The meeting only lasted 10 minutes, but when it was done the Moline city council had approved what could be a long and expensive investigation into possible misconduct by a city employee. The votes were unanimous Friday morning to spend up to 120,000 dollars, for a forensic audit and to hire outside legal counsel.
It was not unanimous however when it came to appointing two aldermen to coordinate the investigation - Mike Wendt from the 3rd Ward and John Zelnio from the 4th. 7th Ward Alderman, Mike Waldron, who retired earlier this year from a city job, worries their previous contacts with possible witnesses will be a conflict of interest.
He was over-ruled by a vote of 6 to 2.
Wendt says law enforcement will be brought in, if and when it's appropriate.
Moline aldermen have approved spending up to 100,000 dollars for an independent forensic audit, and up to 20,000 for outside counsel.
