McHenry County Blog

McHenry County Courthouse

Sitting through an hour of Judge Thomas Meyer’s court proceedings before the Zane Seipler Special Prosecutor request case has convinced me that the 22nd Circuit Court Judges should hire a management consultant.

Most of the hour was spent re-scheduling cases that were not ready for trial.

This does not seem like a good use of the time of a $171,000 a year public servant hired to made judicial decisions.

I would bet that a management consultant would have these attorneys queuing up in the Circuit Clerk’s Office where a clerk would use a computer program to schedule future hearings to match the judge’s available days with those when both attorneys could make it to his courtroom.

And one does not need a Master’s Degree in Public Administration, which I earned at the University of Michigan, to be able to realize that vast improvements could be made in the work flow at the Courthouse.

Also obvious was that the Courtroom doesn’t qualify as an open forum.

While Judge Meyer could be heard most of the time, hardly any of the male lawyers talked loud enough for spectators to understand their words.

Only two female attorneys, Jennifer Gibson and Sandy Kerrick, projected their voices well enough to be heard.

Whatever microphones in use certainly do not work well enough.

Keith Nygren

Sheriff Keith Nygren is probably a happy man after the hearing on former Republican primary opponent and Sheriff’s Deputy Zane Seipler’s attempt to have a Special Prosecutor named to probe alleged criminal use of public money to advance Nygren’s campaign.

Nygren got permission for attorney Mark Gummerson, well known primarily for his criminal defense work, to represent him in the civil case.

Judge Thomas Meyer also undoubtedly pleased Nygren by forbidding Seipler’s attorney Blake Horowitz from questioning people in Nygren’s office.

The only thing that could have made Nygren happier would have been if the Court had allowed Gummerson to represent him in his official capacity.

Zane Seipler

I’m not sure, but it seems likely this means Nygren will have to foot Gummerson’s bill since he is representing him in his capacity as an “individual.”

Unhappy was Seipler’s attorney Blake Horwitz, who seemed to wonder whether the criminality alleged was being considered irrelevant to Judge Meyer.

Meyer repeatedly said that what was important in the case was whether there was an actual conflict that would prevent the State’s Attorney’s Office from prosecuting Nygren, if criminal activity were discovered.

Horwitz clearly thought it was important to show the Court evidence of illegal activity on the Nygren’s part. He brought a huge exhibit showing seven-pointed stars, which left the courtroom unentered into evidence.

It was also revealed that Horwitz had issued subpoenas to at least Undersheriff Andy Zinke and Deputy John Trotter (Trotter is mentioned in this article), according to Sandy Kerrick, who was standing in for Special Assistant State’s Attorney Bill Caldwell after State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi withdrew his assistant from representing county interests in the case. (Judge Meyer hinted that it might be for confidential reasons when Gummerson pressed for an explanation for Assistant State’s Attorney Don Leist’s not being still on the case.)

Lou Bianchi

Also unhappy will be McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi.

The Court said that he and his staff could be deposed concerning what I concluded was the “would” or “could” question.

“Can the State’s Attorney prosecute the Sheriff?” is one question.

If the answer is “Yes,” then Judge Meyer seems inclined to rule against Seipler’s attempt to get a Special Prosecutor named without looking at any evidence of potential wrongdoing.

“Will the State’s Attorney prosecute the Sheriff?” is a completely different question, one that I sensed the Judge thought was not relevant.

Judge Meyer repeatedly said that his decision will rely on the statute and case law.

It is my understanding that McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi believes if he investigated Sheriff Nygren, it would be at a very expensive cost of McHenry County taxpayers.

The reason would not the cost of the lawyers in such a criminal case; rather that the State’s Attorney’s would then no long be able to handle any cases involving the Sheriff’s Department, even civil ones.

When Bianchi first ran for office in 2004, a major issue was the outsourcing legal fees by State’s Attorney Gary Pack.

Bianchi argued most could be brought in house at great savings of money to the taxpayers.

