On April 10, the JS reported “The East Bluff is in an uproar – and other neighborhoods are watching their backs – as these government s seemingly work out deals behind the scenes to share and swap land that a new school and new public housing can be built in their back yard” (District 150 was alleged to be trying to sell the building to be used as “public housing”.
On April 11, 2006, the JS wrote “It is the public policy of this State that public bodies exist to aid in the conduct of the people’s businesses and that the people have a right to be informed as to the conduct of their business.
Thus begins the Illinois Open Meetings Act, which requires boards, committees and councils to keep meeting as transparent as possible, with limited exceptions. But recent Peoria Park Board sessions regarding a proposed Glen Oak Park school are looking mighty opaque.
Board attorney, Jim Konsky maintains these meeting were permissible, citing one of the Open Meeting Act exemptions: “the setting of a price for sale or lease of property.
That hasn’t convinced the Illinois Attorney General’s office because the board wasn’t setting any prices. It’s a land sharing deal, plain and simple.”
The JS continues, “Beyond our philosophical revulsion, from a practical standpoint it just gets in the way of what local government leaders are trying to accomplish.”
This is Part 4 of a series I will blog as to why certain Park Board tapes MIGHT have been “accidentally” erased.
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