McHenry County Blog

The litigation concerning who has what power in Grafton Township has been long and expensive, but also interesting.  I’ve discussed how it involves the pitting of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of local government with Linda Moore’s attorney John Nelson and an attorney at Ancel, Glink, suggesting the case would be wonderful for law school students.  The one at Ancel, Glink said he would talk to a professor at Northwestern University.

The first case was won by Moore.

Judge Michael Caldwell ruled that she had executive powers much as do village board presidents.  (Both, you will note have a vote on their legislative bodies.)

Ancel, Glink, dismissal by Moore was ratified and Township Administrator Pam Fender, installed by the Trustees to take over pretty much ever duty the Supervisor had had under the man she beat in the GOP primary, John Rossi, performed, except the administration of General Assistance (a very limited welfare program) and keeping the books.

The second time around, Caldwell also ruled for Moore, saying that her choice for Township Attorney, Nelson, would be installed even though he had been rejected by the four Township Trustees.

The Trustees attorney, Thomas DiCianni, seemed visible stuck (read the bottom of the transcript) by Caldwell decision.  After regaining his composure, he asked to appeal and, upon consideration, Caldwell granted him that request.

Trustees Rob LaPorta, Barb Murphy, Berry Zirk and Gerry McMahon won that effort in the 2nd Appellate Court.

Now, Moore has announced that she will not appeal the ruling that Trustees must approve her nomination for Township Attorney.

Last night two Trustees, LaPorta and Murphy, joined more in appointing Michael Torchalski as “Special Counsel” to handle legal affairs in the sale of the Haligus Road property.  That parcel was purchased from the Village of Lake in the Hills for a new township hall.  That decision by the Township Board headed by John Rossi.  Moore used the issue to defeat Rossi in the first GOP primary election in Grafton Township.  (Previous township officials were elected on ad hoc party names.)

Here is the press release from Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore:

Grafton Township Supervisor Declines Appeal to the State Supreme Court

Linda Moore, Supervisor of Grafton Township announced today she did not authorize an appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court as to whether it was legal for the trial court to order confirmation of her Attorney, John M. Nelson, as Grafton Township Attorney.

The Second District Court of Appeals reversed the order of the trial court in its decision on August 2011.

“The case involves complicated issues of enforcement of a court’s injunction versus arguments of separation of powers. While my attorney was anxious to have the Illinois Supreme Court decide these important issues, unfortunately, the cost to township taxpayers of such an appeal would vastly outweigh the benefits to Grafton Township and it’s taxpayers, “

Ms. Moore stated.

“The trustees’ attorneys, Ancel Glink have charged a total of $57,379 for just their appeal to the Second District. This is in addition to Attorney Nelson’s charges of $ $11,707.

“I can only imagine how many more tens of thousands of dollars it would cost to make law on this issue,”

stated Moore.

In addition, there is no guarantee the parties could obtain an expedited hearing for a quick decision.

“The Illinois Supreme Court is very deliberate because they set the rule of law in the state, “Ms. Moore said.

“We need a township attorney now, not months from now.”

Ms. Moore pledged she would continue to nominate qualified attorneys to assist Grafton Township in their legal matters. She continued by saying,

“Hopefully the trustees will come to their senses and confirm this appointment so we can move beyond the self-defeating actions that have driven this board.”

This 37 image post is for hard-core Grafton Township folks. It comprises Judge Michael Caldwell’s entire decision in Township Supervisor Linda Moore’s suit against her Township Trustees and Township Attorney Keri-Lyn Krafthefer of Ancel Glink, the Township Attorney that she dismissed months ago. Click to enlarge any image.

Introduction – page 1 and 2.

Linda Moore – page 2 and 3.

Township Administrator’s Job Description – pages 3-7.

Linda Moore relationship with Pam Fender – pages 7-8.

Moore and township attorneys – 7 and 8.

Moore continues through page 10.

John Rossi – pages 11 and 12.

Bill Ottley – pages 12 and 13.

Chad Smith – page 13.

Mark Peloquin – pages 13 and 14.

Mary Lou Hardy – page 14.

Donald Kruto – page 14.

Pamela Fender – pages 14-16.

Rob LaPorta – pages 17 and 18.

