Arcola Township Clerk: "My office is fully transparent"…

jmkraft do you have an update on the lawsuit against the Arcola township?

well who all goes to court? do we have to pay her to go there? as much money as she is being paid we don’t have to pay her mileage to the courthouse do we? And why should the taxpayers be responsible for Mark Petty’s fee, if Bill Coombe ,Mark Nacke and Deena Shields will not show receipts for money that they spent that belongs to the taxpayer? There is something really wrong with that system if we do. Should they not be responsible for their own defense

The Township Office, Comfort Station,and Office of the Township Deputy Clerk will be closed today due to the fact the Township is in court today.They will be defending themselves (not taxpayers) in a lawsuit asking for the release of public information.
The office will reopen when she’s d*#~* well ready.

I’d like 2 know where all the supporters are for the Township Board.At one point they had some backup but it appears that has dried up.Those letters to the editor that were designed to compel us to vote or support those at the office now may have been alittle off the Mark,if you know what I mean.We will see what they say come Monday.

Saw the article in the paper about the Maroa Supervisor,odd how some people can do the right thing,while others try to hide the things they’ve done.

With some of the recent articles in the paper I wonder if the Township office is a little reluctant to read the paper.Who’s to say after March 3rd they won’t be making the news.

Corky could just go to Maroa to take some classes from there supervisor

Maybe there will be a workshop on locksmithing or a seminar from Legal Zoom.com offered in Effingham.

Wasn’t it Effingham where Bill Coombe was educated on the “State Mandated Cacus Rules Changes” that only the Arcola Republicans used?I would suggest that if the schooling in Effingham has any classes on answering Foia’s,that the entire Township Board attend.Judging from the amount of time and taxpayer money you guys have spent fighting lawsuits,the board can use all the education they can get!

Looks like the Board has a training opportunity down in Effingham on the 5th. Hope they learn something on the 3rd so they don’t waste more tax dollars on Deana,s supreme education. Their caucus coach will be speaking that day, so I bet its a must go for her.

misappropriation of funds + refusal to answer foia’s = Arcola Township Board?

Ms Rogers in Martinsville does it the right way by answering FOIA requests, the township supervisor in Maroa does it the right way by putting it on the table for everyone to see, could Bill Coombe and Corky Clark follow these leads and do the right thing ,sure would be cheaper for the taxpayers.

Corky Clark step up to the plate. The township superintendent at Maroa did the right thing. You have already admitted to some wrong doing at the township about gas cards for personal vacation and general assistance being mishandled. All the taxpayers know that hiring a lawyer to suppress any information is not the right thing to do. You do not have to resign just step up and do the right thing. Prove your innocence release public information how hard can that be

Problem is, apparently our township attorney doesn’t feel any funds have been misappropriated!

In the Sunday Decatur Herald & Review a Township Supervisor in Maroa put himself under investigation by resigning from his office.He reported himself to the township attorney because he misappropriated township funds,and the board had no idea.Now i’m not suggesting the same thing is happening in Arcola,but….

If a FOIA was sent by their mother they wouldn’t answer it,that Township Office is hiding something!Judge Lincoln will do what is right.

I know Joey checks in to see what’s being said, he cannot deny that. Not sure about the others. I have come to the conclusion they have been advised by their attorney not to discuss anything pertaining to the lawsuit. Joey is quick to defend most everything else. Posing questions about the lawsuit will not harvest any answers from the board. I was thinking the resistance was because the FOIA’s were received from someone other than a Township resident. From readings on another post is seems this is not the case. Court date is not coming up soon enough.

