PEORIA --The Peoria County Board will vote soon on whether to place a referendum on the November ballot to abolish two elected county offices, Auditor and Recorder of Deeds.
It's a curious move that has some Democrats and Republicans pushing to diminish democracy in the name of saving money. But is that all?
Is it also a power grab that could come back to bite taxpayers you-know-where?
These two offices were set up as part of a system of checks and balances in local government.
The Auditor checks on county finances, an independent watchdog responsible only to the public and not to other local officials.
The Recorder of Deeds records property records, and also is responsible only to the public.
Recent high profile national events show why these offices matter: everyone has heard of the scandal in Dixon where a clerk embezzled millions to fund her show horses.
Property records have also been the subject of scandal not so well known, when financial institutions set up their own organization to record property transfers so mortgages could be sliced into bits to be sold as bonds, bypassing local property offices. That helped cause the great recession when the financial instruments crashed. And it left a mess in property records throughout the USA.
To my knowledge neither of these scandals has impacted Peoria, but they show what can happen when watchdogs stop barking.
These offices are vital to the checks and balances necessary in a democracy. The election process itself helps keep watch, as problems can be highlighted and bad office holders thrown out of office.
There's just no substitute for checks and balances. To eliminate these offices puts much more power into the hands of the Peoria County Board.
While it may be well run now, who knows what can happen in the future. Appointed auditors and property records managers will seek to please their bosses, not the public.
In Dixon, outside auditors failed to catch the long time embezzler.
I once reported on a local not for profit agency whose manager was stealing from it. Auditors failed to notice. An inside whistleblower was the only reason he was caught, the same situation in Dixon.
You will hear the cry 'let the people vote.' But that assumes an informed vote, which means time and money spent on this referendum issue, when most politicians need to focus on getting their fellow political party members elected or reelected.
Will the County Board decide to fund a public information campaign? Isn't that a conflict of interest?
There are many reasons not to place this referendum on the November ballot, and the board should reject taking the first step toward a power grab.
-- Elaine Hopkins
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