Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore took her dispute with Township Trustees Betty Zirk, Gerald McMahon, Rob LaPorta and Barbara Murphy to court Wednesday.

She’s in civil court seeking injunctive relief to regain her role as chief executive of the township. She hoped for immediate relief, but Judge Maureen McIntyre “found there was no emergency,” Moore attorney John Nelson said. A court date will be set Monday.

“The Grafton Township Board of Trustees has, without legal authority, engaged in a broad course of conduct designed to eliminate Supervisor Moore from conducting any Grafton Township business,” the suit says.

Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore and her attorney John Nelson leave the McHenry County Courthouse after filing a suit to reclaim the power that township trustees have taken from her. The sun was radiating enough heat to bring the temperature to 57 degrees.

As readers know, the township board, still smarting from its judicial loss of the new $5 million township hall on Haligus road and election of nemesis Moore as township supervisor, decided to strip Moore of all the executive functions that their attorney, Keri-Lyn Krafthefer  advised was possible.

Trustee Betty Zirk explains benefits of a new township hall approved by the trustees with adequate public notice, but defeated on a tie vote by township electors.

“I am sure my client’s (being a plaintiff in the suit and having) engineered the end of the $5 million palace they wanted to build has nothing to do with the board’s concerns…I say that with tongue firmly in cheek,” Nelson said after setting next Monday’s court date to set a court date for a hearing on the merits of Moore’s suit.

“I would encourage anyone who is interested in the case to watch the YouTube video of the last meeting.”

Moore not only seeks the return of her powers, but also, confirmation of the legitimacy of her firing of Ancil Glick partner Keri-Lyn Krafthefer and Township Administrator Pam Fender.

Nelson spoke of two court cases upon which he based his motion.

One says that the township supervisor is in charge of hiring and firing employees, as long as there are not more than five paid by the Town Fund. Excluded from the employee count are employees of the assessor and road commissioner, as well as those paid by the General Assistance Fund.

Grafton Township has three bus drivers who fit that category.

“Three are smaller than five,” Nelson said.

Another case rebuked Cicero Town officials for banishing its township collector to a closet and firing the two employees.

Moore’s new office is the township clerk’s old one, one without a window.

Trustees continually point out that the township attorney, selected by Moore, but later dismissed by Moore, “wrote the book.”

Nelson said he was a member of the Illinois Township Attorney’s Association.

“Our association is composed of real lawyers. We don’t write books about township law; we revise township laws.”

Apparently two criminal complaints have been made to the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office by Moore’s antagonists.

One is said to concern manipulation of the private bank accounts of township employees.

“I would categorically deny such accusation,” Nelson said.

The other, more recent, is that financial information has disappeared from township computers.

“The township computers are under the sole custody and control of the township supervisor,” Nelson said.

“They have no right, legal authority or interest in these computers. They are a legislative body.”

“That is an allegation without substance and without meaning. The elected supervisor is the sole custodian of the financial records. It’s really not their complaint to make.

“If the records have disappeared, it’s because of the illegally hired employee (Township Administrator Pam Fender),” Nelson continued.

“It’s a felony to threaten a criminal case to obtain a civil judgment or right,” Nelson pointed out.

Nelson outlined the duties of township trustees:

• They review the bills, audit the bills
• They approve the budget which has to provide adequate space for the assessor, supervisor and town collector to do his or her job.
• They can provide for salaries.
• They can provide conditions, if over five employees.

Township trustees are limited to what the law says.

Grafton Township Board at its March 2nd meeting, which you can see on YouTube. From left to right are Trustees Gerry McMahon, Betty Zirk, Rob LaPorta and Barb Murphy. Supervisor Linda Moore is seen standing.

“These township trustees have stepped way over those bounds,” Nelson charged.

“This is a separation of powers case that involved the fundamental right of people to elect their own political leaders.

“The core issue is that the voters of Grafton Township voted my client in as Grafton Township Supervisor. Their wisdom or lack thereof is no longer at issue.”

Nelson serves as Winnebago County’s Harlem Township Attorney.   That township, north of Rockford, has a population comparable to Grafton’s.

And, who will pay Nelson’s bill?

“I represent her in her official capacity,” he said.

