Pleasant Dale Board cancels meeting after Doings complaint
Minutes before a special meeting was due to begin Monday afternoon, the Pleasant Dale Park Board canceled the session called to discuss personnel matters and proposals to buy used fitness equipment and outsource jobs.
Executive Director Katherine Parker said the meeting was canceled to avoid violating the Illinois Open Meetings Act, after The Doings challenged whether the required 48-hour notice had been given to the newspaper.
“I thought I faxed it and sent e-mails. I put it on the Web and posted it at the Recreation Center Saturday,” Parker said. “But if you didn't get it, we don't want to risk it.”
Instead, the topics will be discussed at the board's regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Recreation Center, 7425 Wolf Road, Burr Ridge. The meeting was to include a closed-door session to discuss personnel issues, followed by an agenda item “hiring and firing of personnel.”
A handful of residents waited for the meeting to begin and expressed surprise that it was canceled.
The specially called meeting comes just after board member Carol McMurray of Willow Springs resigned in January after 12 years on the board. McMurray stepped down because other board members changed the meetings, held for years on Tuesdays, to Wednesdays when she was unable to attend due to conflicts with her job as a teacher. Two years remain on McMurray's term. The board Wednesday also plans to consider a resolution changing the procedures for vacancies on the Park Board.
Editor's Note:
If the park district was so concerned about having an open meeting, why didn't they post the secret special meeting on the marquis outside the main park building? Instead, they posted the Wednesday evening meeting on the marquis but not today's secret special meeting. Hmmm....
Guess this was going to be the meeting before the meeting. If the three musketeers (Brad Martin, Colleen Pettrone or Wade Brewer) conduct their secret special business during the day when the public is unaware and largely unavailable, no one will attend or question their practices.
Maybe they don't like their meetings to be recorded so they tried to pull a fast one and conduct the bulk of their regular meeting at the secret special meeting. We can't imagine they would do that, can you??
If you look at the agendas of each meeting (http://www.pleasantdaleparks.org/pages/newsMinutes.php), they are basically the same except for the consent agenda and the announcement of the next golf course meeting. In other words, they were planning to have a five minute meeting on Wednesday night because all their business was to have been conducted on Monday afternoon. Makes you wonder what they are hiding, doesn't it?
You might also notice that they placed the "resolution to change the appointment procedures for vacancies in office of park commissioner" after the executive session. This agenda item is strategically placed there so everyone will go home and not be present when this discussion takes place.
Who do you blame for this? Is it Katherine Parker or Martin, Pettrone and Brewer?
Thinking back to Brad and Wade's campaign promises of just one year ago, they said they were going to make some changes at the park. They just didn't say they were going to change things for the worse.
5 comments:
Hmmmm....a fax machine that does not work and e-mail that does not work - what a coincidence.
Where are the lawyers in all of this? Doesn't the park board have counsel? Lawyers are also responsible for managing boards so they remain in compliance. What are we the taxpayers paying for? The bigger question is: Can we impeach ALL these circus performers? What are our rights as citizens, taxpayers, etc.? I say let's find out, demand resignations, and rid ourselves of further mismanagement, rising debt obligations, and embarassment!!!!
Amen to the impeachment. I'll sign any petition, go door to door, or hey I'll pay for the automated phone calls to repeal their seats.
Word has it that if you get in good with the Director and/or Board that you can get your family "jobs" at the district. Did you know that if you have a skill you can barter for services? The word is that a front desk employee's son needed work so she got in good with the Director. Now it's been said that her son fixes the website in return for free daycare for his child! I'm not tax specialist, but isn't that taxable income? If he is on unemployment, which I am not saying he is, wouldn't that be income? Must be great to get in good with crooked people and be KING of the hill!
Barter income and payment are taxable items and will need to be listed on 1099s at the least (consulting services, etc.) The problem with this type of situation is the level of liability involved if workers are not designated as employees, covered by workman's comp insurance in case of injury, or God forbid death! As far as child care services, I think you have to be a resgistered member and/or employee to gleen that benefit. So, that then adds the liability of the childcare situation. Poo-poo on this situation, it really puts the Park District in a precarious position liability wise. Hire the person outright, pay the payroll taxes, give him childcare the proper way; and if he is on unemployment, then make him do the upstanding thing and get off the subsidy, get the job and work like the rest of us!
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