Carpentersville finance panelist to remain on board

A member of the Carpentersville audit and finance commission cannot be removed for breaking a new three-strike attendance rule because village officials now say two of the absences were explained.

The memory lapse of a village official led commission members to assert that Nathan Spain had missed three consecutive meetings without cause.

Under a new attendance ordinance, the village president has the authority to determine a commission or board seat vacant if an appointed member racks up three consecutive unexplained absences.

After a hearing before the village board, a majority vote is needed to sustain the removal, the ordinance states.

But Spain had not missed three straight meetings without justification. Village Manager Craig Anderson said he "simply forgot" to pass on two e-mails from Spain explaining his nonattendance at the May 22 and June 16 meetings.

"If there was any mixup, it was on my part," Anderson said on Monday. "He sent them well in advance and it slipped my mind."

When Spain did not attend the June 26 meeting, commissioners directed Anderson to alert Spain that he was in violation of the village's new attendance policy.

However, Spain disputed the absences after receiving notice from the village manager.

In an e-mail last week to Village President Bill Sarto and Anderson, Spain said he was out of state for business on both occasions. Though he was in Carpentersville for the June 26 meeting, Spain said he declined to attend based on his previous "act of conscience."

Spain, who was unavailable Tuesday for comment, has previously said he would not attend future meetings because of Trustee Paul Humpfer's conviction on domestic battery.

Humpfer chairs the finance commission.

Sarto, who appointed Spain and two other residents to the seven-member commission in August, said as long as Spain has justified absences, he would remain on the commission.

"As long as he is able to back up what he is saying, then I think he can be excused," Sarto said. "I don't condone it. I don't think it is the proper way to do business, but if it is a legitimate reason he can get away with it under the ordinance."