Sangamon Sun

More than a year after a complaint was filed against Frank Mautino over campaign spending during his time as a legislator, the Illinois Auditor General faces the State Board of Elections (SBE).

Mautino was scheduled to appear before the board in Chicago on April 20. According to the Edgar County Watchdogs, Mautino was deposed in relation to the SBE complaint brought by Streator resident David Cooke. Under a protective order issued by a hearing officer, SBE filings related to Mautino won’t be released to the public.

Mautino’s campaign spending is also under federal investigation.

Since the SBE complaint was filed, Mautino has been advised by counsel not to answer questions about his expenditures. He released a statement in June saying he would take his Fifth Amendment rights to continue his silence.

Appointed Illinois State Auditor General in October 2015, Mautino took office Jan. 1, 2016. ECW has investigated what it alleges to be Mautino’s questionable campaign spending patterns for nearly a year — ever since the Auditor General office’s response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed in May by ECW’s co-founder Kirk Allen fell short of the mark.

Allen submitted the complaint last year, alleging Mautino tried to conceal public records pertaining to his election campaign and claiming the Auditor General’s office failed to provide the correct information despite repeated requests.

Based on growing public concern, GOP lawmakers filed a joint House resolution in July asking to have Mautino removed from office during pending investigations, but he remained in place.

More than $200,000 from Mautino’s campaign coffers was spent on gas and vehicle repairs over an 11-year period — all to just one vendor by the name of Happy’s Super Service in Mautino’s hometown of Spring Valley, the organization previously reported.

According to the watchdog group, $213,338.31 was allocated for fuel and repairs with $20,914.20 of that on gasoline alone. ECW reported that it found no records of any purchase or lease of a vehicle that might explain the six-figure total.

Additionally, the watchdogs documented “irregularities” in payments made to Spring Valley City Bank over a 24-year period during which Mautino served as a state representative.

In January, ECW suggested in an Illinois Leaks article that the office of Auditor General requires neutrality and the highest level of fiscal compliance.

Court documents from an appeal filed by the Committee for Frank J. Mautino (petitioner) in March stated that “the complaint alleged ‘strains reason to believe’ that the expenses related to actual services rendered.” 

The petitioner’s appeal for a motion to stay regarding violations of the Illinois Campaign Disclosure Act was denied. 

Cooke filed a complaint in February about Mautino’s campaign spending in an action separate from but parallel to that of the ECW, which submitted its FOIA request shortly afterwards.

Regardless of the hearing’s outcome, the watchdog organization surmised that Mautino is sure to confront larger issues regarding how he conducted his campaign and its related expenditures.

Based on their observations, ECW has pieced together for constituents various parts of this puzzle over the past few years. Some pieces are still missing — not the least of which is that after all the effort put into shielding documents, ECW observed that Mautino’s post is “supposed to be a non-political office.”

“While serving in that post the law forbids him to be active in any political affairs, regardless of party affiliation,” the watchdogs stated on its website. “His primary job is to ensure state funds are being spent legally.”

ECW frequently raises questions not only about competence, but also about the inherent qualifications and the level of authenticity required of any individual in such a position of power.

In an update this past winter, the organization queried the logic of Mautino’s expressed need for cash in order to cover standard office expenses — including costs associated with document shredding — as reported by the Illinois Times.

“Who seriously raises money for the purpose of shredding documents?” ECW wrote.