ALBION—Nearly a year’s worth of what appears to be harassment and intimidation directed toward a city official came to an ugly head on Monday, February 4, 2013, and resulted in a walkout of Albion’s mayor and city clerk.
However, it appears the “walkout” was staged for maximum dramatic effect…and the drama was brought into it to detract from the real problem: lack of transparency in taxpayer-supported entities in the city of Albion as well as accountability in the usage of taxpayer-supported equipment, something that came to the fore nearly a year ago and is only just now coming to the attention—and understanding—of the public.
And most reprehensible about the entire matter is the fact that local mainstream media—always deferring to their advertisers, who pay their bills, as well as the public officials who are by law required to place legal notices in newspapers of general circulation within their counties, and pay the going rate for them—are propping up the drama, and ignoring the larger issues of Freedom of Information and Open Meetings Action violations among other, potentially serious and possibly criminal matters…many of which, in the end, may cost taxpayers dearly.
Original incident needs explained
While the January meeting of the Albion city council briefly touched upon the animosity that had been developing up to that point, it failed, in and of itself, to reveal what generated the situation to begin with; and in order to understand the full impact of what occurred Feb. 4, that original incident needs to be explained.
In April or May of 2012, Edwards County High School held its prom. A tradition that has developed over the years—viewed by many as somewhat foolish, as it really adds nothing dignified to what used to be a mature and ‘sophisticated’ experience such as a junior/senior prom—is for prom attendees to bring their dates in a sharp or unusual manner of conveyance. This could include a horse and buggy; a motorcycle with a sidecar; a muscle car all shined up; or some other cool or interesting ride.
In 2012, one young couple was brought to the prom in a fire truck, courtesy the young man’s father, who is a city of Albion firefighter.
Concerned alderwoman asks questions
Concerned about this use of fire department equipment, alderwoman Karen Shupe, who’s been with the council since 2004, began questioning the fire department over a handful of things.
She learned first that the fire department was claiming it did not fall under Illinois’ Open Meetings Act, meaning a few things: that they didn’t have to post notices when they held a fire department meeting, because they believed themselves to be a somewhat independent entity, not answerable to anyone.
She requested a list of volunteers who were trained to be firefighters, and she got that.
She then requested legal documents regarding Albion Fire Department’s ISO (Insurance Services Office) as it pertained to fire chief Kent Nale’s stated intention to have a new fire department building constructed.
Nale was telling people that the department was required by ISO to be built “right downtown.”
As it turned out, Shupe learned that that wasn’t the truth at all; ISO had no such requirement.
Shupe dared
The questioning, and the concern Shupe dared to voice over a singular firefighter using a city department’s taxpayer-supported vehicle instantly painted a target on her back.
Following her questioning, and bringing the subject to the fore in subsequent meetings, Shupe began experiencing an unusual type of harassment: Fire engines and/or other fire department-related vehicles, passing by her house on specific evenings when they would hold “practice runs” (first Tuesday of the month), would blare their horns as they passed her residence, on Main Street (Illinois Highway 15) near 8th in Albion.
This went on for months, and got to the point that even the neighbors were saying something to her about the regularity of it.
At one point, it was reported, the trucks were going “back and forth, back and forth, like hummingbirds.”
Finally, Shupe asked mayor Ryan Hallam to talk to the fire department about it, to see if he could get it to stop (Hallam is a long-time volunteer firefighter).
FOIAs filed
Additionally, Shupe filed a FOIA, on December 6, 2012, to the city of Albion’s public information officer, requesting a “record of all the meetings and activities of the fire department since April of this year” (2012) and “attendance of these meetings to date,” this in an apparent effort to learn at least who might be responsible for the ongoing drive-bys and horn-blarings.
Another FOIA, dated Dec. 10, asked for “minutes of the Albion Fire Department meetings from April to the present date.”
