IROQUOIS CO. (ECWd) –
As most of our readers know we have seen just about everything you can imagine when it comes to public corruption and incompetence, however, I think we now have a new Poster Child when it comes to total incompetence. Incompetence to a level that could end up in the form of criminal charges.
Mr. Doug Corbett calls himself an Administrator however we are not quite sure exactly what he is administering. With a personnel turn- over rate like none other we have seen, and numerous claims of inappropriate behavior towards woman in the work place I guess he doesn’t have a problem with his agency sending out bad checks.
Carry Hagen is the Financial/Support Services Coordinator (fancy name for bookkeeper). When you see what we have uncovered we can only wonder why Mr. Corbett hasn’t fired her if she is in fact the one to blame. If she is not, let’s just say Mr. Corbett should be fired for total incompetence with your tax dollars!
Cary Hagen, a high school graduate from what we have been told, and long time employee of the FIPHD draws a nice fat little salary & benefits package totaling $70,990.47 in 2012. Considering she is a public employee, is it asking to much to at least get what you pay for? I suspect you could hire a young CPA out of college to do the job with a whole lot less problems and probably less money!
We have been told about everything you can imagine as it relates to what this woman is costing the taxpayers because of her ongoing mistakes, of which they include everything from IRS fines to insufficient funds on a fair number of checks and even operating a private corporation out of the FIPHD office!
If you had to guess a dollar figure your FIPHD paid in Insufficient Funds penalties in the month of March for checks they wrote, what do you think it would total? Go ahead, pick a number. In one month, how much did the bank charge this public body for writing checks their back side couldn’t cash?
$25.00, $35.00. $100.00?
$612.00 for ONE MONTH!
18 Returned Check Fees at $34.00 a piece!
Cant believe it? One more question for the good people of Ford and Iroquois County! What do you suppose the daily balance was on the account getting these penalties assessed? You know, the daily balance that shows up on every checking account statement that we all get. The same ones that on the back have a simple example of how to balance the checking account.
If I told you that the ending balance for March was a Negative $19,481.57 would you believe it? Dont take my word for it. Read it for yourself!
$19,481.57 In The Red! (Less than NO MONEY)
What happens to most folks when they write this many checks in a single month? I think most would agree someone would get charged with a crime but if its Cary Hagen writing these checks what are the odds her Brother, the Sheriff is ever going to investigate such actions?
The statute on Deceptive Practices – Bad Checks, is pretty clear and when a person writes 18 of them in one month I find it hard to accept that they didn’t know they didn’t have the money. Especially after looking at the daily balance’s listed.
Such an act, if prosecuted and found guilty, is a class 4 felony.
Was it the Ford County Board that said they didn’t see a problem with the FIPHD? Maybe the good folks in Ford County might want to bring them up to speed on a few things!
Stay tuned for more breaking news on Doug Corbett!
22 Comments
insider
Posted at 06:27h, 26 AprilThe crimes taking place in our office need to be stopped Doug is out of control!
They KNEW the grants were not supposed to be used for promotion items and they did it anyway.
What do you call that?
The people defending him are the uneducated cronies making $70K and they cant afford to loos their job.
I say shut this whole place down! We cant take much more!
Iroquois Resident
Posted at 15:20h, 25 AprilI am quoting from the TIMES REPUBLIC in Watseka IL from yesterdays paper: (Based on the information, Devine said by phone yesterday, “the Attorney General is not going to pursue any further action”. He said what was presented was a “NON ISSUE”, based on what the Attorney Generals represenative said!!) So Mr. Kraft, how FALSE is the statement I made in paragraph 2 when I said they were “non issues”?? You need to read the paper. Don’t tell people they are wrong when you have no idea! And how can you say in your lovely article that the Attorney Generals office said that they made or issued no statements about the FIPHD and then our States Attorney says what he did in the paper?? And you must have a lot of pull, if you, joe blow off the street, can just call up the Attorney Generals office and they answer your questions, but they refuse to answer questions for the papers seeking the answers they need to report! Someone (watchdogs, States Attorney, or Attorney General) is lying now aren’t they?
jmkraft
Posted at 15:49h, 25 AprilI can’t respond to what that reporter asked your SA. I wasn’t there.
