East Central Reporter

An ongoing battle between the Edgar County Watchdogs (ECW) and the Effingham County Insurance Committee concerns what constitutes “county insurance business” and the protocols and procedures boards should follow when discussing public business.

On its Illinois Leaks website, the ECW described an “alleged illegal meeting” of the insurance panel that the ECW said was held with only two members and “behind closed doors.”

The ECW's John Kraft said he caught wind of the meeting and went to it.

“We called them on it, and they shut the meeting down and left the room,” he posted.

While the ECW argues that the meeting was done to review an insurance company’s list of county properties and that the review was public business, the committee said it did not discuss county insurance.

"Our view: A quorum of the insurance committee met with the intended purpose to 'discuss and review' the list of property their 'insurance company' wanted them to review," Kraft wrote. "This was a meeting to discuss the public business of the insurance committee."