Attorney says removal from flood board is retaliation for Granite City lawsuit
An attorney suing the Metro East Sanitary District (MESD) over allegations of negligence during flash flooding in Granite City says he’s being removed from a board he’s served on since 2009 in retaliation.
Ron Motil, a lawyer at the Gori Law Firm and secretary of the Southwestern Illinois Flood Prevention District Council, said only days after Gori’s lawsuit against the MESD on behalf of the residents of Granite City, a vote on his replacement on the council appeared on the Madison County Board’s meeting agenda.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence,” he said. “It is really odd that once we filed litigation all of a sudden I’m being replaced on that board.”
Madison County Chairman Kurt Prenzler, who nominates members to the flood prevention council from Madison County, denied Motil’s retaliation accusation. He said Motil had been on the council for some time and that change was good.
“That’s not true, we’ve been searching for a replacement and we found a gentleman we really like,” he said. “It’s good to have rotation.”
The lawsuit against MESD came as a result of what the Gori Law Firm called “negligence” by the sanitary district during flash flooding on Aug. 12, when 9 inches of rain fell over the city in a short period of time.
The lawsuit alleges that MESD caused hundreds of homes, cars and businesses to “become inundated” with floodwater and sewage.
Last week, MESD Managing Director Steve Adler said the law firm’s lawsuit itself was retaliation for Motil’s pending removal and called the suit “politically motivated.” However, Motil said he hadn’t heard — and still hasn’t officially been notified — of his pending removal from the flood prevention council.
“This litigation has nothing to do with retaliation. That is a shocking allegation,” Motil said last week. “We filed this because a lot of people in Granite City who suffered a lot of damage over flood water and sewage water in their home. Insurance might cover some of it but not all of it and a lot of people are hurting.”
The Southwestern Flood Prevention District Council is made up of representatives from Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties. It was formed in 2009 as a response to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s intention to strip accreditation away from the 74-mile levee system protecting the metro-east.
Without accreditation, “substantial” portions of the American Bottoms would be designated as Special Flood Hazard Area on flood insurance maps, according to the council’s website, which could have a “devastating” impact on the metro-east’s economy.
A ¼ percent sales tax to pay for improvements to the levee system and the creation of independent flood prevention districts to collect the tax were established. Since its inception, the council has worked to improve the metro-east’s levees to “100-year” flood status. It’s latest goal is to improve the levees to handle 500-year flooding.
Prenzler said the nominee for Motil’s replacement on the Southwestern Illinois Flood Prevention District Council , Democrat Max Merz III, “impressed” him and County Administrator Doug Hulme.
Merz is a retired Madison County resident. A bio from the county board touted his experience working on drainage issues in western Chouteau Township for more than 20 years and his membership on the Citizens Advisory Group for an I-270 widening project and the new Chain of Rocks Bridge.
Motil said there has never been a precedence for “rotation” on the council and doubted Prenzler’s denial that his removal stemmed from the lawsuit.
He said as of Tuesday he had only heard of his replacement on the council second hand. Confirmation came through Wednesday’s county board meeting agenda, he said.
“No one yet from Chairman Prenzler’s office has informed me that I am being replaced,” he said. “They have not sent and email, a call, nothing.”
Motil’s replacement will be up for a vote Wednesday at the Madison County Board Meeting in Edwardsville.
“Our main goal in this litigation is to make sure those people are made whole,” he said. “Our main goal is to try to get justice for the people of Granite City. I don’t want this removal from the flood protection district to be any sort of distraction for those people.”
This story was originally published November 19, 2019 at 4:43 PM.