Lake Villa District Library board violated meeting rules

The Lake Villa District Library Board will get a lesson in conducting legal meetings after a resident complained that members acted improperly during a recent session.

The Lake County State's Attorney's office says the library board violated two portions of the Illinois Open Meetings Act during a March 2 meeting. No charges have been filed, but the board will get a tutorial on how to stay compliant with the rules.

Assistant State's Attorney Janelle Christensen said the library board mishandled a conversation during a closed meeting and kept incomplete records of what took place in other committee meetings. The violations were brought to Christensen's attention by Lindenhurst resident Brenda Balin-Beitscher.

The board went into executive session to discuss the purchase of a specific piece of property for future library expansion. That's legal. But Christensen said the conversation drifted from specifics to generalities about purchasing property, which is illegal.

"I believe this was inadvertent, but still improper," Christsensen said. "In most cases, boards don't willingly violate the rules. It's more of a lack of education on how conduct meetings within the rules."

Library Director Bob Watson said this is the first time a complaint like this has been leveled at the library board. "This was unintentional on the part of the board," Watson said. "The discussion veered away into areas that should have been discussed in open session."

Balin-Beitscher also complained minutes taken during other committee meetings were nonexistent or incomplete.

"It is my contention that the board continually fails in that it keeps no written minutes of committee meetings," she said in a letter to the board. "The board is de facto acting in the shadows, outside public view."

Library board President Jim Daly said new procedures have been put in place to address this issue, and promised board members will keep full and accurate minutes going forward.

As directed by the state's attorney's office, the board will transcribe the complete audio recording of the closed meeting and make that available for public view in hard copy and on the Internet, Watson said.

Christensen plans to meet with board members April 13 to provide a detailed review of the rules and regulations regarding public meetings.