SPRINGFIELD, IL., (ECWd) –
The Sangamon County Board appointed Frank Vala as a Commissioner of the Springfield Airport Authority during their meeting May 8, 2018.
This effectively eliminated any previous incompatibility of office he may have had from his election to Township Trustee, which he did resign from earlier this year. A new appointment, no other conflict we are aware of.
Vala also sent us an email demanding a retraction of the article we published entitled: “Frank Vala filed false Statement of Economic Interest as alleged Airport Authority Chairman.” He claims his attorney told him he was not required to list “Woodside Township Trustee” under question number 7 (even though he later updated his 2018 SEI to include it – and it is listed on all of his other SEIs for the past several years) because he was never “employed” by the township.
I informed Vala that I would correct any published article needing correction, but before doing anything with the article he complained about, I needed additional information.
We are waiting for his answer, or explanation, of the following email sent to him:
Mr. Vala,
I would love to correct any inaccurate reporting we may have published.
Would you mind sharing the written advice received from your attorney?
Prior to writing another article or correcting a previous article, I must understand the following:
There are a few other things that do not make sense with your claim:
- You (or the County Clerk) corrected your 2018 SEI after publication of the article.
- Did you file this SEI in paper form or electronically?
- The form lists the required items to be stated, IF you think you did not have to submit the Woodside Township under question number 7 – then all the previous SEIs are false, and so is the updated one for the County since all of them list Woodside Township – even your handwritten ones from the Sec of State. So, please, let me know which ones you consider are false – either the one SEI I wrote about, or the other 5 that I have copies of. If you think you were not employed by the Township, then listing it under #7 is considered FALSE!
- The Township Code (60 ILCS 1/95-30) specifically states that the township is subject to the TORT Immunity Act (745 ILCS 10) – which, by the way, considers elected township trustees as employees and is defined that way in Section 1-201 of the Act (745 ILCS 10/1-201).
So, which SEIs are NOT false? EITHER the first 5 are false OR the bottom one is false – take your pick.
- Sec of State dtd 3-29-2016 listing Woodside Twp
- Sec of State dtd 4-28-2017 listing Woodside Twp
- Sangamon Co Airport Authority dtd 3-2-2017 listing Woodside Twp
- Woodside Twp dtd 3-2-2017 listing the Airport Authority (which you state is unpaid)
- The “revised” Sangamon Co Airport Authority dtd 4-24-2018 listing Woodside Twp
- OR the original Sangamon Co Airport Authority dtd 4-16-2018 NOT listing Woodside Twp (this is the one I wrote the article about)
So, if and when he provides any further information, we may or may not update, correct, retract, or do nothing, with the previous article. We still believe his original 2018 SEI was false. We await his response to our questions and will do what is right if the information presented warrants.
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