Madison County auditor says it’s ‘moronic’ for Kurt Prenzler to compare him to ISIS
A spat between two Madison County officials continued this week, as county Auditor Rick Faccin fired back at County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler, who recently compared him to the terrorist group ISIS.
In April, Prenzler, in an email to supporters, compared Faccin’s refusal to provide access to financial records to his administration to the Islamic State’s use of “women and children as human shields.”
Prenzler, a Republican, and Faccin, a Democrat, have been sparring over access to the financial records for months. Currently, Prenzler and others only have “read-only access to the records.”
Faccin hit back at Prenzler this week, , after initially declining to comment because of ongoing litigation last week. He called the chairman’s comparison “moronic,” “insulting and offensive” and said he believes he “is not fit to hold public office.”
“Kurt Prenzler has a habit of talking before he thinks,” Faccin said. “What he said is offensive and insulting; he should apologize to the people of the county.”
Prenzler said he had no comment when asked about Faccin’s remarks.
In March, the County Board voted to declare the county’s financial system as “essential for honest government” and that the details be made available the county administrator, chairman and treasurer.
Later in the month, Faccin filed a lawsuit to block the board’s access to that financial information, citing a Jan. 2018 raid of two Madison County offices to seizing public computers. He argues that because members of Prenzler’s administration had their computers seized by a criminal task force during that raid, and because the investigation is ongoing, they should not be allowed to view the records.
A investigative task force was formed comprised of state, county and local law enforcement to “investigate and determine the extent of wrong doing,” a press release issued by the Madison County State’s Attorney read.
After releasing the email, Prenzler said, in hindsight, he should not have used ISIS as a comparison.
“I write these things by myself,” Prenzler said. “I probably need an editor. I probably could have chosen my words a little differently.”
Faccin said Thursday he didn’t have anything else to say about the email.
However, Faccin said Monday he believes the pertinent information has been provided to Prenzler and Hulme for the last two budgets. He went as far to call Prenzler’s emails about him “moronic.”
“If Mr. Prenzler would be more attentive to the financial reports sent to his office, he may not be sending moronic e-mails,” he said.
This story was originally published May 10, 2019 at 5:00 AM.