Village of Atlanta – Retaliatory Action?

Logan Co.  (ECWd) –

At the last Village of Atlanta, Illinois council meeting we attended the Tourism Director provided a presentation that covered what appeared to address numerous problems going on within the community and village government. His comments can be viewed at this link of the meeting.

The following meeting two citizens, Bill Thomas and his wife, a former council member, spoke well in excess of their 5 minutes in what appeared to be a devoted bashing of the tourism director who had exposed matters at the prior meeting. We were unable to attend that meeting so we do not have a video of their comments but the audio was made available at this link.  For those not familiar with Bill Thomas, we have covered his escapades in Atlanta in great detail. Those articles can be found at this link.

Last night’s meeting agenda had two interesting items listed.

• Scott Mccoy Tourism Director position Discussion/Action
• Request for Proposals regarding tourism position for City Discussion/Action

What action did the Mayor want to take?  It appears termination of the Tourism Director. We say that because of the second item which is to seek proposals for the tourism position.  No need to seek proposals for a position already filled, unless you’re going to remove him from the position.

Was this potential removal because the Director spoke truth to power in a public meeting?  Was challenging Bill Thomas and his community involvement with one of his “non-profits” the push behind getting rid of the current Director?

Based on comments from a prior meeting, at least three board members think it is time to separate Village business from Bill Thomas and his “non-profit”.  That being the case we wonder if after seeing the agenda they chose to simply not show up. The meeting was canceled after a role call that determined a lack of a quorum.

The next village meeting is August 21, 2024, at 7:30 pm.  We suggest citizens attend their local government meetings.