Eric Gregg
U.S. DISTRICT COURT, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS - Apparently believing his chances are better in a higher-up venue and possibly where no one knows him, former Harrisburg mayor Eric Gregg, who had enough hubris to file a futile case against governor of the state of Illinois Bruce Rauner, had opted to take the venue of that case out of Saline County and up to the federal court.
Gregg has stated in his petition for the suit that he has the right under federal law to remove the case from Saline and over to the federal court system, in this case, Benton. At least he's right about that right.
The rest of the case is questionable at best.
Gregg, you'll recall from this article, this article, and this article, was fired from his well-paying state job with the Illinois Prisoner Review Board (which was appointed him as a favor by former Gov. Pat Quinn, since Gregg covered up Quinn's failings with FEMA following the 2012 Leap Day Tornado in Harrisburg) after officials with the governor's office allege that he lied on documentation regarding his bankruptcy, which we pointed out when we first wrote about the bankruptcy a year ago.
Not only did Gregg allegedly lie on his bankruptcy paperwork (we say "allegedly" only because he's now trying to say he "made a mistake" on said paperwork; whatever the case, the information issued at the time is wrong, and possibly fraudulent), but upon discovery that Gregg has lied (proven...all you have to do is look at it) on his application for appointment to the IPRB, the governor's office told Gregg they had discovered this and had even MORE reason to terminate him from their employ, as that constituted "malfeasance" of office, one of the four determining factors for a sitting governor to get rid of an appointee.
This, of course, wasn't good enough for Gregg, and the man who just a few months before filed bankruptcy claiming he was dead broke and needed to restructure his debts, and as of mid-September being now unemployed, was able to scrape enough funds together to hire an attorney out of Marion to file suit against the governor for firing him...and he's actually trying to get his job back.
Add to that situation of contradiction the fact that certain ones among his cognoscenti in Harrisburg are now being eyeballed as rubbing elbows with some sort of "gentlemen's club" in town, and there are a lot of puckered hinies in Saline right about now.
What Gregg believes will come of the suit in court - other than cost the state money they obviously don't have - is beyond understanding, but there you have it.
It will be interesting to see what comes of his bankruptcy in the same court if an inspection by the trustee turns up that he did indeed falsify information on his paperwork. He could end up like the McGills in Eldorado, whose story you can read here.
One thing's for sure...what Gregg is lacking in brains he's making up for in arrogance. We'll keep you apprised as to how this case unfolds; get yourself an online membership to the e-Edition and enjoy what's coming up in the January Special Edition about it!