Kane County Board won't wait on Lauzen, backs state's attorney
In what may be a preview of how Kane County will operate for the next four years, county board members showed Tuesday they won't delay projects to bring new income to the county while awaiting a discussion on how much authority board Chairman Chris Lauzen should have.
Transportation committee Chairman Drew Frasz told board members they will start from scratch with efforts to lease space on county light poles for cellphone amplification. He said step one is having an in-person meeting with the transportation staff for the Kane County state's attorney's office to find out if the law allows the county to lease space on light poles.
From there, the committee will determine the need to hire a consultant regarding market potential and possible vendors.
“We're going to handle this the way it should have been handled all along,” Frasz said in an interview. “Officially, there's never been any opinion on the project by the state's attorney, so that's the first part. We're going to use our state's attorney's office the way it's meant to be used.”
Frasz said he hopes Lauzen cooperates with the committee's efforts. The chairman appeared at two committees last week to pressure them for prompt results. Frasz said he is comfortable with Lauzen having a limited role.
He said he doesn't believe Lauzen has or should have the authority to come up with a concept, hire a legal firm and spend tax dollars without the details coming to the county board.
“The question we will have to answer now is at what point does a problem become something that comes to the committees versus the chairman working it out internally,” Frasz said. “The chairman has made that an all-or-nothing issue.”
Frasz's comments about involving State's Attorney Joe McMahon run counter to Lauzen's recent comments about losing trust in McMahon and his office. McMahon has ruled as illegal Lauzen's hiring an outside legal firm and spending tax dollars in pursuit of the income generation projects. Lauzen believes that ruling came only because he questioned bonuses McMahon has given his employees in recent years.
So far, it appears the majority of the county board is supporting McMahon's version of recent events.
Barb Wojnicki is the chairman of the energy and environmental committee that will take on the idea of bringing a waste-to-fuel facility to the county, possibly in Geneva. Wojnicki said there seems to be major legal hurdles to bringing new income to the county with such a facility, but that won't stop her committee from exploring options.
“I have complete trust in our Kane County state's attorney as our legal adviser on this and all other issues,” Wojnicki said. “And I applaud the chairman for the idea, for trying to bring more money into the county. But we have our work cut out for us.”
Wojnicki said the need for any capital funds to build a waste-to-fuel facility may also be a big hurdle. With a tight budget already requiring the tapping of reserve funds, and a long list of existing capital needs, there isn't much cash available for the county to assist in the creation of a waste-to-fuel facility, she said.
Mark Davoust is the chairman of the administrative committee, which will explore selling access to the county's fiber optic network. Davoust could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Kane: Majority of the county board supports state's attorney