BELLEVILLE – Mascoutah city council members claim former city manager Bradley Myers destroyed records and committed theft, and he claims they lost nothing.
St. Clair County Circuit Judge Heinz Rudolf gets to sort it out.
Council members terminated Myers’s contract on Nov. 15, six months after he signed it.
On Nov. 29, city counsel Alvin Paulson of Belleville filed suit against Myers for damages and injunctive relief.
He claims that on Nov. 15, after Myers learned of his termination, he wiped clean his iPhone and iPad and restored them to factory settings.
Due to those actions, Paulson wrote, “it is believed thousands of city records which are required by law to be preserved were lost.”
He claims when Myers returned the devices they were password protected and rendered useless.
He claims Myers failed to provide passwords despite demands by the city.
He claims Myers made it impossible to comply with almost any freedom of information request.
He claims the city had no access or avenue to retrieve information.
He cites Illinois code making it a fourth class felony to alter, destroy, conceal, or deface public records.
“Defendant’s actions constitute the theft and wanton destruction of these city owned electronic devices,” Paulson wrote.
“Plaintiff is and will be required to spend large sums of money and time to attempt to recover records as well as attorney fees and costs.”
The city seeks judgment in a reasonable and equitable sum and for an order requiring Myers to provide passwords.
Myers retained Frederick Keck of Belleville, who answered the complaint and requested dismissal on Jan. 18.
He affirmatively stated that the termination violated the Open Meetings Act.
He affirmatively stated that Myers could not wipe devices clean, “as they were at all times backed up by the plaintiff’s main computer system.”
He affirmatively stated that thousands of city records were never lost.
He affirmatively stated Myers has correspondence directed to the city providing passwords as specifically requested.
Rudolf set a conference Feb. 14.