Bourbonnais Township Assessor Doug Anderson submitted his resignation Thursday to the Board of Trustees. According to Anderson’s resignation letter posted on the Bourbonnais Township website, he will remain in office until the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition.
Anderson’s resignation comes after Bourbonnais Township Highway Commissioner Jason Diaz shared a voicemail on Facebook that Anderson allegedly left on Diaz’s township cellphone Wednesday morning, which contained possible threats of violence and profanity toward Diaz. Kankakee County Circuit Court documents show Diaz filed for an emergency stalking no-contact order against Anderson Thursday morning, but the petition was ultimately denied by Judge Andrew Purcell. In a Facebook post today, Diaz wrote that he asked police to forward his complaint to the Kankakee County State’s Attorney’s Office and that it has also been submitted to the Illinois Attorney General as well as the Illinois State Police Public Integrity Unit.
Bourbonnais Township Supervisor Jeff Umphrey released a written statement today saying, “While we all have the right to speak our minds in favor of or against our government, its officials and proposals, there is no place for profane or disparaging personal insults, whether they be in personal phone messages to supporters intended to be private or in social media posts or in public meetings.”
All of this tension is the culmination of events surrounding the referendum on the Nov. 3 ballot on whether or not the Bourbonnais Township Road District should be abolished.