Yanif Schiff – pages 18 and 19.

Dina Frigo – pages 19 and 20.

Mary Ford – page 20.

Betty Zirk – pages 20-21.

Keri Krafthefer – page 21.

John Heisler – page 21 and 22.

Issues start on pages 22-24.

Law – pages 24-28.

Analysis – pages 28-29.

Township Supervisor – pages 29-32.

Township Administrator – page 32.

Township Records – page 32-33.

Attorneys Fees – page 34.

Findings – pages 34 and 35.

Orders – page 35 and 36.

Distribution – last page.

I’m losing count. Was today the fourth day of testimony in the Grafton Township separation of powers suit?

Maybe it was that I arrived by the expected start time, but an argument over a Temporary Restraining Order wanted by the McHenry County Health Department on a two-year old issue postponed testimony until 1:30.

In any event at least I remembered to take a cushion to soften the hard bench in Judge Michael Caldwell’s court today.

But listening to the who hit whom when and where is wearing on me.

If the question is whether Grafton Township government is dysfunctional, that has long since been proven.

Again it was Township Supervisor Linda Moore’s political enemies on the witness stand.

First up was a Forensicom “Senior Forensic Examiner” testifying that his firm had not finished its work because it had not been paid by Grafton Township. While not privy to contractual details Yoniv Schiff explained how people he supervised in the six-man firm for whom he works, copied a computer “in Pam’s office” and told a server to Chicago to copy because it was taking too long in Huntley.

Schiff explained how a program called Eraser, one version of which is available over the internet, was used to erase data from the computer, but not the server. February 8th was the day version 5.8 of the program was installed on the computer. It was “run against specific files and over(wrote) the data on those files,” he said.

The folder erased and overwritten was called “QuickBooks.” It “was sent to the recycle bin for deletion.”

On February 9th, he continued, “a flash storage device was attached to the computer.”

March 2nd saw “two separate external hard drives…attached to the computer.”

Under cross examination by Moore’s attorney John Nelson, Schiff revealed that his firm had been retained by Ancel Glink.

Admitting his lack of computer expertise, Nelson revealed,

“I want you to understand that the next email I send will be my first.”

Schiff confirmed that whatever was erased can be recreated, although he testified that he had not don’t any actual examination of the computer, rather his study was on “the forensic images of the computer.”

“At this point there is no evidence that an eraser program has been installed in the server?” Nelson asked.

“That is correct,” was the reply.

When asked whether February 29th was the only date the flash storage device was used, Shirff did not recall.

Schiff couldn’t testify to what happened when the external hard drives were attached because his firm had not been paid.

“Did you discover any deletions from a year prior?” Nelson asked. “Did you examine for that?”

“No,” Schiff replied.

There has been talk that Moore’s predecessor removed data from a township computer before leaving office.

The Judge asked some clarifying questions including one concerning the server. Schiff explained that his firm had “not determined what, if any, metadata (“data about data”) has been removed from the computer.”

Next up was Dina Frigo, the former Township Clerk.

It was pretty obvious she and Moore didn’t get along.

“Not a very pleasant relationship,” was how she started her testimony.

She intimated that Moore had a key to her office and had put a copy machine and files inside without her knowledge or permission. Moore had previously denied that and on cross examination, pointed out that if Moore had a key she would not have had to file Freedom of Information requests about which Frigo complained.

Moore did say that the building’s landlord, the Township Road Commission had keys to all the rooms.

How many FOI requests?

“Too numerous to mention.”

“You’re telling me you received FOI requests for information that was in the township hall?” Judge Caldwell asked.

“Yes. She would FOI my mail, too.”

Frigo did quote Moore assistant Trudy Jurs as asking via email, “Will you please give me information on the xerox I placed in your room?”

Frigo reported that Moore had opened her mail, specifically citing one from the Local Archives Division of the Secretary of State’s Office.

There were accusations concerning Moore’s putting up and taking down meeting notices.

Re-enforcing testimony was provided that Moore usually kept the door to what used to be the reception area closed and locked.

Frigo generalized about Moore’s treatment of her. A sample follows:

“She was getting hostile, persistent, argumentative. You could not talk to her at all. I’d excuse myself from the situation.”

