ARCOLA, IL. (ECWd) –
The Arcola Township Clerk, Mr. William Coombe, has decided to take it upon himself to violate the Illinois Freedom Of Information Act “FOIA” on behalf of the people of the Township of Arcola. You should all be proud of him – he tries really hard to keep secrets.
On May 6, 2014, Mr. Kirk Allen served a FOIA request on the Township of Arcola seeking copies of all FOIA requests sent to the township since January of 2013.
Mr. Coombe, being the brilliant person he is, took it upon himself to determine that asking for copies of something was really asking a “question” – and he even emphasized that word in the denial with an exclamation mark! Maybe he thought an exclamation mark would make it more believable?
Mr. Coombe please read the Freedom Of Information Act, and read it enough times to where you will understand it. I certainly hope you did not get any advice from your attorney when you denied that request. If you did, it is incompetence at the highest level. Unless, of course, you are assisting him in covering for the statements he made in open court to the Judge – TWICE.
Anyway, one of the very first things you must do when you receive a FOIA request is to make a copy of it and put it in a file where copies of all FOIA requests go. That is mandatory. Mr. Allen knows you have at least 30 FOIA requests in that time period because he was in the courtroom when your attorney, Mark Petty, stated so…twice…to the Judge…in open Court.
This is a repeated common action of the Township of Arcola in a feeble attempt at keeping from releasing PUBLIC records. You are a disgrace, please resign.
As always, supporting documents are below – click on them to make them bigger.
17 Comments
High Rider
Posted at 17:35h, 17 MayIt’s been a long time coming,but the ECWD have the law,the evidence and the Il. Atty.Gen.behind them.And now we learn the taxpayers of Arcola will have to pay for defending 3 more FOIA suits!Anyone supporting this coarse of action taken by the Arcola Township Board should be ashamed of themselves!
Dog Walker
Posted at 14:03h, 17 MayThe Township has a meeting Monday night,that might be a good time for the national media to pay a visit,what do you think jmkraft?
Keep talking
Posted at 10:00h, 17 MayThe secretary is paid as full time secretary .Very well I might add ,but one needs to remember Corky Clark said she is paid that much because she keeps us out of lawsuits. Now how is that working Butch Mast you also thought that was fair and maybe even not enough
jmkraft
Posted at 11:03h, 17 MayFunny you should mention lawsuits – the Township will be named in 3 more FOIA suits next week. They think they can violate the law at will, but it does not work that way.
Newshound
Posted at 07:44h, 17 MayJust watched the Clark Co.Park video,and couldn’t help but notice some similarities the Arcola Township Board and Clark Co.Park Board have in common.1st,it appears a female calls the shots for the board,2nd,same female serving as the board attorney is either ignorant of the law or refuses to follow the law,same as Arcola Township attorney,3rd,a table full of boardmembers looking to someone else to do their job,rather than stand up and do whats best for the taxpayers.Correction:one Park Co. Board member voted NO,that’s where the similarities stop,Arcola Township Board doesn’t have anyone with enough backbone to stand up to Mark,Deana,or Bill.Merrill Rodgers is right the Taxpayers of Arcola are a bunch of dupes,letting this board continue to use taxpayer money to hide their misdeeds.
Irs
Posted at 07:38h, 17 MayThey have their little empire payed for by taxpayers money. That is why they needed to control the election. They lied to the taxpayers to get them elected. It looks as though those 400 voters that elected them might be rethinking that now. When this all comes out there is going to be some very angry voters knowing they were duped by these liars
who are you kidding
Posted at 22:05h, 16 MayAlso, who is the full time employee the township has? I know the road district has one but they have said she is part- time, so who is the full time employee they say the township has?
who are you kidding
Posted at 19:49h, 16 MayEnough is enough, you need to look at the initials on the bottom of the response to the foia request. It WAS the Secretary that typed it. And I’m sure also wrote it. Don’t be fooled, she is still running the show. As I have previously said, the supervisor runs the township about the Same as he manages his properties. He doesn’t!
Merrill Rogers
Posted at 16:13h, 16 MayOh how these officials twist and turn in their attempts to keep government from being seen by the dupes who are paying the bills. For you low-information voters who keep electing these bozos, that means you the tax payers.
Fitting
Posted at 15:48h, 16 MayThe hole is getting bigger that these jokers are digging keep it up Mr. Kraft does not look like they can climb out . Kind of ironic that they run a place that buries people.
Side Line Sally
Posted at 15:47h, 16 MayDisgrace?How about this for disgrace,a Township Board fighting the release of information on just who is respondsible for spending taxpayer money on a vacation trip in 4 states.If you want disgrace,try a Township Supervisor with no leadership for a Board that won’t stand up to a out of control part time employee.Disgrace?No more like pathic!
Trojan Horse
Posted at 14:52h, 16 MayWho said what, The disgrace here is the Arcola Township. You must be one of the cattle that was hearded in the Caucus last year. Open your eyes & think for yourself.
Enough is Enough
Posted at 13:34h, 16 MayAll along we thought it was the secretary running the show, are we wrong, is there any one up at that office that is competent or will tell the truth . The Taxpayers are paying big wages for this dog and pony show. Coombe take the advice of Mr. Allen
Judgement day
Posted at 13:27h, 16 MayIt looks like mr. Coombe you need no ones help in defaming you. You are doing a great job all by yourself. I wonder how Joey Hackler, and Butch Mast are feeling now that Judge Lincoln and Liza Madigan are getting lied to by their Clerk. Are you new guys going to keep hanging in there or are you going to jump ship while you are still clean. I assume the rest of the board is still good with the way it has always been done. It looks like all of them are going to have to stand up and tell the truth sometime. It all started with one lie and that one took two more to cover up. It has been so long now no one can keep track of the lie count.
Who said what
Posted at 12:21h, 16 MayMaybe next time when you attempt to defame someone you can spell their name correctly. You sir are a disgrace, and a xxxx.
jmkraft
Posted at 13:07h, 16 MayTruth is not defamation – and I will fix the name.
Richey Rich
Posted at 11:26h, 16 MayPoor, Poor Township and the games they play. Coombe and his Napoleon syndrome is getting real old. All the grief they claim to have been put through by “thirty” FOIA requests is entirely driven from their arrogance. Coombe clearly doesn’t know the difference between a request and a question. Three more years of this oaf is more than the people in Arcola Township deserve.