Indianola, Ill. (ECWd) –
During the June 2024 Indianola Village Board meeting, then-Mayor Thomas Gooch admitted he rented a skid steer in the name of the village, purportedly for village use, and that he also used that skid steer at his personal residence for around a half day.
He also admitted the village board did not authorize renting the skid steer. This debt was around $600.
When the board ask how they would get reimbursed, then-Mayor Gooch said “I guess I’ll have to pay it.”
With those admissions, the board declined to approve payment of the invoice, even though it was already paid, and asked the Mayor to reimburse the village.
Instead of reimbursing the village for the entire amount, Gooch resigned from office. We have no evidence at the time of publication that he has reimbursed the village for more than half the amount incurred. He apparently thinks the village should pay for the other half where the skid steer was used for the village even though its rental was never authorized by the board.
The fact remains, a debt was incurred by the former Mayor without board approval, the debt has the appearance of being incurred for the purpose of private use – at least in part – and the former Mayor should be held responsible for reimbursing the village for the incurred debt.
3 Comments
Brian K Anderson
Posted at 21:08h, 27 AugustThat sounds like the road commissioner of Mahomet Township. He had 600′ of guardrail installed using tax payer money for tractor pulling purposes at a venue outside the twp boundaries at a cost of $5,850. In addition he submitted an invoice that was not that of the installation company for approval in efforts to deceive trustees of the true purpose. He also used tax payer money to purchase $1,600 of concrete barriers with a stated purpose of building bins for “pug” material. A majority of those barriers also line the tractor pulling venue. Seems as if these expenses should be reimbursed by the “tractor pulling” road commissioner but who will hold him accountable? The supervisor and trustees don’t have the guts to ask him for reimbursement or to take legal action.
John Q. Public
Posted at 06:35h, 28 AugustIt’s always somethin for nothin…
Justice Seeker
Posted at 06:58h, 28 AugustThis is peanuts compared to the highway engineer in Shelby county. He made over a million dollars in he and his assistant engineers private business. This was while they were receiving a county paycheck while doing private work. Not to mention using county employees as well.
The good people of Shelby county never got justice.
Sheriff allowed payroll fraud for years and the good people of Shelby county never got justice.
eBay business run out of the Treasurer’s office while other elected officials stayed silent. Shelby county taxpayers never got justice.
Corruption in Illinois is all by design.