Then there was the Milestone Mortgage call.

A representative from the firm called to verify Frigo’s employment and how long she had worked for Grafton Township.

Did Moore refuse to do so out of privacy concerns?

No way to know.

Under cross examination Frigo admitted she had not told Moore that a mortgage company might be inquiring.

All apparently ended well because McHenry County Clerk Kathie Schultz was able to fax the evidence needed to the firm.

It was again pointed out that Moore did not have contact information for the Grafton Township Food Pantry as she provided for other ones.

On December 17th, Frigo said she filed a police report because she thought Moore had used a date stamp that was unique to her office.

When asked why she resigned, it was because

“I could not work with Linda Moore anymore. It was very stressful for me and my family, the continual turning things around, twisting things…”

“When you resigned, didn’t you say you resigned because you had obtained full-time employment?” Nelson asked.

“That was one of the reasons,” Frigo replied.

Just before, the court learned Frigo was working for Huntley School District 158 as a lunchroom worker and recess person. The word “substitute” was used but I didn’t catch with regard to which assignment.

Disputes over the content of minutes Frigo wrote, which were not approved until after she resigned took up a good bit of time.

Nelson inquired about when the Food Pantry was moved out of the township office complex.

Despite being on its board, Frigo couldn’t remember.

Nelson sought specifics about what Moore had said she did that she didn’t do and what she said she didn’t do that she did and got a few.

Frigo revealed to the Judge that the Township Board stopped operating under Robert’s Rules of Order after revealing board meetings under Supervisor Rossi lasted ten minutes to an hour, while those after Moore took office lasted 3-4 hours.

She was asked the question about which I filed a Freedom of Information request:

Did she recall the board under Rossi ever voting on the hiring or firing of any attorneys?

“I can’t recall off hand.”

The next witness was Frigo’s successor Harriet Ford.

Township Trustees’ attorney Thomas G. DiCianni put into evidence seven sets of township minutes. Nelson observed they “do not bear your seal” when he questioned her.

“She can certify by seal or testimony,” DiCianni said.

Nelson asked Ford the same question I had filed a Freedom of Information request about, that is, whether any of the minutes report the “hiring or firing of any attorneys?” as Trustee Rob LaPorta had affirmed on the last court date.

“I’m unaware,” Ford replied.

At 4:40 the last witness of the day, Trustee Betty Zirk, took the stand.

She was asked if the Grafton Township Food Pantry had ever been an official part of Grafton Township.

The answer was, “No.”

She went through what appeared to be rehearsed answers to questions about her views of the duties of township trustees.

In answer to a question of whether she was “motivated by a political dispute over a township hall,” she answered in the negative.

She was asked how she voted at the 2010 Annual Town Meeting.

She said she voted with the majority.

“It’s just we’re having problems with some of the duties,” she said.

The locked door objection was reprised,

• as was the intercepting “some of our mail,” including one from the Herb and Jack Franks law firm,
• as was Moore’s not having presented a proposal of Brown Accounting to the board for the 2008-2009 audit,
• as was charging Rutland Township senior bus riders $3, instead of the $1 charged Grafton Township residents,
• as was not paying the Huntley Chamber of Commerce dues, as was the firing of part-time employees by Moore,
• as was the budget (“We found so many problems. I finally said it was time to have the auditor come in and revise it.”),
• as were meeting agendas,
• as was the delay in payment of Attorney Jim Kelly’s bill for representing the trustees in their appeal of Judge Caldwell’s “You can’t build the township hall without giving proper notice” decision.

Four of the Grafton Township Trustees coalition left the courthouse first today.

Court adjourned just before 5 PM. The ceiling lights blinked out as I was approaching the stairs.

I spent another tiring day in Judge Michael T. Caldwell’s McHenry County courtroom today watching (more listening to) more witnesses in the Grafton Township separation of powers trial.

I didn’t have time to write anything about last Thursday’s morning session. Not like the blow-by-blow I wrote about Wednesday’s hearing. Getting ready to head off to Springfield for a long (rainy) weekend took my time.

I’ve been reflecting on what Linda Moore said and how she said it and the judge’s reaction to that when Ancel Glink litigator Thomas G. DiCianni asked him to direct Moore to answer his questions more directly than she had.

