EDGAR CO.—A woman who has years of public service under her belt and who has been entrusted with handling petitions for leniency for Terry Peyton has come under scrutiny in recent weeks for her position and stance with county entities.
Adonna Bennett, former Edgar County board chairperson, is a recent appointee to the Edgar County Airport advisory board, the beleaguered entity that seems on the verge of a civil rights violation lawsuit because of inexplicable action taken against one of its lesees, the Bogue family of RSB Aviation.
On May 8, Bennett attended the Edgar County board meeting and put in her two cents worth during a nine-minute presentation that provided no opportunity for anyone to give rebuttal, as she’d placed herself on the agenda—as a public official—in order to do it…and it seems that all she did was alienate the people who feel she should be representing their interests.
Further, folks believe she set a foul tone during the presentation, attacking a business owner (Rusty Bogue of RSB) who is doing all he can to keep his business local.
The fallout from this presentation has had repercussions across the county and is being said to reflect badly on the county board (who appointed Bennett), the county’s legal counsel (state’s attorney Mark Isaf, who is abdicating any authority he has in the matter; which is to say, final word, since he is the county’s legal counsel), and airport manager Jimmy Wells.
The Wells/Patrick/Bennett combine
Wells is the petulant old man who started the harassment of RSB months ago when he discovered Mrs. Bogue in the aviation business’s office, nursing her infant daughter. From that incident, it’s been one attempt after another to create as much havoc as possible for the Bogues, who have a reputation as excellent business people in the community and who have done nothing to violate airport policy or regulations…unlike Wells, whose continued infractions at hangars at the airport come to light the longer he fusses about the situation.
Bennett was said to have been appointed to the airport advisory board as a ‘ringer’ in order to ensure that the wills of Wells and Edgar County board chair Chris Patrick—who is said to be and have been, over the past several years, very close to Bennett—were carried out.
The nine-minute soliloquy that offended so many on May 8 was very obviously part of that “will”…but it’s being said to have backfired on those who prompted it. Bennett offended so many people in Edgar County (those in particular who have long memories) with her glorification of entities and programs that she was a part of (extolled by her in an effort to “lend credence” to the castigation she was giving RSB) that Wells and Patrick may just as well have opened the books on many of their antics they’ve been trying desperately to hide for years…because Bennett touched upon sore subjects for Edgar Countians, many of whom are still feeling the pain in the form of tax increases for years now.
Sore spot 1: Health department
The first sore spot was the healthcare business in Edgar. It appeared to those listening that Bennett took pride in the expansion of the county health department, which occurred under her watch on the county board.
However, the “expansion” did little to help private healthcare providers in the area, and in fact ran them off, reducing the options of qualified providers to the area.
Worse, the “health care” creation that occurred under Bennett’s watch was one of the first of many governmental entities to be exposed for theft of funds in Edgar County.
Sore spot 2: Ambulance
Bennett’s praise for the county ambulance service also was met with derision by those who knew better.
“What she’s talking about was the very ambulance that had more corruption than anything we have ever seen,” said Kirk Allen, Kansas resident who is one of the Edgar County Watchdogs, “to include the theft of funds through what they called ‘Administration Fees.’”
Allen said the county board itself stole thousands and thousands of dollars because the county was so broke, and finally, when there were limited funds left to steal, it was time to get rid of it because it was “costing money.”
Allen brought up a resignation letter from Dr. Haskell, who left the county’s ambulance board in September 1999, which reads in part:
“I was appointed to the original Ambulance Board and have continued to serve on it until today. Although I plan to continue serving the citizens of Edgar County and the surrounding area by continuing my service on the Edgar County Public Health Department, the Illinois Region Six Trauma committee, and the Illinois Region Six Ambulance Morbidity and Mortality Review committee, I find it necessary to resign my position on the Edgar County Special Services Ambulance Board. I now feel that the Ambulance board is being manipulated by a few politicians for their own reasons. Therefore, I can no longer in good conscience continue my association with the Edgar County Special Services Ambulance Board.”