How is it-a Township gets it’s self in such a position
Could it be-from the actions of a misguided few
How is it-that elected Township officals receive a request in the form of a FOIA for information and refuse to fully answer
Could it be-full disclosure would be troublesome for those at the Township
How is it-taxpayer money can be spent without records or receipts on file
Could it be-there might be more to it than just a motorcycle trip
How is it-that a Township office that receives a request for credit card charges and receipts feels compeled to pay an attorney to keep from answering the FOIA’s
Could it be-the answers may incriminate some at the Township and beyond
How is it-that an elected board sits quietly by while being sued
Could it be-because unelected persons have much to lose or be held accountable for
How is it that the will of the Taxpayers of Arcola Township are not respected,weather it is 1 or 1000 in number
Could it be-25 years in a non-elected position at the Township level is to long
How is it-an elected board can legally fight to suppress information payed for by taxpayers
Could it be-to hide wrong doing by 1 or more persons

It is declared to be the public policy of the State of Il. that all persons are entitled to “full and complete information regaurding the affairs of goverment” and the offical acts and policies of those who represent them as public officals and public employees consistent with the terms of this Act.
Corky,I encourage you and your board to read the Martinsville site and try to understand how a board and a superintindent with nothing to hide answers a FOIA.

This lawsuit is not going to change anything, unless illegal action can be proven. Just ask them, they have done nothing wrong!

Come on now you guys know Corky is their for the check,no way is he going to cross Deana.Chairman of the Board?Yea right!

Being manipulated is bound to happen when those who are suppose to be in charge show no leadership.Corky is Chairman of the Board,yet by all accounts is no where to be found in the running of the board.Firefighter you are correct,it is pathetic.

back bencher , mark and deena are not running the board they are manipulating the board, isn’t it pathetic that these board members are so inept that they don’t know what to do. Really all of them do not know how to do there job they are just little puppets. wonder if they were all told to jump in the fire by secretary would they? or maybe a better question is how deep are they going into this fire.

Joey’s not the only one at fault here,ground swell is right,others are also in a position to fix the problems.It’s evident that Mark and Deana have been running the board,this lawsuit may change that.

Joey , anything you would like to talk about or did Deena Mark and Bill just get you in there to talk about one subject and they are not filling you in on any of the other issues. you are going to have to be a lot more diverse than this if you want to play the game of politics. sounds as if first you should start choosing more honest playmates.

Joey do you remember saying you were a one term trustee?Now that your man is done running for govnernor,that should free up some of your time.I suggest you use that free time gathering the information the FOIA’s ask for,you and the rest of the board are responsible for it and to the taxpayers of Arcola Township.

jmkraft I think you will find little Joey did an internship for Mr.Rutherford.You see Joey is a Springfield boy,only comes home for twp. meetings,that’s when Deana gives the board their walking orders.That’s the Springfield way,you vote out of one address,live at another,right Joey.

Well Joey looks like your man is done,no way to recover from that lawsuit in his bid for governor.From what I read he’s not releasing much information from his own internal investagation,kinda like the Township and their lawsuit.Why is it Joey you seem to be around people that are tied up in some kind of litigation?Shadow is right,why don’t you concern yourself with something you can control,like the lawsuit you and your fellow board members have gotten the Township into?

It shows what we here in Arcola are dealing with look at the headline MY OFFICE is fully transparent. Last time I checked that was the taxpayers office, this moron was elected to run it not abuse it.

Joey, I have some advice for you. Take care of the dirt in your own backyard first. Working so hard on the dirt in the Governors race does nothing for us here in Arcola.

Shirley,some taxpayers have been asking,and to no avail.Just look at our board,nothing get’s done unless it is approved by her.She know’s what’s in the books and it will not look good for her but,with the ECWD hiring an attorney maybe the rope-a-dope Mr. Petty plays won’t work.

You can send her on down the road $man,easy to do if your board had any backbone.By the way didn’t Corky say she was hired to keep you guys out of lawsuits,how’s that working for ya?

Mike, it wasn’t just a vacation she used the gas card for. We paid for ALL of her gas for years. The motorcycle trip was small potatoes compared the total we have paid for dating back to 1996. How many mpg does an Expedition get, anyway? Oh that’s right, it doesn’t matter when someone else is paying for the gas!

