Trust Improprieties

A recent article concerning missing money from the Tax Collector's office and the actions taken to recover it have set off a bit of a firestorm among some readers.

They wonder why the individual who resigned shortly after what was labeled "improprieties" occurred in the Tax Collector's office was not named, particularly since that individual at the center of the "improprieties" is a member of a prominent family in the county.

One reader labeled it a cover-up; that the paper was in cahoots with this prominent family to keep names in the shadows, and said the newspaper should put it all out there for everybody to judge.

This raises one issue and that is that too often the public becomes judge and jury without considering the foundation of our legal system, which is innocence until guilt is proven.

So, to have named the individual and somehow connected dots which had yet to be formally connected by law enforcement or the State Attorney would be a disservice, to readers, the paper and the individuals involved.

When there are formal charges brought, the name becomes fair game, the offense in need of full disclosure. To jump into the fray with what amounts, at this time, as conjecture and rumors, defies what community newspapers are supposed to be about.

That said, however, there should be little wiggle room allowed by either law enforcement or the prosecutor when investigating this case.

This is a case that calls out for full and thorough investigation and prosecution of whoever can be linked to actually taking one dime from any public office.

If, indeed, somebody played fast and loose with $10,000 of taxpayer money that should bring the full weight of the law to bear on the case, regardless of the name or prominence of the family tree.

This is a concept that too often seems lost in government, that anybody and everybody on the public payroll has accepted a certain level of trust not to be betrayed.

Stealing or playing fast and loose with hard-earned taxpayer money is akin to theft from your neighbor, the only difference being that there is an inherent public trust to those with access to the taxpayer dollars.

As one reader noted, if you could rob a bank, return the money and just slough it off as an impropriety, well that would be a fish tale nobody could swallow.

The fact that the money was returned, or accounted for, is immaterial to the betrayal of the public trust concocted by a county employee.

And that trust has to be established and nurtured by the Board of County Commissioners.

Everything starts at the top in county government and when you have employees who somehow believe the public's money represents open season for feathering any kind of personal agenda, including straight theft, something is smelly in the state of Denmark, to borrow from Shakespeare.

Commissioners should be out front assuring their constituents, and their own staffs, that public sector employment and access to public dollars is an unbreakable trust, regardless of whether the case involves a John Doe or a member of the family.

The Board of County Commissioners, regardless of the potential costs or embarrassment, should be pressing the State Attorney for a prosecution, pressing for real teeth to the penalties because just returning the money and saying "My bad" is not good enough in such a case.

That same message should be coming from elected officials ranging from constitutional officers to city commissioners at both ends of the county.

When episodes such as what has alleged to have happened in the Tax Collector's office surface, assuring the public that it is an exception rather than a rule is paramount.

The fact that such public assurances haven't been heard from elected officials in response to this episode is, itself, an indictment of local government.

After all, when tax dollars are expended to investigate and prosecute something as superficially petty as the brouhaha of a few months ago at a Lanark Sewer and Water meeting - what could be characterized as a silly boys-will-be-boys confrontation that turned unprofessionally physical - well, the theft of public funds ought to be a no-brainer.

This much is clear at this point:

Some $10,000 went missing from and was later recovered by the Tax Collector's Office. An employee of that office resigned shortly thereafter and the Tax Collector himself said he would not allow that employee to remain in place, resignation or not.

Now it is up to local law enforcement and the State Attorney.

They should move swiftly and surely in investigating the case and prosecuting any and all potential charges. Any and all charges - that is the price when you play with public dough.

The name(s) involved isn't the most critical aspect of this case - it is the principle involved and whether elected officials are willing to uphold the oath of office to which they have sworn.

Outside of the Tax Collector, Jimmy Harris, such action has been lacking thus far.