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Another College of DuPage board meeting set; will boycott continue?

College of DuPage board Vice Chairwoman Deanne Mazzochi has scheduled another meeting this week in the hope that three boycotting trustees finally will attend.

But there's no sign that Trustees Erin Birt, Dianne McGuire and Joseph Wozniak are ready to return to work for Thursday night's special session.

"I want to give the three trustees who have not been at these meetings every opportunity to come forward and be heard on these crucial college issues," Mazzochi said. "There's still time for them to come ... and we can turn this around."

For six straight meetings since Dec. 17, Birt, McGuire and Wozniak have been absent, which has left the board without the necessary quorum to take action on a list of topics, including how to pick a replacement for former board Chairwoman Kathy Hamilton.

Hamilton unexpectedly stepped down on Dec. 13 for unspecified personal reasons, leaving a 3-3 split on what already had been a deeply divided seven-member panel.

Attempts to reach Birt, McGuire and Wozniak on Tuesday were unsuccessful.

The three trustees have said part of the reason they've been boycotting is because they want an organizational meeting held to pick a new chairman. They also have complained about being denied access to information and documents from the college during and after Hamilton's tenure as board chairwoman.

But Mazzochi says there are bills that need to be paid, contracts that have to be approved and topics that should be discussed. The last time the full board met was on Nov. 19.

"I urge them (Birt, McGuire and Wozniak) to come so we can get important college business done," Mazzochi said. "And, frankly, at this stage, if any one of them appeared and broke the boycott, they probably would be lauded and applauded by the rest of the college community."

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