Courthouse saga continues:
audit results begin trickling out
by Mike Kroll
the Zephyr, Galesburg
Before Wednesday night's Knox County Board
meeting chair Allen Pickrel held a press conference to make public the first
tidbit of information to come out of audits examining the Sheriff's Department
and the State's Attorney's office. The accounting firm Carpentier, Mitchell,
Goddard & Company studied office expenses over a three year time period covering December 1, 2003
through November 30, 2006. In a single paragraph letter to the county board
dated January 19, 2008 they report "missing, incomplete or improper
documentation for expenditures ...from the two departments totaling 175 item at
$65,944." And concluded the letter, Òthis information will be part of our
entire report when it becomes available.Ó
This audit was commissioned by the county
board late last spring and they hired the same accounting firm that handles the
regular annual audit to reexamine the two departments' financial transactions
for the previous three year period. It has been over six months since the
accountants began this audit and we recently learned that the complete report
will not come out prior to the February 5, 2008 primary election. The original
motivation originated with charges of financial misconduct against former Knox
County State's Attorney Paul Mangieri and former Knox County Sheriff Jim
Thompson that came out as part of the seemingly never-ending courthouse saga
that began one year ago.
It was a year ago that Mangieri was
appointed to fill a seat on the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court on an interim
basis until the 2008 election. As Mangieri resigned his State's Attorney role
and promoted Galesburg attorney John Pepmeyer to be appointed to serve until
the same election a fuse was lit on a controversy that has captivated and
enraged county residents and officials alike and that continues today. This
controversy began with charges of sexual harassment against Pepmeyer by women
in the State's Attorney's office and quickly grew to involve allegations that
both Mangieri and Thompson neglected their respective duties and engaged in a
coverup of illegal or inappropriate activities by themselves or their
subordinates.
In the months that followed state, federal
and private investigators searched high and low for evidence against Pepmeyer,
Mangieri and Thompson and the former sheriff retired and moved from the area in
the midst of the controversy. Civil lawsuits were files in federal court
against Pepmeyer that remain in limbo currently but state investigators have
long since announced that they could find no credible evidence to support
criminal charges against Pepmeyer. Meanwhile the investigations into both
Mangieri and Thompson quietly persist and no announcements have been made as to
their status.
Pepmeyer continues to serve as State's
Attorney and Mangieri continues to sit on the bench. Both men are candidates
for election in the February 5th Democratic primary, Pepmeyer without
opposition and Mangieri faces Knox County Public Defender Jim Harrell. County officials
had publicly hoped that the results of the various investigations and audits
would be complete and made public prior to the primary.
Just this past week Mangieri responded to
criticism of his handling of financial matters as State's Attorney by saying
his record was clear and his paper trail sufficient while he held that office.
He claimed to have fully documented all financial transactions of his former
office. Contacted regarding the seemingly contradictory preliminary finding by
the auditors Mangieri responded:
ÒNo one else has asked me for any
information regarding this audit. I'm willing to cooperate or help in any way
but I have no idea what they want. I simply do not understand why no auditors
or county officials have contacted me for additional information or
clarification on the expenses within the Knox County State's Attorney's office.
It must also be understood that at no time did I ever have control of the Knox
County checkbook. Every request for payment that I made needed to go though the
Knox County Board for approval and the checks were issued by the County
Treasurer and County Clerk.Ó
Knox County Treasurer Robin Davis has
received no more information from the auditors than is contained in the letter
and was therefore unable to comment on what types of transactions are involved
or how much was traceable to either department. What she did say was that
throughout Mangieri's term of office that both she and a variety of county
board members regularly questioned the bills submitted by both the Sheriff's
and State's Attorney's offices.
ÒPaul Mangieri refused to stand by and have
anything he did in office questioned by any other local official. If we
threatened to not approve and pay bills he submitted he threatened to hold me
personally in contempt of court and even threatened to have the sheriff arrest
and jail me. He used his position regularly to circumvent county procedures and
policies that everyone else was expected to follow and that included the
accounting controls in my department. Paul was not beneath raising his voice
and getting very emotional when out of the public view and he effectively
intimidated his way more times than I can count. His argument was that the
county board had no legal power to request him to do anything he didn't want to
do or even to question how he spent tax dollars.Ó
Pickrel echoed many of the comments made by
Davis. ÒI'm damn frustrated that this audit has taken so long but we strongly
suspected that there would be problems given Mr. Mangieri's repeated refusal to
conform to requests for backup documentation on his office's expenses. It
wasn't a matter of the county board wanting to treat either the Sheriff's or
State's Attorney's offices differently than other county departments but rather
that our hands were effectively tied by the mutual refusal to cooperate by
Thompson and Mangieri. They went so far as to threaten that the Sheriff would
arrest us and that Paul would prosecute us for interfering in the conduct of
his office. Outside of public view Mangieri exercised the power of his office
as a club against anyone who stood in his way. And I can say with complete
confidence that many other county board members were similarly intimidated by
Mangieri.Ó
According to Knox County Clerk Scott
Erickson the auditing firm has been paid $28,485.75 to-date for this audit and
the meter is still running.
1/24/08