Shelby County – Hatch Act Violation Allegation Unfounded

Shelby C0., Ill. (ECWd) –

Shelby County, Illinois, held an emergency meeting this week in order to elect a new County Board Chairman and Vice Chairman.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, county board member Jeremy Williams spoke about a complaint lodged against him alleging he was violating the Federal Hatch Act according to communications from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel’s Hatch Act Unit.  The closing letter confirming there was no violation can be viewed below the videos or downloaded at this link.

Williams’s comments are in the first video below. The second video below is set for the comments made by the newly elected County Board Chairman Sonny Ross.

We encourage people to listen to the words spoken in those two videos because they are indicators of the level of sick behavior in the political environment in Shelby County. Ross spelled out several disgusting things he knows of that has taken place against board members, including death threats.  We would hope if death threats have been made there is an actual police investigation on the matter.

We know of attempts to harm board members in their private employment by locals calling the employers and implying they should fire certain board members for what in some cases were fabricated allegations.  Another local regular board meeting attendee attempted to orchestrate a boycott against the current Chairman’s business in Charleston.  Bringing about a boycott in Illinois is a Class 3 felony (statute here).  The latest attempt to imply a board member is committing a federal crime without any proof shows the level some people will go to in order to create harm and chaos in this county.  These types of activities are what destroy communities, not our reporting on them.

In our opinion, Williams gets the last laugh because he had already done his homework on the application of the Hatch Act years ago, before ever becoming an elected board member.