Champaign County Auditor Caught Electioneering On County Computers; Sees Nothing Wrong With it –

Champaign County, Ill. (ECWd) –

Towards the end of the April 18, 2024, Champaign County Board Meeting, County Auditor George Danos apparently mentioned “ethics” in his presentation.

A board member questioned him on ethics and made the comment that Auditor Danos had used the county computer to file his personal campaign finance report with the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Danos said he didn’t see the “sin” in it (like the porn on his computer) and challenged someone to “find” where he broke county policy.

We welcome the challenge – here are our allegations against Danos:

• Violation of State Officials and Employees Ethics Act (which also applies to all local governments):
  • “Prohibited political activity” means: (13) Managing or working on a campaign for elective office . . .
  • (Sec 5-15(a)) State employees shall not intentionally misappropriate any State property or resources by engaging in any prohibited political activity for the benefit of any campaign for elective office or any political organization, and,
  • Article 50-5 describes the penalties
  • Article 70-5 requires adoption of Sections 5-15 and Article 10 by all governmental entities
• Violation of Article VIII, Section 1, of the Illinois Constitution:
  • Public funds, property or credit shall only be used for public purposes
• Violation of Champaign County Ethics Ordinance No. 719: Mirrors the state ethics act, above

Auditor Danos indicated he read the county policy and didn’t see anything wrong with his electioneering using county computers.

We urge him to read all of it again.

We also urge any Champaign County voter to file an ethics complaint with the county ethics officer.