County Board Chairman Battle Heats Up
By Randy Pierce
Editor’s Note: This is a revised/expanded version of a previous story titled “County Board Chairman Battle Heats Up” as more information has been presented since the last article was published.
MADISON COUNTY — With each of them sharing compilations about who has donated to his opponent’s campaign fund, announcing endorsements and making other comments of a critical nature, the battle between Kurt Prenzler, incumbent chairman of the Madison County Board, and Chris Slusser, running for that seat in next Tuesday’s Republican primary election, has gotten more heated as its date rapidly approaches.
Prenzler has commented that “People are telling me, ‘Kurt, if you don’t win, it will be 2000 again in Madison County – a political machine no different than the old days with (Nelson) Hagnauer, (Rudy) Papa and (Alan) Dunstan – but this time with an R label.’”
Currently serving as Madison County treasurer, Slusser has been making statements calling attention to a recently concluded investigation into an ethics ordinance violation committed and admitted to by Prenzler while also focusing on the chairman’s financial support from vendors doing business with the county.
Regarding the ethics situation, during which Prenzler gave a pocket-sized card said to be connected with his reelection campaign to a representative from the Pinkerton agency who resides in Ohio, the chairman described Slusser’s statements a “politically motivated witch hunt” over a minor error.
Along with pressing Prenzler to cooperate with the ethics investigation after his initial alleged refusal to do so by not answering a list of written questions about the circumstances involved, Slusser called attention to what he described as the resulting “scathing” report which included an accusation of “quid pro quo” action by the chairman, all of those factors leading to the majority of the county board voting to approve a resolution of censure, essentially considered as a public scolding similar to what happened in the United States Congress concerning Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy in the 1950s, connected to this matter.
With both of these candidates running for the chairman position in the Republican primary, Prenzler is quick to point out that Slusser has allegedly received campaign contributions from the Democratic mayors of Alton, Pontoon Beach and Granite City in Madison County along with substantial financial support from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees which has a significant quantity of affiliate members working for the government body which both candidates currently represent.
Prenzler further says that the Slusser campaign has received contributions from former public-school superintendents and “waterfalls of” money from Democrats and “Republicans in Name Only.”
Regarding the school districts and influence of individuals he refers to as “RINOs,” Prenzler has advanced that in 11 of those districts within Madison County, substantial tax bill increases, including one of over 15 per cent in Collinsville and another up seven per cent for Triad of Troy, are forthcoming after the primary has concluded.
Slusser has issued a statement which contends that since being elected to the position Prenzler now holds, the current chairman has received over $80,000 in campaign donations from vendors who provide and services for the county, something the treasurer says is a broken promise on the part of the chairman who, in 2016, made a pledge not to accept such support.
Those donations, according to Slusser, reflect on the aforementioned ethics violation because Prenzler had given a card with a link to his online donation portal to a representative of a company performing paid services for the county.
In offering details about this aspect of Prenzler’s campaign, Slusser said there have been 150 donations from county vendors to it since the incumbent chairman was first elected to the office currently occupies.
Along with delineating those contributions for the years 2017 through 2022 in the form of quantities and dollar amounts, Slusser commented that, “Based on Mr. Prenzler’s long-documented track record of hounding county vendors for political donations since he became chairman, I think it’s easy to draw the conclusion that he was attempting to shake down another county vendor” in the situation involving the Pinkerton employee.
Amid those kinds of statements from Slusser, Prenzler reacted concerning the history of the government level relationship between the two men.
Prenzler said that when he was considering appointing Slusser as county treasurer in 2016, during an interview, the subject of the latter’s work as a police officer at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville earlier this century came up.
Explaining that he had asked Slusser why he left that job after only two years, Prenzler stated he also inquired concerning “any negative things” in the latter’s background that the chairman should know about, and the answer was no.
Leading Prenzler to the conclusion that he had been lied to at that time, he said in the same statement where these circumstances were shared that Slusser “was fired from his job…for breaking into his supervisor’s briefcase, stealing confidential correspondence, copying it on a university copier and distributing it with the intent to smear his supervisor’s reputation.”
This was not learned by Prenzler, he noted, until well after he had appointed Slusser as county treasurer.