This, Allen says, is exactly what’s going on currently with the airport authority amongst the representation of Bennett, Patrick and Mike Heltsley.
Sore spot 3: 911
Bennett also took credit for the 911 creation in Edgar County; those with long memories recall the mess that was, as well.
This was the final reference she made before beginning the tongue-lashing over RSB.
Bennett opined, during her presentation, that not only should RSB Aviation not be allowed to run their business at the airport, but if they were to continue to do so, the county should “capture three to five percent of his gross revenues,” claiming it was commonplace with airports “because she talked to them.”
Bennett took a little tangent to point out all the accomplishments of her father, Russell Leon Magers (who died in 2005) as a businessman in the area (failing to point out that with all his accomplishments, he relied on some pretty hefty financial assistance from the various community coffers; $665,000 in one 13-month time frame, according to documentation the Watchdogs have in hand).
She then attacked RSB with claims of a business loss, and tried to point out all the reasons they should not be allowed to operate…failing to mention that, unlike her father, Mr. Bogue had not at any time asked for one thin dime of taxpayers’ money.
Not renting? Not applicable
Bennett next pointed out that RSB was not renting the office at the airport.
This is a fact; however, she neglected to mention that the office space was provided to RSB; no rental of it was ever mentioned to RSB by the airport manager or authority, as it was never intended to be rented: it’s no more than a 5-by-12-foot closet space overlooking the work area of RSB’s hangar.
Attendant to this was Bennett’s complaint about a video camera that Bogue has placed in his office overlooking the workspace of the hangar.
This, Bennett complained, should not be allowed.
Many believe it odd that the group at the airport advisory board wish to deny RSB the security that such a device provides as a “perk,” when Wells and his ilk continue to enjoy perks of their own that they would never permit others to have, such as:
Space Wells took up for years with his own personal plane, as well as an incredible amount of trash (featured in past issues of Disclosure Heartland) without even paying rent;
A truck that was in Wells’ hangar and later moved to the barn, also not paying rent;
The fact that in the same barn, straw and a hay wagon are still stored rent-free with no lease because the previous lease expired in April 2012;
The fact that the advisory board, as well as Patrick, failed to pay property taxes on the leased farm ground from the airport’s inception, which continued for more than 30 years (until the Watchdogs pointed it out last year);
The fact that the “Airport Booster Club” has been operating and accepting donations illegally since they had their registration revoked by the Secretary of State in 1989;
The claim Bennett made that she was on the Airport Advisory Board for the full eight years she was on the county board. This one was particularly onerous, as for those eight years, Bennett was the county board chairperson and the chair is not allowed to sit on the airport board by law…even though Patrick continues the tradition—illegally.
Made it to local media
The backlash continued beyond the county board meeting and even made its way into the pages of local media, which has been frightened to publish much about Chris Patrick’s illegal exploits, as back in mid-March, Patrick’s conflict of interest of serving on the county board (when serving on the board and voting himself concrete contracts) produced significant problems with the Department of Transportation was published, and “vandals” subsequently tore up the local newspaper’s boxes
In an article appearing three days after the county board meeting at which Bennett spoke, Jimmy Wells was trying to discredit RSB even further by laying waste to their claim that they had proper insurance.
Interestingly, at the same meeting where Bennett spoke, county board member Dan Bruner advised that he’d spoken with Wells following the airport advisory meeting the night before (May 7), and said Wells told him “RSB Aviation has provided all of the required insurance documentation and is current in every obligation to the airport.”
Wells, apparently in backwards-pissing mode, made sure he told the local paper that there was never such a conversation with Bruner.
He then made his own little effort to discredit RSB, stating that “Due to the complications of insurance, he (Rusty Bogue) could drop insurance, change companies or a company could drop him—it’s impossible for me to say he is compliant,” Wells told the paper.
Wells apparently wasn’t aware that RSB had added the county on their policy as a rider.
That means that any changes, including dismissal of insurance, would result in an automatic notification to the county.
Frighteningly, this is the type of person running the airport in Edgar County.
