Moore censure: Part 2
This is the second post in a three-part blog series about the recent censures against Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore.
Below is the second censure document, which was approved by the Grafton Township Board earlier this month:
"A RESOLUTION FORMALLY CENSURING
SUPERVISOR LINDA MOORE FOR THE SECOND
TIME FOR INAPPROPRIATE CONDUCT
WHEREAS, Linda Moore is the Supervisor of Grafton Township; and
WHEREAS, Linda Moore has repeatedly engaged in numerous acts that exceed the legal powers of Illinois township supervisors; and
WHEREAS, Linda Moore has undertaken numerous acts to frustrate the accomplishment of Township business; and
WHEREAS, the Grafton Township Board believes that Linda Moore has engaged in the numerous inappropriate acts described below; and
WHEREAS, the Grafton Township Board does not agree with or condone the inappropriate actions which Linda Moore has undertaken which exceed the scope of the performance of her legal authority as Grafton Township Supervisor; and
WHEREAS, the Grafton Township Trustees seek to have Linda Moore, as Supervisor of Grafton Township, only perform such acts as are legally authorized by Illinois law for township supervisors to undertake; and
WHEREAS, the Grafton Township Trustees seek to have a formal, written declaration that they do not support or agree with the inappropriate actions itemized herein; and
WHEREAS, the Grafton Township Board has previously censured Linda Moore for her inappropriate actions; and
WHEREAS, the Grafton Township Board seeks to censure Linda Moore again for additional inappropriate actions that she has taken since Linda Moore was last censured in November, 2009, in an attempt to encourage her to act in a manner which complies with Illinois law.
NOW, THEREFORE, be it RESOLVED by the Supervisor and Township Trustees of Grafton Township, McHenry County Illinois, as follows:
SECTION 1. Supervisor Linda Moore is hereby censured by the Township Board for inappropriate conduct, which includes the following matters which the Township Board believes that Linda Moore has engaged in:
A. On January 7, 2010, Township Clerk Dina Frigo requested from Supervisor Moore certain information about salary payment benefits to elected officials from 2006 – 2009 in order to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request the Township had received from Cal Skinner. The information sought in the request was solely in Linda Moore’s possession in Quick Books and not in Clerk Frigo’s possession. Supervisor Moore refused to provide the information to the Township Clerk in order to permit the Township Clerk to comply with the Freedom of Information Act request.
B. In January, 2010, Supervisor Moore failed to follow the Board’s rules related to the preparation of the Board’s agenda, requiring the Township to amend the Board’s rules to again hire the Township Attorney to compile the agenda.
C. In February, 2010, Supervisor Moore failed to follow the Board’s rules related to the preparation of the Board’s agenda, requiring the Township to incur an additional legal expense for the Township Attorney to prepare the agenda that usually a Township Supervisor should be preparing.
D. In October or November, 2009, Supervisor Linda Moore contacted the Township Officials of Illinois (“TOI”) and falsely informed Jerry Crabtree that the Township had authorized her to set up a Township website through the Township Officials of Illinois domain. Based upon her misrepresentations, TOI established a web site for Grafton Township, which Linda Moore, without the Township Board’s permission or authority, used as her own personal web site, without mentioning any other elected officials, circumventing the Township’s actual web site at www.graftontownship.us, which has been authorized and operates under the collective direction of the Township Board.
E. Supervisor Moore failed to disclose to the Township Board that she created a web site using public funds to advance her own political agenda; and failed to forward the materials that she received from the Township Officials of Illinois regarding the web site, the operation of the web site, information regarding the password, home page, officials page, and the 4 Steps to Building Your Township’s Web Page.
F. By establishing the unauthorized web site, Supervisor Moore agreed to indemnify TOI from any claims predicated upon the unauthorized web site and otherwise agreed to legally bind Grafton Township to TOI’s rules regarding the web site, potentially subjecting Grafton Township to significant liability predicated on Moore’s misrepresentations and unauthorized actions.
G. When, at the direction of Trustees, the Township Attorney requested that the Township Officials of Illinois to suspend the improperly-created and unauthorized website, on or about February 5, 2010, Supervisor Linda Moore pirated and plagiarized the copyrighted TOI materials and pasted them to her own personal website, infringing on TOI’s copyright. TOI’s staff has referred this matter to TOI’s attorney to send a letter to Supervisor Moore ordering her to cease and desist with her piracy, plagiarism and infringement of their copyrighted materials, thereby causing Grafton Township to lose credibility with the Township Officials of Illinois, and bringing the Township into disfavor and ill repute with TOI based upon the Supervisor’s lies, deception and misrepresentations to TOI, combined with her illegal infringement with copyright laws for her own personal and political use and gain.
H. Supervisor Moore has created a separate personal and political web site using the Township’s name in an attempt to confuse the public as to which web site is actually the official Township’s web site and which is her own personal and political web site, failing to put any disclaimer on her web site that indicates that it is not authorized by, nor affiliated with, Grafton Township or the Township Officials of Illinois.
SECTION 2: The Township Board of the Grafton Township hereby censures Supervisor Linda Moore for these inappropriate and unauthorized acts and requests that Supervisor Linda Moore immediately cease and desist from actions which are beyond the authority of the Township Supervisor or otherwise inappropriate.
SECTION 3: If any section, paragraph, clause, or provision of this Resolution shall be held invalid, the invalidity thereof shall not affect any of the other provisions of this Resolution.
SECTION 4: This Resolution shall be in full force and effect from after its passage, approval and publication as provided by law."
