File photo
File photo
Rock Island County state's attorney candidate Kathleen Bailey has alleged a lack of transparency and wasteful spending on the part of her opponent, State's Attorney Dora Villarreal.
Bailey, a Republican, said the sealing of the settlement amount reached with the estates of Lawrence K. Anderson and Daniel Mendoza – two men killed in a July 3, 2018 accident involving falling tree branches – withheld information from the public that it has a right to, according to the Quad-City Times. Villarreal, a Democrat, responded that the settlement amount was sealed at the request of the families, not the county.
Bailey also questioned why the county paid $250,000 – not including benefits – for three staff civil attorneys, while it also paid private attorneys for work between Dec. 1, 2018 and Nov. 30, 2019 that the county’s attorneys could do. Villarreal responded that outside attorneys were hired for the case prior to her time in office, and that the suit was filed in February 2019.
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