Shelby Co. (ECWd) –

Once again, the spin cycle of lawlessness in Shelby County, with zero accountability, continues. We encourage everyone to read Part I at this link.

When people quit after key records are requested, it’s a pretty good indicator that they have something to hide.

A simple FOIA request on April 16, 2026 was submitted for a copy of all work product submitted to the State of Illinois by the person handling PCOM, I was told that request was unduly burdensome.  That is pretty special in light of the reason Effingham County has now taken over all the PCOM work that was being done in Shelby County. For those that don’t know the reason, it’s because the person County Board Chairman Tad Mayhall selected for this overpaid job did not do her job at all. How is my request for work product unduly burdensome when there was no work product?

I narrowed the request as the law permits on April 20^th, along with an additional request for records that I knew would expose the fraud that was taking place under the County Board’s own nose.

Four days later, the PCOM administrator resigns and my FOIA has been ignored.

I sent the State’s Attorney an email in an effort to resolve this matter logically on April 28, 2026

“Mrs. Woolery,
Below is the narrowed FOIA request that included additionally FOIA’d records from PCOM.  It is past the due date and the PCOM employee who asked the initial request to be narrowed has not replied to the narrow request or the additional request.

Please advise as to how you would like to get this FOIA taken care of or if this is a matter that is going to need to be litigated.

Thanks
Kirk Allen”

She responded that same day.

“Mr. Allen, I am working to see who would has access to the requested records to be able to respond.”

To date, not a single response to my narrowed request and additional request. Why is it that filing a lawsuit is the only way to get Shelby County to comply with such basic requests for records?

Who knew a part-time employee could open up a credit card with her name and the County’s name on it?  A part-time employee accessing unchecked credit?  What happened to the Credit Card ordinance? Yet another example of not following established directives. Why does a part-time employee need to set up a separate PO Box for county business? Why do they need Starlink? Why do they need “AI” software program subscriptions?  The list of questionable expenses is broad, and the County Finance Committee approved those, some without the appropriate receipts to support the claim.

Considering she was being paid with grant funds and did not do her job, is that not grant fraud?  Where was the oversight, Chairman Mayhall? He literally picked her for the job and then ignored the problem for months. Many of those problems became known to the public when good board members wanted answers during the last meeting but appeared to be overruled by those who would rather ignore the problems and defend the person who was paid for months and never did the work she was hired to perform. Watch the meeting video for yourself at this link.

How many recall the numerous Ethics complaints filed against Chairman Tad Mayhall back in March?  We first wrote about it in this article.

A second article outlined issues with the alleged Ethics Advisor position. The County Board finally fixed that by appointing not only an advisor but an actual ethics commission.  How special is it that one of the members appointed just happens to be the same person who bashed the Treasurer during her public comment a few months ago?  It takes a really special kind of board to appoint such an openly biased person to hear an ethics complaint from the very person she bashed in a prior meeting.

As the clock continues to tick, the law regarding an Ethics Commission has pretty much been ignored, and the rights of those who filed those complaints have been trampled.  At what point is it Official Misconduct when these people refuse to do their job as the law mandates?

When their own legal counsel is willing to ignore such blatant disregard for the most basic laws by her clients, the simple concept of due process vanishes and chaos rules.

It appears the last three words in the Pledge of Allegiance the County Board recites at each meeting mean nothing.  For those who don’t want to look up what those last three words are, it’s “Justice For All”.  A principle ignored in Shelby County.

Madison County (ECWd) –

Letter to the Editor

(This letter to the editor is in response to a letter written several days ago by County Board Chairman Chris Slusser.)

Many people were surprised by an April 13 newspaper article which reported the county had received a $35 million offer from Illinois American Water Co. to sell Special Service Area #1 – a sanitary sewer system serving 5,500 households and businesses north, northeast and east of Granite City.

The customers of SSA #1 were surprised that the county would sell “their” system, because “they” – the customers of SSA #1 – paid for all the assets of SSA #1 – all pumps, pump stations, pipes, trucks – everything.

The county owns the “legal title” to the system only because of the history of how the system was built. SSA #1 was built in the 1970s and funded by bonds issued by the county. The bonds required that the county be the “legal owner” – but the bonds were paid back by the customers / users. The county financial statements break out SSA #1 as an enterprise fund.