Yes I can call up the AG’s press secretary and ask questions. I listed the questions I asked and the responses I received in the article word for word. So go read it and call the Ag’s office and ask the press secretary the same questions and you will get the same answers I did.
Same goes for your SA. Go ask him.
jmkraft
Posted at 19:57h, 25 AprilIn reply to: “Someone (watchdogs, States Attorney, or Attorney General) is lying now aren’t they?”
It seams you left out a few other people – like that newspaper you read…
It could be that no one is lying, they just didn’t ask the same questions. Like I said earlier, the article I wrote says exactly what my questions were to the AG’s office and your SA – word for word – same with the responses to those questions.
On the side of Truth
Posted at 20:41h, 19 MayFor your information “Iroquois Resident,” I too am an Iroquois County resident and I know exactly what newspaper you are speaking about, The Times Republic is nothing more than a “liberal” paper that reports only what they want to hear and want the people to read. They are NOT fair and balanced!!!
Iroquois Resident
Posted at 10:56h, 25 AprilYou”re really up on stuff Mr. Kraft. It was the Iroquois County SA, not Ford County in the article. It’s obvious you guys posting haven’t even read the article!
jmkraft
Posted at 14:23h, 25 AprilIn this article: http://www.paxtonrecord.net/news/courts-police-and-fire/2013-04-23/ags-office-wont-pursue-charges-against-ford-iroquois-public-h
it was the FORD County SA that stated his OPINION (“I don’t think they see any criminal activity,” Fitton said.)
None of the other articles say anything close to your false statements in the second paragraph of your previuous post.
Iroquois Resident
Posted at 09:25h, 25 AprilSo our States Attorney is lying then to the newspapers??? Or to you. One of the two!! Better read the article yourself people, because the stuff after the first paragraph is true!
jmkraft
Posted at 09:44h, 25 AprilI would say the Ford County SA injected his opinion in one of the articles, you basically lost all control of your thoughts after reading it by staqting things that were completely false, and maybe the news reporters didn’t ask the right questions…
Are you Stupid?
Posted at 18:17h, 24 AprilIroquois Resident, are you stupid? Anyone can download the documents and see for themselves they violated the law in many areas. You can spew your lies all you want but the facts appear to be pretty clear when its papers we can download and read for ourselves.
Like the grant money being spent on promotion items in direct violation of the law that you people knew about!
The AG office has plenty of fish to fry in this state but we all know if its not a political string to be pulled they wont touch much of anything.
What are you going to say when you guys loose the FOIA law suit they filed?
We are not stupid and can read so go try to convince some other criminal that your not one as your not fooling anyone here.
Iroquois Resident
Posted at 11:48h, 24 AprilSo, here we are folks, right where I said we would be from the beginning. The article in the Times Republic in Watseka today states from our States Attorney, and I quote, “After sitting down with County Board Chairman Rod Copas and the ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS to review all the infromation presented to the ATTORNEY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, the Attorney General is not going to pursue any further action!!”
Based on what the Attorney Generals representative said to our States Attorney, he said that what was presented to the Attorney General was a “NON ISSUE”!! “No evidence was found to support fraudulent spending”!! The agency went through every receipt, and found nothing. SO, like I said a long time ago, not all the facts are presented here. And thisa also includes them looking into the Solar Panel issue!! And if we cannot believe the ATTORNEY GENERAL of the State of Illinois, over Mr. Allen, and Mr. Kraft, and our beloved Mr. Copas, then shame on you!! So the reason this was all talked about anyway, was because stuff wasn’t done the way Copas wanted it done! Too bad. He is on the Health Board now, so he can see first hand how things are done. And the fact that those Health Board members were removed for no reason and their names drug through the mud for no reason, really makes me want to see lawsuits brought against Copas. I would love that. But knowing those people, they just want this whole stupid ridiculous thing to be over and move on. They are good people. Unlike others that shall remain nameless if you guys get my drift! And NO, I am not a Health Board member, or County Board member, for those of you that were asking. Just someone that does his homework, and doesn’t need to get my own website to proclaim my being right. I’ll just use yours to tell everyone! A long time ago I said that you should apologize when all was said and done, and there was nothing wrong. We will see what you are made of won’t we!
