Does Kendall Coroner Ken Toftoy Need a Raise and Should I Vote for Him?

I requested employee “Personnel Time” tracking forms used by many Kendall County departments and offices from the Kendall County Coroner’s office and also payroll records for Mr. Toftoy’s fulltime employees from the Kendall County Treasurer’s office via a Freedom of Information Request on 4-20-2012.  Here is what happened and what I discovered based on that FOIA Request:

http://yorkvilleinsider.org/Purcell/purcellfoia.pdf

It all began when I walked into the Kendall Coroner’s office at 804 John St.  Present  in the office that day were Administrative Deputy Coroner Jacquie Purcell, who is the  Kendall County board chairman’s wife; Ken Toftoy, county coroner; and Steve Lord from the Aurora Beacon News who just happened to be in the coroner’s office that day.  Steve therefore was present and a witness when I asked, “Who is the FOIA Officer for the Kendall County Coroner Office?” Mrs. Purcell looked at Mr. Toftoy and Mr. Toftoy looked at Mrs. Purcell and said, “We don’t have one.”  I said, “You’re an elected Illinois Constitutional Officer of Kendall County and your office is supposed to have a trained FOIA Officer so the public can access government information and vital records generated from and by your office.”  Mr. Toftoy looked at Mrs. Purcell and said, “I guess you are the FOIA Officer.”

Then I asked for the FOIA Form used by the Kendall County Coroner’s Office.   Again I was told, “We don’t have one.”   I said, “I guess we have to do this by email,” and Mrs. Purcell gave me her business card and I was provided with her email address.  This was, apparently, so I can use this email address to make my FOIA request for specific types of blank employee time-tracking forms used by the Coroner’s Office to claim certain specific types of employee days that Kendall County employees are entitled to according to the Kendall County Employee Handbook. 

(The Kendall County Employee Handbook is used to calculate the number of sick/personal time days, vacation days, banked sick/personal time days, FMLA request days and the IMRF Disability Claim Form used by the coroner’s office.  I want you to see a copy of it, go to

http://yorkvilleinsider.org/purcell/employ_handbook_2011.docx   = You may have to wait for file to load =  Kendall County Employee Handbook, see section 6, pages 36 to 55, please note Sections 6.2, 6.6 and 6.9 for later reference.  It is the reference manual for all Kendall County Employees.

Beacon reporter Steve Lord witnessed this verbal exchange and can attest to the accuracy of my recollection of my first encounter with “powers that be” at the Kendall County Coroner’s office, another little tightknit fiefdom unto itself within our county government that needs some sunlight.

Please see 1-12-2012 Mack and Associates Audit Findings and note findings #3, #4, #6, #8 and #9, which I believe show that long-standing county personnel policies are not being followed by the Kendall County Coroner’s Office.

http://www.todd4kendall.org/resources/toftoyexpense.pdf    See pages 2, 3 and 4 of 43 pages total

Numerous deficiencies were found, caused by either ignorance or arrogance within the Kendall County Coroner’s Office Administration, regarding adhering to these long- standing and common-knowledge employment practices.  The majority of the findings outlined by the Mack and Associates 2010-2011 audit were directed exclusively at Mr. Toftoy’s and Mrs. Purcell’s blatant disregard for standing County Employee Handbook policy and countywide employment  practices that are applicable in some way, shape or form to ALL County employees. 

These County employment practices and policies discussed in the Kendall County Employee Handbook have been in place since 1999.   Not adhering to these policies and making a special exception for the County Board Chairman’s wife, leaves this county open to a discrimination lawsuit by any other county employee who has a child or has a need to provide care for a family member.  This disregard for not adhering to County employment practices resulted in the Kendall County Coroner’s Office going over budget in fiscal year 2010-2011.  The General Fund Expenditures for the Coroner’s Office exceeded the appropriated amount by $4583.00 (Page of 4 of 43, probably close to what was the amount paid to Mrs., Purcell for three plus months of unclaimed and undocumented extended FMLA time for her Maternity Leave of Absence in 2011. This has happened two times in the past two years and Mrs. Purcell is again pregnant with the County Board chairman’s third child)

Also another line item was over budget, $2176.00 for the Coroners Special Fees Fund which was also noted in in the 1-12-2012 Mack Audit Report.  Yes, I said OVER BUDGET, yet Bob. Davidson, a so-called fiscal conservative and another member of this tight-knit fiefdom/ fraternity of “good ole boy” Republicans, went on the record supporting giving Mr. Toftoy a $9,000 annual raise.  Actions always speak louder than words.  This coroner who wants a raise is the same one who dines out, then bills for a $50.00 lounge bill, (Page 6 to 43 of 43) orders meals with filet mignon or escargot.  Because of him, this county board drafted and passed a binding resolution for the County Alcohol Policy because he thinks it is his money, not ours. That resolution outlawed alcohol purchases with tax monies.

