INBA awards Holland Illinoisan of the Year Award

Posted on September 28, 2015
Tom Holland
Charlie Wheeler, director of the Public Affairs Reporting program at the University of Illinois, Springfield talks with Illinois Auditor General Bill Holland after Holland accepted the Illinoisan of the Year yesterday at the Illinois News Broadcaters Association in Rock Island. (Collen Reynolds/WJBC)

By Adam Studzinski

ROCK ISLAND – The Illinois News Broadcasters Association is giving retiring Auditor General Bill Holland it’s Illinoisan of the Year award.

Holland accepted the Illinoisan of the Year Award from the INBA in Rock Island. He told journalists they are much like employees of his office because they are — in his words — both “agents of sunshine,” for the way they seek out the truth and shine a light on it.

Holland was asked about the biggest surprise in all his years of auditing state government departments.  He said it was what he found during his first audits under former imprisoned Governor Rod Blagojevich …

“Those first audits that we released, the big one in 2005 on the Department of Central Management Services, caught me off guard because it was not what was anticipated,” said Holland. “It was not what the Blagojevich administration ran on.”

Holland has been Illinois Auditor General since 1992 and has earned wide praise for the way he’s run his office, acting as a watchdog for the people. Holland has uncovered and exposed numerous problems in state agencies, but has not sought public attention or approval. In fact, he has only held two news conferences in 23 years. One of those was to announce his retirement, effective at the end of this year.

Adam Studzinski can be reached at [email protected].

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