Lake County Board Chairman David Stolman needs to find the county a new coroner (sadly, needs to be a Dem according the rules) in the wake of the disgraceful conduct and subsequent resignation of Dr. Richard Keller. But in the meantime, Sheriff Mark Curran has been dispatched to run the coroner's office in the meantime, and he's finding evidence of much mismanagement and other problems under Keller's watch. The Daily Herald reports here:
Among the problems already identified, Curran said he has found drugs seized by deputy coroners during death investigations that were kept “in what is basically a big garbage can” with little or no documentation of their source.
He said he ordered his officers to bring that evidence to the sheriff's office where it will be inventoried and re-documented to the best of their ability.
Coroner's office employees will be trained on the inventory system and will be expected to continue it, Curran said.
He said he also will instruct coroner's office employees to follow established guidelines for regular destruction of evidence from closed death investigations that have apparently been ignored for some time.
Swell. It's a shame that we have to put ANOTHER Dem in Keller's place. One suggestion I read online somewhere on this issue noted that if the rule said that in such circumstances the replacement official has to be appointed by the OTHER party, maybe that'd provide a bit more incentive for elected officials to mind their Ps and Qs. Here, here.
Democrat Removed From Ballot: In other local news, the former opponent of State's Attorney Michael Waller, one Michael Jacobs, got kicked off the ballot from his Gurnee Trustee's race for failure to pay fines related to his last election campaign. What a nitwit.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
5 comments:
I don't know whether to congratulate Mark Curran or send a condolence card.
Regarding Michael Jacobs, the surprising thing to me is that he should have gotten a letter from the State Board of Elections months ago warning him that he couldn't be on the ballot if he hadn't straightened things out with them first.
I know this because I got such a letter. I had a fine assessed, which which I appealed, and the Board this week upheld my appeal. But this would have kept me off any local ballot had I tried to run in the consolidated election.
Jacobs should have known months ago this would happen.
Congrats on the win on your appeal, Paul!
Since when is pathology, dealing with the law, procedure and families have anything to do with politics..."sadly needs to be a Dem..."
If the county board had oversight of the department, they are just as at fault with the mismanagement.
The county board does not run the coroner's office. It is headed by the coroner, who is elected county-wide every four years. The only reasons the county board is now involved in this way is because when a vacancy occurs in the office of coroner, the law provides this procedure for the appointment of a new coroner until the next election. Otherwise, the office is headed by its own elected official.
Curran is a placeholder for the moment not the clean up crew. The Dems will have to clean up there own mess once a replacement is appointed by the county board.
Post a Comment