Residents press Manteno board for forensic audit and apology after heated meeting

Several residents urged the Manteno Village Board to pursue greater transparency, including a forensic audit, and called for civility among trustees after a contentious prior meeting.

Paul Motel thanked Trustee Joel Geske for voting in favor of a forensic audit and said residents deserve transparency about how tax dollars were spent. “The residents and this bruised community you wanna heal will not heal until we get this house in order,” he said.

Diane Sauerbier described behavior at a previous meeting as “an outrageous outburst of disrespect and bullying” and asked trustees to begin future reports with an apology to the mayor and the public. “Would that have ever happened if our mayor was a man?” she asked, adding that she felt the conduct was misogynistic.

Other speakers said the village needs more complete financial information tied to proposed projects and accused some leaders of “free spending.” The board did not take formal disciplinary action at the Sept. 2 meeting; public comments largely called for improved transparency and for officials to follow through on campaign promises of openness.

Trustees acknowledged the public comments; several speakers said factual information such as installation costs and complete project budgets must be provided before significant spending decisions occur. No new board motions regarding conduct were recorded at the meeting.