The Department heads and staff at Kewanee City Hall are not under a gag order and have not been told not to speak to members of the Kewanee City Council. That from Kewanee City Manager Gary Bradley who spoke with WKEI on Thursday afternoon and in the wake of an interview WKEI conducted with Kewanee City Council member Mike Yaklich. In the interview Mr Yaklich stated… 

City Manager Gary Bradley told WKEI that the gag order does not exist and provided WKEI a copy of a memo from 2018 regarding the work place environment 

CIty Manager Gary Bradley then stated that the memo had been vetted by City Attorney Justin Raver to assure that the memo did not usurpt the rights of City of Kewanee employees. Mr Bradley characterized a portion discouraging employees from speaking to members of City Council as a means of reinforcing the chain of command and avoiding the politicizing of information within Kewanee City Hall. 

In response to other concerns raised by Councilman Yaklich's interview on Wednesday, City Manager Gary Bradley told our reporter that in his 30 years of public service he's never seen anyone treat employees the way that Councilman Yaklich has treated City staff.