Dave Tanzyus will be appointed Madison County administrator at a special board meeting at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
A former aide to Republican Congressman Mike Bost, Tanzyus has been serving in Chairman Kurt Prenzler's administration since December when the board confirmed his appointment as community development administrator.
With 30 years of government experience, Tanzyus will fill the seat that had been occupied by administrator Doug Hulme, who was terminated by the county board last April.
Prenzler also will appoint Chris Bethel as IT director.
Bethel started working for IT in January 2017, under former director Rob Dorman, whom the county board also terminated last April. Bethel began as a project manager, then became manager of network services.
He’s served as interim IT director for the department during the past year since Dorman's departure.
According to the press release announcing the appointments, Tanzyus holds a bachelor of arts in history from Oral Roberts University and a master of arts in communications from Lindenwood University.
Tanzyus's background includes district director for U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, overseeing the southern region of the state's Comptroller’s Local Debt Recovery Program under Judy Baar Topinka; serving as Madison County’s commissioner on the Bi-State Development Board (Metro), which included a term as Metro’s Audit Committee chairman during two Metro Link expansions. He also worked for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and on the (then) federally funded Comprehensive Child Development Program. He served as an elected board member and president to the Collinsville Area Recreation District.
Bethel holds a bachelor of science in computer management and information systems from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Prior to working for the county, Bethel worked in various IT positions, including computer operator, assistant network administrator. Bethel also worked as a legislative aide/communications liaison, communications analyst and as district director for State Rep. Dwight Kay.
A messy divorce
The firing of Hulme and Dorman on April 16, 2020, followed a tumultuous two-year public corruption investigation centered on alleged spying of internal emails and data breach. Hulme and Dorman were never charged in the case investigated by the Illinois Attorney General, but nevertheless, the county board voted 26-1 to end their employment after being briefed by the head of a special task force that raided offices of the county administration in January 2018 and conducted witness interviews.
In the last year, Hulme and Dorman have filed a slew of lawsuits mainly related to their firing.
Some are still being litigated, including ones against the county in May and June 2020. A motion to consolidate those is set for June 11 before Associate Judge Ron Foster.
A defamation lawsuit Hulme and Dorman filed against Democrat candidate for board chairman Bob Daiber over statements he made in a press release during the campaign season remains pending with a motion to amend before Circuit Judge Sarah Smith.
Some have been dismissed, including a suit Dorman filed against former State's Attorney Tom Gibbons. Circuit Judge Chris Threlkeld in December dismissed the case, which alleged Gibbons failed to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request related to the public corruption task force that investigated him. It was dismissed three months after it was filed, though a plaintiff's motion for attorney fees and costs is pending on the docket.
A defamation suit filed by Dorman against Lisa Ciampoli, a Republican precinct committeewoman and former candidate for state representative - claiming she made false statements in an affidavit related to the investigation - was dismissed by Judge Smith in November.
A defamation suit Hulme filed last year against county Treasurer Chris Slusser, alleging he lied about him to members of the task force after having worn a wire in a 2018 conversation between the two, was dismissed by Judge Smith in November.
Some suits are new, including one against the cities of Edwardsville, Alton, Granite City and Collinsville filed by Hulme and Dorman on April 15 claiming police assigned to the public corruption task force interfered with their employment contracts by persuading county board members to vote for their termination. Judge Threlkeld presides.
Another one filed May 6 by Dorman alleges Slusser circumvented the Freedom of Information Act by using personal email for county business.
Dorman, acting pro se, claims Slusser indicated there were no records on a request for emails between State Sen. Jason Plummer and Slusser's personal Yahoo account bewteen Dec. 1, 2016 and Sept. 11, 2020.
But when Dorman requested the same information from the Illinois State Senate Freedom of Information Act officer, he says he was provided 22 pages of responsive documents.
Slusser responded: "This is yet another frivolous lawsuit filed by a disgraced former county official. The emails he’s referencing were sent to my personal email account, and had nothing to do with my duties as county treasurer, so I was not required to keep these emails for the public record. He then filed two appeals with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office and in both occasions they ruled against him."
A judge has not yet been assigned to the case.