Carpentersville trustees weigh attendance policy

To ensure Carpentersville residents and trustees appointed to village commissions and committees don't shirk their duties, the village board wants to mandate an attendance policy.

Most trustees at Tuesday's board meeting said they would support a measure creating a three-strike rule.

The ordinance would give the village board authority to remove a member from any of the village's seven advisory bodies for missing three consecutive meetings.

It would not apply to the village board, however, since trustees are elected to positions, Village Manager Craig Anderson said.

Trustees directed Village Attorney James Rhodes to draft an ordinance, which the board will vote on at an upcoming meeting.

The measure would follow the village's planning and zoning commission ordinance that says, "three consecutive absences without good cause shall be grounds for removal."

Trustee Judy Sigwalt, a sponsor of the measure, said the attendance policy is a response to the cancellation of last week's audit and finance commission meeting because four members refused to show up.

"We have never faced an issue like this before and we had no way of dealing with it," said Sigwalt. "People are appointed to represent the citizens and that is their first and foremost duty."

Initially, trustees discussed implementing an attendance policy for the audit and finance commission after Village President Bill Sarto and three resident commissioners -- Sherry Dobson, Nathan Spain and Michael Sievertson -- shunned last week's meeting.

But trustees instead opted to create a sweeping rule.

The finance commissioners said they missed the meeting because of questions surrounding the legitimacy of Trustee Paul Humpfer's position on the board.

Humpfer chairs the village's finance panel.

Though Sarto had sent a letter recommending the meeting's cancellation, commissioners said they acted of their own accord.

Trustees have since ruled a vacancy does not exist on the village board.

Trustee Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski, who called the ordinance "retaliation" against the audit and finance commissioners, said an attendance policy is not needed because residents volunteer to serve the community.

Other board members said though absenteeism is not a problem for village commissions and committees, having a policy in place could help if future issues arise.

"I think as long as it covers all of the committees, I would support it," Trustee Keith Hinz said. "That way we are all on the same playing field and we know the rules and regulations that we need to abide by."

Sarto, too, said he supported the concept.

"I don't think it is a bad idea to have some policy in place," Sarto said. "If for whatever reason people cannot attend meetings, then they should not be serving and give someone else a chance."