As Albert Pike said on the Dan Rutherford article published by the watchdogs. There is this pesky law if you use state property for personal use as a public official, you can be convicted of a felony. Blago tried to get by with that and that did not turn out real good for him. Now isn’t using township gas cards(public property)by a public official (Deputy Township Clerk) for personal vacation the same thing? Maybe this is why they picked up Joey Hackler on the township board so he can show them what Rutherford has taught him and how to dodge all of those pesky questions about receipts.

Aware I think some of that blind loyalty you talked about was from some who wrote in the paper before the election.When this goes sower,what are they going to write then?

There was not much public outcry at Dixon Ill. for there gal after it was shown what she had been doing to keep her , she had been in office for a long time also. Most all of these people who thinks what these guys are doing is alright will probably jump ship after this is exposed. I cannot imagine most people would condone stealing taxpayers money. It does not say(Thou shall not steal TOO MUCH,) a little is just as bad as a lot. She did use taxpayers credit cards for a vacation trip is that not stealing? She got caught yet they keep defending, does that make them dishonest also?

We as taxpayers have to demand an audit at some point. I would much rather as a taxpayer pay for an audit to prove my innocence as to pay for an attorney to NOT release any information. Surely this has to make some sense to these board members doesn’t it? I know it makes a lot of sense to several of us looking in.

$man, I don’t think they will let her go unless there are some criminal acts she is convicted of. There is no way she will be fired because of public outcry. This board and future boards will need to take control back from her and do the job they were elected to do. They will then be left with a very over priced employee doing absolutely nothing. This didn’t happen overnight, she has been controlling the Board for years. It has been all about her personal power and paycheck. The Fire District is in the same boat. She is doing work that the board is supposed to do. That’s on them as well. Question, is it legal or even right for Deana to use the Township in any capacity to do the Fire Districts work? I call that double dipping.

$man she will not go alone and undoubtedly Bill Coombe And Mark Nacke are more than willing to follow her wherever she tells them to go and do. What is it they are getting from this?

She has got to GO!

Unfortunately, Mr. Kraft, even if you prevail, things will not change. We already know we paid for her phone and her (and her family’s) gas for years. Unless it can be proven she has done something illegal, life will go on as usual at township office. Her and “her board” have the arrogance to try to convince us everything is justified. A $70,000 plus part time secretary who also is paid $12,000 from Fire District to do books which are done during the time she is getting paid from Township. Nothing about that makes sense.

I like the idea of the post card,but I’ll bet when the facts come out,some in this town will be ok with it.All out of Blind Loyalty.How much more pathic can it get?

Here’s a term the Township Board may want to remember:
Forensic Audit; An examation and evalution of a firm’s or individual’s financial information for use as evidence in court.A forensic audit can be conducted in order to procecute a party for fraud,embezzlement,or other financial claims.Maybe after one of these are conducted,Mr.Coombes office will be “Fully Transparent”.

That’s just great,spend more money on an attorney Mark,you won’t put it in the roads!

“little Joey” is going to have to put his big boy pants on now Lola.Petty will be up aganist one of his own,I doubt a motion to dismiss will be granted now,to much evidence to sweep under the rug.

Looking forward to the post card and the explantion about the cost.We all know why some of the cost was incurred,the Township is hiding something and doesn’t want it out.

Just to warn you Jmkraft, Petty is notorious for delay after delay in court which ends up costing a fortune for you with your attorney.
And “little Joey” has been awful quiet lately, Must have gotten his hand slapped after he was caught back on this site.

I see where the Township lost it’s motion for involuntary Dismissal.From what I read the ECWD are going to obtain counsel,that can’t be good for the Township,since the Watchdogs seem to be able to hold their own in the fight to get information from the Township.
For the supporters of the Township Board,the definition of “continuance” in this case is; “The continuance of taxpayers money to be spent by the Arcola Township Board to fight the release of taxpayer funded information”.March 3rd isn’t that far off.

Any update on todays court proceedings?

Well Arcola Township Board,did you kick butt and send the Watchdogs home with their tales between their legs,or will you continue to fund Mark Petty’s retirement plan–with taxpayers money.If things went as they should have,the ECWD are still in the driver’s seat,how about it Joey care to comment?If the cat’s got your tongue maybe jmkraft will bring us up to speed,you know they’er real busy correcting corruption at the local level.