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FROM ECWD: Please see our response to this comment here: http://3.133.133.226/2013/04/il-attorney-general-will-not-pursue-charges-against-fiphd/
Almost everything after your first paragraph is false…
RetiredCopterPilot
Posted at 03:27h, 20 AprilTo Iroquois Resident;
I find your homework to be more than a little lacking in substance.
Regarding the people you have talked with, did they include those who received the rubber checks from Cary Hagen??
Did they, in turn, incur any bad check charges from their banks??
If so, did their banks ‘reverse’ those charges??
Are any of them assessing bad check charges to FIPHD??
If so, will FIPHD pay those charges with taxpayer funds??
So it seems that I must agree that you have not presented all of the facts. You have presented limited facts and made statements that are totally self-serving without regard to the whole truth. Very much like what we have received from the County Board and Craig Smith in Edgar county.
I must agree with Del and question if you are a member of the FIPHD Board.
To echo a very appropriate phrase in your comment:
” ‘You may wish to do the rest of your homework’, Mr/Ms Iroquois Resident.”
Del
Posted at 11:40h, 16 AprilIroquois Resident – I like ECWD and do not want them to move. Fact is I check out their site every day. Got involved with ECWD re Chris Patrick,Jimmy Wells and the airport. Even brought ECWD to my friends attention. Are you on the County Board?
Kirk Allen
Posted at 11:24h, 16 AprilI am in total disbelief! The justification from these people is that its no big deal since the bank reversed the charges?
IT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPEN IN THE FIRST PLACE!
The statements we received showed no such action. Since April is the
next month, I can only assume this information is coming directly from inside the FIPHD. That being the case, please provide the statements and I will publish those as well!
Concerned citizen
Posted at 09:45h, 16 April….and they have a job WHY????? Maybe we need a new board!
Iroquois Resident
Posted at 08:31h, 16 AprilYou may want to do the rest of your homework Mr. Allen. Don’t just put the overdraft fees on there. Also put the fact that the fees were reversed and taken away by the bank!! Or do you not want to put that on there, because then that makes you look bad? Just asking.To make accusations without ALL the facts, or knowing the situation is wrong. And it also sets you up for defamation of character lawsuits. People need to still be careful about what you believe on this site!! Not ALL the facts are being presented. The fact that you say you are right all the time, leads me to wonder why no one can stand you in Edgar county, and wants you to move. The personal attacks on people and family are just an example of who you guys really are. Just print facts if thats what you want to do. But post ALL of them. I’m doing my homework too! It’s amazing what one can find out by talking to people down your way!
Louise
Posted at 12:55h, 16 AprilJust because the bank was kind enough to reverse the charges doesn’t excuse incompetence! Are you really trying to say that this is ok?
RetiredCopterPilot
Posted at 22:35h, 19 AprilTo Iroquois Resident,
I totally agree with you!! Let’s have all of the facts. Facts like: Why, in heaven’s name, would the bank ‘reverse’ bad check charges that were justifiably theirs??
Facts like: If the bank ‘reversed’ the charges, to whom did the bank ‘reverse’ them??
Facts like: What was said to the bank or what pressure was brought to bear on the bank to COERCE the bank into ‘reversing’ the charges??
Come on, Iroquois Resident, give us all of the facts!!
Fed Up
Posted at 08:17h, 16 AprilYour title reads- “Dougie, Dougie, Dougie, Time To Go?” That time has come. Where is Mr. Bowen? Where is Mr. Fitton? Where are the board members with integrity?
Paxton resident
Posted at 23:54h, 15 AprilNobody is that STUPID. Iroquois and Ford County Boards please correct this problem NOW.
Ford County Taxpayer
Posted at 23:39h, 15 AprilUnbelievable! Do you mean to tell me that Mr. Corbett and Cary Hagen knew that the health department activities were being watched, audited and scrutinized and they saw nothing wrong with squandering over $600 of taxpayer money in unnecessary overdraft fees? It insults the intelligence of the taxpayers to even try to justify such blatant arrogance!
How many unethical actions can we financially afford? How much is it going to take before the Ford County Board wakes up?
taxpayer 2
Posted at 13:17h, 18 AprilWhat has happened to ethics? I can’t believe the Ford county board thinks that Mr. Corbett and Cary Hagen should keep their positions. I guess corruption in government has gotten so common that they just ignor it. What a shame! I’m going to remember this when it comes election time.