Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents criticize proposed severance packages and ask board for clearer spending details
Summary
During public comment at the May 19 Manteno meeting, speakers urged the board to stop what they described as large severance payouts and to present full bills and expenditures rather than only totals.
Bob Forsyth and Francine Fatima used the public comment period to challenge the village board on severance payments and transparency in expenditures.
Forsyth asked whether any of the board members who own businesses had employee contracts or had paid severance. He told the board, “If you do that tonight, that just shows how you're going back to old games again and we're trying to move forward.” Forsyth characterized a potential severance payment as “taxpayer money” and estimated a severance amount “probably 25 to $30,000 if somebody leaves.”
Fatima thanked Mayor Annette Lamour and the board for “trying so hard to bring unity,” expressed support for making invocations a standing policy, and asked the village to provide a fuller accounting of bills rather than only a total presented by Trustee Geske.
Fatima also said she was “pleased to see Paul Motel as chairman of the plan commission” and called him “well qualified.”
Forsyth said he believed a previous $50,000 payment had been made “when it had no board approval,” and asked trustees to think about whether severance packages were an appropriate use of taxpayer funds. The town did not vote on severance policy at the meeting, nor did the board provide a detailed accounting of the payment Forsyth described.
These remarks came during the public participation portion of the meeting and did not prompt formal board action at the session. Residents and trustees may raise the matter again at a future public meeting or request documentation from village staff.
