Illinois Policy Institute in the news: A solution to Dixon’s corruption woes
The city of Dixon made international news last year after a public corruption scandal broke, revealing the citys comptroller stole more than $53 million from local taxpayers.
Brian Costin
Director of Government Reform
The city of Dixon made international news last year after a public corruption scandal broke, revealing the citys comptroller stole more than $53 million from local taxpayers.
Another corruption scandal hit Dixon earlier this month when it was revealed that City Engineer Shawn Ortgiesen put over $13,000 in personal expenses on his city-issued credit card.
The local Sauk Valley News weighed in on how Dixon, and other communities, can prevent this type of corruption from happening again in an editorial called A solution: Open the books.
So what should the city do to prevent such misspending?
Three words: Open the books.
Of course, people could have gone to City Hall to examine the records. But that’s inefficient, especially when we have this thing called the Internet.
For the last few years, the Illinois Policy Institute, the Chicago-based think tank, has recommended that cities, counties and other government agencies put a variety of financial records online. Those documents include credit card expenditures going back 5 years.
While the city of Dixon followed many of the institute’s recommendations in the wake of the Rita Crundwell scandal, others it hadn’t, including posting of credit card expenditures.
With the records online, the city could enlist the public in the effort to keep spending above-board.