The Illinois Department of Labor (DOL) has validated a complaint regarding a deal between the Farm Services Group (FSG) Painters and former Clark County Park District Director Charity Murphy, the Edgar County Watchdogs report on their Illinois Leaks website.
The DOL has told FSG to provide $2,965.21 in back wages for the underpaid FSG employees and pay a $593.04 fine for failing to pay Clark County's prevailing wage at the time the work was done.
The case stems from 2014, when Mill Creek Park needed painting work done, and Murphy informed the park district commissioners that West Terre Haute, Indiana-based FSG had donated the paint and labor.
Edgar County Watchdogs co-founder John Kraft
ECW co-founder John Kraft reported on April 25, 2016, that after numerous Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, Murphy acknowledged that in exchange for the paint and labor, FSG had received two camping spots and a boat slip's use for a year, which Kraft contended was worth $8,450. In addition, the district's Policy Manual says purchases between $2,000 and $20,000 require written bids. Kraft contended that the board did not vote on or approve this expenditure.
Murphy resigned in September 2015.
FSG offered to pay for the camping sites for 2016 in a letter dated April 21, 2016. The FSG letter also claimed that the "donation" for 2016 would have included $10,800 in "free" paint and a total contribution of $23,703 for the current project. Due to the investigation, however, FSG would no longer donate its paint and services to the park. The letter also called the investigation "frivolous."
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