Faced with competing sellers, including perhaps the Crystal Lake Park District and a landowner a mile west in Woodstock, the McHenry County College Board voted unanimously, with Scott Summers absent, to sell 3.67 acres to BMB Communications Management for a solid $6 million.

A 1,500 foot broadcast tower is planned for the property. That will require a special use permit from the City of Crystal Lake.

An additional $1 million could come MCC’s way if the enterprise is successful enough to snag five “subscribers” five years from today.

Although there was no space on the agenda for public comment, it was allowed anyway.

Nunda Township Trustee Kevin Sarnwick, who lives just south of Hillside on the Crystal Lake Blacktop, expressed opposition for perhaps safety and definitely aesthetic reasons.

Given that college officials have released nothing that would indicate any due diligence was performed on the deal, except by a risk manager, I asked,

“Why should anyone in the public think you know what you are doing?”

I pointed out that most governments without expertise in an area where they are making a decision hire a consultant with experience.

Even after the meeting, there is absolutely no indication that MCC talked to any independent expert in the broadcast tower business.

Student Trustee Tom Kedzie asked a really good question. He wanted to know why the five-year limit was in the contract for the receipt of the extra million dollars.

No one came up with a good answer.

Board President Watson Lowe said that he had recently received a call from “a former board member who is an attorney” suggesting that his law firm had broadcast tower expertise and would recommend leasing, rather than selling the land.

Voting on the contract tonight, “We won’t be able to hear him.”

Then, Lowe said, “Right now I am really on the fence.”

Lowe pointed out that BMB originally wanted to lease the land, but one member had been adamantly opposed to leasing. BMB Communications Management Tom Zanck revealed that “over the last 6-9 months Mr. (John) Maguire has been trying to make it (buying, rather than leasing) work for his company.”

Just as with the baseball stadium proposal, a story which McHenry County Blog reported on first, the college kept details of the BMB tower proposal, first advanced and reported upon by McHenry County Blog over a year ago, secret.

And, except for the contract, any thought process used to reach a decision to sell has been kept secret.

It is clear that the major inducement is the money.

And the incentive to act immediately was loss of that money.

“They (BMB) have already signed a back-up contract,” board attorney Sandy Kerrick told the board. “I also dare say the prices of the neighbors are much less,” she added.

“We may get zero unless we get an affirmative vote on this contract, yes or no,” she continued. “We’ve had the contract since December.”

Yet the public had its first chance to see it on February 16th.

“We’re not admitting we know anything about towers,” Trustee Carol Larson said. I, for one, would like to go through with this contract.”

And since the Crystal Lake City Council elections are coming up and the baseball stadium attracted more attention than any other issue in the last two years, let me remind you who killed the stadium with their votes:

Councilmen Ralph Dawson, Brett Hopkins and Jeff Thorsen threw the three strikes with their “No” votes on the proposal to re-zone McHenry County College for a minor league baseball stadium.

Dawson, on the left, and Thorsen, on the right, are up for re-election.

Retiring board member Frances Glosson, who lives in Johnsburg, pointed out that she was in favor of selling the property “will allow us to build more (facilities) and serve all of McHenry County.”

She seemed to be talking about spending the $6 million elsewhere in McHenry County, perhaps an area where the height of the 1,500 foot tower would not be an eyesore.

Donna Kurtz made her decision strictly based on the “educational needs for our county. The other governmental bodies will have to make (decisions based on other factors.)”

“So, you’re going to support it?” Larson asked.

“I thought you could assume it,” Kurtz replied to one of the trustees who was a leader in the effort to censure her and Scott Summers for changing their positions on the minor league baseball stadium.

Senior MCC Trustee Barbara Walters pushed hard for approval. She pointed out this was only the second opportunity “like this,” the first being the baseball stadium.

“There’s always an exercise in futility of how much more we could (have gotten),” she explained, seemingly aiming her comments at Student Trustee Kedzie’s inquiry.

