Why should I be surprised that the local government that has been least transparent—even to the point of
- ejecting press and taxpayers from its building during a secret meeting,
- being sued by the McHenry County State’s Attorney and
- being admonished in court for having unlawfully done so
—would follow the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Division’s Matthew Sebek’s recommendation to release ex- President Walt Packard’s performance evaluations?
I just received the following email from Pat Stejskal, McHenry County College’s Freedom of Information Officer:
“In accordance with Section 11.5 of the Freedom of Information Act, the College will be filing an action for administrative review of the Attorney General’s August 17, 2010 determination.
“As such, the College is not required to provide the records at issue pending the administrative review process.”
It is clear that MCC officials plan to keep fighting the issue in court until after the election, when they hope the Illinois General Assembly will override Governor Pat Quinn’s amendatory veto of House Bill 5154.
It is completely in keeping with this college board’s past lack of trust of the public, but does not bode well for transparency under newly installed President Vicky Smith, to whom the Freedom of Information Officer reports.
Do you think hiding this obfuscating will help the college pass it next tax rate hike or bond issue?