EFFINGHAM— A stunning display of both arrogance and ignorance was beheld at the Tuesday, July 15 meeting of the Effingham City Council, unfortunately to no one’s surprise.
The council continued marching to the beat of their own unlawful drummer in lockstep to the theme that the thousands of dollars they collect through their Hotel/Motel Tax is somehow not that of taxpayers.
Also known as the Heads and Beds Tax, scores of groups from throughout the county have been jockeying for position to get themselves on the list to ask city fathers for large chunks of the tax money.
The problem many voters are becoming aware of, due to the efforts of the Illinois Leaks group (formerly Edgar County Watchdogs), is that nearly all of the groups asking for a taxpayer handout are themselves taxing bodies.
Park Dist. asking for $2 mil
One of the more repugnant and dishonest (and already taxing) groups asking for more tax funds from the city is the Park District of Effingham.
The park district is asking the city for over $2 million simply because they have reached their limit on how much money they can borrow.
But borrowing the $2 million is not what they have in mind.
With no intentions to pay any of it back, park district president David McDevitt actually asked the city to donate the $2 million so they can complete their sports and wellness center that has run $3 million over budget, thus far.
“If they can’t manage their own budget and nobody will loan them the money, why in the world would the city even consider such a thing?” asked one critic of the proposal.
Illinois Leaks co-founder Kirk Allen is shown here offering up a pop quizz to the Effingham City Council concerning the law as it pertains to the Open Meetings Act. They failed.
Tax extortion and the lie
In an attempt at what some would call extortion, McDevitt said if his request were granted that the board has not thus far and would not in the future raise the park district’s tax levy.
There were those in attendance at the meeting that say they “read between the lines” and felt McDevitt was actually issuing a veiled threat to raise taxes if he didn’t get what he wanted.
In fact, through the investigative efforts of Illinois Leaks, McDevitt was shown to either not know what he was talking about or outright lying.
Official documents show that the park district does and has routinely increased their tax levy on voters five percent over the previous year’s levy.
It’s commonly referred to as the “slow bleed on the citizens.”
What many voters are unaware of is that the park district has the authority to raise the tax levy from one to 104 percent annually.
Taxpayers wouldn’t even know until they a read about it or got their tax bill.
And that begs the question: Is that the threat McDevitt seemed to be hinting at?
It is only when a taxing body attempts to raise the tax levy 105 percent or more that they are required to have a public hearing.
Commissioner/administrator step up
To his credit, commissioner Brian Milleville spoke out and said the city had done its part already by assisting with property and infrastructure and has washed it’s hands of the project.
James Arndt, city administrator, expounded on Milleville’s comment by pointing out that the city had already provided $2.7 million from donated land for the site of the project, assisted with infrastructure and design expenses.
In fact, Arndt went as far as to say the city did have the means to grant the request but that it would be “financially irresponsible” to completely exhaust the city’s Hotel/Motel Tax, which currently totals $450,000, and then dip into the city’s general fund to grant the park district’s request.
No motion was presented to approve the request.
Council fails pop quiz
When granted his time to speak, Illinois Leaks co-founder Kirk Allen asked a general question of everybody on the council about their legally mandated Open Meetings Act training, training they have all certified they have undergone and made passing grades.
Allen’s question, simply put was a “yes” or “no” question.
He asked the council and the mayor if the city could legally require a citizen wanting to speak to fill out a “speaker card” in advance of the meeting and have it turned in by a certain deadline or they would not be allowed to speak.
Allen was forearmed with the knowledge that the Open Meetings Act clearly states that the practice of requiring a “speaker card” to be filled out is an unequivocal violation of the law.
Sadly, the entire council and mayor sat mute.
It is unclear if they didn’t know, which they are required to, or if they simply refused to answer a question put to them from the public.
Allen went on to inform the council and mayor of the law.
Violated anyway
When Illinois Leaks co-founder John Kraft rose to speak without having filled out a “speaker’s card,” he reminded the city fathers that their own attorney had advised them that their public speaking policy should be focused on minimizing the possibility of lawsuits brought against the city for violating the law.
Kraft advised the board that if he were refused the right to speak that he fully intended to file such a lawsuit.
Despite mayor Mervin Gillenwater knowing full well that Kraft has not only filed such lawsuits but prevailed in doing so, he informed him he would not be allowed to speak, a clear violation of state statute.
Upon hearing the denial, commissioner Matt Hirtzel stepped up and trumped the mayor’s illegal decision by asking for a vote of the council to allow Kraft to speak.
The vote was unanimous to allow Kraft to continue.
Child porn at local library
Kraft used his time to encourage the council to place stipulations on any funds provided to the local library, which had asked at the previous meeting for $1 million of those Hotel/Motel Tax funds.
The stipulations Kraft suggested would be that filters be placed on the library’s internet computers that would restrict access to illegal content the likes of child porn.
Kraft’s request stems from Illinois Leaks’ ongoing exposure of the Orlando Park Library board, who not only allows unfettered access to child porn but has repeatedly failed to report the illegal activity to authorities.
The council said it would take all requests for tax funds under advisement but, oddly enough, made no promises to do anything to keep child porn out of their public library.
It was also interestingly noted that the local media wrote nothing about Illinois Leaks either confronting the elected officials as to their knowledge of the Open Meetings Act, Kraft being denied by the mayor to speak or the possibility of child porn being or becoming readily available at the local public supported library.
This came on the heels of both Illinois Leaks and Disclosure being honored June 12, right there in Effingham with members of the local media present, at a fundraiser for Adam Andrzejewski’s For the Good of Illinois Political Action Committee, without the first mention of those honored…with the keen exception being members of the Effigham County Board, who last year were examining spurious spending by the county’s sheriff John Monnet…and even then, those county board members’ work on that situation (which has not yet resulted in the resignation of Monnet, as they were calling for) not even being a part of the report.