Soooo embarrassed by public disclosures

It’s rarely fun when a stranger points out a flaw: TP stuck to a shoe, open zippers, very personal e-mails mistakenly sent to your boss.

A couple recent stories give pause as we reflect on the spectrum between embarrassing revelation and conspiracy.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner just vetoed an automatic voter registration system. It gained him the label “jerk” from state Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, the majority leader in the Illinois House who is best known for her “ditto” responses to questions of state budget excess.

Rauner did not want a system imposed that could not detect its own flaws, such as illegal immigrants voting. It took the feds to catch those transgressions, which raises questions about whether the state cannot detect fraud or prefers not to know because it helps some “jerk” get elected.

East St. Louis Township Supervisor Oliver W. Hamilton Sr. and his township credit card were out of control to the tune of $230,000. Township leaders tried to limit spending to $1,000 a month — still an absurd amount on a taxpayer-funded credit card — and then failed to watch or control the spending limit. Outsiders had to point out the problems and now the FBI is working to fix them.

The Pontoon Beach Public Water District in June fired its district manager, Brian Buske, for misappropriation of funds, board minutes state. The FBI is investigating.

District leaders may have been involved in detecting and getting this problem fixed, but you have to wonder about the flaws in the financial systems that allowed a misappropriation of funds to begin with.

Too often it takes outsiders to fix what local leaders fail to notice, or choose not to see. Closing gaps in your public body’s financial controls or oversight functions could stop you from being the next one with her dress tucked into the back of her pantyhose.

This story was originally published August 15, 2016 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Soooo embarrassed by public disclosures."