HARRISBURG—The mayor of the city of Harrisburg has made a symbolic gesture in light of the fact that he continues to hold a position that conflicts with his new teat job with the state.
At tonight’s city council meeting, Eric Gregg “donated” back his mayoral pay of $840 to the city, and $100 to a local soccer league.
The problem is, the $840 is only a month’s pay, and Gregg has been on the state’s payroll since April 26, 2013…so he skipped a couple of months in his magnanimity.
You see, Gregg is holding his position as mayor—as well as a position with the Saline County Industrial Commission, where he’s employed at about $20,000 a year—in violation of state statute, as pointed out in this article two papers ago. That’s because Gregg was appointed to a cushy $86,000-plus per year state job with the Prisoner Review (parole) Board. And, as it clearly points out in state statute, Gregg can’t hold any other position, elected, appointed or hired, while working on that board, because of the potential for “influence”—the appearance that someone could “buy off” a board member who is reviewing the latest parolee.
Here it is straight from Illinois Compiled Statutes:
Each member of the Board shall serve on a full-time basis and shall not hold any other salaried public office, whether elective or appointive, nor any other office or position of profit, nor engage in any other business, employment, or vocation. The Chairman of the Board shall receive $35,000 a year, or an amount set by the Compensation Review Board, whichever is greater, and each other member $30,000, or an amount set by the Compensation Review Board, whichever is greater.
Eric Gregg
That’s pretty clear. And yet, every time we call the PRB, there’s no one there to answer our questions, particularly regarding this: Gregg says he’s not “really on the PRB yet because he has yet to get Senate confirmation.” So if Gregg was appointed in April, and he appears on the state-supported website (as you see at the PRB link), and we were told just a couple of days ago he was actually in Springfield “working,” and he’s collecting a state-supported paycheck…what’s going to make any difference if he gets “senate confirmation” as it regards his other jobs and/or positions he’s STILL HOLDING?
We think something hinky is going on with it, particularly since it’s been several weeks we’ve been trying, and we can’t seem to get through to Ken Tuppe, the go-to guy at PRB’s “legal department” as it regards these types of questions.
And since Gregg has been on PRB since April, wouldn’t it make sense that he would have been making this symbolic gesture SINCE THEN, not just in June…two months after the appointment? (or, a few days after being personally asked about it, like we did last week….a Q & A the good mayor has been twisting the truth about since about Tuesday….but that’s a story upcoming for the print version and e-Edition…be sure your subscriptions are up-to-date, you don’t want to miss this.) Whatever the case, Gregg sure made a show of it tonight. Like that makes violating state statute okay all of a sudden. I guess when the rest of us violate a statute, we should offer up a month’s worth of our pay, and we won’t be charged. Sounds legit.
What wasn’t legit this evening at the meeting was what Gregg put a poor preacher up to in the meeting’s opening prayer.
This poor man, whose name we didn’t catch (but we’ll get it), is the preacher at the Pentecostal church out on Highway 13 in the ‘burg. And it became obvious Gregg had put him up to his mini-sermon delivered in his opening invocation when, in what’s described as a “loud, stern, dramatic” voice, he prayed for “the lost souls of the news people who report false things about people, and report things about people they shouldn’t report.”
Alecia Paige Gregg Burk. You’ll notice this is the only expression she has. Just watch. You’ll be seeing it a lot.
Many at the meeting (we couldn’t make it; we’ve been in the ‘burg or other locations for DAYS and had appointments to make) described most of the response to the prayer as “total shock”…except for Gregg, who, those same ones opined, “likely put that poor man up to it.” Apparently, Gregg is a little disturbed over the article we posted last night—a FACTUAL article, which he actually helped us with last week via phone calls to our stringers, to our voice mail, and ultimately in person answering direct questions, so it’s really unclear why he’s thinking it’s “false,” as we have multiple sources confirming EXACTLY what went on, and it’s as we reported and will be bringing you MUCH more of in the print version July 3—but that’s Eric Gregg for you: bringing reproach upon an undoubtedly good man by having him add drivel to his opening invocation. Sad, really. Like a lot of things in Eric Gregg’s life are turning out to be.
Ah well…maybe Gregg’s giving up his mayoral pay now so that IF someone with enough balls gets around to charging him with violation of 730 ILCS 5/3-3-1, he can say “But I didn’t take remuneration…I gave it back.” Inquiring minds—intelligent, reasonable minds—are asking about all of it…and we’re going to find out for them.