Link to Information on the Town's Emergency Ordinance

The Town has now updated their emergency meeting post at a different link. The change: public comment will be by email only.

This is wrong.

The problem is that the provisions of the Open Meetings Act allowing direct public comment are still in effect. In light of COVID-19, Illinois’ Public Access Office recommends email comments as a way to reduce the size of the public presence, but email alone does not satisfy the law’s requirement that the public be allowed to speak at a meeting. The Town could easily comply by following the office’s other recommendations such as a public conference call or by holding the meeting in a large venue to allow distancing, but they have chosen not to. As such, the Town is violating our rights while at the same time asking us to trust them. I have a hard time doing so when they were found in willful violation of the Open Meetings Act in the past, and have two other reviews pending now. This is the authority that is asking everyone to give up fundamental rights and freedoms, and confer all power into the hands of one man. Let’s start by properly following the law so that we can get to the business at hand in a more trustworthy manner.