County Board Member Brad Jones has announced that he's running for Auditor:
Brad Jones, a long-time financial advisor and current member of the Champaign County Board’s Finance Committee, will seek to become Champaign County’s elected auditor.
Jones’ first run for elected office was for the auditor’s seat in 2004. Jones was subsequently elected to the county board in 2006, receiving more votes than any other county board member in the county. “My goal in seeking public office has always been to help the county manage its finances in a more efficient manner” said Jones. “During my previous campaigns for auditor and county board, people told me over and over that they were fed up with skyrocketing property taxes and that they wanted the county to be more frugal with our tax dollars.”
Jones (42) received a Finance degree from the University of Illinois in 1986 and an MBA from Emory University in Atlanta in 1988. He has since worked within the financial services industry for 18 years. Jones will put his career as a financial advisor on hold in order to concentrate full-time on his campaign for auditor. Jason Barickman, Chairman of the Champaign County Republican Central Committee, commented “We are fortunate that someone with Brad’s financial experience is willing to bring that expertise to serve the county.”
Jones is committed to making the elected auditor more proactive in analyzing spending on county projects. Jones added “I want to see the County Auditor provide more analysis to help the county board make better spending decisions.” Greg Knott, veteran county board member from rural St. Joseph agrees saying, “We really need an auditor who has the ability to analyze the effectiveness of the spending programs approved by the board. The board has recently spent tens of thousands of dollars on technology, energy and nursing home studies. We need someone with the capability to tell us if these studies are worth the money. We don’t have anyone who can do that now.”
Jones currently resides in northwest Champaign with his wife, Jerilynn, and their two children Aaron (12) and Kaleigh (10).
Jones ran for Auditor against Mike Frerichs in 2004 and was defeated. Frerichs won a seat in the State Senate in 2006, and Democratic Party Chairman and County Board Member Tony Fabri was appointed to fill the Auditor vacancy in January.
Is there a job description of the Auditor position available? I didn't realize that financial analysis is part of an auditor's job.
http://www.co.champaign.il.us/DESCRIPT/auditor/nbu/AUDITOR.HTM
There is no job description and the only qualification is to be a registered voter in the County. I'm sure that the Democrats will try to convince everyone that a financial background is inconsequential to the position. The sad state of financial affairs in the county seems to indicate that it couldn't hurt.
"There is no job description and the only qualification is to be a registered voter in the County."
Actually, there is a job description of sorts. The responsibilities of the office are defined within a relatively extensive state statute (55 ILCS 5/Div. 3). The paragraphs you are looking for are 3-1005 and 3-1006.
Has Brad Jones stopped or studied any spending programs as a county board member that can vote on that, or is he just waiting to become Auditor?
Interesting that Fabri (in News-Gazette article) drew attention to his (incomplete) legal training in defense of his position that financial qualifications aren't necessary for being auditor.