Village Of Indianola Sees Four Resignations –

Indianola, Ill. (ECWd) –

We attended last night’s village board meeting in Indianola, Illinois after receiving several messages about the village.

During the meeting we learned the village attorney and village auditors had resigned earlier this year, the village clerk’s seat is vacant, and the treasurer is seeking a replacement.

The meeting was fairly unorganized; however, the board did permit residents to enter into discussions with the board about several issues around the village.

From among the complaints to us:

• the village board did not record closed meetings – Mayor Gooch indicated that the village recently started recording its closed meetings
• use of village garage by employee to work on private vehicles – We spoke on that issue and informed the board that private use of public property violates Article VIII, Section1 of the constitution
• use of village credit/debit cards – we have confirmed the mayor did receive our FOIA request for those records and others
• the village board had voted ((*corrected* – to give a pay raise to an employee, with backpay) during a closed session – we are unable to confirm or deny this at this time 

Three contracts were awarded for the maintenance and renovation of the village hall building, which includes HVAC, tuckpointing the brick, working on waterproofing the basement, interior demolition and remodeling, and a new roof.

Other noted issues came to light during the meeting, such as the Mayor having scrap metal from the village cleanup on his property and the mayor partially “reimbursing” the village for the use of the skid steer used for spring cleanup – something that was never voted on by the board. Both of those actions are improper.

Towards the end of the meeting, Trustee Kim Shonk (the mayor’s daughter) submitted her resignation and stated her husband (mayor’s son) was also resigning from the village maintenance position.

After the meeting we found out the village Mayor has no idea what the Freedom of Information Act is, the village has no FOIA officer, and don’t know how to respond to a FOIA request – but they are working on it.

Additionally, according to the mayor, none of them have taken the required FOIA training, and it is unknown if any have taken the required Open Meetings Act training.

More information will be published as it becomes available.