May 16, 2014
John Kraft of the Edgar County Watchdogs at LAST NIGHT’S meeting, setting up the video camera again. His video from Monday night’s meeting has gone to Breitbart.com. The below story is about the video that was filmed Monday.
By John Kraft, Edgar County Watchdogs
MILL CREEK PARK, IL. (ECWd) - Clark County Park District. This meeting started at 6:00 PM, and went into executive session within a couple minutes. After approximately 2 1/2 hours of executive session and over 30 people waiting to speak, the board came back into open session, tabled an agenda item, and adjourned the meeting without allowing time for the public to speak – which is a requirement of the Illinois Open Meetings Act, and a Class C Misdemeanor – a criminal act.
This article and video is a follow-up to our May 13, 2014 article (CLICK HERE) on the citizen’s arrest.
Timeline in the video:
1:40 – Asking for motion to adjourn
1:50 – Mr. Kraft asks if they are going to have public comments
Mr. Yargas, board member, and Mrs. Yagas, board attorney – daughter of board member – rents office in board members business-reportedly partner in board members business, both are quick to say “No” (along with the chairman). It is important to note that the attorney advised and assisted the board, as a group, to violate the law…making her a “Party to the Crime” as defined in the Illinois Criminal Code under 720 ILCS 5/5-2 (c).
2:05 – board votes to adjourn and then adjourns the meeting.
2:09 – I explain that violations of the Open Meetings Act are a criminal act, a class C misdemeanor. Mrs. Yargas, the board’s attorney, argues and I later read the “citizen’s arrest” part of the Illinois Criminal Code and ask them to submit themselves to custody so I do not have to physically restrain them (which the law allows).
13:10 – I fully explain to the attorney the violation that I arrested them under.
Throughout the remainder of this video and up until the Clark County Sheriff arrives, the attorney continues to obstruct and make herself look like a fool.
19:55 – Clark County (Illinois) Sheriff arrives.
20:08 – 20:10 – You can see the Sheriff in the far left side of the video, on the left of the window.
At the end of the night, the Sheriff talked to me and the board chairman and their attorney. He verified the violation of law, he acknowledged our right to conduct the citizen’s arrest, and also noted that he would not take anyone into custody that night. We were instructed to sign a formal complaint at the Sheriff’s Department and he also asked us to provide a copy of the video for evidence of the board’s violation of law. That was reasonable to us, and our reports with the Sheriff’s Department will be signed today or Thursday.
***One important thing to keep in mind is that in the video, it appears the board members are ignoring the arrest and leaving. The fact is they only left that room and went into the adjacent room to wait on the Clark County Sheriff’s Department.
View the video and read about it on Breitbart.com (CLICK HERE).