“We as trustees have a great opportunity,” she continued, pointing to potentially using it for nursing school and other facilities, a swimming pool and “for students.”

“What happens to the young students who come behind you 5-7 years from now?” she asked Kedzie. “The recovery will not be completed by then.

“I would ask that you add your voice vote as well.”

Kedzie stood his ground a bit, wondering “why we didn’t go forward” on securing the final $1 million, regardless when the fifth user of the broadcast tower came on line, but ended up voting “Yes” with everyone else.

And Walters seemed more than a little disturbed at the last minute intervention by the unidentified former board member-attorney.

“Had it gone to their firm, they would certainly have handled it differently,” attorney Walters said, suggesting that perhaps the firm might have ended up with a share of the lease income.

“We have competition in our immediate area,” Walters continued. “There’s a very good possibility this could go one mile west in Woodstock.”

And, later, “The (Crystal Lake) Park (District) has new property (Viking Dodge, which has 18 vacant acres out back) the tower could potentially go on.

CPA Mary Miller, who was attending over the phone during this busy income tax season then chimed in.

“I am for selling the land just because of the dollars.

“It will actually bring jobs to the county,” she added. “I think it’s a win-win.”

“I like the idea,” Board President Lowe said. He pointed out that the Capital Development Board (state government) would leverage $6 million to $24 million in new buildings, also citing nursing and its labs.

“They’re not cheap.

“I am troubled by the way this meeting has come about. I don’t know why we had to do this tonight. I don’t know why the regular board meeting (March 26th, wouldn’t be soon enough).

“We were told (the buyer) wanted a delay (at our last meeting).” He pointed out that a vote on the land sale was postponed at BMB’s request.

“This meeting was obviously called in haste,” Lowe, who called the meeting pretty obviously at the request of others, said.

“At the same time, I have to respect other people’s opinions,” referring to the former attorney-board member who suggested the college would fair better under a lease arrangement.

“They came at the last minute. That’s the way things happen sometimes.”

“Mr. Maguire requested a lease,” board attorney Kerrick basically lectured. “You did not want to be responsible (for the liability of owning the tower and potential of having to disassemble it). We also discussed (buying) additional land surrounding it (for a guyed wire) tower.

“Just bear in mind how we got to where we are.”

Kerrick later explained that Maguire’s company had an income tax advantage from purchasing from the college.

“He’ll be able to deduct the contributions (for paying more than market value for the land)…he writes it off and used the other money to build the tower.”

She mentioned the figure $400,000 as the “real value.” I presume she meant the value of the 3.4 acres.

“We know of other suitors out there,” Walters interjected. “The only thing that may happen is that other contracts may be signed.”

BMB is paying $2,500 for the ability to tell the FAA he owns the land over the next six months.

Here are the details of the BMB presentation three weeks ago.

There still is no representation of what this tower will look like with its constantly flashing white and red strobe lights.

= = = = =
Drawings of the towers are seen on top, the one to the left bending under a 40 mile per hour wind and the other in calm weather. Kevin Sarnwick is seen expressing his opposition to the tower in the top photo.

Student Trustee Tom Kedzie is next.

The FM radio coverage area is seen below him.

Trustee Carol Larson is beneath the map.

The Crystal Lake City Councilmen who killed the McHenry County College baseball stadium are identified within their section.

Below is Trustee Frances Glosson and down to the left a bit is Donna Kurtz as she looking right after she voted in favor of selling the land.

Trustee Barbara Walters is below Kurtz.

Viking Dodge, which the Crystal Lake Park District is planning to buy if all the due diligence works out is next.

MCC Board President George Lowe is seen below.

Finally, board attorney Sandra Kerrick is shown giving the board advice.

The 1,500 foot broadcast tower will be built to the north of these Commonwealth high power electric lines. And since it was a beautiful sunset tonight, here’s a view of Crystal Lake that will not be despoiled by the proposed 1,500 foot broadcast tower.

