The La Grange Village Board of Trustees likely violated the Illinois Open Meetings Act by holding a closed session April 21 to discuss ways the Village might extend financial aid to the La Grange Theatre, the state attorney general's office said in a letter it sent today to the Village's attorney, Mark Burkland.
The letter asked the Village to make public the minutes and an audio recording of the closed meeting.
As an alternative to immediate public disclosure, the letter said the Village could provide those same materials to the attorney general "for further review and evaluation of which portions of the meeting were appropriately closed."
"It appears that the Village violated the Act's requirements by discussing matters outside the scope of the exception relied upon," Amanda Lundeen, an assistant attorney general and public access counselor, wrote in the letter.
At the time the Board voted to adjourn to closed session, the exception cited was to discuss "the purchase, sale or lease of real property."
Thom Rae, publisher of everythinglagrange.com, in a personal appearance before the Board prior to the vote, challenged the validity of that exception. He subsequently filed the complaint that sparked the attorney general's inquiry.
Rae said that neither the Village nor the theater's owners had previously mentioned a potential sale, and that information obtained from sources led him to believe that the primary purpose of the closed meeting was to provide confidentiality while examining the theater's finances.
"It is our view that the discussion should not have occurred in a closed meeting because the presentation of such information in itself is not part of the board's deliberation on whether or not to purchase the real property," the letter said.
Rae applauded the attorney general's urging that the contents of the meeting be made public. He said he will file a request for those materials Thursday under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.
Comments