First a step forward with the publishing on the college web site the board packet for that evening and the woefully unconvincing second feasibility study (more analysis to follow) prepared and re-prepared after being reviewed by MCC President Walt Packard.

Then, the board majority took its first step back by refusing to allow those with rejected Freedom of Information requests to appeal to the elected college board trustees.

Then the board went into secret session, which turned into a super-secret session.

At the beginning, I made sure that MCC Board President George Lowe lived up to his promise of a prior meeting to reveal who was going to be in the executive session before I left the room.

As I do with every meeting I’m forced to leave, I started taking pictures.

When the privileged few inside saw that I was trying to take a picture of the subject of the secret meeting, the coat rack you see above was moved between my vantage point and the TV screen where the power point presentation was being projected.

Two days ago McHenry County Blog began chronicling the little the 24-hour transparency dance that McHenry County College performed last Thursday.

When I went around to the other side of the room, President Packard used his body to block my view and, then, moved the American Flag we had just pledged allegiance to (“with liberty and justice to all”) between the window and the other screen.

I took some pictures of the main speaker, BMB’s John Maguire. All were fuzzy because I didn’t use a flash.

Then opaque plastic was put on the window by the new Freedom of Information Officer. Other duties as assigned, I guess.

Then two security officers showed up with a large piece of material.

Then, they duct taped it over the main door so one could not see in its window.

Guess the coat rack wasn’t good enough to hide a Mr. Kirchner, whose first name I didn’t get, who was sitting in the audience, plus MCC attorney Sandy Kerrick.

Maybe they think I can read lips.

I went up and scratched it to try to figure out what it was made up. I think it was canvas. Maybe they found it in the art department.

Later the two came back and removed it.

They taped a smaller piece over the vertical window next to the door.

Acting on instructions from inside, they systematically covered every window.

As they taped up what looked like a yellow piece of plastic, a burly guy with a full beard walked by and made this comment:

”It just doesn’t go. It’s the wrong color.”

When they were finished the room reminded me of a Christmas present that a little boy had wrapped using whatever he could find to hide the important parts of the box containing his mother’s present.

All that was missing was a bow.

Tomorrow’s “MCC – One Step Forward, Two Steps Back – Part 4” begins in the men’s room.