URBANA – The candidates for Champaign County Auditor agree on very little, except that the officeholder should be a watchdog for the community.

Challenger Brad Jones, a Republican, claims incumbent Tony Fabri can't watch the Democratic dogs while serving as the county chairman of the Democrats. Fabri said he can, and has, gone after members of his own party.

Jones said Fabri, who has a law degree but no financial training, is not the numbers man the job needs. Fabri said there are accountants in his office to do the number-crunching; he's their supervisor.

Fabri said one of his strengths is increasing openness in county government by, among other things, posting county documents online. Jones said one of his strengths is his master's degree in business administration from Emory University.

Jones blamed Fabri for cost overruns at the county nursing home.

"I think the results speak for themselves. There have been millions of dollars of losses in the nursing home, so we've had to bring in additional help from consultants," he said. "The auditor has fought it every step of the way."

Fabri said the opposite is true; he was the first to point out that using contract nurses instead of permanent staff dramatically increased labor costs for the home, something the consultants agree with.

He also said he pointed out waste by the Democratic leadership in a landscaping bridge at the highway facility.

"The bridge leads to nowhere. It's in the middle of the lawn, and it cost $50,000," he said. "The county tried to divert highway bridge money to pay for it, money that's supposed to be used in bridge maintenance for public safety."

Jones objected to press releases from Fabri that seem to him to have a political bent, most recently one the auditor wrote about Republican County Clerk Mark Shelden in their disagreement on the bidding process for new voting software.

"I don't have a problem with press releases, but they should be used to notify the public about things they hold the county accountable for. Some don't need to be issues," Jones said, including a recent question of nepotism he thinks could have been handled in-house.

Fabri, who was once a reporter for the Mahomet Citizen, said he thinks getting the press releases out is a good way to inform the public and county employees about what is acceptable practice.

Former Auditor Mike Frerichs, now a state senator, defeated Jones when they ran against each other in 2004.

Jones said he thinks he can be successful this time around because the record of the nursing-home overruns and other county problems diminish Fabri's achievements.

He also said 18 years of financial advising make him a more natural candidate.

"Our county auditor should be proactive in providing financial analysis to the county board to assist in effective decision-making," he told The News-Gazette editorial board, emphasizing that he is a numbers man.

Meet the candidates

TONY FABRI

Hometown: Champaign.

Age: 35.

Party: Democrat.

Office sought: Champaign County auditor.

Occupation: Champaign County auditor.

Political and government experience: Law degree, University of Illinois; City of Champaign Human Relations Commission 6 years, served as chair; Champaign County Board member, 6 years.

Three most important issues:

1) "The auditor is a watchdog for county tax dollars. I was the first county official to warn about overspending and the resulting financial difficulties at the Champaign County Nursing Home. Despite seeing a tenfold increase in contract nursing costs at the Nursing Home, some board members refused to admit the problem. Time has shown the nursing-home budget crisis to be very real. I will continue to work with county-board and nursing-home-board members to encourage the financial viability of this important community asset."

2) "I've continued the tradition of excellence in the annual comprehensive audit of county finances, winning recognition from the national Government Finance Officers' Association."

3) "I've also worked to increase openness in government by putting the county's expenditure reports online for public inspection and streamlining responses to Freedom of Information Act requests."

BRAD JONES

Hometown: Flora.

Age: 44.

Party: Republican.

Office sought: Champaign County auditor.

Occupation: financial adviser.

Political and government experience: Champaign County Board member; appointed in August 2006, elected in November 2006.

Three most important issues:

1) "One of the primary duties of the elected auditor should be to serve as the taxpayer's watchdog over wasteful county spending. The current auditor, who was appointed last year, is also the political chairman of the party that controls the county board. This presents a conflict of interest in holding board members accountable for wasteful spending."

2) "The county auditor is one of only two elected offices that focus on the county's financial matters. I possess a University of Illinois finance degree, an MBA, and 18 years of financial-work experience. I also currently serve as the vice chair of the county board finance committee. We need an auditor who is qualified for financial oversight."

3) "County board members are often asked to make decisions based upon financial information that is either incomplete or unclear. Our auditor should be proactive in providing financial analysis to the county board to assist in effective decision making. This would be an additional means for the auditor to fight wasteful spending."