Democracy on the Front Lines
City Administrator’s Blog
Walter Denton
July 23, 2009
If you have the local newspapers (here and here), you know that former O’Fallon alderman Tom Faulkner was arrested yesterday for embezzling money from his employer, Purina. Faulkner was appointed to the O’Fallon City Council on May 4 to
replace a vacancy created by John West’s appointment to the St. Clair County Board. He resigned on June 18 for “personal reasons.” David Cozad was appointed on July 6 to replace Faulkner.
Faulkner did not specify his personal reasons for resigning, so we were as surprised as everyone else to learn of his arrest and indictment. We had heard he was no longer employed at Purina, but had no idea of the circumstances.
Needless to say, we were not aware of any these things when he was appointed. He was one of six strong candidates for the alderman vacancy. His resume was impressive, his interview was persuasive, and his references were positive. Since none of these embezzlement charges had yet been made, there was nothing in his background check.
As an alderman, he showed potential to be a good elected official. He attended meetings, did his homework, and asked good questions. None of the charges in the federal indictment involve Faulkner’s tenure on the O’Fallon City Council. He was not an alderman long enough to participate in any official travel or to generate any reimbursable expenses.
We all know that our judicial system presumes he is innocent until proven guilty, so it would be improper to cast judgment at this point. However this sad episode concludes for Faulkner and his family, he at least deserves some credit for respecting the citizens of O’Fallon and resigning from the City Council prior to his indictment becoming public.
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