Will County Gazette

Will County Treasurer candidate Raj Pillai is calling on incumbent Treasurer Tim Brophy to resign.

In the wake of the Will County Veterans Assistance Commission scandal, Pillai asked for Brophy to step down, alleging Brophy of fund mismanagement.

"When a doctor prescribes medicine, it doesn’t mean that the pharmacist gives it away without proper due diligence," Pillai said. "The pharmacist does his or her own assessment of how the medicine will affect the patient. Same with the treasurer. Similarly, just because others approved the payment, it doesn’t absolve the treasurer of his lawful obligation to taxpayers. If my opponent cannot protect taxpayer funds as his legal obligation, he should resign immediately."

Pillai, a certified public accountant, is accusing his opponent, Brophy of mishandling government funds after the latter authorized a nearly $500,000 contract for marketing for the Will County Veterans Assistance Commission (VAC). The contract was awarded to a company owned by a friend of VAC Superintendent Kristina McNichol. 

"No board vote was taken at the Veterans Assistance Commission board level," Pillai argued. "This was a grant that came to the CARES Act fund. So it’s federal funds." 

In the wake of the controversy, McNichol resigned, but at the VAC board meeting that was set to vote on her successor, an extended debate caused members to leave. The vote was canceled due to a lack of quorum, according to Shaw Local. 

A good-government group, the Edgar County Watchdogs claim that the majority of the board does not meet the state-mandated requirements for sitting on such a board. The group has sued nine members of the board, and the suit seeks to stop the board from taking further action because the group claims it was illegally constituted.

The Veteran Assistance Commission ("VAC") of Will County approved an upfront, no-bid contract for social media and marketing for $495,000, to a company that was not legally formed when the contract was approved, John Kraft & Kirk Allen, of Edgar County Watchdogs, wrote on the Will County Gazette.