Guest View: New Auditor General Must Step Down
Daily Herald | January 27, 2016
Illinois has a corruption crisis. The people deserve an Auditor General that has integrity. In Illinois, this 'integrity' must be proven.
New Auditor General Frank Mauntino - the top auditor in Illinois - can not meet this basic standard and therefore must resign.
Here are some of the odd details that the watchdogs, news organizations, and our team recently uncovered:
- $213,728 in 'gas' and 'vehicle repairs' at one local service station - Happy's Super Service Station in Spring Valley, IL - from his campaign fund since 2005.
- $30,000 in additional state 'travel' reimbursements (taxpayer money) for legislative duties and service on audit commission since 2005.
- $271,417 in state agency payments to family owned Mautino Distribution Company since 2005 - with a spike in annual payments coinciding with promotion into powerful Speaker Madigan's House Majority leadership team (2009).
- $33,000 paid to wife's family's pizza restaurant on 500 excursions since 1999 from campaign fund.
- $273,973 paid to a local bank from campaign fund - disclosures show $94,000 in loans and principal payments on $26,000 in disclosed loans and nearly $180,000 more in campaign expenses paid to ... the bank!
Last week, we kicked off national coverage of the new Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino with an editorial at Forbes,
click here. This oversight was not driven by Illinois politicians, but by noted downstate oversight organization,
Edgar County Watchdogs.
Yesterday, television coverage played on the Springfield evening news on
FOX News and
ABC Channel 20. Today, my editorial at Daily Herald issues the call for Auditor General Frank Mautino to resign.
News organizations across Illinois continue to publish the key oversight findings:
- Illinois Times news organization, CapitolFax political blog, and the Ottawa Times are publishing new details daily.
- The Joe Walsh Show at AM560-Chicago radio provided an important platform for reporting.
- Illinois Review helped put the auditor briefly 'on-the-record.'
Stay tuned to yet another unfolding political scandal in Illinois.