Read this section of the case:

“Supervisor Moore is entitled to legal counsel in her capacity as Grafton Township Supervisor as she is in legal conflict with defendants, and this litigation is necessary to settle the rights, obligations and duties of the parties.  The necessity of payment for legal counsel paid for by Grafton Township is well-settled under the law.  In Wayne Township Board of Auditors, DuPage County v. Ludwig, 154 Ill.App.3d 899, 507 N. E. 2d 199, 204, 107 Ill. Dec. 535, 540 (2nd Dist., 1987) the court held that where an actual conflict exists between a Town Board and one of the town’s officers the town officer is entitled to be represented by independent counsel.  The court went on to say that independent counsel is entitled to a reasonable fee for same.”

McHenry County lies within the 2nd Appellate Court District.

What if Moore wins the case and the trustees won’t follow the judge’s order?

“I would be seeking jail time for contempt,” Nelson said.  If it reaches that stage, it will not be the first time the four trustees have displeased a judge by not obeying a court order.  It happened in the new township hall case, too.

Keri-Lyn Krafthefe

Moore’s seeking judicial approval of her termination of the legal services of Keri-Lyn Krafthefer.

Nelson court document points out that Moore appointed her and says,

“Logic would dictate that Keri-Lyn Krafthefer serves at the pleasure of the Supervisor of Grafton Township.  However, it appears that this is an issue of first impression.”

A link to the full court document can be found here.

“Do you think the trustees have management (power) day-to-day?” Supervisor Linda Moore asked Ancel Glick partner Keri-Lyn Krafterfer.

Township Attorney Keri-Lyn Krafterfer on the left, Township Administrator Pam Fender on the right.

She replied in the affirmative to which Moore asked her to

“Please put that in writing.”

On the offensive again, Moore asked newly-appointed Township Administrator Pam Fender,

“Do you intend to force your way into my office again?”

Discussion then went to the trustees desire to have internet “live access” to the Quick Books accounting program for themselves and Fender.

“A kid in high school can handle Quick Books,” Trustee Rob LaPorta observed. He added that he would exclude records about public assistance.

Then, back to the newly-designated Township Supervisor’s office again.

Gerry McMahon

“You want me to served General Assistance clients in a room without windows?”

“It has a window,” Gerry McMahon said, but was corrected.

“As long was we’re in the majority, we’re in control,”

said McMahon.

“Do you see any errors we’re making here,” LaPorta asked the attorney.

“No,” was the reply.

Rob LaPorta

Linda Moore

“She’s going to hired another attorney to block this thing,” LaPorta said.

“You’re directing an employee to give orders to an elected officials,” Moore said as the township trustees delegated the switching of offices to Fender.

“Motion for Pam to quarterback the move,” LaPorta said.

“Coordinate moving the offices,” McMahon suggested.

“Pam will direct and manage,” LaPorta offered.

That’s when we learned that he was in television at one time. He starting talking about reading the “script.”

“Take 2.

“…for the Grafton Township Administrator to coordinate the three office move that the Grafton Township Board voted upon tonight until completion.”

‘If you’re talking about Pam doing the directing…”

The motion passed, as others previously 4-1.

Then it was budget time.

Proposed Grafton Township Hall

“I messed up last week,” Trustee Betty Zirk admitted.

“All of the trustees did,” LaPorta agreed.

Then they started talking about the $3.5 million budgeted for the new township hall and how they had incorrectly added in about $600,000 that is sitting in the bank from the sale of the township hall to the township road district.

That’s when I took a break in the hall that lasted until the meeting was adjourned mercifully close to 9 o’clock.

= = = = =

Here is Part 1.

Here is Part 2.

Linda Moore

Pam Fender

The Grafton Township Board is holding another special meeting Tuesday night at 7:30.

It will be held at the Huntley Park District building.

No public comment allowed this time before

• an amended budget is adopted,
• a budget workshop for next year is held and
• “potential action related to board action at February 22 special meeting related to township office space, duties and supplies.”

Will Township Supervisor Linda Moore be kicked out of the office where she does state law-mandated confidential interview with those seeking township welfare?

Some might think that being elected to public office might mean one would actually have an office. Only time will tell if the private office assigned to previous township supervisors will be reassigned to newly-appointed Township Administrator Pam Fender.

