Sangamaon Co. (ECWd) –
Village of Rochester, Illinois Mayor Joseph Suerdieck provided a letter to the Editor of the State Journal-Register in relation to the settlement in a lawsuit brought against the Village after Suerdieck denied a liquor license to a local business. We wrote about the settlement issue in this article. A copy of the publication can be viewed at this link.
We highlighted some select comments in the letter that jumped out at us and will provide our opinion on those.
- “I am a businessman…”
- “Every decision that I have made, in the past 7 + years was In the best interest of the Village of Rochester and our residents”
Would doing village business with his own business be in the best interest of the Village and its residents or is that in his best interest as a businessman he claims to be? A copy of his hardware store billing to the Village for $1,576.89 over the last 2 years can be downloaded at this link,(signature redactions made by us).
We suggest the mayor read the Public Officers Prohibited Activities Act, particularly paragraph b, which outlines what public officials like a Mayor can and cannot do in relation to providing materials to the unit of government he is a member of.
- “The Village board’s behavior has been horrendous at best.”
Anyone reading the words from the court can grasp whose behavior was horrendous in our opinion. For those not familiar with the Federal Court Judge’s words, we encourage you to read the information found in this article.
- “Only one trustee was honest.”
We find it concerning that he takes the position of all the trustees but one is not honest yet failed to disclose what in the affidavits referenced were not true. When official court records such as an affidavit are not true, the solution to address it would be a sanctions motion to expose it and hold those responsible accountable. That did not happen, which tends to indicate poor lawyering or lack of evidence to support such a motion.
- “I have lived and worked in this community for over 30 years.”
- “I am the same person who has worked in this community for 23 years. “
We can only wonder what it means to live “and” work in the community for over 30 years and then claim you’re the same person who has worked in the community for 23 years. Was he another person during the other seven-plus years?
We understand Suerdieck is running for re-election to the Mayor position and does have an opponent this cycle.
Will this election be a “Tiffany Henyard” moment for Suerdieck?
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