Residents press council on group‑home incidents and demand transparency on banking choices

Public comment at the Sept. 15 Lebanon City Council Committee meeting focused on two distinct concerns: enforcement and legal follow‑up related to a local group home, and criticism of the council's recent banking decisions and transparency.

Dave Renfro spoke during the public‑comment period and identified himself by name. Renfro said he had seen a Clinton County Sheriff printout indicating that a person placed in custody in 2020–2021 had been jailed and that the individual "is back in there now that's 36 years old, has a mentality of a 3 year old, shouldn't be there, but is there." Renfro urged the council and the mayor to instruct the city attorney to pursue action and said he believes the city attorney "is not doing his job." No city attorney response is recorded in the transcript.

A second speaker (resident, speaker 6) criticized council conduct and transparency after a previous meeting, saying he felt accusations of a "buddy buddy system" were out of line and arguing the council should consider using Illinois local government investment pool accounts. The resident said Lebanon has "never" used Illinois funds accounts and called council actions "bad optics," adding that the town's decisions had made local businesses and residents upset.

Chair and council members acknowledged the comments. The committee discussed rules around anonymous letters and confidentiality, and the chair reiterated the requirement that anonymous complaints generally are handled differently and that executive sessions require the city's attorney to be present.

What happens next: Public comments were recorded and council asked staff to follow confidentiality rules and to handle potential personnel or legal matters in executive session when appropriate. There was no on‑record response from the city attorney in the transcript.