The Tazewell County Board reconsidered its vote not to censure county clerk John Ackerman last month, and voted almost unanimously to reprimand him over employee pay raises. The board voted 14 to 1 to censure Ackerman, with board member Frank Sciortino abstaining. Greg Sinn voted no.
Board members said Ackerman declined to revoke the pay raises after multiple meetings over the past month since he avoided a censure by a single vote. The raises were made outside a collective bargaining agreement.
Ackerman said the board's shifted stories several times over the past few months.
"For the board's opinion to evolve so much shows that more discussion behind the scenes before it went public should have taken place. I wish they would have come and talked to me if they had concerns, then we could have reviewed it," he said." My door's always open to everybody."
Board chairman Dave Zimmerman said the county is asking labor attorneys if they have leverage to force Ackerman's hand.
"There's some case law that they're working through, and if the case law shows that we can do that, then Mr. Ackerman will have to rescind those raises," he said. Those opinions may come back in about a month, Zimmerman said.
Ackerman said he'll continue working with everyone to serve Tazewell County taxpayers.
