Shelby Co., Ill. (ECWd) –
Shelby County Board member Austin Prichard had numerous items on the agenda for purchase approval for the Shelby County Dive Team which Prichard is also the Commander (Department Head) of.
In a previous article, we covered the alleged conflict of interest involved with Prichard holding both offices.
In true form to Shelby County, Prichard failed to vote as the law requires.
55 ILCS 5/2-1005 – Likewise, the yeas and nays shall be taken upon the question of the passage of any other ordinance, resolution, or motion at the request of any county board member and shall be recorded in the minutes. The changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly are declarative of existing law and do not change the substantive operation of this Section.
(Source: P.A. 99-774, eff. 8-12-16.)
Rather than vote yea or nay as the law requires, Prichard voted present, which appears to indicate he recognizes the conflict involved with being a county board member as well as the head of a department within the county. We note that the County Board legal counsel, Ruth Woolery, sat silent when this violation took place. His failure to vote accordingly points to people in his district not having proper representation on the matter before the board.
More to come on this subject.
