The quote in the title of this article is from Illinois Assistant Attorney General Terry Mutchler. Yesterday I started tracing what McHenry County Blog has discovered about McHenry County College deliberations on its now approved minor league baseball stadium.
The title of this article is what a group of public officials meeting at McHenry County College heard while the McHenry County College Board was concurrently meeting to approve report with a baseball stadium in a $90 million “master plan,” the details of which still have not been made public.
Because of a Monday Chicago Tribune article by Tim Kane, the public knows that a contract “could be signed this week” with promoter Pete Heitman, presumably with MCC President Walt Packard. The only detail I’ve seen is that there will be a 20-year lease.
During the second week of this February, the Northwest Herald ran a story by Nick Swedberg entitled,
No mention of a baseball stadium.
Stevenson’s story revealed that MCC President Walt Packard
said he expected that private partners would help fund an expansion that likely would include a new health and wellness center…
Packard would not say who the private partners are, but did say he hopes they could help the expansion “pay for itself” instead of asking for a raise in taxes.
“What we want to do is have our plan in place, the cost established and then we want to have our funding plan in place and then we’ll be able to publicly announce it.” (Board President Donna) Kurtz said.
Then the college had a secret March 19th meeting with the three minor league baseball promoters, the secrecy of which the Northwest Herald criticized.
Here’s part of what the baseball stadium supporting paper said,
One part of the equation that does have to change immediately is the college’s secrecy. Monday
night’s actions to keep stadium-project personnel out of sight until a closed-door session about the stadium was held only adds to the cloak – and – dagger atmosphere in which college officials seem to revel.
College leaders need to be open and forthcoming with information about this project from the start.
A month later, on April 23rd, there was another meeting.
This time the public could attend, but they had to know about it.
Was it strange that MCC failed to post the meeting, let alone the agenda, let alone the reports to be considered for Monday, April 23rd’s Committee of the Whole meeting?
I actually looked at the MCC web site the night of the meeting. There was no indication a meeting was being held.
So much for open government.
Did MCC break the Open Meetings Act?
It surely looks like it.
Finally, the Monday night agenda was posted Tuesday, but only after I complained to the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Simple oversight or trying to hide something?
At that unannounced meeting, the college board announces it is going to make its final decision on the next Thursday night’s board meeting.
There’s an agenda and it says a certain report is going to be acted upon.
The same one discussed Monday night.
By Thursday morning I finally got the bright idea to ask for a copy of the report.
Surely, it was available, because it had been discussed on Monday night.
When I finally reached the keeper of the documents in President Packard’s office, I was told I would have to file a Freedom of Information request.
Now, if McHenry County College believed in open government, the document could have been emailed to me.
That’s how the board members get their packet of information for meetings.
But, MCC does not believe in open government.
That is clear.
So, without releasing the underlying documents which led the College Board to reach its Thursday night decision to cut a no-bid deal with the baseball stadium promoters the die was cast.
It was cast, of course, when Packard signed the September 27, 2006, contract with Equity One’s Mark Hauser.
And, remember…
The information session on Open Meetings and Freedom of Information Act meeting was being held at the junior college the same night the College Board was approving a baseball stadium without allowing the public to know the detail.
Maybe the junior college board attended the wrong meeting.
= = = = =
The head shot at the upper left is baseball promoter Pete Heitman. Across the page is McHenry County College President Walt Packard. Below Packard’s photography is that of Donna Kurtz, MCC Board Chairman.
The men at the table behind the closed doors of the MCC Board meeting room are, left to right, Equity One President Mark Houser, Pete Heitman and Frontier League franchise promoter Bill Lee. MCC board member George Lowe can be seen leading the Committee of the Whole meeting.
Striding along the hall between the MCC President’s office and the MCC board meeting room are minor league baseball promoters Mark Houser, Pete Heitman and Bill Lee. They are accompanied by a woman in black and white plaid whom I assume is an MCC administrator. The bottom picture is of the foursome closer to the Board room. Lee has lowered his head, but Heitman, ever the promoter is smiling broadly.