The new township hall old Supervisor John Rossi and his township board wanted to build without voter approval. Including interest, it would have cost taxpayers over $5 million.

Of course, there would have been plenty of room, had the township board gotten its way and a new township hall was being built on Haligus Road.

Linda Moore

Pam Fender

First up with the story about Huntley Village Trustee Pam Fender’s calling the police over Linda Moore’s efforts to keep her from invading her office was the Daily Herald’s Jameel Naqvi.

I looked at the 53 comments yesterday about 10 AM and found many had been voted hidden by readers of the comments.

Reading them below, you might find a common thread:

Tell us what you see in the comment section.

cadman :: Tue Feb 23, 2010 12:23 PM

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Gerry McMahon

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This is all a distraction to what the bickering is all about. As mcmahon ( no capitals, they show respect) said at last nights meeting Trustee Gerry McMahon became so incensed at their questions he shouted,

“I don’t represent you.

I don’t care to.”

“Until my term expires we’re never going to be done with the building,” he said.

There is the problem. no $5,000,000 building.

Cassandra the Good :: Tue Feb 23, 2010 1:13 PM

-10

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Last week Huntley Village Trustee Pam Fender made an uncontested pitch for a second taxpayer-financed job.

Setting aside the personal “stuff”, how does the Township Board select a person to hire (I don’t know if it was advertised to the public – don’t think so) at a cost of $35 thousand plus benefits (? another $15 thousand?) without a job description?Was/Is this new person neutral or a Board supporter?

Is Huntley the only part of the Township where residents live?

This reminds me how things are run in Chicago, I suppose I could be wrong…..

Larry Snow :: Tue Feb 23, 2010 1:32 PM

-11

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Article on last night’s township meeting at McHenryCountyblog.com

Pam Fender advising Township Trustee Betty Zirk during the budget hearing Tuesday night.

Last night apparently Fender as a Huntley Village trustee feels she is entitled to boss someone around and tell them where to sit at a public meeting when she is only a member in the audience at a Grafton Township meeting.

Which Grafton trustee couldn’t see Fender was going to be confrontational in the office? Or was that one of her “professional” qualifications they were looking for? Is it a coincidence the trustees hired Fender without bothering with a job descritpion or asking for a resume?

AJM :: Tue Feb 23, 2010 2:47 PM

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Pam Fender explaining her needs, including two telephones, to townshp trustees

Article on last night’s township meeting at McHenryCountyblog.com

Last night apparently Fender as a Huntley Village trustee feels she is entitled to boss someone around and tell them where to sit at a public meeting when she is only a member in the audience at a Grafton Township meeting.

Which Grafton trustee couldn’t see Fender was going to be confrontational in the office? Or was that one of her “professional” qualifications they were looking for? Is it a coincidence the trustees hired Fender without bothering with a job descritpion or asking for a resume?

Larry, I agree with your comment about the qualifications the trustees were looking for when they hired Ms Fender. Seems to me the trustees don’t like to get their hand slapped each time they reach into the cookie jar (Tax payers money).

cadman :: Tue Feb 23, 2010 3:01 PM

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Grafton Township Hall that would have cost about $5 million, including interest.

I find it very interesting that not one of you people can see the reasoning behind all of this. Could it be that you people have so much money to throw away that you want to enrich a few with a $5,000.000 building? Looks like Linda Moore is keeping a lot of money out of a few peoples pockets and you people want to fill those pockets. Look to see who benefits from the building and you will see who is causeing all of the problems.

Who is doing the steering of the trustees? Do you people really believe this is over a copier? The coffee is brewed, wakeup and smell it.

cadman :: Tue Feb 23, 2010 8:08 PM

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suncityhawk, apparently you are not familiar with the proper way to run a government entity. If you were you would see these are people that are trying to do the right thing for all concerned, unlike your fellow sun cityite.It may be hard for you to do but look at both sides of the stories.



McHenry County Blog has obtained the statements that Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore and Grafton Township Administrator Pam Fender made to the Huntley Police Department after Village Trustee Fender called the police Tuesday morning about twenty minutes after the incident described below.  (Click to enlarge.)

Meanwhile, Keely Cat is taking the Northwest Herald approach to the adding of about $50,000 worth of administrative cost to the delivery of Grafton Township services.

