A recent Wheeling Village Board meeting saw some hostile interaction between public speakers and board attorney James Ferolo, according to the Edgar County Watchdogs (ECW).
The citizens government oversight group has previously reported that Ferolo, an attorney with Klein Thorpe Jenkins Law Offices, gave the board what members dubbed bad legal advice when the board was determining rules for public comments during meetings.
Ferolo’s behaviour at the latest meeting, which the ECW characterized as attacking the critical speakers, was the latest in a series of actions that the group considers illegal. Notably, the ECW alleged that the Village Board published a letter in local media throughout area communities attacking a resident for making public comments at its meetings.
Edgar County Watchdogs co-founder John Kraft
“This type of behavior on behalf of the village board and the village attorney is inexcusable,” ECW co-founder John Kraft wrote in the group’s report. “Recent weeks have been met with attempts at censoring the public. Ferolo appears to be leading the village down a path of incurring billable hours as a result of his advice.”
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