Those statements by Prenzler about Slusser’s situation with the SIUE Police prompted a reaction from the chairman’s opponent in the primary election.
A letter dated Oct. 14, 2014, and produced by Slusser that was written by Dan Keeton, identified therein as deputy chief for the SIUE PD, cites the former’s “voluntary separation” from his duties with that law enforcement unit on March 27, 2002. Keeton held the rank of sergeant when Slusser left the SIUE PD.
Along with providing a summary of Slusser’s police training and certification at an institute in Champaign, Illinois, including that involving firearms, the Keeton letter said in closing that Slusser “voluntarily separated in good standing” from the SIUE PD after working for it as an officer from Sept. 7, 1999, until March 27, 2002.
Prenzler offered conjecture over the statements in that letter along with contending that Keeton was a “new SIUE police chief who knew nothing” of the pre-disciplinary hearing which occurred a dozen years earlier.
That hearing, according to Prenzler, basically repeating his previous allegations while elaborating on them a bit, was to investigate Slusser’s “rifling of a supervisor’s personal briefcase and the removal, theft, copying and dissemination of the same personal correspondence without the supervisor’s knowledge or permission.”
“Anyone who reads the 2002 disciplinary transcript,” Prenzler contends, “understands that he (Slusser) was fired through a forced resignation in lieu of prosecution for admitted theft.”
Adding to his statements concerning that situation, Prenzler said Slusser’s gun and badge were taken from him during that hearing as he admitted to the “theft” and was told by SIUE officials they perceived a credibility problem with him along with accusing him of lying.
Adamant in his response to those statements, Slusser commented, “This is just more evidence that Kurt Prenzler is willing to say anything to get himself reelected.”
Firstly, Slusser contends that Keeton was a sergeant when the 2014 letter was written and that the two had worked together during the time Slusser was with the SIUE PD. Keeton, Slusser added, was hired by SIUE for law enforcement duty in 1998.
“I was never fired or disciplined in any way in this matter, and I was never forced to resign,” Slusser added. “Furthermore, this was a silly internal matter that was never at any time investigated as anything criminal.”
The transcript Prenzler referred to, according to Slusser, that he said had been “illegally released by SIUE” which has since apologized to him for doing so, included a statement by the chief at that time indicating it was not a criminal matter.
“It was a practical joke in which the entire department was involved,” Slusser continued, “and no one was ultimately disciplined” although a dozen of the officers “were threatened” with discipline. Additionally disputed by Slusser was Prenzler’s asking about anything negative occurring in the past.
Slusser commented, “He is desperate to deflect from his multiple ethics violations, his ineptness that led to the board stripping him of his powers and his reckless decisions as treasurer and chairman that have led to nearly $3 million paid out in legal fees and settlements.”
Yet another matter about which there is disagreement from the candidates concerns Slusser’s allegation that Prenzler “was forced to surrender his law license in Illinois many years ago.”
Regarding that, Prenzler states he graduated with a law degree, passed a pair of exams to practice as an attorney then decided to change career paths and became qualified as a certified public accountant eventually leading him to run for the office of county treasurer.
Also at issue among the two men is their performance while serving as county treasurer with the criticism in both directions focusing on each one’s contention about the positive aspects of his own actions resulting in financial benefits realized along with pointing out how the opponent played a major role in causing negative monetary outcomes.
Slusser announced recently that he had received endorsements concerning his county board chairman election effort from State’s Attorney Tom Haine, Sheriff Jeff Connor, Circuit Clerk Tom McRae, Auditor David Michael, County Clerk Linda Andreas and Robert Werden, regional superintendent of schools.
Among those making public endorsements of Prenzler are United States 15th Congressional District Representative Mary Miller and members of the Madison County Conservative Caucus, of which he is a member, including Stephen J. Adler, former county deputy administrator, County Board District 7 representative Michael Turner of Godfrey and county board candidates Linda Wolfe of Collinsville and Doug Matthews of Glen Carbon. Also offering an endorsement for Prenzler is Dwight Kay of Glen Carbon who served in the Illinois General Assembly as a representative from a district taking in much of Madison County between 2010 and 2016.
