Grafton Township Separation of Powers Trial Wednesday

These combatants on the Grafton Township Board will face off in court Wednesday and Thursday in Judge Michael Caldwell's court.

The trial to determine how much power the township supervisor and township trustees have in Grafton Township starts tomorrow in Judge Michael Caldwell’s courtroom at 9 AM.

By now several tens of thousands of dollars of legal time has been booked in the fight that began when challenger Linda Moore beat Grafton Township Supervisor John Rossi in the February, 2009, primary election.

Before taking office, Moore’s allies, headed by Dan Ziller, Jr., sued the township, claiming that the township board under Rossi had unlawfully borrowed millions of dollars to finance a new township hall on Haligus Road in Lake in the Hills.

Ziller, et al, won the suit after Moore took office in 2009. She dropped off as a plaintiff so there would not be a conflict.

The Township Trustees, all but one who served with Rossi, decided they wanted to take control of township government.

Pam Fender

The dispute grew white hot when the Trustees hired Huntley Township Trustee Pam Fender to fill a new $35,000 position the Trustees called “Township Administrator.” The salary was later hiked to $40,000. It includes full health coverage.

More significantly, they assigned Fender all the non-mandated duties performed by Moore.

The Trustees also evicted Moore from the office space occupied by former Supervisor Rossi, changing the locks to both the outer and inner office, and installed Fender there.

Moore objected and filed suit what I have been calling a “Separation of Powers” case.

Township voters opposing the desire of the Grafton Township Trustees to obtain new office space.

The lawsuit was originally scheduled for the day of the Grafton Township Town Meeting, but postponed the day the Trustees counter sued asking that Moore be prohibited from moving the phones from the township office.

The Trustees got what they asked for from Judge Caldwell, but not what they wanted.

The phones remained in the township hall, but the judge ordered Moore returned to her old office spaces.

After the Township Trustees lost their attempt to ratify what the Judge Caldwell had ruled unlawfully done with regard to obtaining new township offices on April 13th, the very next day Township Attorney Keri-Lyn Krafthefer filed another motion, the effect of which would be to kick Moore out of office should Caldwell agree with its line of argument.

The biggest show in town will start a 9 AM on the second floor of the courthouse. Go to the corridor nearest Route 47 and look for Judge Caldwell’s courtroom.


Comments

Grafton Township Separation of Powers Trial Wednesday — 9 Comments

  1. Recently I attended a township meeting that was called to make adjustments to the current budget. Township Supervisor Linda Moore refused to answer any budget specific questions because she was not prepared. Moore had failed to bring the township owned laptop to the meeting. Moore displayed a flippant attitude of “oh well, I don’t have the laptop with me, what can I do.” Who comes to a budget meeting without the resources to aid the meeting? that is onw example of Linda Moore in office. Pam Fender was hired by the trustees to do the job that Linda Moore refuses to do. Good luck Judge Caldwell.

  2. Whether or not Moore is a boob is not the crux of this case and those of you who get lost in personalities fail to see this. Moore has not been officially charged by the trustees with malfeasance or incompetence. What they are trying to do is usurp authority from a legally elected official. And they are doing so in a way that surely the judge will rule as illegal. Keri-Lyn Kraftheifer Grafton Is My Lap Dog Ancel Glink has not made the case that the officials can arbitrarily change the form of government in the township. Maybe if the Four Stooges had laid the foundation for that instead of the township hall, they may have prevailed in increments. The poor citizens of that township.

  3. Should the venue for this circus be changed to the Allstate Arena or the Sears Centre? Bring on the high-wire act, the SmartCar with the 30-35 clowns in it, and don’t forget the horses and the guys with the shovels bringing up the rear.

    Oh, wait; go to – – what’s the name of that castle on I-90 and all the crusaders in armor on horseback?

    Now, who will play the role of the court jesters?

  4. From all the the finger pointing at Moore, one would think that the current and previous Trustees, the previous Clerk, the previous Supervisor, the previous and/or current lawfirms and Hired/appointed Administrator have all been perfect people, perfect officials, perfect business folks. Um – I don’t think so. Comment folks trying to rewrite history, distort history, or omit important info have a bias built on opinion, and on their personal agenda, not on facts.

  5. Some of the Trustees have been around for a LOOOOONNNGG time. When did they finally figure out that the Open Meetings Act applies to the Township and to them? When will they figure out that the Taxpayers and Residents aren’t the enemy just because they don’t agree with those whose wish to spend, spend, spend someone else’s money?

    Sorry, these Trustees don’t inspire me to trust their business judgment – and the contract for the recently hired/appointed administrator – the contract with the months of severance pay is just one reason.

  6. How many times has Linda Moore been censured? How many specific acts were included in those censures? What has Linda Moore accomplished since she was elected (I know, Linda Moore herself stopped a building from being built)? Maybe Cal will FOIA Linda and write a piece on this. Since being elected, what has Linda Moore, as township supervisor, done for the residents of Grafton Township? I will ask again: What has Linda Moore accomplished since she was elected?

  7. She has stopped the unnecessary construstion of a taj mahal. She has caused the township’s business to be conducted in the public’s eye. FOIA requests are answered on a timely basis. Board packets are now available to the public. Agendas are detailed and specific. True democracy, even though messy, is in place. Over 700 electors participated in their local government at the 2010 annual meeting. People are more aware of the township form of government and how it affects their lives. The supervisor’s office is run more efficiently. No longer are the electors circumvented. Meeting attendance is up. Budget tracking is in place.
    A voucher/purchase order system is in place. The senior transportation program is more efficient with regular shopping trips to the most popular stores.

  8. Censured – what garbage. Why didn’t the Trustees censure themselves, oh, I’m sorry, didn’t they they did censure at least one of their group? aka we don’t like what you said. Mini-closed- society govt. entities don’t seem to like it when people rock their personal boat.

    Reading the rebuttal to the Moore censure – now that would take a class act person to do so that two sides would be represented, however, that’s not the agenda is it?

    Then there’s the ever popular foot-in-the-door story with multiple versions.

    The main issue is still the clenched fist interest in getting a multi-million dollar place to call Township “home” even if it’s NOT needed. That slick move to try and buy an existing building in HUNTLEY and then drop big bucks to fix it up was a clue that that war still isn’t over.

    By the way Trustees and Administrator, Huntley is a nice place, however, there is more to Grafton than Huntley. Heck it goes to Crystal Lake, remember?

    Where’s the planning committee that was supposed to happen twice? Oh, right, it would contain people who aren’t on a leash. Residents who have opposing views have already figured that out.

  9. Moore can’t do the job to she was elected. but I guess being competent isn’t a requirement to get elected supervisor. Moore or less? we are stuck with less!!!

    Tweedeldee, same old sour whine you get that from sour grapes 🙂

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