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<\/p>\n“They used to laugh when I said I wanted to be a comedian, well they’re not laughing now.”
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by Barry Donegan, Adam Andrzejewski, and the Better Government Association<\/em><\/p>\n Clark County, Illinois<\/strong> \u2014 Sometimes citizens can be so frustrated with county board members they wish someone could just place them under arrest. Well, that is exactly what citizens in Clark County, Illinois\u00a0did.<\/p>\n Illinois\u2019 number one manufactured product is corruption. More than 95 percent of the Illinois legislature is safe in gerrymandered districts. The incumbent governor has three current federal investigations of his administration, but the Attorney General\/state\u2019s attorney class can\u2019t find public vice anywhere.<\/p>\n Residents that voted in the recent election said they are hoping officials have learned from the past mistakes of others.<\/p>\n So what can the law abiding citizen do? The answer is coming from some regular guys in southern Illinois who decided to hold public officials accountable. They call themselves the \u201cWatchdogs.\u201d<\/p>\n Kirk Allen and John Kraft \u2014 two military veterans \u2014 live in Edgar County which just might be the most corrupt county in the country. For a couple of watchdogs, it\u2019s a target rich environment.<\/p>\n In an effort to take back their government from self-serving politicians and bureaucrats, Kraft and Allen established a group called the Edgar County Watchdogs. Through a combination of public pressure, Freedom of Information filings, lawsuits, and media exposure, they have created a system that deeply threatens Illinois\u2019 corrupt, entrenched political establishment. They operate a blog called Illinois Leaks that exposes corruption at the state and local levels. The blog is so popular that, it is trusted more than the local paper.<\/p>\n Considering the fact that, according to Forbes, their home county\u2019s government has racked up over $79 million in debt all on its own while serving only 18,000 residents, Kraft and Allen have their work cut out for them.<\/p>\n By relentlessly\u00a0pursuing justice for even the smallest infractions by bureaucrats and politicians, the Edgar County Watchdogs have driven 102 public officials to resign from their posts, including 33 officials in Edgar County alone. The pair busted the mayor of Redmond for attempting to hold office while living out of town. They represented themselves in court and beat Illinois Assistant Attorney General Emma Steimel in a lawsuit seeking access to state e-mails. Officials who have resigned due to the Watchdogs\u2019 efforts include a property tax assessor, the Edgar County board chairman, an entire airport board and its manager, the attorney for Kansas Township\u2019s fire department, Shiloh\u2019s superintendent of schools, and Effingham\u2019s health department administrator, among others. After they exposed corrupt, illegal, and self-serving spending habits by the Ford-Iroquois County health department, the entire bureaucracy was dissolved. In some cases, federal agents have even stepped in to investigate and issue subpoenas to local officials after receiving tips from Kraft and Allen.<\/p>\n Public boards are used to facing angry crowds, but most have never encountered\u00a0what happened at one recent meeting in central Illinois.<\/p>\n In what was one of their most epic displays of political crime-fighting, which was captured on video, Allen and Kraft held the entire Clark County Park District Board under citizen\u2019s arrest on May 13, 2014, for violating the Illinois Open Meetings Act, a Class C misdemeanor.<\/p>\n When asked if there would be public comment, one of the board members said, \u201cI vote no.\u201d Followed by five other board members.<\/p>\n Board attorney, Kate Yargus, could be heard on video saying there would be no public comment that night, and told the board members they were \u201cfree to go,\u201d even after Kraft\u2019s citizen\u2019s arrest announcement. She tried to cite statute to Kraft, but before she could finish, he said, \u201cJust sit down, you are making yourself look like a fool.\u201d<\/p>\n Deputies were dispatched to the scene, but instead, Clark County Sheriff, Jerry Parsley, personally responded that night. Parsley said he knew it was a heated situation and felt it would be best if he handled it. He said that Kraft handled the citizen\u2019s arrest responsibly, and the board was definitely in violation of the Open Meetings Act by not allowing the public to speak.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not that they should have. They\u2019re mandated to,\u201d Parsley said. \u201cThe people need to have their voice. It\u2019s not a dictatorship. It\u2019s a democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n The sheriff arrested six of the board members. The seventh\u00a0board member was not arrested because he voted against the other members. As they were escorted out of the building, the crowd cheered.<\/p>\n The board had previously laughed at the watchdog group, calling them trouble makers; however, the Sheriff and the State Attorney\u2019s Office didn\u2019t see it that way.<\/p>\n Kraft said, \u201cEvery citizen, in every state, county, and city, should take note. Make sure their local government officials are working for the people, and not for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n A lawsuit against the board is still pending. Their next board meeting is scheduled for late November.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “They used to laugh when I said I wanted to be a comedian, well they’re not laughing now.” by Barry Donegan, Adam Andrzejewski, and the Better Government Association Clark County, Illinois \u2014 Sometimes citizens can be so frustrated with county … Continue reading