REBOOT ILLINOIS: Iroquois County corruption successfully rooted out…

From REBOOT Illinois:

The new Iroquois County Health Department began its operations July 1 as its own single-county department for the first time since 1980 after the Ford-Iroquois County Health Department shut down June 1 amid allegations of misappropriation of funds, mishandling of contract bids and other illegal behavior.

It all started with an anonymous tip from a whistle-blower.

Kirk Allen, head of the Edgar County Watchdogs (an organization founded in 2011 as an effort to hold government accountable), received a tip about possible wrongdoing by members of the health department. Allen said said he suspects the tip came from a neighbor of a department member. He and his Edgar County Watchdogs partner John Kraft began to investigate, filing Freedom of Information Act requests about the board’s meeting minutes and spending records, but noticed parts were missing.

“When you don’t get the full FOIA request, you know there’s a problem,” Allen said.

When the Iroquois County State’s Attorney ordered the…

Read more: http://www.rebootillinois.com/2014/08/22/editors-picks/caitlinwilson/iroquois-county-corruption-successfully-rooted/23543/#ixzz3BXHNdlHf