Apparently county board Chairman Jeff Metzger announced that DeKalb County Treasurer Mark Todd quit to pursue a job in Hawaii. That’s according to a news release sent to the Daily Chronicle. According to his Facebook page his wife got a great job there back in October.
I’d take a better job in Hawaii. What an opportunity!
But the warm sunny skies and grass skirts of our 50th state didn’t influence this rant against the great injustice of it all. The press release should have come from Todd and it should have been posted on the County Treasurer’s website for all those that just voted in the election three weeks ago.
For this voter who filled in Todd’s slot on my ballot the Chronicle report read like a “wham bam thank you ma’am” letter direct from someplace near Honolulu.
“While the statutes do not provide specific qualifications for the office of county treasurer, I plan to develop criteria to evaluate candidates interested in this post so that the county is assured of getting a highly qualified individual to manage the treasurer’s office,” Metzger said in the news release.
Todd’s resignation will be effective Feb. 8, if the news release was accurate. He was appointed DeKalb County Treasurer back in February 2011. Long serving Christine Johnson left to fill the Illinois Senate District 35 seat vacated by Brad Burzynski’s retirement. He rain unopposed in the November 2012 election.
It would be more courteous, in my opinion, if elected officials shared their job pursuits with the public before election day instead of three weeks after. Especially in this job market. Had Todd announced his Hawaii intentions earlier who knows how many highly qualified candidates might have applied for the voters to choose from. Instead the deal will be done among party bosses or among those most connected. Maybe that’s what Metzger meant when he said that leading Republicans would step up and say why they wanted him for the county board chair. He won the seat by unanimous vote of the Democrats (plus his lone Republican vote).
Metzger will appoint the new DeKalb County Treasurer some time in the next 60 days (from Feb. 8). Evidently, state statutes require the appointment go to someone of the same political party as the vacating incumbent. Mark Todd was a Republican.
Feb 8. Why that date? Severance pay? Severance agreement?
Fair questions.
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And how is it no one saw this coming? Did anyone bother to do a background check or a job search? Or a job history?
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It boils down to the integrity of the individual. He should have bowed out prior to the election or he should stay and finish his term.