Algonquin Township Road District – When personal purchases are not personal?

McHenry Co. (ECWd) –

While I wish I could say the events below were fabricated and do not represent any real event, but I can’t, as the events below are true and documented by an investigator with the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s office.

During the now-closed criminal investigation of former Algonquin Township Road District Highway Commissioner Bob Miller, interview questions and answers are a real head-scratcher.

• “He stated Miller was not stupid enough to charge personal items on the township credit card.”

Ok, does anyone not understand what this person said about Bob Miller and his use of a Township credit card?  Read it one more time; “Miller was not stupid enough to charge personal items on the township credit card!”

OK, this is the point were we suggest you remove all contents from your mouth, especially liquids as we are not going to be held responsible for your keyboard when it gets trashed from spitting those contents out when you read another statement from the very person making the above statement.

Question: I asked Doubek if there was anything else I should be aware of.

Answer:  “He stated once he was out with Miller and he did not have his wallet with him. He asked Miller if he could use the township credit card for a purchase and he would write the township a check for the cost. Miller agreed.”

So the very person saying Miller was not stupid enough to charge personal items on the township credit card was actually the recipient of a personal purchase charged on the Township credit card, approved by Miller.

Nope, you can’t make this stuff up.

Other matters exposed in this interview clearly point to the public property being used for personal use, much like the credit card.  Such activity violates the Illinois State Constitution Article VIII section 1 that basically states Public funds, property, and credit shall only be used for a public purpose.

“I asked Doubek if he knew about HR Stewart employees having access to township equipment, car wash, and dump pits. He stated they did have access but that they were not the only company having access. I asked Doubek who else and he stated Tomasello Landscaping, Bob Lucia (an electrician) and the McHenry County Sheriffs Deputies all used the car wash for both their personal and work vehicles. He believed it was just a courtesy. He stated he did not feel that it was his business and he did not ask a lot of questions.”

Go figure.  An investigation of public property being used for personal use and it not only reflects private business doing so but law enforcement as well.  Is it any wonder nothing ever came of this from prosecution standpoint?

Can it get any more troubling in just this one interview?

“He did notice on my spreadsheet that Andrew Rosencrans received more miscellaneous pay than he did. He stated he had a huge problem with that because he was there for eight years longer than Rosencrans and it was just unbelievable that he made more money than Doubek.”

“Amazon and wine packages coming to the Township”

“Tomasello did keep his salt supply in the barn at the township.”

While it is no surprise Miller’s son-in-law was paid more or that packages for personal items were shipped to the Township, we were surprised to see a claim that a private business stored their salt supply in the barn at the township.  While this also has the potential for being a criminal act, we have not found any follow-up investigative notes on the matter.

Remember the street sweeper bid issue?  Looks like that was a done deal before it ever went out for bid.

“This hybrid machine was great and when it was time to purchase a new machine, they knew they wanted the hybrid. Because it was such new technology they had to get the specs from Elgin Manufacturing because they did not know how to write up the bid.”

And yes, the got the hybrid even though it was the high bidder.

Doubek concluded stating he believed Robert Miller was an honest man and he wished all this political drama would stop.

You can download the interview notes at this link or view below.

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