Trustee race raises questions
ELECTIONS: North Township incumbent disputes opponent's claims
NWI Times
Oct 29, 2006
nwitimes.com/news/local/trustee-race-raises-questions/article_8cb2b684-2c32-5be4-9d2e-d2b8d064fdb8.html
NORTH TWP. | The race pitting incumbent Democratic North Township Trustee Frank Mrvan against Republican opponent Sandra Pitzer heated up last week as Pitzer widely disseminated a flier contending Mrvan's tenures as township board member and trustee have drawn the attention of state and federal authorities.
Mrvan fired back Friday, charging Pitzer with misrepresenting the interest on the part of the State Board of Accounts and federal investigators.
Pitzer is making her first run for office since returning from Illinois to her Northwest Indiana roots. Pitzer said she's more than qualified for the trustee's post having served four terms beginning in 1989 as one of five trustees for Lyons Township, based in Countryside, Ill.
Mrvan served on the three-member North Township board before assuming the trustee's office upon last year's resignation of longtime Trustee Greg Cvitkovich.
Interviewed last week, Pitzer spoke softly, saying she had many concerns about the township's fiscal management but would leave the specifics to the flier distributed through the media.
Still, Pitzer did say her top concern was "absolutely the spending."
Pitzer's flier urges voters to vote for the "lower taxes team," identified as herself and a roster of Lake County Republicans, including banker Chris Morrow, who is opposing Mrvan's father, state Sen. Frank Mrvan.
The flier indicates the township was cited for such things as overpaying a contract, not submitting receipts and other supporting documentation for some activities and incomplete annual reports.
In addition, the flier quotes from a story published in The Times in which it is reported federal investigators retrieved internal documents from the township office.
Mrvan, however, said it's the job of state auditors to point out what is not being done correctly according to accounting procedures.
"We fixed it," Mrvan said of any irregularities. "No one's going to question my oversight (as a board member). I've been more vocal than anyone had ever been."
As to any interest on the part of federal authorities since he's been trustee, Mrvan said what the flier failed to say was the investigation was mentioned in connection with political veteran Robert Cantrell, the longtime manager of the township's East Chicago office.
"Bob Cantrell as of today is a retired employee of the trustee's office," Mrvan said.
Cantrell had been expected to leave the office for some time, confirming recently he is retiring.
Mrvan said his No. 1 priority has been the budget, which has been held to $6.8 million for the last three years despite increased expenses, such as utilities. He has held the line partially through eliminating wasteful contracts inherited from the previous administration, he said.
Pitzer, meanwhile, said her experience as a Lyons Township trustee, with its 16 communities compared to North Township's five, gave her oversight of a $300 million budget.
Lyons Township documents, however, show major differences in the operational structure of the two townships, and the size of Lyons Township's budget could not be substantiated Friday.
While the North Township trustee, as the township's chief executive, oversees the fiscal and other day-to-day operations of the township, trustees in Lyons Township are the legislative arm, comparable to North Township's three-member advisory board.
Lyons Township trustees have the authority by law to set policy and procedures for the township's chief executive, known as the township supervisor. Trustees meet monthly to approve bills but play no role in administering general or emergency assistance. That role belongs to the supervisor, who is chairman of the board of trustees and treasurer of all township funds.