Keely ignoring what's going on in Grafton Township.

Linda Moore

Pam Fender

It’s said that the best defense is a good offense.

And that’s what Huntley Village Trustee Pam Fender, newly hired to, in effect, supplant elected Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore, did when she called the Huntley Police after apparently trying to force her way into Moore’s office.

At 8:30 AM, at the start of her second week as Grafton Township Administrator, Fender precipitated a confrontation with the elected Township Supervisor she was hired by the four township trustees to replace.

That’s when Pam Fender tried to force her way into Linda Moore’s office.

Anybody over 30 knows that something bad is going to happen when you try to force your way into someone’s private office.

Moore told her not to come in the office, but Fender didn’t heed the instruction. This led to Moore’s defending her territory.

At 8:52, some twenty minutes, later Fender had decided to call the police. One can only wonder to whom she talked in the intervening time.

You can read the police report below for details below.  I note with amusement that the second sentence of the narrative says,

“…the victim had been struck by her supervisor…”

One thing is for certain.  Pam Fender does not consider Linda Moore “her supervisor.”

The narrative of the Huntley Police Department's report 10-0289 can be found in three parts above. You can enlarge each section by cllicking on the image.

Pam Fender making her pitch for the $35,000 (plus about $15,000 in family health benefits) patronage plum of "Grafton Township Administrator last Thursday night."

I wasn’t there when Grafton Township Trustee Betty Zirk and double-dipping Huntley Village Trustee Pam Fender, the new $35,000 (plus about $15,000 in health benefits) “Township Administrator” hired to supplant the-woman-blamed-for-stopping-the-$5-million-new-township-hall, elected Township Supervisor Linda Moore, walked into Moore’s office, but apparently The First Electric Newspaper’s Pete Gonigam was.

(Go ahead, diagram that sentence!)

See the picture he took and read his story here.

Fender was hired without resume or job description or the opportunity for others to apply for the job.

Hard to believe the number of comments on the article about the Thursday night meeting.

Grafton Township Home Page on Jan. 22, 2010. Note that the tab to click to the Supervisor's page above the Assessor's has been removed.

You gotta love the infighting among Republicans in Grafton Township.

Supervisor Linda Moore posted video of the last township meeting. My speakers are so poor I had a hard time hearing what people were saying in the first segment, but it as, shall I say, animated.

Now, someone has taken down the link from the main page of the web site to where one can see the videos.

Linda Moore's information page to which the link disappeared from the internet home page page Grafton Township

But here’s the link for those of you who would like to see what a real live, that is, lively meeting looks and sounds like.

Yesterday, McHenry County Blog started outlining what was mentioned about the court-determined illegal actions of the prior board–three of whose members were re-elected–in notes of the 7:30 PM to 12:15 AM Grafton Township board meeting last Thursday night.

The topic kept coming up in the discussion of the motion to add Township Supervisor Linda Moore’s name to that of newly-elected Trustee Gerry McMahon on the list of board members censured who have been censured.

Trustee Rob LaPorta, clearly the leader of the board majority, was among those to comment on the township hall lawsuit during the debate to move the censure resolution from the bottom to the top of the agenda:

“We were forced to hire an attorney because our names were on the lawsuit.”

McMahon returned to the court action brought by Grafton Township citizens, directing his comments to Moore:

“You started all of this by encouraging all this litigation against the township.

“You hurt the township. You should resign. You do not have a clue how to run a township.”

“We have to take responsibility for the decisions we make,” Moore replied.

“I admit I don’t think I made a good decision.

“Get over it.

“I don’t take kindly to your accusations,”

Barbara Murphy then said.

The reply from Moore,

“We can’t made decisions based on our legal (advice) alone. Just because a lawyer makes a recommendation doesn’t (mean it’s right).

“You believe what Mr. Kelly told you to do. Now, it turns out not to be the right thing to do.”

I have over four pages of notes on LaPorta’s reading of the condemnation resolution, but he was reading so fast, they are incomplete. After looking over the text sent to me by Trustee Rob LaPorta, I don’t see anything concerning the new township hall except Moore’s termination of Kelly as township attorney and her refusal to present his bill for payment.

But, my guess is those items stimulated the censure movement.

