Voters to weigh in on hiring practice Madison County Republicans call “double-dipping”
Madison County voters will be asked to weigh in on a hiring practice some Republican officials are calling “double-dipping.”
The county board voted Wednesday to include the advisory referendum on the Nov. 3 election ballot.
A recent move by the county sheriff’s department brought on the vote and heated discussion on the advisory referendum when former department Captain Erick Decker’s company Decker Analytics was hired as a consultant after recently retiring. Decker’s company was awarded an $114,000 per year contract.
The referendum will ask voters if retired Madison County employees and officials drawing a pension should be allowed to draw a salary for service in another position as an employee, official, or independent contractor within the county.
The referendum is non-binding and only asks voters their opinion on the matter.
“It’s sort of an accepted policy within the county, it seems, that officials whether elected or just employees that retire from the county can take other jobs within the county,” said Don Moore, R-Troy, who presented the resolution. “This has been quite a lucrative deal for past employees and right now for future employees.”
Moore said while the referendum would be non-binding, it would be a chance for Madison County to “show some leadership” in Illinois, by “pulling back” or discontinuing the trend.
The referendum drew ire from some Democrats, including Mike Parkinson of Granite City, Doc Holliday of Alton and Chris Hankins of Pontoon Beach.
Parkinson criticized County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler, a Republican, who he said has participated in “double-dipping” practices throughout his tenure as board chairman. He specifically noted the hiring of Steve Adler into an administrative role during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. He has since stepped down from that position.
“I’ve brought up your abuses over and over again to the point people are tired of it,” he said. “You can’t pick and choose.”
Prenzler ruled that Parkinson was out of order and said he was proud of the individuals he’s hired during his tenure.
Hankins called the referendum political and said that he had hoped for better from the county board.
Mick Madison, R-Bethalto, said double-dipping has been an issue in the county from both sides of the aisle for years. He said when the county makes “sweetheart” deals for past employees to return while collecting a pension, it’s like treating taxpayers “like cash cows.”
“Its happened on both sides and it happened a lot of times,” Madison said. “I don’t care if you’re a Democrat or Republican. Every time we’ve done it as a party it’s irritated me just as much.”
During the debate two non-county board members were allowed to comment on the issue, Sheriff’s Department Major Jeff Connor and County Auditor Rick Faccin. Faccin was ruled out of order by Prenzler and muted less than a minute into his comments.
Prenzler and Faccin have a long history of disagreements and in one instance sued one another.
Connor said he was speaking for Sheriff John Lakin, who was unable to attend due to a medical procedure. At first, Connor spoke from a statement but later lashed out at Don Moore over his comments on the referendum and “inaccurate” figures over the hiring in question.
Connor said the referendum was the result of “water cooler talk” and gossip and said nothing the department had done was illegal or ethically wrong. The two had several heated exchanges over the referendum for the remainder of the meeting.
The county board voted 15-9 in favor of adding the non-binding advisory referendum to the November ballot.
The board also approved an additional advisory referendum that will ask county voters if Illinois should stop the practice of giving state lawmakers annual automatic pay increases.
The two referendums join an already approved advisory referendum on lowering the county’s maximum general fund tax rate.
This story was originally published July 16, 2020 at 12:14 PM.