After about an hour of questions last Thursday during which Moore was not giving “Yes” or “No” answers, DiCianni asked the judge to direct Moore to answer his questions.

Caldwell, visibly disturbed, observed,

“She hasn’t answered a question directly since cross examination began.”

After that admonition, Moore became less loquacious.

Today, Huntley Village Trustee Pam Fender was on the stand talking about that job and her new one as Grafton Township Administrator.

“This is so childish,” Fender added to an answer to what happened between her and Moore after the end of March court hearing that put Moore back in her old offices.

“This is the third time this has happened. Do not make any statements of opinion,”

the judge admonished.

The third politician to receive harsh words from the judge was Township Trustee Rob LaPorta.

“Mr. LaPorta. Simply answer the question and stop the verbal jousting, the back and forth,”

the judge said.

So, politicians on both sides of the Grafton Township political fence appear to have a similar problem.

Each wants to explain her or his position, whether the question calls for such an explanation or not.

Perhaps that is a function of being a politician.

I managed to stay awake during the Linda Moore part of the trial today. It didn’t start until shortly after 1 PM because Moore attorney John Nelson wanted a court reporter present.

Once in a while some new information popped up, such as her wanting the judge to name Rockford-area attorney John Nelson to replace Keri-Lyn Krafthefer as Grafton Township Attorney.

She wants Judge Michael Caldwell to prohibit anyone but the township assessor, supervisor and road commissioner from contacting the township attorney.

And, then there was the puzzler that Krafthefer wasn’t even named attorney; another Ancel Glink attorney, Scott Puma, whom some will know as the Crystal Lake Park District or the Village of Island Lake attorney.

I’ve never seen him at a Grafton Township meeting, but one of the court watchers told me he had attended one meeting after his appointment by Township Supervisor Moore.

As far as the other remedies she seeks, it sounds as if she wants to run things the way her predecessor John Rossi did.

The Township Trustees’ attorney Thomas G. DiCianni agreed that the case was about “separation of powers.” Nice to know the opponents at least agree on a description of the suit.

But he noted that township and municipal governments in Illinois a merger of the executive and legislative branches.

The fact that a court reporter is typing away as people talk probably means that the loser will appeal…maybe all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court.

DiCianni charged that Moore held a view of her authority as having “pretty much” as having “dictatorial powers,” which he said was “not supported by the law.”

The dispute he suggested had “brought township government to a standstill.”

DiCianni listed what I might call “horribles,” which included

• agenda preparation without input from the Trustees
• refusal to pay bills within 30 days,
• “frustrating board notices”
• “terminating township employees without authority”
• withholding an audit proposal from the board and hiring a different firm
• withholding the draft audit for about two months, while sharing it with members of the public

The food pantry came up, as did changes in the senior and disabled bus operation, canceling credit cards in the Assessor’s office and something about direct deposit of employee pay.

And, then there was the catchall

• “causing intolerable dysfunction within the township”
• “harassing the Township Clerk”
• “frivolous Freedom of Information requests” and
• I’m sure there were more shortcomings noted.

In any event, with this as background the Ancel Glink partner said that Pam Fender had been hired to fix all of that.

“The evidence will show the board has acted appropriately, has acted in the public interest”…to fight the “obstinance” of the Township Supervisor.

Moore was then put on the stand by her lawyer.

She related the hostility of Rossi, who left no written operating procedures and erased all records from the township laptop computer. Another one had headings on it about the food pantry, but no data.

She told how she had to pay people her second day on the job and how a Harris bank employee named Shannon helped her make direct deposits to those on the township payroll.

After the first meeting, she related that Dan Ziller, Sr., had suggested at the American Legion, where apparently township officials go to socialize after meetings, that she approach Trustee Betty Zirk to seek cooperation.

Reluctantly, she did.

Zirk’s response, according to Moore:

“Absolutely not. I’m going to watch everything you do and keep track of every mistake you make.”

Zirk came into the office a couple of times a week to watch what was going on.

The topic turned to the number of employees on her payroll when Moore took office.

Seven, but two others had been terminated before Rossi left office in May.

