It is Christmas Eve, and in the spirit of peace and goodwill, I'd like to absolve the political sins of Lake County Surveyor George Van Til.
You know that he let his teenage son drive a county-owned SUV to high school, which resulted in Van Til giving up his county car. Then, when he was driving his private car, a subordinate was caught on security videotape filling it up on Van Til's order at the county gas pumps.
But I'm prepared to grant him my personal absolution if he will just make one gesture of penance, which is to give up all the other public employees who are ripping off county government and who have been doing so for many years.
How do I know he has this knowledge? From the source. He has told us so himself.
He defended using county gas in his car, saying it was accepted county practice.
"Numerous people do it in the county," he said.
Numerous people in the county use gasoline in other than county cars. So that makes it all right? It was not against the rules, he said, but was accepted county practice.
It wasn't against the "rules?" This is like watching one of your kids try to squirm out of a tricky situation by saying, "You never actually said I couldn't feed worms to my sister," or some such.
There are certain things we as parents (or as taxpayers) don't explicitly say because we believe common sense dictates a person will not do these things. County Commissioner Gerry Scheub said it best when he said dealing with some elected officials is like working at a day care center.
And George, if you know this has been going on, well, you have been in some public office since you were 22, more than 30 years now. Why have you not said something before?
If I am in a grocery store and see someone stick a filet mignon under his jacket, and I do not tell any store personnel, I aid and abet the thief. No one says I have to tackle the shoplifter myself, but silence is complicity in the crime.
I think Van Til is telling the truth when he says gas theft and other petty crimes are accepted practice at the county, and that numerous people do it.
Van Til says he was "outed" by his political enemies. But who cares what the motive was? Any cop will tell you witnesses rarely have pure motives when informing on criminals.
Now I am not saying George's use of the county's gas is a criminal act. But what could be Van Til's motive here? Nothing more nor less than an attempt to salvage what he can of his personal and political life before it is too late.
The opinions are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at markk@nwitimes.com or (219) 933-4170.
