Ethics, Accountability, and Efficiency
All government officials must be accountable to the public. Sandy has introduced several new initiatives and policies to tighten controls and oversight.
The county now video records all meetings of standing committees, enabling residents to see how their board member is representing them. Contractors now must disclose family relationships with county board employees when they submit bids. Board members are no longer given procurement cards, ensuring better oversight of spending. A new committee is focusing on consolidating and/or dissolving government entities to save taxpayers money and improve efficiencies.
The State Senate and House overwhelmingly approved an issue that Sandy requested to be added to the Lake County Legislative Agenda, which provides the ability for the Board to remove the County Board Chair. As the current Chairwoman, she believes it is a basic tenet of good government to allow the Chair to be removed if the board finds cause to do so.
In May 2019, the Lake County Board approved its Rules of Order and Operational Procedures under Sandy's leadership. The new rules address a number of transparency measures, which include posting board member expenses on the County website.
In 2021, the Lake County Board established its first-ever Independent Ethics Commission. This commission is composed of Lake County residents who are responsible for receiving and evaluating ethics complaints lodged against County officials. Under Sandy’s leadership and the establishment of this commission, the era of County officials policing each other is over.
Lake County has also begun the implementation of consolidated 911 and public safety systems, a long-time priority of Sandy’s. This consolidation will not only save taxpayers money, but will result in safer, faster, and more reliable emergency services for those in need.
To increase efficiency, Sandy is leading the board to evaluate several possible measures:
Sharing services and equipment to save money and increase efficiency
Consolidating or dissolving excessive taxing districts (such as mosquito abatement districts and sanitary districts) to see how the board can reduce the tax burden for Lake County homeowners
Centralizing county support services—possibly HR, communication, facilities management, finance—to be flexible when crises arise