Island Lake meeting minutes again are months late

The collection of meeting summaries on the official Island Lake website is again months behind, but Village Clerk Jen Gomez said the archive could be updated soon.

The most recent summaries — formally called “minutes” — available at villageofislandlake.com reflect the discussions and votes of the May 23 meeting. About 10 meetings have been held since then.

The summaries for all the subsequent meetings have not been completed or presented to the board for approval and public release. But some of the minutes for those meetings should be sent to the board for a vote when it meets next week, she said.

“It will be a relief to get caught up with the meeting minutes and get them posted,” Gomez told the Daily Herald in an email.

The Illinois Open Meetings Act requires every public body to record printed minutes of meetings. In the suburbs, it’s typically a village clerk’s job to draft the documents and give them to a board for approval.

Any government agencies that have websites maintained by full-time employees legally must post meeting minutes online within seven days of the approval of the documents, the law states.

Island Lake’s website is not maintained by a full-time village employee. As such, the town is not legally required to digitally publish the minutes.

Regardless, town leaders have maintained an archive of minutes for several years.

“Minutes are a great way for residents to get a brief overview about what is being discussed, decided and done by their government officials,” Trustee Shannon Fox said in an email. “Citizens play a key role in providing for the checks and balances in government by administering this oversight and giving their elected officials feedback, whether that be in direct communication or at the polls.”

Island lake residents have gone months without seeing fresh minutes appear online before. In early 2010, trustees and residents complained about missing minutes, prompting inquiries by the Daily Herald. Shortly afterward, the documents began appearing online.

A similar situation arose this summer. Following another Daily Herald inquiry, three months worth of meeting minutes were posted to the website in July.

When asked to explain the latest delay, Gomez said “there were a number of reasons” why minutes for the meetings in June, July, August, September and October haven’t been completed or submitted to the board. She declined to identify them but said many “have been or are being addressed.”

Gomez was appointed village clerk in June following the resignation of Pam Miller, who had been elected to that post in 2009. Gomez previously had served as deputy village clerk, a staff position.

After being appointed to the clerk’s post, Gomez continued performing many of the deputy’s duties, including those of the village collector, who is responsible for daily deposits and posting receipts.

Gomez resigned as collector last week. The move will allow her to focus on the clerk’s role and responsibilities, she said.

Trustee Connie Mascillino said she’s spoken to Gomez about the minutes and believes the clerk “understands the urgency of bringing the minutes forward as soon as possible.”

The board next meets Thursday, Nov. 17, and at least three sets of minutes could be presented for approval, Gomez said.

Any minutes approved next week could be posted online within five days of the meeting, Gomez said.

That’s a good start, Fox said.

“With changes that have taken place in (the) administration, I hope we shall see a rapid increase in the turnaround on minutes,” Fox said. “It would be a good policy going forward that the clerk’s office present each meeting’s minutes for board approval at the (next) meeting.”