Probe: Buffalo Grove didn't violate the open meetings act
The Cook County state's attorney's office has decided that Buffalo Grove trustees did not violate the Open Meetings Act in e-mail discussions last spring revolving around upcoming discussions of off-track betting.
However, in a letter dated Tuesday addressed to one of the village's attorneys, Michael F. Zimmerman, from Assistant State's Attorney Sara Hynes of the Civil Actions Bureau, the office did caution the village board to review carefully the requirements of the act to ensure against future violations.
Village Manager William Brimm said that while "they have concluded there is no violation of the act," the village has been taking steps to guard against violations by signing up village officials and staff for training on the guidelines of the Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Act.
"I don't think we did anything improper," said Trustee Jeffrey Braiman said. "The state's attorney verified that we were compliant with the law."
The complaint was filed by Buffalo Grove resident Susan Glazer, who said it appeared trustees might have violated the act between April 29 and May 2 during e-mails that referred to upcoming discussions of off-track betting. Glazer was unavailable for comment.
An April 29 e-mail from Brimm to the six trustees, Village President Elliott Hartstein, trustees-elect Lisa Stone and Beverly Sussman, Deputy Village Manager Ghida Neukirch and Village Attorney William Raysa advised that the items up for discussion were being rescheduled from the May 4 to the May 18 meeting.
However, after hearing that the matter was going to be discussed after all on May 4, Trustee Lisa Stone sent an e-mail on May 1 to the trustees as well as Sussman about the change, calling it a "last-minute move." That prompted a series of e-mails between board members on scheduling and whether people were well enough informed to discuss the issue.
Hynes's letter concluded that while it appeared that three trustees participated in an electronic gathering, it is not clear that public business was discussed by them. One of the e-mails at issue "is somewhat cryptic" while another "only discussed general methods of communication; neither of these trustees specifically referenced the OTB special use amendment date change issue."
The letter goes on to state: "However, we also note that this office's request for copies of pertinent e-mails to the village board was provided piecemeal by the village board with the final set of e-mails provided not by the village but by an individual trustee."
Hynes wrote that the state's attorney's office had reviewed e-mails provided to the office by the village as initially requested in September, as well as additional e-mails provided in October after it was discovered that some e-mails had not been provided.
Stone said that while she's glad the trustees were cleared, "what concerns me is the state's attorney's caution regarding noncompliance in regard to the village management's lack of producing the required e-mails. I trust that the state's attorney's caution will be heeded in the future."
Trustee Jeffrey Berman said the letter confirmed "my belief all along that the complaint against my colleagues was meritless. That is confirmed by the state's attorney's independent analysis, which is a complete vindication."