UPDATE: Attorney General's Public Access Office Processing Open Meetings Act Complaints

Update: 8:39 a.m., Jan. 11

The Chicago Sun-Times reports on an Open Meetings Act request from the same meeting in question (Oct. 13). See their full story here, and why township clerk Tarulis likened a Naperville resident to the person who shot U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Update: 4:10 p.m., Dec. 10

According to a letter issued from the Attorney General's office to the village's FOIA officer, Kristen Curran, the public access office determined that the village was in fact within its rights to withhold certain documents related to the 2600 Warrenville TIF. The Freedom of Information Act states that documents that contain personal opinion or have not been publicy cited are exempt from FOIA requests.

Original story:

Patch followed up on a report made on a Topix.com message board that Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office was investigating Open Meetings Act violations by the Lisle Township Board of trustees. According to the post, the attorney general's office "concluded that further inquiry is warranted." So is it?

"I think to use the word 'investigating' is a little off," said the attorney general's public access counselor, Cara Smith.

In fact, the office is still processing the validity of three complaints filed against both the village and Lisle Township.

Complaints alleged that the township adopted tax resolutions without proper notice on the agenda; that the village failed to state an exception for going into closed session and did not produce TIF ordinance drafts to the public regarding Navistar's intended move to Lisle. Smith could not divulge further details about the complaints, but new OMA regulations require that complaints be filed within 60 days of the occurrence, tying the violations back to late September or October.

Township clerk Richard Tarulis said a resident named Virginia Wisdom launched the complaint against the township, but the matter had nothing to do with open meetings violations.

"She even noted in her e-mail complaint that the item was on the agenda," said Tarulis. "But she said the discussion was very brief and didn't understand what we were doing. She basically asked the Attorney General if the tax cap procedure [discussed at the Oct. 13 meeting] was legal."

Illinois laws surrounding freedom of information and open meetings changed at the beginning of this year, calling for higher levels of both transparency and accountability within government, according to the public access office. When a request for review is made, the office studies related documents and allows the public officials in question to answer allegations. If the public access office determines there was a violation, it may choose to mediate the matter or pursue civil action.

On Oct. 24 the grassroots group Citizens for Healthy Development posted on TribLocal, criticizing the board of trustees' swift action to approve minor changes to the current Navistar . The group alleges that the board of trustees did not allow the opportunity for public comment at the village meeting, and did not conduct a separate public hearing.

A representative for the CHD said that while she isn't familiar with OMA violation procedures she is "quite pleased that the attorney general's office is looking into it."

"I was certainly aware that things were not being conducted in an open format," said MaryLynn Zajdel. "I think the village of Lisle owes it to its citizens."

The Open Meetings Act gives the public access office 60 days to process the request, or a maximum of 81 days if more information is requested. Smith said the matters probably won't require the additional time; a determination about the township's tax approval may be decided as early as this week.