This is the same coroner who brags about having guts, and proceeded to elaborate about cutting people down from garage rafters or scooping brains off of a car dashboard in the 4-26-2012 Record, and then chose to show some very graphic pictures of recent victims in open meeting.   Enough is enough.

Please note the results of that FOIA requested on 4-20-2012 where I provided a copy of the Kendall County Employee Handbook in an attachment.  Here is the short version:

http://yorkvilleinsider.org/purcell/purcellfoia.pdf  (11 pages)

Jim Detzler – Chief Deputy Coroner, just received and signed for his Kendall County Employee Handbook on 4-24-2012.  How long has Mr. Detzler worked in the Coroner’s Office?

Jacquie Purcell – Administrative Deputy, received and signed for copy of the Kendall County Employee Handbook on 3-23-2012.  How long has she worked in the Coroner’s Office?

Mike Klimek – Deputy Coroner, sent a confirmation email on 4-24-2012 and received that email on 4-23-2012.  How long has he been employed with the county?

The Kendall County Employee Handbook has been around; according to the Coroners own admission, since 12-1-1999.   CHAPTER 6, section 6.2, titled “Paid and Unpaid Leaves” (Page 38) states the amount of time off a county employee is entitled to for sick leave and for personal leave, yet according to county payroll records it appears these policies are not being followed by Mrs. Purcell, the County Board chairman’s wife.  There are no written records in the Kendall County Treasurer’s Office regarding any requests for personal/sick days or any FMLA requests by Mrs. Purcell, and it appears she has never completed a form to request any vacation time either.

http://yorkvilleinsider.org/purcell/purcellstatement.pdf  Coroner Office Employee Payroll Records for 2009, 2010 and 2011 (9 pages)

Case in point, Mrs. Purcell and her husband County Board Chairman John Purcell, have had two children in the past two years, yet Mrs. Purcell has not missed a paycheck in these (pages 4, 5 of 9 = 2011 and pages, 6, 7 of 9 =2010) past two years, even though Coroner Toftoy hired one individual, Ann Moehring, in (page 1 of 9) 2010 to take her place.   Ann was employed at the Coroner’s Office from 7-20-2010 to 11-16-2010 to perform Mrs. Purcell’s job during her pregnancy.

http://yorkvilleinsider.org/Purcell/j_purcell_on_call_sheets.pdf  see pages 37-38 of 61

see pages 37-38 of 61) Mrs. Purcell delivered a child on 7-22-2010 and did not turn in any “24-hour on-call” vouchers from 7-7-2010 to 11-8-2010, a period of time Mrs. Purcell was not part of the Kendall County Coroner’ Deputy Field Investigators Team.  Apparently after her son was born on 7-22-2010, Mrs. Purcell’s post-partum recovery started and appears to have lasted to at least to 11-16-2010, when Ann Moehring received her last check for filling in for Mrs. Purcell in 2010.

In 2011, the year the Purcell’s second child was born, Mr.  Matt Prochaska, who is now one of the Republican nominees for the Kendall County Board, was hired (page 2 of 9) to take Mrs. Purcell’s place from 6-10-2011 to 10-28-2011 and perform and do Mrs. Purcell’s job during her second pregnancy.   Mrs. Purcell delivered her second child on 8-4-2011 and her post-partum recovery started thereafter.  During this period from 7-7-2011 to 10-21-2011 (page 50-51 of 61), Mrs. Purcell was not a part of the Kendall County Coroner’s Field Investigation Team and did not turn in any “24-hour On-Call” vouchers. 