When it got to public comment time after the censure and paying of bills Tammy Lueth, a plaintiff in the suit to invalidate the board’s decision to build a new township hall, came to the podium with a stack of agendas and minutes.

“I’ve been through all the agendas for the last four years.”

She told of the decision at the annual meeting to approve the new township hall.

“You weren’t right.

“You took it upon yourself to appeal (Judge Michael Caldwell’s) decision. The Appellate Court ruled you guys didn’t do what you should have done.

“You spent more time bickering about $400 in chamber of commerce fees (than you did when it) took you six minutes to approve land acquisition.

“That was all brought about by the former supervisor (John Rossi) and some trustees.”

She added that she had to spend $12 in a Freedom of Information Act request to get minutes which ought to be on the web site.

Cutting Lueth’s comments short was McMahon, the only current trustee who did not vote for the new township hall and land acquisition:

“You’re into your three minutes.”

Trustee Betty Zirk, one of the three remaining trustees who supported the new township hall, pointed out the rules on the specificity of agendas changed in 2007.

“Now we have to be very specific,” she said.

McMahon returned to the undercurrent of the meeting:

“On some points you are right. What (attorney Jim) Kelly said to us was that he thought it was winnable.

“I’ve learned my lesson…

“I think you opened a can of worms and you hurt the township.”

McMahon then offer his opinion on the chances of passing the court-ordered referendum during next November’s general election:

“We can’t win a referendum. We will never get the PR out.”

The official part of the agenda when the discredited deal was next on the agenda.

Read about it tomorrow.

Yesterday, I started a series about the Grafton Township audit by Eder, Casella & Company on outgoing Township Assessor John Rossi’s last year in office.

Astonishingly, the firm sent it to his successor, Linda Moore, and asked her to sign off on the audit as being “correct.”

Maybe this is routine practice brought on by auditors having been sued, but expecting a replacement official to approve her predecessor’s bookkeeping strikes me as really strange, especially when “material weaknesses” were found in internal control.

The $10,000 audit will be considered at tonight’s meeting at the Huntley Park District building at 7:30.

But, we’re only halfway through the first page of the transmittal letter.

“We believe the following deficiencies constitute material weaknesses,”

the missive continues.

First up are “Financial Statement Adjustments.”

“Management is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of all financial records,” the firm of Certified Public Accountants state.”

In a long paragraph this sentence leaps out,

“During the course of our audit, material misstatements of financial records were found, resulting in adjusting entries…Management agreed with the adjustments and they were included in the 2009 financial statements.”

No mention as to the identity of “management” was included in the transmittal letter.

Next on the list is the lack of a “Policies and Procedures Manual.” That’s pretty much what I found when I became McHenry County Treasurer. Memory of the office’s employees was the location of our manual.

What’s such a manual supposed to contain?

“…enough detail that another person could fulfill the requirements of a particular process by following the explanations.”

“Account Reconciliations…were not apparently reconciled to the actual balances.” The firm recommends that be done on a monthly basis. Sounds like Huntley School District 158 in times past.

“Expenditure Posting” brought the comment, “General Assistance Fund reported expenses that were not specific to that fund, including capital outlay expenses for the Town Fund.”

In other words, expenses were paid for the proposed new township hall out of funds that were supposed to go to help the poor.

Under “Internal Control Recommendations” the comment is made that turns up often in small operations about the same people receiving the money, writing the checks and reconciling the bank accounts.

But, the most significant seems to be

“Disbursements do not have proper documentation, for example, supporting invoices.”

And,

“Purchase orders are not used and only verb al approval is required to generate a purchase.”

And,

“Check sequence is is not consistently reviewed.”

And,

“Procedures to categorize expenditures are not in place.”

“Ineffective” is the adjective the CPA’s use to describe township controls regarding disbursements.

Finally, there’s a comment about the Grafton Food Pantry:

“Activity of the Grafton Food Pantry has not been reported in the financial statements…because it does not qualify as a component unit.”

In a letter from Moore to the auditing firm the following appears:

“There are no material transactions that have not been properly recorded in the accounting records underlying the financial statements except the lack of documentation for the money transferred by phone to the food pantry.”

The part in bold face type was added by Moore to the suggested language from the audit firm in a letter verifying records.

More coming.