PUBLIC LOCKED OUT OF OPEN SESSION AT BOARD MEETING

The final Board Meeting of 2010 of the Glen Ellyn Park District Board of Commissioners was called to Order at approximately 7:00 PM.

The Consent Agenda including the Finance Report, the Voucher List of Bills totaling $348,992.59, November and earlier December Meeting Minutes and the 2011 Baseball Uniform Bids were included. The Consent Agenda also included the 2011 Board Meeting Schedule, the amended Equipment Replacement Fund and the Outstanding Check Policy.

The Consent Agenda passed unanimously with a motion made by Commissioner Bill Dallman and seconded by Commissioner Sandra Minogue.

During Public Participation, Julie Worthen, Director of Communications for District 41 and a member of the Parent Involvement Committee thanked the Board for the successful Family Fitness Night hosted at the Ackerman Sports and Fitness Center recently. Ms. Worthen stated that it was great to work with the Park District and that the Staff was very accommodating in meeting their needs with approximately 100 participants.

Board President Ed Hess chose Public Participation to present retiring Park District Executive Director Cory Atwell with a Proclamation for his service – since 1995 to the community. Included in the Proclamation were some of his many accomplishments at the Glen Ellyn Park District.

The meeting adjourned into Executive Session at 7:35 PM.

I waited patiently in the lobby outside the public entrance to the Board Room for Open Session to resume. At approximately 9:53 PM I looked in a window and discovered Open Session had already resumed. The public access doorway into the meeting was locked. I knocked loudly on the door, interrupting the proceedings.

Upon finally gaining entrance into what should have been Open Session under the Illinois Open Meetings Act I demanded to know when Open Session resumed, and if anyone was willing to tell me. Apparently Open Session resumed at 9:35 PM.

With 7 Board Members in attendance:

Ron Aubrey
Melissa Creech
Bill Dallman
Ed Hess
Jay Kinzler
Sandy Minogue
Julia Nephew

And with 5 Glen Ellyn Park District Staff members in attendance:

Cory Atwell, Executive Director
Dave Scarmardo. Superintendent of Parks
Kathleen Esposito, Superintendent of Recreation
Nick Cinquegrani, Superintendent of Finance
Katherine Wendland, Executive Assistant

Along with Park District Vendor:

Nicole Karas, Tressler LLP, Legal Counsel

No one checked if anyone who exited the meeting for Executive Session was in the lobby outside of the Board Room when Open Session resumed. Instead all 13 individuals opted somehow to resume Open Session behind a locked door.

A representative from Patch.com was present. However he spent the time during Executive Session in the lunch room in the employee’s wing of the building and was notified of the Board's return to Open Session.

Final Open Session meeting agenda items not available to me were:

ADA Capital Projects List,
2011 Budget Discussion and Approval,
Declaration of Intent for 2011 Board Officer Positions
Western DuPage Special Rec. Assoc. – December Executive Summary

Please check with Patch.com for meeting information as they were allowed access to the entire Open Session portion of the meeting.

The Meeting adjourned at 9:55 PM, just after I interrupted and demanded to be let back in.

The Illinois Attorney General’s Office has been contacted regarding this oversight.

The next Board Meeting of the Glen Ellyn Park District Board of Commissioners is scheduled for Tuesday, January 18, 2010 at 7:00 PM. The meetings are held at the Spring Avenue Recreation Center (SARC) 185 Spring Avenue. As with all meetings, the public is invited and welcome to attend but knocking loudly to be let in is strongly recommended.