Well, we thought we were about done with this blog. Life goes on. The national scene is a dumpster fire and SIU is on the ropes. JALC was seeming like it was gaining some semblance of normalcy, real or imagined. And then the chicken came home to roost.
Those who have followed this site, and those just with an interest in John A. Logan College, know that when the board went into executive session to vote on who would be laid off, three years ago, they were in there a long time. At the next Board meeting, we learned why: they had been discussing more than just the individuals to be laid off, which would be a legitimate use of an executive session. Student trustee, Brandi Husch, revealed that one of the Board members bullied her and whipped out a file regarding her past, unrelated to her career as a student or service on the Board. As she attempted to explain this to the public in open session, she was shut down by the then Board chair and the college attorney.
Well, the wheels of justice turn slowly, but the IL Attorney General has opined that the Board violated the Open Meetings Act. In fact 80% of the discussion was supposed to be public. The AG invited Logan to release the audio recording and transcript to the public.
Conveniently, the Board had voted to destroy the recording before the matter was settled and without consulting the AG's office. But, the AG had a copy.
Board members said they would vote on whether to release the audio file but, alas, it would be a moot point because they had already destroyed it. ...And then the other shoe dropped. On them. The AG gave them his copy.
So, Tuesday night, July 23, the Board will vote on whether to release the verbatim recording. They have scheduled the vote as item 6 on the meeting agenda. They have scheduled public comment as item 7. How convenient.
Maybe they will vote to release the recording. That would be the decent, civic thing to do. On the other hand, not behaving like thugs would have been the decent, civic thing to do too. Tuesday's meeting is scheduled for 7pm, in the Administration Building Boardroom.
Oh, and if you are a Board member and reading this, do the right thing. Release the damn thing!
Nice to have you back!
ReplyDeleteI guess they are pretty decent AND civic as they voted to release the damn thing!
ReplyDeleteOne can only wonder if this could have been avoided by putting the word "DuPage" in front of the words trustees and administration on the sign. I believe that is the cc Ms. Husch said she was referencing. It was rather ambiguous for a JALC student/BoT member to be holding up such a sign. VERY easy for people to assume it was referring to JALC, as apparently other BoT members assumed, but you know that.
Good job on justifying Kilquist’s unethical behavior. That is very civic and decent of you. I could have wrote his name on my sign and it still wouldn’t make what he did in that meeting okay.
ReplyDeleteMs. Husch, I hardly think above is justifying what he did to you. The sign and what happened are not mutually exclusive however, the sign was the cause of his actions according to what I heard on the tape. I merely proposed a What If? scenario, kind of like the Marvel Comics series.
DeleteI was one of the faculty who was laid off at the March 2, '16, meeting, and I can say that we were all extremely grateful for the stand Brandi took. When I saw her picture, I originally thought she was referring to the Logan Board. And guess what--that was fine with me. Many of us were questioning our board's decisions. Every community college in the state faced a fiscal crisis, but Logan was the only one that responded by gutting its faculty and professional staff--all while leaving administration virtually untouched. In addition, the board had made a lot of questionable and/or unethical decisions in the period before the layoffs, from illegally registering students at the CHEC to firing Mike Dreith without giving sufficient reason and paying him a large separation settlement. Criticism of the board's actions was widespread among students and Brandi was their representative. She would have been derelict in her duty if she hadn't given voice to their concerns.
ReplyDeleteToo often the board members forget they are public servants and, as such, are fair game for criticism. Whether Brandi meant the College of DuPage or JALC is irrelevant. There is no excuse for board members to bully each other or condescend to each other, but it is particularly inexcusable to treat the student trustee in such manner.
As the most recent issue of Muddy Williamson says, "Stop Talking About the Sign!"