Let me be very clear:
The City of West Frankfort has released its own bank account numbers and routing numbers to me — not once, not by accident, but in multiple FOIA responses over the course of the past year.
These weren’t encrypted. They weren’t hidden.
They weren’t even redacted using basic digital tools.
They were scribbled over — with what appears to be a marker.
As a professional who spent three years as the lead writer for one of the country’s top redaction software companies, where I authored white papers, research, and privacy regulation guides used by federal agencies, I can assure you: this is not how you handle sensitive financial data.
West Frankfort city officials handed me full banking credentials for:
Multiple city-owned bank accounts, and
At least several of their vendors’ accounts, including routing and account numbers.
Let that sink in.
"The City of West Frankfort violated Section 7(1)(b) of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140/7), which explicitly exempts from disclosure all 'private information,' including bank account and routing numbers."
The City of West Frankfort has access to private credit card records, utility payment systems, and vendor payment systems tied to almost every resident and business in this town. If they’re redacting their own accounts with a $2 marker from Dollar General, what’s being exposed behind the scenes?
Who else’s account information has been leaked?
Which vendor data has been compromised?
What resident payment info has passed through this black hole of negligence?
I will not release what I was given — the public didn’t make this mistake, the city did.
But the Illinois Attorney General’s Office should be very interested. Because this isn’t just sloppy — it’s reckless.
This would be shocking on its own. But context matters.
Mayor Tim Arview submitted a false sworn statement under penalty of perjury to the court in February — a provable lie, designed to cause harm. He accused me of sitting outside his home, then in court said he never seen her near his home.
He has threatened a disabled widow — me — for daring to expose corruption and negligence.
The City Clerk orchestrated a false entrapment scheme, which is now part of an active complaint. City Hall didn’t call 911 due to ‘danger’ - NO - Andrea Bolen called the ‘cell phone’ of Deputy Chief Clint Willis on her day off and miles from city hall and stated a complete lie.
These aren’t isolated events. They form a pattern — one of ignorance, arrogance, and abuse of power.
Meanwhile, this same administration has promised — since June 2023 — that the city’s audit is “coming in two weeks.”
It’s now August 2025. Still no audit.
Because of this chaos, grants for the city have been pulled.
West Frankfort is now blacklisted from applying for state and federal grants — including vital funding for the police and fire departments.
Our emergency services can’t even apply — not because they’re unworthy, but because City Hall can’t manage basic governance.
I’ve received account data — but what about you? Look through your own FOIA requests, do you have the city’s bank details too? Are you a vendor? Was your company’s full bank account number and routing number released to the general public?
How many other residents had their data exposed?
How many vendors are now vulnerable?
How many possible liabilities are being quietly swept under the rug while this administration signs off on $15,000 checks every other week for an audit that was due over two years ago?
This is no longer about politics or personality.
This is about public trust, public funds, and public safety.
At what point do West Frankfort residents — every parent, every homeowner, every small business owner — stand up and say:
“Where did the $8.5 million go?”
“Why haven’t we seen a single audit in 3 years?”
“Whose bank accounts have you exposed?”
Next City Council Meeting: Monday, August 12th at 6:00 PM
West Frankfort City Hall
You deserve answers. What I see is very few people going to these meetings and demanding answers. The residents shrink in fear - as they have already witnessed how this administration treats people who speak up or speak out against their actions.
You have to stop giving them that power - they’ve had years to get this right.
And now - your own banking information, or local business’s banking information and several of the city’s financial account data - has been given to me.
When will it stop?
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