An emergency board of trustees meeting was not necessary to handle the Parkland College trustee dilemma, the Illinois Attorney General's (AG) Public Access Bureau (PAB) determined recently, according to the Edgar County Watchdogs (ECW).
The day after the board held what it called an emergency meeting, ECW co-founder John Kraft submitted a request for review, contending that the issue -- the refusal of newly elected trustee Rochelle Harden to resign either as an instructor or a board member -- could've been dealt with at the board's April 2016 meeting before Harden was sworn in as a trustee. Kraft asserted that the board should have discussed the issue when Harden first filed her petition to be placed on the ballot.
The PAB determined that the board had time to properly post a meeting notification and hold a public meeting in the nine days between Harden saying she would not resign and the next board meeting.
Parkland College Trustee Rochelle Harden
While the PAB found that the board had violated the Open Meetings Act (OMA) by not notifying the public 48 hours in advance of the meeting, the closed session was a legitimate exception within the OMA requirements. Among the exceptions to the open meeting requirement are personnel and liability issues.
The board filed for a declaratory judgment the day after Harden was sworn in, asking Champaign County Judge Tom Difanis to overturn the election. The case is ongoing.
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