Any fuzzy photos are the result of the McHenry County College Board’s refusal to allow any flash photography.

It took three times as long to write this story as it did for the college board to sell the land.

The McHenry County College agenda for its Committee of the Whole meeting last night was amended before the meeting really got started.

Board Chairwoman Mary Miller announced that MCC attorney Sandy Kerrick had been contacted by BMB Communications Management, which had asked that discussion of its proposal to purchase 3.6 acres of land be delayed.

So much for the rapid approval that I expected to happen at Thursday’s regular meeting, I guess.

If there is great community interest, it certainly did not show itself Monday night. I was the only one to offer public comment. No pilots appeared.

There were two points:

First, the college should show constituents what the tower will look like during the day and the night. Let us see what red and white strobe lights will look like running up and down the 1,500 foot tower during the day and at night.

Surely there is a similar tower someone can video and provide the college. That’s pretty much what I said to promoter John Maguire in my email last weekend.

Secondly, the college should hire an expert in broadcast tower finances since no one on the board has that expertise. I asked if the board were certain that the site wasn’t worth $30 million, pointing out that the college had refused to provide any evidence that anyone had done due diligence on the financial end of the deal.

Guess the next move is up to BMB.

= = = = =
The views of the proposed BMB tower above show it bending in the wind on the left and standing upright on the right. A picture of the Eiffel Tower has be laid in next to the radio broadcast towers now adjacent to McHenry County College. The 1,500 foot BMB tower will be 41% higher than the Eiffel Tower. Unlike the Eiffel Tower, there will be no public elevator or observation deck.

The McHenry County College agenda for its Committee of the Whole meeting last night was amended before the meeting really got started.

Board Chairwoman Mary Miller announced that MCC attorney Sandy Kerrick had been contacted by BMB Communications Management, which had asked that discussion of its proposal to purchase 3.6 acres of land be delayed.

So much for the rapid approval that I expected to happen at Thursday’s regular meeting, I guess.

If there is great community interest, it certainly did not show itself Monday night. I was the only one to offer public comment. No pilots appeared.

There were two points:

First, the college should show constituents what the tower will look like during the day and the night. Let us see what red and white strobe lights will look like running up and down the 1,500 foot tower during the day and at night.

Surely there is a similar tower someone can video and provide the college. That’s pretty much what I said to promoter John Maguire in my email last weekend.

Secondly, the college should hire an expert in broadcast tower finances since no one on the board has that expertise. I asked if the board were certain that the site wasn’t worth $30 million, pointing out that the college had refused to provide any evidence that anyone had done due diligence on the financial end of the deal.

Guess the next move is up to BMB.

= = = = =
The views of the proposed BMB tower above show it bending in the wind on the left and standing upright on the right. A picture of the Eiffel Tower has be laid in next to the radio broadcast towers now adjacent to McHenry County College. The 1,500 foot BMB tower will be 41% higher than the Eiffel Tower. Unlike the Eiffel Tower, there will be no public elevator or observation deck.

As readers of McHenry County Blog know, McHenry County State’s yours truly, Attorney Lou Bianchi sued the McHenry County College Board for kicking four citizens, including from out of its building while the trustees were meeting in top secret, hush, hush, about what shall we do about leasing land to or from, I assume, a radio station.

President Walt Packard was so desperate to keep any information about what John Maguire was proposing that he rushed to cover the window through which I took the second, more revealing slide (the one below with his head blocking part of the slide) with the American flag. That’s his head behind the American flag above, too.

Although the meeting went on until after midnight and several other top secret, hush, hush meetings have considered John Maguire’s radio tower proposal, all that has leaked out has been two photographs seen above taken through the windows of the McHenry County College board room.

But, another source provided this information about what Maguire wants. If this is correct, wouldn’t you think the public ought to know about it?

But, there’s no paper trail at McHenry County College, except what Trustee Scott Summers took home. And, the college said that was top secret, hush, hush, as well…even after Summers had drawn all those black lines through it.