That’s why people are calling it “unfair” that Slusser has been working – for more than a year – on a plan to sell the system for $35 million to Illinois American Water Co. – and the county would pocket the sales price.

A customer of SSA #1 told me the following story to describe the situation.

He said: It’s like a father with a 16-year-old son. The son comes to the father and says, “Dad, I need a car to get to my job, but I don’t have any money, and I’m too young to get a loan.” The father responds, “No problem, just put the car in my name, I’ll get the loan, and you can make the car payments.”

Three years later, after the car loan is paid off, the father says, “Son, I’ve decided to sell the car and put the money in my pocket.” The son responds, “But dad – that’s MY car. I paid for it.” But the father says, “Look at the title son. That’s my name on the title and I have every right to sell it.”

The April 13 article quotes Slusser as saying that Illinois American approached the county “several months ago.” But an email – discovered through a FOIA request – shows Slusser meeting with Illinois American Water more than 14 months ago.

Another email shows that on May 1, 2025 – more than a year ago – Illinois American Water says their offer is already “75% complete.”

What do we see here?

First, it’s “unfair” that the county would sell SSA #1 and pocket the money – because the customers have paid for all the assets and operating expenses. If the county wants to be reimbursed for some expenses SSA #1 is able to do that – because SSA #1 has $11 million of cash in the bank – and no debt.

Second, the emails reveal a lack of transparency. Slusser has been working on this for more than year – not for “several months.” And more than several county board members said they just learned about the idea last month.

Third, if the county sold SSA #1, Illinois American would have every right to recover its $35 million investment, plus substantial profit, plus the costs to operate the district – from the customers. Sewer rates would certainly triple – and it would be a replay of what happened to the residents of Granite City after the city sold its sewer system to Illinois American.

Both the boards of Nameoki and Chouteau townships unanimously passed resolutions opposing the idea of the county selling SSA #1 to Illinois American. But the county board will make the decision, therefore citizens should contact county board members.

Kurt Prenzler, CPA

Former (2016 – 2024) Madison County Board Chairman

618-514-2599

Markham, Ill. (ECWd) –

The Markham Park District has been incurring finance charges, other fees, and late fees on credit cards the likes we have not seen in a long time.

After learning of Quintina Brown, the Markham Park District Executive Director’s use of the park district credit card to pay for a helicopter stunt for her daughter’s prom entrance, we decided to see what else was being purchased. This is the result of one FOIA request and is only looking at finance charges, fess, and late fees. We will look into the specific purchases at a later date.

Card fee, reactivation fees, and late fees are inexcusable and a waste of public funds.

Here are a few examples between October 2025 and May 2026:

The Shell Fleet Card:

• three $50.00 fees to reactivate the card
• monthly $10.00 fees for paper copies of the statement
• monthly card fee of $4.00
• finance and other fees totaling more than $487.00

The 7-Eleven Super Fleet Card incurred more than $1244.00 in late fees:

• Sep 2025 late fee of $250.51
• Oct late fee of $175.00
• Dec/Jan 2026 late fee of $469.17
• Feb late fee of $175.00
• Mar late fee of $175.00

On another note, the Markham Park District’s website essentially does not exist.

News articles about the helicopter incident are here, here, and here.

We will say that Kenneth Muldrow, a park district board commissioner who “saw nothing wrong” with the stunt and use of public funds should resign immediately – right after terminating the executive director.

Shelby Co. (ECWd) –

Once again, the spin cycle of lawlessness in Shelby County, with zero accountability, has reared its ugly head.

During the Shelby County Board meeting on 5/14/2026, the board had a lengthy discussion regarding a budget amendment that was requested by the Sheriff, Brian McReynolds.

The Sheriff wanted the courthouse maintenance line item in the budget to be amended from $90,000.00 to $873,863.00. During the discussion, the Treasurer confirmed there was no need for the amendment, as there were ample funds in his budget for line-item transfers, rather than amending the budget.

Considering the law indicates violating the Budget provisions provided in the county code is considered a Class B Misdemeanor, I urged the board to follow the law during my public comment.

