Lake County Gazette

Lake County Board Member Carol Calabresa sees the recent push by lawmakers to change the county assessor office from an appointed to an elected position as nothing more than typical Springfield maneuvering.

“This smacks of pure politics,” Calabresa told the Lake County Gazette. “The way it was done, normally in Springfield you go through the House and Senate, where there are many opportunities to express different viewpoints. It can make legislation better, but in this case, there’s nothing but a lack of transparency.”

Lawmakers recently passed Senate Bill 2544, sponsored by Rep. Sam Yingling (D-Grayslake), which would allow voters to decide whether to change the Lake County Chief Assessor office to an elected position. The first election for the post would be held in 2020.

Carol Calabresa

Calabresa, who represents District 15, and like-minded board members recently voted 14-5, with two abstentions, to send a resolution to Gov. Bruce Rauner urging him to use his amendatory veto powers on the legislation.

Calabresa believes the motivation behind the bill is entirely political and worries it will open Lake County up to the same level of corruption and campaign mischief plaguing Chicago.

“It’s all about having a campaign issue,” she said. “All about other Democratic County Board members having something to run on for re-election. It’s the exact Joe Berrios scenario.”

Berrios is the Cook County Assessor who was recently fined $41,000 for campaign contribution violations and has been accused of implementing a system of faulty property valuations.

“The Lake County Assessor post requires a certain skill set, to make it an elected post opens up the possibility of undervaluing and other corruption,” Calabresa said. “It could make us Chicago all over again.”

Calabresa said her experience of more than three decades in local politics has left her with a distinct understanding of how the system works.

“In politics, the more money it takes to run a campaign the more susceptible the system is to corruption,” she said. “Lake County has always tried to be professional. We don’t want more money that only means more corruption.”

Yingling’s bill was passed by a bipartisan supermajority, meaning legislators could override the governor’s veto.