Pending Kane County attendance policy highlights board member who's also a state rep
Kane County Board members are set to approve a conduct policy next week that lacks enforcement teeth but may still take a bite out of one elected official in particular.
The pending policy focuses on meeting attendance for both the committees that board members are assigned to by Chairman Chris Lauzen as well as full board meetings. The policy calls for tracking attendance, even though the chairman's office currently does that.
The policy debate follows a number of meetings missed by county board member Barbara Hernandez, who was appointed to the 83rd House District seat in March. Instead of stepping down from the county board, Hernandez decided to relinquish her county board salary and do both jobs.
The move blocked Lauzen from picking a replacement for her board seat. It also meant, when the state legislature was in session, there would times her duties would call for her to be in two places at once.
Hernandez has attended nine of the 24 meetings she was supposed to so far in 2019, or 38% of them, according to Lauzen's office. That's way down from 2018, when she attended 38 of 43 meetings, or 88% of them.
Official minutes and video of just the full board meetings show Hernandez missed the March, April and May meetings. She did attend a special meeting of the full board in April that included a vote on county employee insurance benefits.
"Attendance is crucial, not only to meet the needs for a quorum but to fulfill one's responsibilities as an elected or appointed member," reads the first point of conduct in the proposed policy. It goes on to say attendance will be tracked "to ensure other members and the public are aware of the attendance history of the elected members."
Hernandez's recent attendance record did not go unnoticed by fellow board member and Democrat Angie Thomas during a debate about the conduct policy this week.
"In the instance where we're not really in line, and the example that comes to mind is in regards to attendance, we have a colleague who is holding two positions," Thomas said. "The colleague is also my state representative. Splitting time is fine when you can split time, but when your absence creates a void, it's a problem."
In an interview, Hernandez said that with the end of the general assembly's legislative session, she will attend next week's vote on the policy as well as all board meetings in the near future.
"I admit May was a bit hectic since I was required to be in Springfield," Hernandez said. "I am excited to be back in town and continue with the hard work from both the county and as a state representative. I look forward to the upcoming days and months that I will be home and attending county meetings.
"The people elected me (to the county board), and I want to continue representing them at no cost, as I ceased my pay and benefits when I was appointed (to be a state representative)."