“Four ladies (were) working as dispatchers,” there were three drivers and the assistant supervisor.

“I observed what they were doing and I saw we were overstaffed.”

Why?

The dispatchers were printing off maps for every trip, although most of the riders were not new.

Moore bought GPS machines and the drivers never asked for a map after that.

“I reduced their hours,” Moore continued.

“Since the assistant to the Supervisor had been terminated the day before I took office, I replaced her with Trudy Jurs,” who had held the job ten years before Rossi took office.

Jurs answered the phone, helped enter bills, handled IMRF (pension system), some payroll and helped prepare board packets, Moore related.

By the time Moore started cutting back on unneeded employees, Joe Gottemoller was Township Attorney.

Moore had fired the previous Township Attorney the day she took office, but he continued representing the Township Trustees in the township hall case in which Moore was one of the original litigants.

How did it work out with fewer employees?

Bill payment and bus service functions were explained. Moore pointed out that service was provided Sun City residents outside of Grafton Township and, while the Village of Huntley had helped pay for it, “it doesn’t cover the costs. It just helps.”

“We were able to handle the workload between my assistant and myself without any other help.”

And the relationship with the Trustees?

“It deteriorated over time,” Moore explained.

“Some of their behavior was outright hostile at public meetings. At one point Trustee (Rob) LaPorta stood up and screamed in my face to ‘Shut up!’”

“They do not communicate with me.

“We have dueling agendas for every meeting. They rearrange the agendas.

“The emails got to be so hostile that I discontinued them.

“Trustee LaPorta ordered me not to step on his property.

Access to financial documents on QuickBooks was discussed. The Trustees wanted “read only” access, which LaPorta had said was possible.

Moore said when she contacted QuickBooks she had been told it was not possible.

“I don’t know of any other township that does it.”

“Is there any financial report that the Trustees have requested that you didn’t provide?” her attorney John Nelson asked.

“No.”

It was 1:55 in the afternoon. Moore took off her jacket.

Asked about Township Administrator Pam Fender’s job description, Moore replied, “The nature of the job description is the same as the nature of my job as Supervisor.”

What followed was a brief description of what happened after Fender was hired by the Trustees.

“She was acting as if she was my supervisor. She was giving verbal, written (instructions)… Four times in a row within 15 minutes while I was trying to address a crisis situation in transportation.”

“Have you been able to interface and work with her?” Nelson asked.

“No, I haven’t been able to.”

The question of minutes came up.

“More than a dozen sets of minutes that either have not been presented for approval or approved by the board.”

Moore’s attempt to terminate Ancel Glink because of insufficient funds came up.

“They refused to be terminated,” Moore explained.

Moore also tried to fire Fender, but, “according to legal advice,” continued paying her.

“Were you forcibly removed from your office?” was the next question.

Moore told of Fender, Zirk and a locksmith coming at 5:30 one night while she was still working.

“I kept on working and ignored them and they left.”

The next meeting the Township Board “instructed Pam Fender to move my equipment and files to another office.”

When they were doing so, “I called the police upon your advice. The police did not follow your advice. Keri-Lyn sent a letter, too.

“They took me out of my office.

She then told of how Fender shuffled people around in the township office complex.

Next came the revelation that the township laptop left her by outgoing Township Supervisor Rossi was wiped clean and did “not even have an operating system.”

Information had been removed from the desktop computer as well. It was so unreliable that Moore bought a new one at WalMart with General Assistance funds.

Earlier in the hearing, DiCianni had conceded that Moore has total control of General Assistance.

She explained her computer back-up procedure was to load all the information onto removable thumbnail drives, take them home every night and bring them back the next morning.

Fender brought in a computer tech from Leading IT who apparently worked on the General Assistance Fund-purchased computer. He “had the password and had deleted visual General Assistance off the computer.”

Moore also told of the server, which stores information from multiple computers, was removed from the office “after hours.” This occurred after Judge Caldwell had order Moore returned to her offices with everything else to remain as it had been when things were peaceable. (I think that was his word in court, although it doesn’t seem to fit too well.)

“The next morning when I came in the server was gone.”

“Did you delete any information from that server?” asked her lawyer.

“No.”