Get a good night’s sleep Joey,big day tomorrow!

From what is known in the general public Bill Coombe,it’s hard to see how you can claim an office of transparency.You have the questions before you,and as for who deserves the answer?Who are you to judge who is fit to have taxpayer funded information upon request?The arrogance of your statement is beyond the pale.You are not a self appointed dictator,you were elected by taxpayers,don’t forget that.Who deserves an answer indeed…….

I agree with ground swell.I’m calling out the entire board,Corky Clark,Bill Coombe,Dale Knowles,Byron Joergens,Butch Mast,and Joey Hackler,what you are doing is wrong,no two ways about it.Send your attorney home and do what is right,answer the ECWD FOIA’s.Why can’t you answer the questions about vacation?Why do you withold credit card statements?Explain the Harley Davidson trip and show the credit card receipts.And lastly,is it that bad that you are shredding public records without permission?

I see no good reason for the Township Board to believe they don’t need to release the FOIA information.I say need because that’s the only way for them to prove they don’t have a problem.Without full disclosure,public opinion is “something is not right”.Fighting the release of taxpayer funded information suggests the full Arcola Township Board is hiding wrong doing.If that turns out to be the case,no amount of double talk from Joey Hackler will wish it away.

Valentine’s Day is Friday,you guy’s over there going to get Deana a bouquet of flowers for everything she has gotten you into,or will you wait till after the court date to see how much work lies ahead?Oh and just a thought,will you pay youselves mileage to and from the courthouse,or share a gas card?

A n A,I read the letter with the Township Cacus letter head when it was first out.From what I remember about it at the time,Deana was worried about losing her hold on the board.People were raising hell about cacus rule changes and Mark was worried about someone running against him.Nobody wanted to put a name on it but,pretty much everybody knew Deana was behind it.Heck,what did she expect people to think,she’s the one that got the cacus rules changed.

Outta town,your reasoning is right,nobody pays with gas cards,proper reimbursement is done by paying mileage.Yes Butch Mast and little Joey Hackler are new to the board,even more reason for them to right a wrong.As for the fair and honest part,that remains to be proven.The entire board could regain their credibility by releasing the information and settling the FOIA lawsuit.But I’m afraid from the way the Township is fighting the lawsuit one or more in that office have information they never want out.Can you spell DIXON?

I see where a new motion was filed in the lawsuit aganist the Arcola Township on friday.The defendant (Arcola Township) filed a motion to Compel Production.
What is Compel Production?
Short answer: you have been ordered to produce certian documents requested of you by your opposing party’s attorney,usually in written form.You take this to an attorney so that he/she can assist you in responding to the requests to produce documents in the legally appropriate manner.If you don’t comply with the Order,you will find yourself on the wrong end of a comtempt order and subject to fines or even more serious sanctions.
Mr. Kraft,it seems a bit ironic that the very people you can not get to fully answer a FOIA is requesting their own FOIA in the form of a Motion to Compel Production.Maybe if you show them your’s they will show you their’s.

Township Cacus
108 E. Main Street
December 4 2012
That was the heading on a letter sent out stating Mark Nacke was runing as an independent,and asking everybody to support the cacus rules set by the Central Committee.They were afraid if the cacus rules were changed a “special intrest group may be able to garner the nomaination.That would mean the candidate that is supporting the Township’s best intrest may not get on the ballot”.This was not signed but the letter head says it all.
Is this proper election activity out of a Township office jmkraft,or is this illegal use of a public office for personal gain?Could it be that this has something to do with the lack of information coming out of the Township,and their need for an attorney

I received one of the”unsigned letters”in question,and no I did not send them.But when it became such a hot topic I looked into the matter,some of the numbers were quite large.I remember when the letter first came out alot of folks wandered “Who sent it and why?”.The why was pretty evident,they were trying to show the difference in two township’s that are close in size but different in financial expenditures.For those that asked “Who sent the letter?” I never did understand why that was so important.What does it matter if it was the paperboy you saw at your doorstep everyday,or the retired school teacher you haven’t talked to since you graduated from High School?From what I saw the numbers seemed to be from the Townships own Treasures Report published in the local paper each year.It escapes me why the “unsigned letter” was such a point of contention in the community,it was the Townships own report numbers in the letter! If Mr. Coombe and the Township continue to be less than “transparent” with the taxpayers of Arcola then I”m afraid the upcoming court date is justifided,if not needed.

