At the last Crystal Lake City Council meeting, Craig Gaska of Nash Road made the following statement below on behalf of himself and his wife Linda.

I think it’s worth sharing.

In that piece I urged the council majority to do the honorable thing and not bring the measure back for a vote without its going through the entire process again.

Here is the Gaskas’ message:

Good evening Mayor Shepley, City Council Members, and Crystal Lake Staff!

As you have probably surmised from previous public statements that I have made, I am very concerned that the City of Crystal Lake’s democratic processes and procedures are followed. My public statement today is no exception.

For the public record, I would like to summarize two certified parliamentarians’ comments regarding the Motion to Reconsider, which was made after the MCC Special Use Permit vote was taken on October 16th.

The two parliamentarians that I and other concerned parties had contacted were:

• an attorney and professor at the John Marshall Law School who was a parliamentarian for the 1972 Illinois Constitutional Convention; and,
• Jason Akai, a member of the National Association of Parliamentarians.

There were several breaches of parliamentary procedures during the motion to reconsider on October 16th; however, I am only going to address the two main mistakes in which both parliamentarians have commented as the major breaches.

First, a motion to reconsider needs to specify exactly what needs to be reconsidered.

Secondly, the prevailing side did not make the motion.

[Councilmen Ralph Dawson, Brett Hopkins and Jeff Thorsen, seen below, comprised the prevailing side with their “No” votes on the proposal to re-zone McHenry County College for a minor league baseball stadium.]

The prevailing side is that side which determines the outcome of the vote.

Jason Akai states,

“If the prevailing side did not make the motion, the motion is out of order and the parliamentarian should have immediately notified the chair of such. It is equally out of order to immediately call for a reconsider motion without some substantial change to the motion’s language or change in the number of voting members present.”

As a citizen of Crystal Lake, I am asking the City Council to seriously consider the following two suggestions.

• First, train and certify one of the city council members or village staff as a parliamentarian; or, place a National Association of Parliamentarians certified parliamentarian on retainer.
• Secondly, since the motion to reconsider was improper and an invalid motion and, since it was also a breach of parliamentary procedures as set forth by the City Council bylaws, that it be declared null and void and that the original vote on whether or not to grant a special use permit to MCC stand un-amended.

Thank you

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Ellen Brady Mueller, the maker of the motion to reconsider at the Crystal Lake City Council is seen above left. Mayor Aaron Shepley, the lawyer who accepted the inappropriate motion and allowed an illegal vote, is seen above right.

The trio who killed the baseball stadium re-zoning are seen in the middle of the article. From right to left, they are Councilman Ralph Dawson, Brett Hopkins and Jeff Thorsen.