Asked about the current use of the computers, Moore told of the laptop “working partially,” but not handling the “financial software work very well.”

“The desktop at my house is where I do the financial work,” she explained.

Working at home, Moore said, was suggested by Trustee Gerry McMahon in a public meeting.

Asked about her concerns about financial matters, Moore pointed out that she was “the only person bonded for township funds. My office to this date is not secure because I do not know who had made copies of the keys and has access. I would not be able to prevent anyone from hacking into the computer…writing themselves checks.”

On matters concerning locks, Moore said the day she took office, the landlord, the Township Road Commissioner came to her and asked if she wanted the locks changed. She did and they were.

Moore was asked if she had keys to other offices, such as the Clerk’s office and she said she didn’t.

A little discussion was held about the Grafton Township Food Pantry, which was started by Jack Brunschon in 1989. Moore had little direct knowledge, so little information was allowed into the record. Food, shelving and freezers were moved out into a Kane County Huntley location last August.

She did report that township tax dollars paid for the electricity, as well as pest control. In the minutes Moore had found that salaries came from tax dollars, too.

When asked about “interference with General Assistance by Pam Fender,” Moore came up with some examples, including a photo her husband took of a post-it not with a General Assistance applicant’s phone number.

After Fender moved Moore to the Clerk’s office, she began answering the numbers listed in the phone book for the Grafton Township Supervisor and “Transportation.”

“I informed her she was not authorized to take any calls. She disagreed with me and continued to do so.”

Fender also opened all the mail. Some did not get to Moore, she reported, because she first saw it in township board packets.

DiCianni took front and center, pointing out that (even) one of Moore’s running mates (Gerry McMahon) had turned against her.

He took her through a series of questions about her view of her authority, which pretty well tracked her requests for relief in the suit.

Then, the strangest thing happened.

The court hearing starting sounding like a township budget hearing.

Using draft minutes because there are no official minutes the Ancel Glink litigator tried to get Moore to admit she had made mistakes.

I admit to having walked out on one of the budget hearings because it was so boring and this was no improvement in the category of excitement.

The most significant thing I remember was that a second budget hearing, Trustee Betty Zirk admitted that she had plugged in the wrong number and the board started over.

Moore pointed that out.

What relevance this has to anything being considered I could not discern. Perhaps I shall learn more at 10 AM Thursday.

There was one unexpected thing.

While DiCianni was asking budget questions, Moore started talking about the tentative budget that she was presenting at Thursday night’s township board meeting.

She described is as “a work in progress.”

I’ve spent enough time in court to know one never offers anything that is not requested. This action broke that basic rule.

Shortly after 4, the judge had his bailiff make three copies and, almost immediately thereafter, court was adjourned for the day.

Just as well. My eyes were glazing over, the benches were as hard as any church pews and I was ready to drive home.

I suppose that budget will be in the board packet for tomorrow night, but, I’ll be elsewhere, so interested readers will have to go see what it says and how the Trustees act for themselves.

Today the venue was the McHenry County Courtroom of Judge Thomas Meyer.

Grafton Township Trustees successfully sought a Temporary Restraining Order to change phone and internet lines back to the way they were before Supervisor Linda Moore rerouted several township numbers, including the one listed in the phone book as “Township Supervisor.”

The judge ruled,

“Linda Moore is hereby ordered to refrain from interfering, altering, transferring or otherwise directing AT&T to transfer telephone, fax or DSL service for the township’s phone numbers 847-669-3328, 847-669-9256, 847-669-8500, 847-669-1171 and 847-669-1064.”

Township Attorney Keri-Lyn Krafthefer was made the contact person with the phone company.

What caused the court action, which undoubted cost of $1,000 in legal fees?

“She took all the phone lines to her house,” new-hired Township Administrator Pam Fender told me.

“She could have told us at the meeting on Tuesday. She could have told us at Bingo. We had the internet missing on Wednesday. I tried calling AT&T on Wednesday, but they wouldn’t talk to me. I don’t have a pass code. They won’t do anything without a court order.

“Once again, we have seniors waiting around. Now, they can’t make reservations. Friday is a busy day.

“He (the judge) said OK to h ave some kind of an emergency order.”

Judge Meyer had made his decision and Krafthefer was writing the court order.

