Better Government Association

County board's closed sessions under review

June 25, 2007
By HEATHER GILLERS SUN-TIMES NEWS GROUP

The Illinois attorney general's office is looking into whether Kendall County Board members can discuss a proposed landfill behind closed doors, a spokeswoman confirmed last week.

The committee has already held the first of three likely rounds of private talks. Attorney General Lisa Madigan's opinion was solicited by a local newspaper after one of the county's lawyers recommended the closed-door meetings.

The plan to site a landfill at Ashley and Whitewillow roads "requires an open and frank discussion," said attorney Michael Blazer. "That is something that from my perspective is better conducted in closed session."

Illinois state law usually bars elected officials from meeting in private, but Blazer said the hearing committee falls under an exception for "quasi-adjudicative bodies" charged with making determinations based on evidence or testimony. The committee's five members must make recommendations to the entire county board about whether to approve the proposed 290-acre Waste Management facility.

Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis shared Blazer's interpretation of the law. One committee member called private meetings a useful tool.

"To do it behind closed doors is going to give you a more honest opinion than if people have to say it in public," said Anne Vickery.

But Executive Director Jay Stewart of the Better Government Association called the private meetings a violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

"How a committee of a county board becomes a quasi-adjudicative body is beyond me," Stewart said. "It's five county board members for crying out loud."

In November, the Sun-Times News Group reported that Yorkville aldermen met to discuss a separate landfill proposal in groups of two, circumventing a state law that requires meetings of three or more officials be open to the public. Yorkville residents subsequently criticized the city council's secrecy. Some Kendall residents are similarly disappointed by county board members' plans.