The Gallatin County Courthouse is a setting well suited to serve as a 1930’s movie set. It is not however an ideal gathering place for county board meetings and for all in attendance to be able to hear the proceedings. The board gathered in the acoustic nightmare Tuesday for a follow up after last Thursday’s meeting proved eventful once again. The one thing missing Tuesday…the straw that stirred the drink.
Board member Warren Rollman incited outrage online after his comments following the approval of the 2025 government calendar in which he called Juneteenth a fake holiday and one he claimed that Democrats created to pander to black voters. He wasn’t in attendance Tuesday as Board Chair Andrew Lunsford opened the specially called meeting with a statement.
Alright, at our last meeting, we voted on our holiday schedule. Our decision to not recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday had nothing to do with politics or race. The courthouse employees get 15 paid days off plus their vacation time. They get the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Lincoln’s Birthday, and Good Friday which are not federal holidays. We did not want to add any more holidays. Juneteenth does not interfere with school schedules or family time as students are off for the summer. We made the same decision for the 2024 calendar of paid holidays. However, the comments made after the vote was taken made it seem as though our decision was racially or politically motivated. I assure you neither of those are the case. The comments made are not reflective of the entire board as racism has no place in our community. I would like to revisit the holiday schedule but no matter how the board votes, it is not a politically or racially charged decision, but a decision based on whether or not we decide to let certain days be considered paid holidays.
That statement was followed by discussion, usually interspersed with “I can’t hear you” comments and some confusion ranging from what Juneteenth celebrates to hedging bets by saying other counties don’t recognize the holiday. Board members would continue to disagree with Gary Vickery saying he wanted to keep it as it was voted Thursday night. Randy Drone would offer another viewpoint.
Well it has come to light that the board may be liable for some type of legal action if we don’t recognize it because it is a federal holiday. So I will…are we taking a vote…I will vote or make a motion to do the schedule as written including Juneteenth to get this cleared up in everybody’s mind…but I really think…other counties don’t do it, but based on the possibility of legal action due to the actions of one member and the way they described it does seem racist and there is no place for that.
There was then more procedural disorder as members of the gallery took direct part in the events before a vote was finally taken with Drone, board member Lisa Coonse, and Lunsford voting yes while Vickery voted no reinstating Juneteenth for the upcoming year as a recognized holiday. The board then played defense for the next several minutes as most of those in attendance, save one, expressed their disappointment and disapproval of the board allowing it to happen and without sharing it wasn’t their viewpoint when Rollman made the comments.
That wasn’t all Tuesday afternoon though. Jami Crest, a forthright and vocal Rollman supporter, took the opportunity to address the room during public comment. She read a letter from Tri State Food Bank Executive Director Glenn Roberts to the Gallatin County Board retracting a letter dated a week ago which indicated the organization would not continue its Food on the Move program in Gallatin County if voters decide November 5th not to fund the University of Illinois Extension. In the letter, he says the wording he used was based on a misunderstanding of the intent of the board regarding the program and he apologized for any issues the letter may have caused. Crest and Angie Messmer, County Extension Director would then square off for a few moments before the meeting adjourned mid debate.
Rollman himself took to social media around 2am Wednesday for some chest beating saying he had Tuesday had “an intense” conversation with Roberts. He says, “I relayed to [Roberts] my concerns about how a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization had chosen to influence a local election. After a couple of minutes, we reached a point where Roberts was no longer comfortable talking to me, and he said that he needed to talk to his lawyer.
I figured that I needed to talk to his lawyer, too. I gave his lawyer, Mr. Patrick Thomas (who is also President of the TSFB Board of Directors), a call. After going over the situation with Thomas, I told him that I would like to see an apology from the TSFB for injecting itself into our election, and that I would like for the food truck to continue its deliveries in New Haven. If they could do that, then I would drop my pursuit of any other actions. We reached an understanding, and yesterday afternoon I received the attached letter.”
Voters will determine the program’s future in Gallatin County in the November 5th election.
