LYNDON – If Les Williams and Larry Stone resigned from the village board, they have an unusual way of showing it.
Last month, they and Lyle Armstrong apparently left the board. A couple of days after the board’s monthly meeting, Williams and Armstrong left their village hall keys, municipal handbooks, and other village-owned items on the council table while the village hall was closed.
“They never told anybody,” Clerk Shelly Moore said at the time. “They left their stuff on the table. We figured it out on our own.”
Last month, the three men, who make up half the board, confirmed they were leaving. Stone said he would soon drop off his items at village hall.
At this past Monday’s monthly meeting, Stone and Williams showed up, acting in their capacities as council members. Armstrong didn’t.
Williams said he hasn’t stepped down officially yet.
“I’m still a member,” Williams said Wednesday. “All we did was turn in our books. We didn’t tell anyone we were resigning. We stepped away.”
Williams, who has served for a year, said he still could resign, but he first wanted the political situation in Lyndon to calm down.
“It’s causing a lot of heartache around town,” he said.
Stone couldn’t be reached for comment.
Mike Piester, husband of board member Becky Piester, said he wanted more information on Williams and Stone’s situation.
“They need to put something in the paper about why they are coming back,” he said. “I would like answers about this, and so would other residents.”
Village President Tim Crady said no member has turned in a resignation letter.
Last month, the members said they were leaving because they opposed the way Crady had run village government, contending he treated employees unfairly.
In January, a board majority fired maintenance employee Will Shaffer 3 days after Crady placed him on unpaid suspension. The three members said they had never received a list of allegations and other documentation against Shaffer.
In a more recent case, another employee got into an argument with a critic of village government at a local business, the board members said. The on-duty worker later reported to the Sheriff’s Department that the resident bumped up against him during the dispute, but three witnesses said that wasn’t true, the members said.
Armstrong and Williams said the village never looked into the matter or involved the council, as it did with Shaffer. They contended that the employee had made a false report.
Armstrong said Shaffer, who is black, was the victim of discrimination. He said he wanted to help Shaffer win a lawsuit against the village.