Then the clerk said,

“I’ve just gotten an email saying Linda Moore is here for the TRO.”

Then, Linda and David Moore entered the room with two township attorneys, Fender and Trustees Gerry McMahon and Betty Zirk.

Moore explained that her attorney John Nelson, from Rockford, was a single practitioner, and in court elsewhere.

She did, however, hand the judge a rebuttal that Nelson had written after receiving the papers from the township attorney’s firm, Ancel, Glink last night at 8:30.

“The long and the short of this matter is that the petitioners for the Temporary Restraining Order come to court with unclean hands and their petition should either be denied or set over to be heard on April 14, 2010 when other matters are heard.”

In addition, Moore’s attorney argued,

“The defendants have hired a woman who they have designated in their pleadings as the Township Administrator to usurp the plaintiff’s position as township supervisor, an obvious attempt for them to claim that the plaintiff has abandoned her duties and should be removed from office.

“As part of the action of the defendant they have made it impossible for the township supervisor to do her duties on site at the Grafton Township Hall.

“Following the advice of one of the defendants when the issue was discussed at a Township Board meeting, she has temporarily moved her office to her home until the matter is resolved. As such it was necessary to transfer the telephone number of the Township Supervisor of Grafton Township to her home.

“The Supervisor should be running the day-to-day operations of the township and would be, but for the unlawful interference by the defendants.

“This includes answering the telephone. In Grafton Township what remains of a transportation system for the elderly that employees three drivers while the Supervisor is easily able to run the system—which appears to exist without any statutory authority under township law—the plaintiff Supervisor of Grafton Township is forwarding all request(s) for bus service to the Township Administrator until the matter is resolved…

“The defendants cannot force the plaintiff out of her office and complain she ‘hijacked’ ‘their’ telephone number.

“The plaintiff submits that it is much more important that the Grafton Township General Assistance applicants be referred to the proper place with maximum confidentiality than any real claim that can be made by defendants. They have telephone service, it’s simply the listed number for the Grafton Township Supervisor and Grafton Township should go to the CEO.”

The judge asked Moore to try to contact her attorney.

After numerous attempts, she was unsuccessful.

Explaining to Moore what had happened before she arrive, Meyer said,

“They’re saying you had the phone numbers re-routed. They want to undo that.

“I granted the relief they requested and then set it over until Thursday so that Judge (Michael) Caldwell, who is more familiar with the case (can decide whether to make the order permanent).

“The purpose of my order is to preserved yesterday’s status quo and let you get your two cents in.”

When Moore tried to comment, Meyer warned,

“I am specifically saying, ‘Don’t argue your (case).’”

Then Meyer asked Ancel, Glink attorney Thomas G. DiCanni,

“If you could give her the order.”

“My order is to preserve yesterday’s status quo,” he repeated.

“I don’t know your side of the story. Talk to your attorney. (I would prefer you) not to speak for fear you might say something you shouldn’t.”

Meyer said that he could set the next court date on Tuesday or Wednesday and Moore indicated that Nelson would be available Tuesday.

The township attorney expressed his problem “that we’re going to lose a whole day,” if the judge’s order were not entered Friday.

After considering Nelson’s pleadings, Meyer concluded,

“I’m going to go with my first decision…I’m not going to hold it on the basis of the (Moore lawyer’s). I petition. I think (the Trustees’) petition is adequate.”

Later he said, “In reading your attorney’s response it was helpful to me, but (not persuasive).”

I”m just addressing the phone numbers,” the judge emphasized.

“’I think the equity lies with them.

“If your attorney can make it Tuesday, let’s put it on for 9 o’clock on the 30th.

“My order will only have effect until Judge Caldwell has a chance to extend it.”

To the court, Fender revealed, “They changed it on Monday. One took effect on Wednesday. The other took effect yesterday.

“If you want to call your attorney (again), I’ll be here (for a while),” Meyer told Moore.

When Moore came back she said her attorney wanted it noted that the order was “entered over our objections.”

That was noted.

After the hearing I asked Fender how soon service could be connected the way it was.

“I don’t know,” she replied.

“No comment,” said Trustee McMahon.

“No comment,” echoed Trustee Zirk.