The three Democratic hopefuls in the March 17 primary election for Kane County Treasurer fielded questions at a recent League of Women Voters forum at the Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin.

Penny Wegman, Scott Johansen and Candida “Connie” Cain are all vying for the party’s nomination. The primary winner would run against incumbent Treasurer Chris Lauzen, a Republican, who is seeking a second term.

Wegman is currently the Kane County Auditor. Cain is a CPA who had worked for current treasurer Chris Lauzen for about 18 months. Scott Johansen, a businessman who had an unsuccessful run for County Board District 15 in 2022.

Each spoke before an audience of about 20 on Jan. 13 in a session that will be posted to the League website at lwvelginarea.org.

“I am proud to be running as a Democrat for Kane County Treasurer,” said Cain, a former Republican. “I am a certified public accountant with over 20 years of financial services, including auditing, budgeting, technology systems, fraud investigation and dispute resolution.”

Cain said her skills would ensure fair, accurate and secure management of public funds.

As past director of financial operations at the treasurer’s office from May 2023, to November 2024, Cain said it gave her insider expertise on collecting and investing $1.5 billion in annual property taxes.

“I have experience in a professional setting for dispute resolution,” Cain said. “I can always be counted on to use diplomacy to settle disagreements and build consensus.”

Johansen said he has 30 years of experience in private industry, working extensively with bankers and interested parties in managing funds.

Johansen cited his MBA from Northwestern University and his past experience working with large companies employing 2,000 people.

“When I built my business, it was an entrepreneurial startup,” Johansen said. “I had raised all the money with myself, a business plan and two other business partners.”

Because his endeavors created sites in Elgin and China, Johansen said he has international business experience.

As an elected auditor for the county, Wegman said she increased transparency and maintained the independence of the office.

“My office upholds my standards consistently and operate within the law, and make information reliable and accessible,” Wegman said. “Because of this work, I was named Auditor of the Year by the Illinois Association of County Auditors for 2025. ... and I received the Innovator of the Year Award from the International Association of Government Officials.”

Because she had previously served on the County Board and on several committees, Wegman said she understands county operations and the importance of collaboration with other officials and departments.

Wegman also has an MBA, a Certified Illinois Assessing Officer designation and an Illinois Real Estate License.

“I am running to bring that same independent, transparent and disciplined approach from the auditor’s office to the treasurer’s office,” Wegman said.

Accountability, oversight

In response to a question about how he might approach accountability and oversight of the treasurer’s office, Johansen said he would establish procedures for how and when to do things.

Johansen cited his startup company as his experience in creating a professional culture.

“And in creating that culture, you have to establish methods that you use in order to have people understand what we’re doing and how you’re doing it,” Johansen said.

“I believe it is safe to say that Kane County government has got accountability procedures,” he added. “The first thing I would do is make sure that the people involved in the office have been trained on that.”

Wegman said she would increase accountability by increasing transparency.

“One example of this in the auditor’s office is the creation of our purchase-card activity report,” Wegman said, referring to county credit cards – known as purchase cards or p-cards.

“When I first took office, I immediately took a look at the policy around the purchase-cards. One of the observations we made was there was a lack of transparency for transactions of these cards,” Wegman said. “As a result, we created a purchase card report on an ongoing basis. This report tells what departments are spending, where the money is being spent and the business purpose that was provided.”

As the auditor’s office began publishing the p-card reports, other municipalities asked how the reports were created as they found it a benefit for their own transparency, Wegman said.

Cain said she provided daily financial oversight during her time as director of financial operation in the treasurer’s office.

“I oversaw daily financial processes, including bank reconciliation and transaction monitoring for our $1.5 billion in our annual property tax collections,” Cain said. “During one monthly reconciliation, I identified a recurring discrepancy that could have led to inaccurate reporting. I used my CPA auditing and fraud investigation experience to review the issue, traced it to a processing error and worked with a team to correct it and recover the discrepancy.”

Cain said she added an extra verification step to prevent it from happening again.

“That experience reflects my approach to accountability, Cain said. “Objective, proactive and focused on building systems that protect taxpayers’ funds and strengthen public trust.”

Risk management of public funds

As to what principles would guide the candidates’ approach to risk management for public funds, Wegman said, “Risk management starts with access.”

“Only the right people should have access to the accounts and systems,” Wegman said. “Access should be clearly defined and in view. For me, that is strong practices with limited permissions and separating duties so no one person knows everything. For example, ensuring that passwords are complex and not readily accessible. That’s a simple solution, but an important safeguard.”

Cain said her approach to risk management for public funds involves three core principles.

“Safety in principle, first,” Cain said. “Prudent diversification and liquidity to meet needs following the county’s investment policy, and the Illinois Public Funds Investment Act. Safety is paramount. I will prioritize low-risk, high-quality investments using my CPA expertise and my fraud investigation experience to monitor and mitigate credit and market risks objectively.”

Diversification avoids concentration in any one area and liquidity ensures funds are available for operations without forced sales, Cain said.

“As former director of financial operations in this office, I applied these principles daily to safeguard our $1.5 billion in annual collections,” Cain said.

Johansen said the office should have procedures and policies in place to see that passwords are protected.

“I can’t imagine that the Kane County Treasurer’s Office does not have policies and practices in place to do that,” Johansen said.

“The bigger issue in my mind is making sure that you’re working with the correct banks that ensure and are vetted by Kane County ... to ensure the practices they are using inside the bank are appropriate, and that there’s a relationship that’s established to ensure trust. I think there should not be an employee trust issue,” Johansen said.

Independent audits

To a question about the role of independent audits in the treasurer’s office, Cain said treasurer’s office audits were vital.

“By providing an objective, external assurance that financial statements are fairly presented, internal controls are effective and public funds are safeguarded – all building trust with taxpayers,” Cain said. “Illinois requires an annual independent audit by certified public accountants of the county’s financial statements, including treasurer operations, conducted under government funding standards.”

Cain said the external review complements the county auditor’s internal audits.

“I’ll ensure timely, accurate records, implement recommendations properly and maintain transparent reporting,” Cain said.

Johansen said audits are a basic function that all companies and financial institutions must do.

“They are central to making sure the systems in place are working,” Johansen said. “A large part of what the auditor is doing is validating the systems that are there in place.”

Wegman said as the current county auditor, she believes that “independent audits are absolutely necessary.”

“Independent audits provide an outside perspective on how policy and procedures are currently being completed and then provide best practice recommendations to improve processes,” Wegman said. “Independent audits have the ability to provide continued process improvement and create stronger internal practices and that is a win for the office, the county and the residents of Kane County.”

Artificial intelligence

Regarding the use of artificial intelligence in the treasurer’s office, Johansen said he would explore the possibility.

“As an intelligence analysis system that can search the internet to find solutions ... that would be difficult for the average person to find,” Johansen said.

Wegman said the auditor’s office was exploring the opportunities.

“There’s a lot of security concerns with government information,” Wegman said. “But it’s such a quickly evolving resource that really eases the complications of many of the processes and procedures that are in government.”

Cain said she would use AI to streamline processes and make the office more efficient.

“It would also help to preserve taxpayer dollars and benefits to our residents,” Cain said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for us.”