$man,I’m going to bet you along with many of us are not suprised that young Joey did not answer your post.When and if he comes back he will say as always,it was unsigned or anonymous,but we all know the real reason.The honest answers bight just be a little embarrassing,if not incriminating.

Mr.Coombes,why won’t you answer jmkraft?The questions above do not seem that unreasonable to me .Lately I’ve decided to educate myself by attending meetings and doing my own research on the issues between the city and the township.We the taxpayer should be “mindfull”(to quote Mr.Coombe Thursday)of the health and well being of our community,now and in the future.I to would ask the township to come clean,so to speak,and answer these FOIA’s that appear to be at the center of the lawsuit.It’s just receipts,any well run business can and should be able to produce receipts,just ask the IRS.

After attending last Thursday’s TIF meeting,I got a little curious.I’d heard about the differance between the city and the township and posted earlier about being told it was over finances.Now i’m not so sure it was ever about money because I’ve seen the report’s,they seem to be in good shape.I’m more intrested as to why the township is involved in a lawsuit,and from reading jmkraft above it doesn’t look good for the township.Why is it the township does not answer the questions above,is it because they can’t or won’t?

Joey,now that we know you are back,post your answers to the questions above that jmkraft asked.No double talk,just plain and simple answers.It will be good practice for you and your fellow board members.After Judge Lincoln here’s the suit aganist the Township,he to will want answers.

Coach is right,their side calls it hate when someone fundamentaly disagrees with them.This is not about hate,it’s about the Township knowing they are at fault,and not respecting the public that elected them to office.Trying to change the coarse of discussion or move to different talking points is not going to work.The Township has very real problems and they are fighting a very real lawsuit,the support is eroding and the boards honesty is in question.There is no hate here by anybody,what we have here are citizens fed up with the high handed arrogance of the people who are suppose to serve us.Feb.13th is the start of putting an end to the problems.

Is our Douglas County Sherriff Charlie Mcgrew still backing these jokers from the township or can he see from the above questions that this is smelling real bad. He has a primary to win yet would not think he would want this baggage.

Awp do have blinders on? There is no hate in these post, it is just DISGUST for all the disloyalty (disloyalty- untrue to obligation or duty)that the board has shown in all of this. These guys were elected to do a job and they have failed miserably They continue to disrespect the taxpayers with their actions. So if you want to keep mentoring Joey why don’t you pick up the rule book and do it the right way , get him out of the townships play book. We all hope he has a bright future in politics but this is no way to start.

The board at township office does not even know how many vacation days they give their employees. That would only be three Jeff Lyons, Mark Nacke for the cemetery, and of course that would be Deena Shields who keeps all of those records and keep you board members out of trouble. That was the reason for her big pay for a part time job. and gas to get to work. and benefits. looks like that is not really working. Joey Hackler and Butch Mast you guys are new, is there any part of this fiasco you know about. When the people elected you they were expecting Fairness and Honesty from both of you lets not keep disappointing with your inactions. I was one of your votes

Cambridge Business Dictionary
Error of Omission:
A mistake that consists of not doing something you should have done,or not including something such as an amount or fact that should be included.

Lola,there was public outcry way back to the election and before.Some tried to expose what Deana and her underlings not only tried to do but succeded in doing with the cacus.I to am waiting for the cards to fall,it’s by their own making.Sooner or later the entire Township Board will have to answer for their actions and I don’t mean through a lawyer,then you will see “public outrage”.

