HARRISBURG—The city of Harrisburg has a temporary mayor until swearing-in of Ron Crank, following the 8:30 resignation this morning (07.08.13) of Eric Gregg.
Ron Crank, Harrisburg mayor pro tem
Crank handled a special meeting this morning at 9, which apparently was called by Gregg last week in order to address some street issues in town. At the outset of the meeting, Crank announced that Gregg had “resigned at his home this morning at 8:30.” There was a letter of resignation on file, which Disclosure obtained. There is no reason for resignation stated openly, only alluded to in the second paragraph, which is as follows:
When I was asked to serve on the Illinois Prisoner Review Board by Governor Quinn, it was an honor for me and my family as well as this community. I knew when I accepted the position that I would be stepping down as mayor of this great city. I have stayed on these last few weeks in order for Councilman Ron Crank (who is taking over as mayor) to complete his treatment for cancer in St. Louis. He finished his treatment on July 3, last week. I thought it was the right and honorable thing to do for him, this council and our city. I pray for his continued success in overcoming this illness.
The city is on a commission form of government, which was explained this morning. The line of succession to the seat, if a mayor steps down, goes to the finance commissioner, which is Crank; he is temporary now, but is expected to be sworn in this week to fill the unexpired term Gregg has left. The next-highest vote recipient amongst the commissioners then steps up to finance commissioner position, and so on and so on, until there’s a vacancy that will be filled by appointment. So there was never any question that Crank would fill the mayor’s seat once Gregg finally stepped down; it’s just that no one understood it because it wasn’t being adequately explained—including to Disclosure by Gregg, even after when asked repeatedly.
Eric Gregg
The questions began for Gregg on April 27 after Disclosure learned he had been appointed to the Prisoner Review Board. Gregg hedged and was never clear on the answers, telling Disclosure just three weeks ago that “the lawyers were handling it.” But the fact is this: Gregg remained in violation of 730 ILCS 3-3-1 for MONTHS by maintaining his office as mayor, even after “giving back his pay” last month (which he took in May, as well as at the end of April.) Gregg should have given up the position immediately according to statute (LAWS, those things that you and I have to abide by every day or we get in trouble.) We’ve learned that this is not a new thing with Quinn’s executive appointments. We’ve also learned that “the lawyers” should have told Gregg to resign, and that it also wouldn’t have mattered whether Crank was available to become mayor pro tem in April; someone else could just as easily have filled the seat. It is, after all, “pro tem” (temporary). But that’s not what was done.
Now, with the mayor’s office out of the way, the Senators who have been examining Gregg’s appointment are going to be working on other things…like employment he claimed he didn’t hold when he filled out his application for the spot on the PRB:
A portion of the application for the Prisoner Review Board, filled out last year…One of the MANY things Eric Gregg has been caught lying about.
There is an executive appointments meeting scheduled for tomorrow. Whether Gregg will make it through that meeting with his appointment intact remains to be seen.
Whether he is facing serious charges for lying under oath on his application, as well as other matters that have arisen since this whole thing came to the fore, also remain to be seen. One thing is for certain, however: Now that Gregg is no longer an employee of the city, any charge filed against him won’t be litigated with the city as the one providing legal counsel (and thus funding, which costs the city taxpayers).
More as we get it, including what REALLY may have been the impetus for Gregg to have resigned when he did, especially after leveling threats against us as recently as a little over a week ago, and against Ang specifically, two weeks ago; keep checking back.