When Mrs. Purcell is not with child or not close to her “due “date, she routinely takes and does “on-call” duty.   In 2010, between  1-5-2010 and 7-7-2010 (pages 27 to 37 of 61), Mrs. Purcell averaged 88.9 hours per On-Call time per voucher  and routinely turned vouchers into the Treasurer’s office for abundant ”on-call” hours. This average of 88.9 hours was calculated from the 11 vouchers submitted from Jan. 2010 to July 2010.   The amount of hours ranged from a low of 62.5 hours claimed while On-Call on 1-5-2010 to a high of 149 hours “On-Call’ duty claimed on 7-7-2010. 

At the very best Mrs. Purcell would have had a maximum 69 Days Sick/Personal Time days banked and could have(doubtful) had a maximum of 22.5 days of Vacation (15 days plus 7.5) based upon her 9-16-2004 date of hire that could have been carried over. Since the county treasurer takes Mrs. Purcell's word for the days she works as there is no written documentation for when she has ever actually taken any sick/personal days or vacation days because no employee attendance forms is or has ever been presented to actually document the number of days Mrs. Purcell actually works other than the on-call sheets at the Treasurer's Office. SEE http://yorkvilleinsider.org/Purcell/j_purcell_on_call_sheets.pdf

My point is that whatever banked personal/sick days Mrs. Purcell had, they would have been exhausted or nearly depleted to the point that she should have been required to ask for FMLA leave during this second period of time when she took her 2nd leave of absence from 6-10-2011 to 10-28-2011, instead she was paid as if she was a fulltime employee and was available to work during this whole period of time in violation of County Employment Practices that were adopted Dec. 1. 1999. http://yorkvilleinsider.org/Purcell/purcellfoia.pdf See page 1 of 11, #7, What recent changes did the Coroner's Office adopt, when the policy that governs personal/sick time days has been in effect since Dec. 1, 1999?

Please remember the Coroner's Office was over budget in the General Fund Account $4583, which would have been a good chunk of what was paid to Mrs. Purcell for her 2nd leave of absence. http://www.todd4kendall.org/resources/toftoyexpense.pdf

Below are the relevant sections of the Kendall County Employee Manuel that have been copied and pasted for your review and to help you with doing the math for banked sick/personal days and Vacation days a county employee is entitled to based upon number years of service and one's date of hire. I came up 69 days of personal/sick time days that could have been banked and 22.5 days of maximum vacation time if vacation was not taken in 2009 when the Purcell's were married and took their honeymoon.

Check it out, review and come to your own conclusion, then think about the Kendall Coroner going over budget while paying a new county employee fulltime wages while Mrs. Purcell was off the job.  We taxpayers paid to hire someone (without publicly posting the job opening) else in her place to do her job when she would not had enough personal/sick time banked to legitimately receive fulltime compensation for that entire 2nd period of time for this leave of absence from 6-10-2011 to 10-28-2011? The amount of illegitimate compensation in question very well could add up to $4583.00 or very close to it.

YEARS OF SERVICE

DISTRIBUTION AT BEGINNING FIRST OF MONTH

ANNUAL TOTAL

0-6 years

6.25 hours or .83 days

10 days (75 hours)

7-14 years

9.375 hours or 1.25 days

15 days (112.5 hours)

15 or more years

12.5 hours or 1.67 days

20 days (150 hours)

C. MAXIMUM ACCUMULATION: Employees shall be allowed to carry over from month to month no more than one-and-one half (1 ½) times an employee’s annual accrual rate. For example, a second (2nd) year employee can carry over no more than fifteen (15) days of vacation leave from one month to the next.

B. All full-time County employees are granted twelve days of sick/personal leave on the first day of the fiscal year (December 1). Permanent part-time County employees earn sick/personal leave proportionate to their average number of hours worked per month.

Beginning December 1, 1999 new full-time employees will be granted sick/personal days as follows:

                                                Commencing Work                         Days

                                                Dec., Jan., Feb.                                 12

                                                March, April, May                                9

                                                June, July, August                              6

                                                Sept., Oct., Nov.                                3

No sick/personal time forms were ever completed during these two 4-month plus periods of extended absentness by Mrs. Purcell for pregnancy and post-partum recovery, nor does it appear that any vacation time was taken either, yet Mrs. Purcell was paid as if she was still on the job, day in and day out, for each of these two separate 4 and ½ month period of absence in 2010 and again in 2011.  She was paid as if she was available to be “on-call” and was an active member of the 24-Hour “on-call” Kendall County Coroner’s Deputy Coroner’s Field Investigator Team.  Being on-call is part of Mrs. Purcell’s job description, yet she was not available to meet the requirements of her job description, but was still paid as if she was a full-time assistant deputy corner.   Again, please remember, someone else was hired twice on two separate occasions by Mr. Toftoy to take her place for each of these two periods of job idleness with pay  events, once for 4 and ½ months in 2010 and again in 2011 when Mr. Toftoy went over budget $ $4583.00 in the General Fund.   