The FOIA gave some insight into what had occurred with Shupe’s previous questioning of the fire department:
“The city public information officer stated in correspondence dated April 4, 2012, that the fire department does not fall under the Open Meetings Act. How is this possible when the city of Albion funds the fire department? On the Edwards County tax bill the city of Albion is listed as a line item. Therefore, the fire department is funded with tax dollars. I would like a list of legal documents, with page numbers, that support your positions.”
Nale, gnashing
The FOIAs set off Nale, who crabbed mightily to the Albion paper about how his firefighters believed Shupe was “sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong,” and who opined that with the way “Shupe and the firefighters had been at odds for some time,” her strategy might “lead to a mass walkout by firefighters.”
This merely served to illustrate how ridiculous firefighting has gotten in many areas of southern Illinois over the past several decades.
Once an honorable thing that people concerned about their community involved themselves in, it had become, in recent years, a gathering place for good ol boys full of themselves and set in their self-aggrandizing ways. Nowhere was this more apparent than in the village of West Salem, where fire chief Harv Fenton became so enamored with his position that he was able to wrangle the board into creating auxiliary police, one of which he became, then managed to get himself appointed police chief, all the while still running the fire department as a good ol boys club, leading expeditions that involved members of the fire department conducting illegal surveillance lying in ditches and fencerows with night vision goggles, watching civilians who were not under suspicion of any specific crime.
While the Albion fire department may never have gone that far, their opinion of themselves was equally as high, and equally unjustifiable. Lead for years by Nale, they became little more than an elite social club that happened to know how to fight fires, and wherein certain members, sincere in their desire to help the community, were outnumbered by the ones who believed their feces didn’t smell, and anyone who didn’t defer to that opinion was trash in their book.
Hallam sneers
Shupe, she made clear, didn’t defer to that opinion.
She was treated accordingly.
Hallam’s open sneering toward Shupe became so obvious in December 2012 that it was at that time brought to Disclosure’s attention.
In particular (and during open meetings), Hallam seemed to be hammering on some notion that Shupe intended to “sue the city,” and he mentioned this repeatedly in little verbal tussles with her during the course of said meetings.
Shupe never really answered Hallam…not because of any legal consequences to her input, but because Hallam was misunderstanding the consequences of not responding to FOIAs—any mention of “suing” the city had up to that point been connected only to the Attorney General’s office getting involved in the non-responsive FOIA answers.
In other words, all Shupe was wanting was transparency. And Hallam and the fire department didn’t want to give it.
Open hostility
Disclosure staff attended the January meeting and observed first-hand the open hostility Hallam was displaying toward Shupe.
The February meeting was no less brutal.
Upon the reading of the minutes from the January meeting, Hallam asked for approval and Shupe noted, “Nowhere in the minutes did it reflect that we had asked for financial reports and for when the fire trucks were coming by” (her house, regarding the blaring of horns; and Shupe had requested that financial reports be submitted at each meeting, these both being mentioned at the January meeting.)
Clerk Gary Mason made a note on Shupe’s comment and the meeting moved on to Hallam reading a letter submitted to the council about the harassment and discrimination the fire department had been imposing upon Shupe.
The letter, issued by Blake Law Group in Belleville, addressed Hallam and outlined Shupe’s FOIA requests and the only “partial compliance” the city and fire department had shown. The letter stated that it was “a formal demand letter for same,” now demanding full responses to the FOIAs.
Skipped paragraph that cited the law
The second paragraph of the letter was a citing of case law as regards FOIA-able documents and information; Hallam did not even read that paragraph.
Instead, by excising the law as stated and reading the next two paragraphs, it once again made it appear as though the letter were submitted for no reason other than to tell the city Shupe might “sue them” if they didn’t comply…and again, this not being the case, as the attorney general’s office is in place to handle non-compliance. The issuance of a letter from an attorney Shupe employed was better explained by the final paragraph, wherein Shupe’s “emotional distress and humiliation” she “suffered because of the city council and fire department” was touched upon.
