During a segment of his radio show, “On the Dark Side” on KQQZ 1190 AM, radio host and House candidate Bob Romanik broke the news that there is an active investigation into corruption allegations involving the St. Clair County Board Chairman and other elected officials.
Last February, Romanik played an audio clip of Cahokia Village Trustee Jerry Nichols telling Romanik in a previous broadcast that Cahokia Mayor Curtis McCall, Jr., Centreville Township supervisor Curtis McCall, Sr., and St. Clair County Board of Review member Michael Crockett, Jr. offered him a seat on St. Clair County Board if he helped them win his precinct.
“My precinct is pretty strong over there, and to get that precinct I guess they figured they had to offer me something,” Nichols said in the audio clip.
Nichols said he later met with St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern, who assured Nichols that the job was his and affirmed what the three officials had previously discussed with Nichols.
After playing the clip, Romanik said Nichol was working with law enforcement and had worn a wire when he met with Kern.
“There’s got to be something going on,” Romanik said on air. “But we haven’t heard anything. Jerry Nichols said the investigation was by the police authorities.”
Carl Officer, co-chairman of the St. Clair Freedom Coalition, who was a guest on the show, said he was approached by Nichols and other concerned citizens and asked a special prosecutor in Springfield to look into the matter.
“On the surface it sounds preposterous,” Officer said. “And then it sounds dangerous, and it sounds sad at the same point in time that these elected officials, these men that I know would have this kind of conversation. It just sounds outrageous.”
Officer said, however, that he hasn’t known Nichols to be a liar and confirmed that there is an investigation into the allegations.
Romanik announced his candidacy in the race for the 114th District House seat last fall. The seat is currently held by Rep. Eddie Jackson, who is retiring at the end of his term. Romanik has put $2 million into his campaign, according to campaign disclosure reports.
He has described himself as an Independent, but is running as a Republican despite recently being censured by the St. Clair County Republican Central Committee for using language the committee characterized as being profane and abusive toward other candidates, and for supporting Democratic precinct committeemen.
The radio host, who is also a member of the St. Clair County Freedom Coalition, has said he will show up at the State Capitol in a coffin — just for the theatrics.
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