Village Board Censures Village Trustee

The Village Board voted to censure Gerard Griswold, a village trustee, who accused Storm Sewer District Commission members of “accepting favors and gratuities.”

Ron Coutts, the Village President, asked the board what they wanted to do about Griswold making the allegations at the Village Board meeting Monday night because those allegations were unfounded.

“Basically what this means is that the board supports the recommendation made by the Caledonia Storm Sewer Utility District Commission, which voted Feb. 9 to censure Trustee Griswold,” Coutts said.

Tom Weatherston, Village Trustee, made the motion to censure Griswold. The Caledonia Storm Sewer Utility District Commission recommended that Griswold be reprimanded for making the allegations, which were made in an email dated July 14.

The censure, however, focused exclusively on the accusations Griswold made against the Commission members.

“Basically this deals with the allegations of accepting favors and gratuities,” Griswold said. “…I’ll take my medicine on this one issue.”

The Village Board hired Attorney John Hotvedt to conduct an independent investigation looking into Griswold’s accusation. In a letter dated Dec. 13, Hotvedt wrote that there was “no evidence to support” Griswold’s allegations.

Tom Weatherston, a village trustee, showed support for the motion to approve the censure.

“As a liaison to the drainage commission, I know there are certainly some hurt feelings on the Commission,” Weatherston said. “They feel that they’ve been slandered, and we on the board felt we should censure him (Griswold) and his actions.”