(55 ILCS 5/6-1003) (from Ch. 34, par. 6-1003)    Sec. 6-1003. Further appropriations barred; transfers. After the adoption of the county budget, no further appropriations shall be made at any other time during such fiscal year, except as provided in this Division. Appropriations in excess of those authorized by the budget in order to meet an immediate emergency may be made at any meeting of the board by a two-thirds vote of all the members constituting such board, the vote to be taken by ayes and nays and entered on the record of the meeting. After the adoption of the county budget, transfers of appropriations may be made without a vote of the board; however, transfers of appropriations affecting personnel and capital may be made at any meeting of the board by a two-thirds vote of all the members constituting such board, the vote to be taken by ayes and nays and entered on the record of the meeting, provided for any type of transfer that the total amount appropriated for the fund is not affected.    This Section applies to all elected officials, including elected officials with control of the internal operations of their office. (Source: P.A. 103-865, eff. 1-1-25.)

The State’s Attorney, Ruth Woolery, was questioned on the legality of this amendment, and the response is yet another example of why there is zero accountability and lawlessness in Shelby County.

“Generally speaking, budget amendments are the standard procedure for dealing with unknown expected and unknown revenue, so, you know, whether it’s between departmental line items, appointed to different functions, so, my understanding is so long as it doesn’t increase the levy, it can be amended.”

After I responded with a verbal “NO” in the meeting to her legal opinion, she shifted to saying she had not had a chance to thoroughly research it, but that was her general understanding.

How much research is needed to read two sentences from the county code that indicate further appropriations are barred unless there is an immediate emergency?  The word levy does not appear anywhere in that section.

Where does the word levy appear?

Sec. 6-1007. Non-compliance not to affect tax levy. Failure by any county board to adopt an annual budget or to comply in any respect with the provisions of this Division shall not affect the validity of any tax levy otherwise in conformity with law.

Nothing in the county code indicates budget amendments are somehow limited in relation to a levy. In fact, quite the opposite.

When Woolery first took office, we wrote about her request to have a special meeting to discuss her budget in this article.   Considering she indicated she would need to thoroughly research the matter after I indicated her position was wrong, can we assume she never researched it when she wanted her budget amended?

In that prior article, I made a point regarding Woolery.  “With more convictions per month by former SA Hanlon than the prior two states’ attorneys to his term, it will be interesting to see how a family law practitioner handles the multiple facets of criminal prosecutions, local government law, labor law, contract law, and let’s not forget adult supervision of certain emotionally charged board members.“

With far fewer convictions than prior State’s Attorneys, a clear lack of knowledge on government law, and an apparent disregard for numerous other laws, Shelby County wins the King Award, or would it be Queen in this case?  Laws for thee, not for me.

Maybe the “No Kings” protesters in front of the courthouse every month should come inside and watch their Kings and Queens in action.

The full board meeting video can be viewed below.

Edgar Co. (ECWd) –

We covered the alleged investigation into the botched dispatch call of a shooting at the White Oak Park in Paris, Illinois, in this article.

As referenced in the prior article, the policy requires “9-1-1 Telecommunicators will read and have working knowledge of 9-1-1 operating procedures.”

We submitted another Freedom of Information Act request for a specific record: the CAD system screenshots.  For those not familiar with this system, the system has a series of buttons that can be selected for the types of calls received, and once any specific button is selected, a list of questions pop up on the screen for the dispatcher to follow.

1. A copy of the screen captures on the CAD system for the three 911 calls tied to the White Oak Park shooting incident.  The captures I am seeking are those that have the key questions that pop up when a specific type of call button is selected.

The response appears to indicate a policy failure by the dispatchers, yet the investigation claimed insufficient evidence of a policy violation.

” I would love to send you the requested information; however, the dispatchers used the incident code “assist public” which does not prompt Total Response Protocols to pop up.” (emphasis added) 

So, when a dispatcher can hear gunshots in the background, and the caller is claiming “they are trying to kill us”, then does not select the appropriate call type button which would bring up “Total Response Protocols”, we believe most would find that to be sufficient evidence of a policy violation. However, the investigation would have had to have actually taken the steps we did to get to the bottom of what did or did not take place.

We guess that reading and having a working knowledge of the 911 operating procedures does not mean you should follow the appropriate call type selection so that the key pop-ups on the screen get activated and followed.

Maybe an outside investigation into the matter, rather than an internal one, would see the forest through the trees.