After the big cover-up, I got this warning letter from Packard.

Then, I found this article about getting permission to put towers on land in Will County. Don’t know if it is related, but I believe the radio station next to MCC’s campus is owned by the same corporation.

While the college board instructed its security officers to cover up the windows the night I took the photos of the broadcast tower slides and, not coincidentally, in my opinion, the night we four were kicked out, now there is a more efficient method.

Newly-installed Venetian blinds prevent us prying taxpayers from seeing inside the board room named after former board members Herb Lutter and Bill Ryan. (Somehow, I don’t think the two, both of whom I knew fairly well, would have approved of all the secrecy.)

I know their names because they are on a plaque right next to the sign informing people outside the room that a secret meeting is going on and right next to the sign saying flash photography is prohibited.

Since one can no longer see the top secret, hush, hush, meetings, all one has to look at now that the college secrecy advocates have installed Venetian blinds to, well, keep prying eyes and cameras from seeing what goes on in a top secret, hush, hush, college board meeting.

I asked some friends who might be attending last Thursday’s meeting to let me know what happened. Here’s one response from a friend of McHenry County Blog:

You missed a lot of interesting information at the MCC Trustees meeting(s) tonight. Here are some highlights:

In response to a citizen question about why Friends of MCC Foundation Director Joe Like is included in closed sessions, when he is employed by the Foundation itself, Dr. Packard stated that Mr. Like is a paid employee of the college and a member of the President’s cabinet.

The decision to buy the $2600 Apple notebook computers instead of the $8-900 PC’s was “curriculum driven.”

Maybe, I dunno.

When the slate of new officers was presented it turned out that Donna Kurtz was not contacted and did not have any input into the process, nor could she get Mary Miller who was the nominating chair (and slated for Vice President) to commit when asked to affirm that the new leadership team would be open minded and willing to consider the ideas and views of ALL the Trustees.

Ms. Miller just deflected, by asserting that the whole board was already pretty open and had made some good progress toward being more so. Mr. Lowe (slated President) deflected by keeping his head down.

When she was distracted from an agenda item by a side discussion with Carol Larson, George Lowe impatiently reprimanded Donna Kurtz that she should pay attention sometimes.

When newly seated (literally five minutes before) Student Trustee Tom Kendzie voted “abstain” from a roll call vote on reappointment of the Board Attorney Sandra Kerrick, he was told he couldn’t do that. He voted affirmative on that and the rest of the agenda. (His vote either way did not change the outcome.)

George Lowe prefaced his comments on the same agenda item with comments that it was too late to make any desired changes at this meeting; that they should work on that and get it ready for next year if they wanted to change attorneys.

Oh, and they watered down Donna Kurtz’s idea to have OM training for the board, into a request for the State’s Attorney to schedule one of their trainings on an MCC Trustees “off-night” so those who wanted to attend could attend and those who did not want to… well you get the drift.

But nothing quite says it all like the irony of going into closed session to discuss the State’s Attorney’s filing an Open Meetings violation against them.

On a more positive note, they did a nice job of presenting Katie Claypool with a plaque and her parents were there to celebrate with her. They swore in the new student trustee and senate officers. And they finished all three agenda’s by 9 p.m. Not a word about a cell tower.

Anonymous

And, a post script:

I forgot to tell you that there were no barricades as Packard had mentioned in the Herald article that there would be. We were very disappointed.

The new student trustee needs to know that he can abstain on anything he wants to, regardless of what anyone says, unless there is something in the board rules specifically saying abstentions are not allowed. It won’t take long for him to see that anti-bullying rules do not apply to board meetings.

Except for the two pictures of the new Venetian blinds, one open from the inside next to Trustee Donna Kurtz and one closed from the outside, the other photos of efforts to cover up the windows occurred at the meeting before the four of us were illegally kicked out of the MCC building.

