Edgar County ETSB – Improper contract issues exposed/stopped

Edgar Co. (ECWd) –

Over the years we have continued to expand our database of information which includes how laws are applied by the courts, commonly known as case law.  The reading of those laws is known as statutory construction and it was that basic principle that we applied to our Edgar County Emergency Telephone Board (ETSB-911) and there attempt to provide yet another contract to their Director Nanette Crippes.

In the past, the ETSB provided Crippes an employment contract as a mechanism to avoid potential termination from the newly elected Sheriff in 2010, Ed Motley. While we disagreed with the reason for the contract at the time, we were not aware of the basic application of our laws on such a contract.

No longer ignorant!

In October of 2018, Troy Eads, the ETSB Chairman, had the contract issue back on the agenda for Crippes.  I spoke with Eads on this matter and assured him it was not legal to provide her a contract based on all the research we have and let him know a legal opinion is being prepared and would be provided.

I attended the October meeting to address the contracting issue and the financial reporting to the State Police, of which we identified what appears to be false reporting and will be shared in a separate article.  The local reporter for the paper was present but we have not seen any reporting on the matters raised.

As can be viewed in the video below, we outlined the reasons providing Crippes with yet another contract was inconsistent with law.  Crippes appeared to find the matter humorous with her smirk, however, it appears for now the law has been followed as we understand there will not be another contract for her employment.  No contract means she will be treated just like every other County employee.

Following that meeting, we provided a letter from our attorney along with a 7 page legal opinion to the County Chairman Jeff Voigt, ETSB Chairman Troy Eads, and Edgar County State’s Attorney Mark Isaf.   Eads assured Chairman Voigt there would not be any contract provided to Crippes.  We suspect the content of the letter and factual accuracy of the legal opinion is why there will not be a contract.

We understand the information provided to the ETSB Chairman Eads was not shared with the entire board for some reason.  For those members and any others that would like to read the letter and opinion, you can download it at this link or below the video of the meeting.

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