Shelby County Chairman Confirms Treasurer is right, still wants her stripped of duties – “She’s a Tyrant”

Shelby, Co. IL  (ECWd) –

As part of our continued exposure to the illegal discussions the County Board participated in a closed session, this one is a head-scratcher.

County Chairman Bruce Cannon makes a false allegation:  “I have not had a chance to talk with anyone with the dog gone Watchdogs sitting back there and misquoting me”

We challenge Mr. Cannon to produce these alleged misquotes.  Our reporting that would include any quotes would have come directly from audio and video, which we publish so that these types of accusations can be disproven.  Regardless of what we have reported, such reporting has nothing to do with him having a chance to talk with anyone.

With that covered, now for the head-scratcher.  The quote is of Bruce Cannon and it is accurate and can be confirmed by simply listening to the audio.

“Everything Erica is citing, I can’t complain about, she’s right about the hours in the Sheriff department, she’s been right about a lot of this stuff, but she’s a Tyrant”

Cannon’s rant appears to be focused on blaming the Treasurer for the 2 lawsuits the County has been hit with, even though it was Bruce Cannon who signed the resolution for the illegal hiring of a private attorney, not the Treasurer Erica Firnhaber.  The most amazing part of this conversation, to me, is once again Cannon is corrected by another board member when he states Erica said certain things which she did not.

Cannon states: “We are in a lawsuit, how many counties would put up with their Treasurer drawing lawsuits, their treasurer absolutely sitting there and saying I don’t care what the FOP says?”

I think the appropriate question is how many taxpayers would put up with a lame-duck County Chairman pushing to strip duties from the very person he admits; “I can’t complain about, she’s right about the hours in the Sheriff department, she’s been right about a lot of this stuff”? 

I have not heard or seen a shred of evidence that reflects the County Treasurer is doing a single thing outside the law, which is not the case for the County Board.

It’s clear two key things are missing in Shelby County.

• Leadership
• Competent Legal Representation

We are in a strange time when a County Chairman can say a person is right but still wants them removed based on the false accusation of her being a Tyrant and blaming her for the lawsuits generated due to the Board’s illegal action.

In true incompetence fashion, Board member David Swits has placed on the agenda (number 10), to spend even more money for an outside agency to do the job being done by the Treasurer.  I guess they still don’t get it.

The law is well settled that when the constitution or the laws of the State create an office, prescribe the duties of its incumbent and fix his compensation, no other person or board, except by action of the legislature, has the authority to contract with private individuals to expend public funds for the purpose of performing the duties which were imposed upon such officer. (Fergus v. Russel, 270 Ill. 304; Stevens v. Henry County, 218 Ill. 468; Hope v. City of Alton, 214 Ill. 102.)”

Also on the agenda (number 9), is to vote on a payroll audit.  Considering the Chairman has yet to pay back any of his false claims, and the State’s Attorney was a party to an illegal pay raise, which she did payback, I doubt this board will actually approve anything that is going to shed more truth on the payroll fraud than has already been exposed by the Treasurer.   It needs to be done but in light of the closed session recording, the focus does not appear to be on actually fixing the problem but rather silencing a whistleblower.

The County Board is scheduled to meet Wednesday, July 8, 2020, at the Lions Club building in Forest Park, 9 AM.  A copy of the agenda can be downloaded at this link or viewed below.

We encourage everyone to attend and share their input on their County Government.

We will be live-streaming the meeting for those who are unable to attend due to the meetings taking place when most people are working.