As readers of McHenry County Blog know, McHenry County State’s yours truly, Attorney Lou Bianchi sued the McHenry County College Board for kicking four citizens, including from out of its building while the trustees were meeting in top secret, hush, hush, about what shall we do about leasing land to or from, I assume, a radio station.

President Walt Packard was so desperate to keep any information about what John Maguire was proposing that he rushed to cover the window through which I took the second, more revealing slide (the one below with his head blocking part of the slide) with the American flag. That’s his head behind the American flag above, too.

Although the meeting went on until after midnight and several other top secret, hush, hush meetings have considered John Maguire’s radio tower proposal, all that has leaked out has been two photographs seen above taken through the windows of the McHenry County College board room.

But, another source provided this information about what Maguire wants. If this is correct, wouldn’t you think the public ought to know about it?

But, there’s no paper trail at McHenry County College, except what Trustee Scott Summers took home. And, the college said that was top secret, hush, hush, as well…even after Summers had drawn all those black lines through it.

After the big cover-up, I got this warning letter from Packard.

Then, I found this article about getting permission to put towers on land in Will County. Don’t know if it is related, but I believe the radio station next to MCC’s campus is owned by the same corporation.

While the college board instructed its security officers to cover up the windows the night I took the photos of the broadcast tower slides and, not coincidentally, in my opinion, the night we four were kicked out, now there is a more efficient method.

Newly-installed Venetian blinds prevent us prying taxpayers from seeing inside the board room named after former board members Herb Lutter and Bill Ryan. (Somehow, I don’t think the two, both of whom I knew fairly well, would have approved of all the secrecy.)

I know their names because they are on a plaque right next to the sign informing people outside the room that a secret meeting is going on and right next to the sign saying flash photography is prohibited.

Since one can no longer see the top secret, hush, hush, meetings, all one has to look at now that the college secrecy advocates have installed Venetian blinds to, well, keep prying eyes and cameras from seeing what goes on in a top secret, hush, hush, college board meeting.

I asked some friends who might be attending last Thursday’s meeting to let me know what happened. Here’s one response from a friend of McHenry County Blog:

You missed a lot of interesting information at the MCC Trustees meeting(s) tonight. Here are some highlights:

In response to a citizen question about why Friends of MCC Foundation Director Joe Like is included in closed sessions, when he is employed by the Foundation itself, Dr. Packard stated that Mr. Like is a paid employee of the college and a member of the President’s cabinet.

The decision to buy the $2600 Apple notebook computers instead of the $8-900 PC’s was “curriculum driven.”

Maybe, I dunno.

When the slate of new officers was presented it turned out that Donna Kurtz was not contacted and did not have any input into the process, nor could she get Mary Miller who was the nominating chair (and slated for Vice President) to commit when asked to affirm that the new leadership team would be open minded and willing to consider the ideas and views of ALL the Trustees.

Ms. Miller just deflected, by asserting that the whole board was already pretty open and had made some good progress toward being more so. Mr. Lowe (slated President) deflected by keeping his head down.

When she was distracted from an agenda item by a side discussion with Carol Larson, George Lowe impatiently reprimanded Donna Kurtz that she should pay attention sometimes.

When newly seated (literally five minutes before) Student Trustee Tom Kendzie voted “abstain” from a roll call vote on reappointment of the Board Attorney Sandra Kerrick, he was told he couldn’t do that. He voted affirmative on that and the rest of the agenda. (His vote either way did not change the outcome.)

George Lowe prefaced his comments on the same agenda item with comments that it was too late to make any desired changes at this meeting; that they should work on that and get it ready for next year if they wanted to change attorneys.

Oh, and they watered down Donna Kurtz’s idea to have OM training for the board, into a request for the State’s Attorney to schedule one of their trainings on an MCC Trustees “off-night” so those who wanted to attend could attend and those who did not want to… well you get the drift.

But nothing quite says it all like the irony of going into closed session to discuss the State’s Attorney’s filing an Open Meetings violation against them.

