And then we come across situations like those sweeping through a few towns in Lake County, and we're dismayed to confront evidence that our state's skewed approach to public service might run deeper than we thought.

This is government at its closest, most personal level, and we as voters and taxpayers must demand accountability and transparency in how our local governments operate.

Recent examples include:

• Former Island Lake mayor Tom Hyde and his wife, Sharon, are charged with official misconduct in an alleged ghost payrolling scheme. Sharon Hyde is accused of collecting more than $100,000 for work she did not do as director of a village-run preschool. Tom Hyde is in court this week in a separate case in which he's accused of illegally altering a liquor license.

As in Illinois, Island Lake's problems have plagued two administrations. Previous mayor Charles Amrich was charged in 2007 with steering village auto maintenance and gasoline purchases to a service station he owns. Former village clerk Christine Becker is charged with destroying village records. Reporters have been unable to reach the Hydes; Amrich and Becker have pleaded not guilty.

• Just before turning over the reins to newly elected trustees, the Avon Township board OK'd a $3,000 trip to a Miami meeting for Assessor Rick Dishman and his assistant, even though Dishman will leave office 90 days later. Sam Yingling, new supervisor of the township that includes Grayslake, Hainesville, Third Lake and Round Lake, wants the prepaid travel costs refunded.

• The Kildeer village board gave a $100,000-a-year village administrator's job to Michael Talbett, brother-in-law of new mayor Nandia Black. Talbett, a Lake County Board member and former Lake Zurich trustee, has never held a village administrator job and was not among 13 candidates recommended by a search firm that was paid $20,000 by the village.

Not all of these examples run afoul of the law, and no one's been convicted of any crime. Yet in each case we echo Kildeer Trustee Vern Scacci, who resigned after Talbett was hired: "The board has lost the moral compass that it runs by."

We, as taxpayers and constituents, have an obligation to choose representatives that guard that moral compass - and our tax dollars. Start by attending a meeting of your village or township or school board. Learn about your elected representatives and their opponents in local elections. Vote. Demand accountability. And contribute to a governmental cleanup that goes way beyond Springfield.