“You previously indicated to Ms. Shupe that you would address the Fire Department’s behavior with appropriate officials,” the letter stated, and which Hallam continued to read with the ever-present sneer. “Ms. Shupe would like a public apology addressing this matter. Specifically, the apology should be placed on the front page of the Navigator” (Albion’s paper) “using the same font as the headlines of 12/12/12, released to all media within a 100 mile area. The apology should indicate that the fire department will meet and exceed all the statutes listed in the city of Albion ordinance book and, going forward, the fire chief will be approved by the council yearly and that accurate minutes and record of the fire department will be kept and presented to the city council under oath each year, according to ordinance. Additionally, names of the fire truck drivers disclosed, and the fire department will never harass anyone again.”
Sneering again
After reading the letter (in part), Hallam sneered to Shupe and asked “Do you want the fire department to resign?” to which she answered “No.”
“Do you think that you should go to the fire department and give them an apology?” Hallam asked.
“For what?” Shupe countered, to which Hallam responded “For being mean to them.”
At that moment, Hallam’s wife stood in the audience, her face beet red and shaking with anger, spewing “What about an apology for calling my house and harassing my family!”
Shupe had no comments; Hallam, however, continued to rag at Shupe, asking if she planned to “sue the city, the same city you are on the council for?”
Shupe said she supposed she would need to speak to her attorney.
“What do you want, Karen?” Hallam asked with a crooked smile.
“What I want to ask is that we follow the general rules and the law of this town.”
Hallam continued his juvenile approach, leaning over to city attorney Les Smith: “Do we even need to be talking to Shupe if she’s planning on suing the city?”
Smith mumbled something, and Hallam announced that it was time to move on.
“I guess we will hear from your attorney,” he said to Shupe, but looking out toward the packed room, “’cause personally, I’m done; I’m tired of talking about it.”
Resignations
Hallam proceeded to read a letter of resignation from water department employee Lilly Belle Perry, 78, who had been with the city for decades and was finally retiring.
Hallam then launched in to a letter of resignation from himself, a letter which ended with a dig toward Shupe of the quote “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.”
For punctuation, clerk Gary Mason also then read a letter of resignation, citing “personal and health reasons” but tossing in his continuation of the infantile gouges toward Shupe, asking the fire department to “use the bells and whistles…on a run or in a parade.”
Both Hallam and Mason walked out at 7:32, leaving the meeting to be handled by Alderman Kevin Harper, and business finished.
The reason why Disclosure exists
Disclosure later learned that the entire resignation was orchestrated for maximum effect, including Perry’s retirement letter.
Mason had called treasurer Neeley Sawyer the previous Wednesday asking her to resign as well, so that a big, stomping en masse exit could be enjoyed by attendees and leave the meeting in more chaos than it was; she, however, didn’t go along with it.
Hallam later stated that he was taking a job with Pekin Insurance that was a traveling gig, and “his employer” had told him that he couldn’t hold a government position and this job at the same time. However, ‘his employer’ up to this point has been his father, the local Pekin representative, so how genuine this claim was remains to be seen.
The April 9 election will see the re-ascension to the office of mayor of Steve McMahel, who was in office before Hallam took the win in 2001.
Those who appreciate McMahel’s style of governance hope he gets the support he needs from his council, many of whom have opponents running in each ward…and many of those include firefighters.
Alderman Brett Berger is mayor pro tempore until McMahel is seated.
Shupe is still waiting to see if a public apology will be issued, but unfortunately, local mainstream media has already taken a side, this one against the basic thing they’re there to promote: proper running of taxpayer-supported entities, including a fire department that’s run like a secretive club and won’t offer up even the basics of an effort to ensure transparency is going on in every facet of business the city operates.
This, incidentally, is exactly why Disclosure came into being ten years ago in March—because of not just the snobbishness going on in local politics, but the possible (and ever-present) threat of corruption that breeds within that secrecy…and the failure of local mainstream media to be the watchdog of that corruption as it grows.