A Robinson businessman has asked Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office to take action against the Illinois Eastern Community College board for an alleged violation of the Open Meetings Act at their Feb. 16 meeting. At that meeting, the Board voted 5-1, with one abstention, to go into closed session to discuss budgetary layoffs.
The district has sent letters to 20 teachers notifying them of a pending layoff due to a reduction in state aid.
Eric Gubelman, a former newspaper publisher who is now president of Eagle Theater Corp. in Robinson, has alleged the board violated the state law that requires meetings to be be held in public unless they meet narrow statutory exemptions. He has asked the AG's Public Access Counselor to issue an advisory opinion that discussion of budgetary cutbacks should be held in open session and get assurances from the IECC that no further violations should occur. Gubelman also asks the AG to compel the release of minutes taken during the disputed closed session and to listen to the tape recording of the closed session to see if the discussion fell even further outside the scope of the act. If so, Gubelman asks that the tape of the closed meeting be released.
Gubelman laid out two ways the IECC Board may have violated the Act: 1. The board interpreted an exemption of the law that allows closed session to discuss dismissal of an employee too broadly, arguing that the exemption was not intended to cover layoffs of a budgetary nature. 2. The board went beyond the scope of the exemption during its closed door discussion.
Gubelman has asked the state to take quick action because the IECC Board is scheduled to reconvene March 3 to again discuss the issue of RIFs and budgetary reductions. In his complaint to the Attorney General, Gubelman claimed that additional closed sessions on the topic could "taint" any future action taken in open session, possibly making it subject to being negated upon appeal.
Under a new state law that went into effect Jan. 1, the position of Public Access Counselor (PAC) is now a permanent part of the Office of the Attorney General. Working under the direction and supervision of the Attorney General and with a team of attorneys and professional staff, the Public Access Counselor's mission is to help people obtain public documents and access public meetings.
Gubelman said bringing the issue to the Attorney General's office is an alternative to civil litigation or seeking criminal prosecution for violations of the Open Meetings Act.
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A Robinson businessman has asked Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office to take action against the Illinois Eastern Community College board for an alleged violation of the Open Meetings Act at their Feb. 16 meeting. At that meeting, the Board voted 5-1, with one abstention, to go into closed session to discuss budgetary layoffs.
The district has sent letters to 20 teachers notifying them of a pending layoff due to a reduction in state aid.
Eric Gubelman, a former newspaper publisher who is now president of Eagle Theater Corp. in Robinson, has alleged the board violated the state law that requires meetings to be be held in public unless they meet narrow statutory exemptions. He has asked the AG's Public Access Counselor to issue an advisory opinion that discussion of budgetary cutbacks should be held in open session and get assurances from the IECC that no further violations should occur. Gubelman also asks the AG to compel the release of minutes taken during the disputed closed session and to listen to the tape recording of the closed session to see if the discussion fell even further outside the scope of the act. If so, Gubelman asks that the tape of the closed meeting be released.
Gubelman laid out two ways the IECC Board may have violated the Act: 1. The board interpreted an exemption of the law that allows closed session to discuss dismissal of an employee too broadly, arguing that the exemption was not intended to cover layoffs of a budgetary nature. 2. The board went beyond the scope of the exemption during its closed door discussion.
Gubelman has asked the state to take quick action because the IECC Board is scheduled to reconvene March 3 to again discuss the issue of RIFs and budgetary reductions. In his complaint to the Attorney General, Gubelman claimed that additional closed sessions on the topic could "taint" any future action taken in open session, possibly making it subject to being negated upon appeal.
Under a new state law that went into effect Jan. 1, the position of Public Access Counselor (PAC) is now a permanent part of the Office of the Attorney General. Working under the direction and supervision of the Attorney General and with a team of attorneys and professional staff, the Public Access Counselor's mission is to help people obtain public documents and access public meetings.
Gubelman said bringing the issue to the Attorney General's office is an alternative to civil litigation or seeking criminal prosecution for violations of the Open Meetings Act.
