Coles County Board Meeting – Video

Coles Co. (ECWd) –

The Coles County Board held their regular monthly meeting last night and as expected, Chairman Darrel Cox once again refused to allow a citizen to place an item on the agenda pertaining to matters that are germane to county business even though that is what the citizen was told he would have to do in order to speak beyond the normal 3 minute public comment time.

In the past, the county has allowed numerous different groups and people to be placed on the agenda and allowed them to present the information to the full board. It appears the topic of Dinaso’s presentation has them nervous at best.

The lawsuit the county is wrapped up in for the county board hiring a private contractor to do the job of the Supervisor of Assessments and the subsequent coverup is moving through the courts and the depositions that have been completed point to a laundry list of lies told to the public for years by members of the county board.  Dinaso wanted to read key points from those deposition transcripts to prove that past officials lied to the public.  The purpose is two-fold: 1) Prove the official lied to the public, 2) to help them understand they should settle the case and admit what they did was wrong and stop paying a private law firm thousands of dollars in an effort to continue the coverup of the wrongdoing which is clearly proven in the deposition transcripts.

The board refused to allow him to present his information and once again ordered he be removed from the meeting by the Sheriff’s Deputies for speaking beyond his 3 minutes.  Cox and others point to the importance of following the rules as their justification, which we agree, rules should be followed, however, he says nothing when they themselves do not follow the rules.

We asked if the board has ever been presented with a settlement offer in the case. I asked because I was told by their opposing counsel they have refused all attempts to settle the case.  We have yet to see any meeting where the board presented any settlement offer either in an open or closed session. If the attorney for the county is not presenting the client with those settlement offers they are doing a disservice to the taxpayers of Coles County.

A copy of the video can be viewed at this link or below.