Not really Shadow,she parks her SUV right out front.Come to think of it that’s only right,after all it’s our tax dollar that takes her to work,and out of state!

The only thing that is transparent in that office is the view through the window from the sidewalk.

Mr. William D. Coombe your name up in lites again. Last time your name was up in lites was at the Douglas County Courthouse Then another letter to the editor about something. Then a letter to the editor about how you were state mandated to run a caucus . Hope you are enjoying the lime-lite. If everything you are doing seems to be so right, what is the need for you to hire an attorney with our tax dollars to defend what you are doing? Right does not need legal assistance. I would assume we will not get an answer to that question either and if you have to ask an attorney please let him respond. After all we paid for it

Arcola Nola, my comments are not just aimed your area. If you read of
ECWD’s work this is going on almost everywhere. I realize there are many others that speak out but, numbers and pressure is what it will take. Even then a corrupt court system can hold up the truth.

Professor, there is public outrage. I personally am sitting back waiting for the house of cards that the township has built, to fall in on them. I have the same questions that have been asked already and I am sure that there are others that are reading and watching too. I just can’t wait to see them all go down in flames. Then maybe we can get a new bunch in that office that will make things right for the town of Arcola.
Jmkraft, I personally witnessed people being given gravel from the township for driveways and other things. As well as township equipment being used for private work. It’s not a secret, it’s something that people have gotten used to seeing here.

All men and women are innocent until proven guilty. Why would the township not want to prove there innocence as quickly as they can? After all that is just producing receipts that that are readily available!!!.

What have we come to when 2 men search for the truth alone. Where is the public outrage? Take the time to stand up and be counted! They cannot ignore numbers. Is there any local Government body that does not have something to hide?

“The Truth is the only thing you’ll run into that has no agenda.” ~Adyashanti
“The truth and transparency need not an attorney.” Author unknown

Vic-I doubt you will get a responce without it going through there lawyer.jmkraft has listed many questions above that appears will go unanswered unless a judge makes the board answer them.As far as abiding by the laws of the land,remember this same office tried to push phoney election laws.

awp ( we give) you are smarter than everyone else in town, yet you offer no new solutions and the old solutions of asking and we will tell is not working. Reading above there have been many questions asked mr. combe and the entire board by way of FOIA,s and signed letters above. There are still no answers to even the simple questions. Just because you say so does not make it so, your opinion is just that. Show proof, please do not tell everyone a taxing body does not have to keep receipts nor furnish them if a taxpayer wants to see them. And better than that why would they not keep them? It is starting to look like this might be one of those political blunders of taxing bodies keeping same people in the same position and getting very possessive of our tax money and not being held accountable. As in all blunders we are wondering who will be the sacrificial lambs as this starts to unravel . Probably will not be you since you are the smart one of the group. I would hope abiding by the laws of our land is an opinion everyone has. Answer these questions above and maybe you can retrieve some credibility. If you do not want to talk about these questions above then your silence will tell the story. We are bored now with your political double talk

They are claiming this is a lot more complicated than just answering these questions. That is the reason for an attorney. It is about time to call “BULLSHIT” on them. Everyone needs to pause a moment and wonder, are they this arrogant, do they really think us taxpayers are this gullible. Township we are tired of you guys making us the laughing stock of our communities. Whatever you have done in the past lets fix it so we can all move on. Deception is never a fix

I have invited Joey Hackler to this site and I would like to invite the rest of the board and also the road commissioner after all his wife used to be a fellow teacher she could help grade the test. The questions above are the issues at hand for the township and they are not very difficult questions. Now the way it looks if there are no improprieties going on at the township this should be an open book test. But for a year that this has been going on it seems as if the township cannot find their book to open. Now Mr. Kraft is making this much easier maybe they wont have to run this by Mark Petty and spend more of our tax money. Most everything has an expiration date on it and this is starting to smell bad, maybe they should open there book and let it all out. Hiding behind lawyers is only going to prolong the inevitable we could be using that tax money they are spending for a better purpose, like educating our kids.