North Cook News

Something is rotten in Maine Township, Township Trustee Susan Kelly Sweeney told the North Cook News recently.

But it's difficult to know what residents should be more outraged about: that a failed trustee candidate was hired by Township Supervisor Laura Morask for a unilaterally created food pantry position or that $1.1 million was used to administer $183,000 in aid to the needy, Sweeney said during her North Cook News email interview. 

"Both," she said. "The unilateral, unlawful hire by the supervisor usurps the elected officials' ability to vote, and it's unacceptable that the administering costs are over three and a half times the cost of the general assistance."

Susan Kelly Sweeney

The debate over these issue and others in the township erupted anew during the township board's meeting on Sept. 26. About 90 minutes into the meeting, Morask went "full drama queen on those questioning her by attempting to shift the narrative," the Edgar County Watchdogs (ECW), which have been reporting on difficulties in the township, said in an article on their Illinois Leaks website.

"Sorry Laura, this is not about helping the needy; this is about fixing the fact that only 17 percent of the taxpayers' money is actually being used for the purpose of helping the needy while you hire people who lost an election without any legal authority and expel township funds to get a legal opinion that is inconsistent with the law and case law," the ECW posted. "More on that to come!"

While things have otherwise simmered just under the surface in the township, Sweeney said there have been new developments that bear watching. 

"Several articles have been written just in the last few days about the hiring of the assistant director position," she said.

In late August, former Maine Township Trustee Kelly Schaefer, who lost her bid for another term on the board the previous spring to Park Ridge Democrat Claire McKenzie, was appointed by Morask to a newly created job in the township. Schaefer was named as part-time assistant director of the Maine Township Food Pantry for approximately $30,000 a year.  

Morask's own campaign for supervisor on the Maine Township ballot in April had been uncontested. Both Morask and Sweeney are Republicans, as is everyone on the township board except McKenzie. Shaefer had been appointed to the township board in August 2016 and was a trustee for about eight months.

Shaefer's hiring soon attracted criticism. The ECW claimed Morask had hired Schaefer outside of statutory provisions. Sweeney and other board trustees, including McKenzie, also objected to Shaefer's hiring because they'd not been part of the decision. 

"I believe I was entitled to vote as a trustee," Sweeney said in a summary statement issued to the North Cook News. "Had I been able to vote, I would have cast a 'NO' to adding any more administrative overhead to what is already bloated. It is just not fair to taxpayers whose property taxes go up every year. Also, it is disingenuous to collect that amount of money from the taxpayers when only 16 percent of it is going to 'assistance' as defined by law."

The controversy over Schaefer's hiring is part of problems arising out from Morask acting as township supervisor, Sweeney said in her statement. 

"The first is an issue of good government practice and taxpayer fairness," she said. "The second is a technical and legal issue regarding who has the authority to operate a food bank – the supervisor or the Township Board members?"

Sweeney pointed to Maine Township's February 2016 audit that said the township collected approximately $7.9 million in revenue, nearly all of it from property taxes. 

"More specifically, in the General Assistance program, we have collected $1,116,000 in property taxes to deliver $183,000 of general assistance aid," Sweeney said in her statement. "The administrative costs to deliver that public aid and services to the poor and needy is $697,000. No General Assistance program should cost what will be well over $700,000 in admin to deliver $183,000 in public aid and services. This means Maine Township is spending over 84 percent in administration cost! This is outrageous!"

Maine Township also has run into difficulties confirming qualifications of township officials for membership in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, which Sweeney indicated during her email interview continues to bear watching. 

"Three trustees also voted to not certify IMRF for the elected board members of Maine Township and we have been threatened of a lawsuit," she said.

During the interview, Sweeney called for "a forensic audit of everything in Maine Township."