On a more positive note, they did a nice job of presenting Katie Claypool with a plaque and her parents were there to celebrate with her. They swore in the new student trustee and senate officers. And they finished all three agenda’s by 9 p.m. Not a word about a cell tower.

Anonymous

And, a post script:

I forgot to tell you that there were no barricades as Packard had mentioned in the Herald article that there would be. We were very disappointed.

The new student trustee needs to know that he can abstain on anything he wants to, regardless of what anyone says, unless there is something in the board rules specifically saying abstentions are not allowed. It won’t take long for him to see that anti-bullying rules do not apply to board meetings.

Except for the two pictures of the new Venetian blinds, one open from the inside next to Trustee Donna Kurtz and one closed from the outside, the other photos of efforts to cover up the windows occurred at the meeting before the four of us were illegally kicked out of the MCC building.

I can’t remember the last time I saw a public official walk out of an executive session because he or she thought what was being discussed was not exempted from the Open Meetings Act.

McHenry County College Trustee Scott Summers did it twice at Monday night’s Committee of the Whole meeting.

Making it more significant than a layman’s walking out, Summers is an attorney.

The only one on the college board.

Summers signaled his displeasure before the board voted to go behind closed doors.

One purpose cited was “the setting of a price of a piece of land (to) purchase or lease or discuss whether a…”

At this point, I couldn’t keep up.

“It’s Mr. (John) McGuire’s proposal we’re considering. We’re considering acquiring rights of his real estate,” Summers said in open session.

Continuing, “It’s an easement in the future. I have my misgivings about being in closed session about it. I shall vote ‘No’ against going into closed session for this purpose.”

And, he did.

There were two exemption sections cited for the secret meeting: Section 1 and 6. Section 1 apparently has something to with a complaint that has been filed against an employee or legal counsel.

The legal counsel at the meeting was Sandy Kerrick, whose non-competitively bid billing Summers has questioned previously.

“Legal Services” was listed on the agenda during the open meeting, but moved to the closed session for some reason.

So, exiled taxpayers Iris Bryan and I stood in the hall for about an hour and fifteen minutes while the other six citizen-elected and one student-elected board members discussed a lease.

In the public comment period at the beginning of the meeting, I asked that the board require the revelation of all of those having beneficial interests in any future lease. That is the case with anyone selling property to a public body in Illinois.

Of course, I didn’t know the board would later be discussing a lease.

The foundation guy came out at 9:24 to get Summers for the second item to be discussed.

Two minutes later Summers was again walking out the board room door.

The meeting ended at 9:44.

I asked Summers why he left the second time.

“It was a a matter concerning litigation that I believe did not fall under the Open Meetings’ exemption again,” he replied.

= = = = =
You can see McHenry County College Trustee Scott Summers leaving the secret MCC meeting on top and returning an hour an fifteen minutes later to stay about two minutes before leaving again. The map at the top was pointed to by both MCC Trustees Scott Summers and George Lowe in their top secret, hush, hush meeting about the tower.

You can see the two power point slides of which I took pictures above as well. Click to enlarge them.

I can’t remember the last time I saw a public official walk out of an executive session because he or she thought what was being discussed was not exempted from the Open Meetings Act.

McHenry County College Trustee Scott Summers did it twice at Monday night’s Committee of the Whole meeting.

Making it more significant than a layman’s walking out, Summers is an attorney.

The only one on the college board.

Summers signaled his displeasure before the board voted to go behind closed doors.

One purpose cited was “the setting of a price of a piece of land (to) purchase or lease or discuss whether a…”

At this point, I couldn’t keep up.

“It’s Mr. (John) McGuire’s proposal we’re considering. We’re considering acquiring rights of his real estate,” Summers said in open session.

Continuing, “It’s an easement in the future. I have my misgivings about being in closed session about it. I shall vote ‘No’ against going into closed session for this purpose.”

And, he did.

