Well, at least in the back of the room and talking in city hall’s hall.

The man who apparently convinced McHenry County College officials to play ball with his fellow promoters and their associates attended last Wednesday’s meeting of the Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission.

Mark Houser, President of EquityOne, (Equity One, for you search engine folks who spell it differently) was sitting in the back against the east wall near the door when he wasn’t out in the hall talking to someone. In this picture you can see him re-entering the room in a light blue shirt.

Houser is the one to whom the McHenry County College board granted a no-bid $70,000 contract to do a feasibility study which has been denied me in four Freedom of Information requests.

The secret meeting’s tape recording has also be denied because 5 ILCS140/7(a) of the Freedom of Information Act. The MCC lawyer writing the reply said it was because

“The college has not determined that the recording of the closed session meeting on April 26, 2007 does not require confidential treatment.”

This is the meeting where no one would answer the questions I asked in public comment.

Here’s what I said in the public comment period at the beginning of March 19th‘s college board meeting:

It appears from the language in the contract dated September 27, 2006, signed by EquityOne Development’s Mark Houser and MCC President Walter Packard that the feasibility study’s findings and recommendations will be tainted.

I refer specifically to page 4, the 3rd paragraph: At the completion of the feasibility study and independent review, if the College elects to proceed with the project, the College will contract with EquityOne or it’s (sic) assigns to develop the project on the college’s behalf. By signing this contract you seem to have precluded competitive bidding on the Sports Center Complex and baseball stadium.

Is that correct?

No one answered, so I asked if I were going to get an answer.

Sandy Kerrick, the lawyer sitting at the table in front of the board, then told me that I could make any comments I wanted.

I replied that usually when I speak to a public body, I got an answer.

I got no answer from the McHenry County College Board.

There were no bids on the contracts in late May.