Bob Miller may no longer be Algonquin Township's highway commissioner, but he is still in the road district game.
He has been paid $40 an hour as a consultant inside the Nunda Township Road District since Aug. 15, according to records the Northwest Herald obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
To Bob Anderson, chairman of Citizens for Consolidation, hiring such a controversial figure is a "shameful waste of taxpayer money."
Bob Anderson
"This hire is all about township cronyism and patronage," Anderson said in a statement to the McHenry Times. "Without township cronyism, nepotism and patronage, townships would have been in the history books long ago."
A former political juggernaut in McHenry County politics, Miller lost an upset election in February to Highway Commissioner Andrew Gasser, who fired both of Miller's sons-in-law, Derek Lee and Andrew Rosencrans, within minutes of taking the job. Grasser also terminated Nick Chirikos, who was hired by Miller to replace a retiring McHenry County board member employee.
"(Miller) was hired because of the township 'buddy' system, protecting political power, paychecks and benefits," Anderson said.
A grand jury has been investigating allegations of corruption in the Algonquin Township Road District according to reports from the Northwest Herald. The investigation allegedly includes Miller, who served for 24 years as highway commissioner, though he has not been charged with a crime.
"The Nunda Township board and township residents should be extremely angry and ask Nunda Township Road Commissioner Mike Lesperance to resign," Anderson said.
Anderson is hoping to keep corruption out of McHenry Township by abolishing the township road district. He tried unsuccessfully in the mid-1990s to get voters to support the cause.
Currently, three out of the five McHenry Township board members voted to allow citizens to determine whether the office of McHenry Township road commissioner should exist after incumbent James Condon’s term runs out in 2021.
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