By HOLLY WAGNER
Herald-Whig Staff Writer
Quincy School Board member Glenn Bemis is the latest plaintiff to seek permission to join the quo warranto lawsuit challenging Melvin "Bud" Niekamp's right to serve on the board.
Attorney Jack Inghram has asked the court to allow Bemis, along with current board member Bill Daniels and former board member Carol Nichols, to be the three plaintiffs named in the quo warranto lawsuit, which was refiled Tuesday morning.
Bob Adrian, the lawyer who is representing Niekamp, was out of town Tuesday and declined to comment until he could read the lawsuit.
Inghram earlier sought permission to add Nichols' and Daniels' names to a list of 14 plaintiffs. He then pared the list based on the court's ruling that simply being a taxpayer in the district did not necessarily give a person the right to bring the lawsuit.
Bemis submitted a prepared statement explaining his role in the lawsuit. After the general election in April, he was elected president of the board and supported Niekamp as vice president. When Bemis stepped down as president June 29, Niekamp assumed the presidency.
"When the Illinois Attorney General's office issued its letter on May 20th (stating the opinion that county board and school board seats are incompatible), I came to the realization that the election of officers may be invalid and that other actions of the board may be invalid and possibly challenged," Bemis wrote. "I did not want to be involved in a tainted presidency. This was a major reason why I decided to resign as president. ...
"The question of whether Bud Niekamp is a legal school board member is a serious issue that needs to be resolved. Until the courts weigh in on the validity of him holding the office of school board member, there is a cloud hanging over the decisions and actions of the School Board."
The district's bonding agent has said it would accept any votes on which Niekamp was not the deciding factor.
Because of this, according to the amended filing, Daniels is "denied the ability to discharge the powers and duties of his own elected office."
Inghram said he expects the court to ask why Daniels, who was first elected to the board in 2001, had never objected before to Niekamp's running for the School Board. Niekamp has served on the School Board since 1989 and on the Adams County Board from 1992 until July, when he resigned.
"When (Niekamp) was on the board, it wasn't that big a deal," Inghram said. Niekamp's becoming president "is what brought it to a head," making it so Daniels "can't function." Inghram said he chose to leave references to Niekamp's office in the amended filing.
Nichols is adversely affected by Niekamp's membership because, according to the amended filing, but for his "illegal election," Nichols "would have been lawfully elected to the School Board." She received the fourth-highest number of votes for three open seats in the April School Board election.
All three plaintiffs have filed security for court costs.
-- hwagner@whig.com/221-3374