According to the Kendall County Employee handbook all other county employees must take personal/sick days for maternity and then FMLA if desired.  During the employee elected FMLA period, which can last up to 12 weeks, a county employee on FMLA leave would be required to fund their own health insurance premium as if they had elected COBRA.   In other words, one would have to pay 100% or all her health insurance premium out of pocket to the county for this FMLA period of time in for which a county employee chose to elect FMLA and was not on the job.  Mrs. Purcell never completed any personal/sick time election forms, or vacation election forms, nor any FMLA election forms during these past two years, because, by her own admission, those forms do not exist in the Office of the Kendall County Coroner.  Yet, we taxpayers continued to pay her salary and health insurance in full while she was not able or available to work her assigned job description. 

This is the same woman who on 1-21-2011 also stated in an email to the County Clerk’s Accounts Payable Person that she was not required to comply with producing an itemized receipt for a $110.51, a questionable bill that may have included the purchase of alcohol by Coroner Toftoy, who was entertaining Kendall County Board Member Dan Koukol and a lobbyist in Springfield on 1-12-2011 at 10:44PM at the Indigo Restaurant.  Mr. Koukol has publicly proclaimed in an open meeting on 2-21-2012 that he was being trained that night by our coroner. 

http://www.todd4kendall.org/resources/toftoyexpense.pdf  page 11 of 43

Ken Toftoy declared in the Kendall County Record on 2-23-2012 that they were in fact meeting and dining with a lobbyist, yet this was still expensed to taxpayers of Kendall County as training for someone other than Coroner’s Office Personnel.

http://www.todd4kendall.org/resources/ls022312toftoy.pdf

 Don’t get me started on what I found in the Coroner’s Office “Office Expense” line item vouchers.

http://www.todd4kendall.org/resources/toftoyexpense.pdf  There are many questionable expenses here.

Ken Toftoy, the Kendall County coroner, does not deserve a raise, and, if anything, should be reprimanded for favoritism and patronage and for potentially setting this county up for another large female discrimination lawsuit.  This situation needs to be looked into, corrected, and taxpayers need to be reimbursed for any unauthorized insurance payments and unauthorized salary for someone not on the job.   I’m not sure how you can make the taxpayer whole, regarding unaccounted sick/personal time days, vacation days and FMLA time that should have never been paid out and was in violation of Kendall County Employee Handbook employment policies. 

Here is the backup voucher documentation for 2-23-2012 Kendall County Record Story.  

http://www.todd4kendall.org/resources/ls022312toftoy.pdf

1) The answer to your first question is YES the auditor did have several findings that need to be addressed this year.

2) The problems begin with implementing the Auditors Findings and enforcement.

Please see real life example 12-27-2007 Audit by Tonya Mack the County's Auditor when John Purcell was Kendall County Board Finance Committee Chairman.  Click and go:     

                                       http://yorkvilleinsider.org/sheriff/auditfind122707.pdf

Now here is what happened over the next 30+ months.  Click and go:

http://yorkvilleinsider.org/sheriff/brdreqfreceipt.pdf

See page 11 of 12 and 3-4-2008 new County Board Policy to address 12-27-2007 Audit Findings #2, #3 and #4 of 12-27-2007 Audit, then see 11-3-2009 KCB Finance Committee Chairman John Purcell memo, page 12 of 12, then finally see 9-20-10 ultimatum in the heat of the 2010 Lea/Randall Sheriff's Race with Purcell also up for re-election.

My point is what good is a County Board hired auditor if the County Board does not implement her findings.  It was only after County Coroner Kenny Toftoy's “supplies” were publicly disclosed in an open meeting on 2-21-2012 (http://www.todd4kendall.org/resources/ls022312toftoy.pdf) & those vouchers submitted & signed by Mr. Purcell's Wife were disclosed did the KCB finally vote for a new policy on 3-6-2012.

 A policy is no good unless someone enforces it.

  Here is some more to think about and this went on for years from 2004 to 2010

                            http://yorkvilleinsider.org/kcscredit.html