Kane County board meeting continued over lack of attendance
A Kane County Board meeting abruptly ended on Tuesday without the board completing all its business because not enough members stuck around for the entire meeting.
It was the second month in a row that the board lost its quorum and had to recess a meeting.
County board Chairman Corinne Pierog said she found the situation frustrating. One of the things the board was supposed to vote on Tuesday was the 2025 budget.
“We’ve got to get this done,” Pierog said.
The meeting started 45 minutes late because a Kane County Forest Preserve Commission meeting before it ran long. County board members are also forest preserve commissioners.
Eighteen of the 24 county board members were in the meeting room when the three-hour-plus meeting started. Five others attended and voted remotely, which is allowed if there is a physical quorum in the room.
One board member was absent.
The board must have 13 members in the room to have a quorum and conduct business.
Pierog asked the board to consider voting on several items before going into a closed-door session to discuss real estate and personnel matters. The board refused.
Pierog then told the audience she expected the closed session to last 30 minutes.
The closed session lasted more than 2½ hours.
When the open part reconvened, six members had left. Pierog said one had a family emergency, and two left for doctor appointments.
The budget has to be approved by Nov. 30. Pierog said she tentatively plans to resume the board meeting Oct. 16.
In September, the board lost quorum about six hours into its meeting and resumed the meeting about a week later.
Some county board committees have had issues with having enough members attend. Last week’s Executive Committee meeting, which reviews matters to be put on the county board’s agenda, didn’t have a quorum until a member arrived 40 minutes later. For much of this year, the board’s committee of the whole has been unable to approve minutes of its meetings due to a lack of a quorum.