Metropolitan District Commission Chairman William A. DiBella responded angrily to his critics Monday, saying it has never been his intention to block discussion of an independent counsel investigation that rebuked him – he claims wrongly – for trying to steer tens of thousands of dollars of legal work to a friend.
In a statement issued through his lawyer to fellow members of the MDC board, DiBella said he has been unjustly attacked by a faction of biased commissioners and professional staff who used secret meetings of the water and sewer authority’s Internal Audit Committee to issue a report that he said he will refute.
The district commission was to discuss the investigation, in which DiBella is accused of acting improperly, and its recommendations, a week ago at a meeting DiBella chaired. But a narrow majority of DiBella supporters on the commission voted to table discussion of the report, provoking complaints of “stonewalling” by his critics.
In his statement Monday, DiBella suggested he had no advance knowledge that a commission majority would vote to block discussion of the independent counsel report critical of him issued days before Easter.
“When the board voted to table consideration of the audit committee report, I assumed it was to allow commissioners time to consider the report, and also to give me time to respond,” he said. “The audit committee has spent over nine months compiling this report. We received the report on Wednesday, the office was closed on...
STERLING, Ill. (Rockford News First/KWQC) - Following uproar over a decision to euthanize a dog, attorneys for Whiteside County Animal Control Director James Garcia launch an investigation for a p...