There were two exemption sections cited for the secret meeting: Section 1 and 6. Section 1 apparently has something to with a complaint that has been filed against an employee or legal counsel.

The legal counsel at the meeting was Sandy Kerrick, whose non-competitively bid billing Summers has questioned previously.

“Legal Services” was listed on the agenda during the open meeting, but moved to the closed session for some reason.

So, exiled taxpayers Iris Bryan and I stood in the hall for about an hour and fifteen minutes while the other six citizen-elected and one student-elected board members discussed a lease.

In the public comment period at the beginning of the meeting, I asked that the board require the revelation of all of those having beneficial interests in any future lease. That is the case with anyone selling property to a public body in Illinois.

Of course, I didn’t know the board would later be discussing a lease.

The foundation guy came out at 9:24 to get Summers for the second item to be discussed.

Two minutes later Summers was again walking out the board room door.

The meeting ended at 9:44.

I asked Summers why he left the second time.

“It was a a matter concerning litigation that I believe did not fall under the Open Meetings’ exemption again,” he replied.

= = = = =
You can see McHenry County College Trustee Scott Summers leaving the secret MCC meeting on top and returning an hour an fifteen minutes later to stay about two minutes before leaving again. The map at the top was pointed to by both MCC Trustees Scott Summers and George Lowe in their top secret, hush, hush meeting about the tower.

You can see the two power point slides of which I took pictures above as well. Click to enlarge them.

It looked as if the “do it our way or we’ll hit the highway” members of the McHenry County College Board were finally outnumbered in a meeting within a meeting Tuesday night at Crystal Lake City Hall.

Councilman Dave Goss came up with language that would specify the maximum impervious coverage would be 50%.

That set off MCC Board President George Lowe and Trustee Barbara Walters when the group retired to a council chamber side room to discuss his proposal.

“That isn’t what we asked for. It still doesn’t guarantee we’ll get 50%,” attorney Sandy Kerrick observed, seeming to side with the two hardliners.

Kerrick later added something I found quite interesting and perhaps indicative of a hidden agenda:

“We want to be able to build on as much of the land as if we bought it anywhere else,” which she said would be “50-70%.”

“If we don’t gt 50%, I don’t want to buy it,” Lowe said. Later, “I want more than pie in the sky.”

“We’re no farther ahead than we were six months ago,” added Walter.

Carol Larson, usually an ally of Lowe and Walters, pointed out, “This doesn’t limit us…Everything we’ve done has been much less than that.”

An impassioned plea from MCC President Walt Packard to the five members present—Lowe, Walters, Larson, Frances Glosson and Donna Kurtz—stressed

• that the college’s $100 million campus could not be moved,
• that expanding the Crystal Lake would be most efficient,
• that it fits the traffic pattern and the population pattern,
• that the $67,000 an acre price would never be lower,
• that the Gilger property owners would not agree to another extension and
• that the property was perfectly sited to take advantage of a future Ridgefield Metra station maybe 20 years away.

In other words, the college could not do better than buying and expanding on the Gilger property.

Trustees Donna Kurtz and Frances Glosson seemed ready to accept Goss’ modification of the Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission’s unanimous recommendation.

Carol Larson, who sides with Lowe and Walters on most matters, was willing to compromise and accept the Goss language, if that was necessary to gain zoning approval.

After an impassioned discussion in the back room, which was open to the public with reporters from four publications attending, Kurtz proposed a compromise motion which would have Packard tell the council they the board wanted the original planning and zoning language, with the unmentioned agreement to agree to the Goss fall back position, if that vote failed.

I missed some of the subsequent council discussion, but the original recommendation was approved 5-2.

One of the dissenters, Ralph Dawson, said it was not because of the specifics of the college proposal, but because of the precedent it set.

How please was Lowe at getting his way?

Take a look at his smile.

The MCC Board then went back in the side room and voted unanimously( 5-0) to purchase the 57-acre Gilger property for $67,000 per acre or about $3.8 million.