Collinsville official says his silence made him target of harassment

A Collinsville councilman said he’s been the target of “mean-spirited harassment” because he has not publicly criticized his fellow council members.

Councilman Jeff Stehman called a Freedom of Information Act request that was sent to his employer by an unidentified resident a “new low in Collinsville politics.”

“I took offense to the fact that someone can go after me personally, that someone would feel that’s the right thing to do,” he said.

Stehman is in his first term on the Collinsville City Council. He also is a municipal employee for the city of O’Fallon.

Stehman said O’Fallon’s Freedom of Information Act officer informed him that a request was submitted for his personnel file, and for his phone and email records in O’Fallon from April 2015, when he was elected to the Collinsville City Council, to the present.

O’Fallon’s city attorney, Dale Funk, confirmed that a Collinsville resident requested Stehman’s emails and personnel file, and said the city would be fulfilling the request. Funk said the request related to Stehman’s phone records was specifically for text messages that Funk says do not exist, so that request was later retracted.

Several residents publicly criticized Stehman at City Council meetings in March for not condemning the actions of a fellow council member, Cheryl Brombolich.

The News-Democrat reported Feb. 20 that city documents show Brombolich tried to avoid disclosure of her personal use of a tax-free city account when she had the dual role of city clerk and director of operations in 2014, claiming it was a mistake and an oversight on her part. She paid back amounts used for personal expenses. Brombolich later resigned from that position and successfully ran for City Council in the April 2015 election.

Council members Nancy Moss and Jeff Kypta have accused Brombolich of what they called “serious breaches of ethics” for these actions, beginning with a press conference July 9 on the steps of City Hall. Moss and Kypta have since called for Brombolich’s resignation.

The BND also reported July 27 that the U.S. attorney’s office referred for investigation an accusation by the two council members that Collinsville Mayor John Miller received truckloads of free dirt from a city contractor and did not pay for them until months later, after a municipal employee complained. Moss and Kytpa said the dirt for Miller’s backyard was in violation of the Illinois Gift Ban Act. Miller denied any wrongdoing.

Without mentioning Brombolich or Miller specifically, Stehman said “personal attacks” against him are an attempt to pressure him into criticizing other council members “on issues other than how they have voted.” He declined to be more specific.

Stehman called the FOIA request “a fishing expedition” that he feels “serves no purpose for Collinsville.” It is an attempt to find something to bring back to Collinsville or to affect his job as the building and zoning supervisor for O’Fallon, he said.

“There’s nothing” that the request will reveal, Stehman said.

“And what did I do to deserve it?” Stehman said, reading from a statement at the March 28 City Council meeting. “I did not do what that person thinks I should do while sitting on this council. As I sit in my position as a city councilman ... and listen to the opinions and the personal attacks, I do so because it is a citizen’s right to do that. ... But because I do not agree with or say what others what me to say, someone can attack me individually, even at my place of employment, having nothing to do with the city of Collinsville.”

During the March 14 City Council meeting, resident Mary Drumm said silence from council members can be interpreted as agreement.

“No one is standing up with Jeff (Kypta) and Nancy. I don’t understand why,” Drumm said. “If you’re not against it, then you must condone this behavior, and it’s wrong.”

Another resident, Rob Dorman, commented publicly during the same meeting.

“I’d like to know why when the other councilmen condemned Cheryl Brombolich’s actions at the last meeting (on Feb. 22), you didn’t say a word,” Dorman said. “Do you support having morally bankrupt councilmen?”

Stehman said he would not be issuing a public opinion regarding other council members’ actions.

“My silence has been mistakenly interpreted as agreeing with or condoning personal actions and the conduct of others,” he said in his statement. “It is not my place as a city councilman to publicly criticize anyone over actions that took place long before I was elected to this council, and I will not be pressured into doing so.”

After the FOIA request was sent to his employer, Stehman suggested his family could also be targeted.

“What’s next for us here? I mean, are they going to start following my kids, find out where they work, where my wife works, find out what she’s doing to get something on me?” Stehman said during the March 28 meeting. “Will they contact one of you (council members), try to contact your family, go after other city employees personally?”

Stehman said he’s dealt with displeased residents from 15 years of serving on the city Planning Commission.

“I’m used to hearing that, but I’m just shocked at some of the depths we’ve (gone) to,” he said.

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 11:22 AM with the headline "Collinsville official says his silence made him target of harassment."