Independent thinking and common sense led Dr. Yensen to shine a light on waste in county government. When politicians urged her to keep quiet, she demanded transparency and accountability to McHenry County taxpayers.

Paula strongly opposed the 2010 building expansion of the Mental Health Board facility. She believed the expansion was unnecessary and an unwise move financially, considering the state of the local economy.

When Dr. Yensen was later appointed to the Public Health and Human Services committee for the County Board, she became the county's liaison to the Mental Health Board. She led the effort to reduce their bloated bureaucracy and overhead, and slashed wasteful overhead and legal expenses.

Paula convinced the Mental Health Board to find new legal counsel after she discovered tens of thousands of dollars in questionable charges spanning several years. As a result, the Mental Health Board is operating more efficiently, with more of our tax dollars going to provide the services our community needs.

Dr. Yensen exposed a golden parachute retirement scheme for top officials at the Department of Public Health. The Board of Health allowed the Executive Director to accrue years of unused vacation and sick time as a lump sum payment before his retirement, and then use that final year's compensation to boost his pension to over $100,000 per year at taxpayer expense. Paula blew the whistle on this scheme and made sure it could never happen again.

Paula took heated criticism for every single one of these actions, but in every case she has been proven correct. Taxpayers need leaders like Paula Yensen on the McHenry County Board.