INSIDE
NEWS Trustees express concerns over mayor’s actions
SPORTS Bat changes affecting game PAGE 11
www.nilesbugle.com
By Rick Kambic Staff Reporter
T
he Niles Library will no longer offer audio recordings of its Board of Trustees m e e t i n g s , resulting from a decision to no longer record the public portion of meetings. Trustee Morgan Dubiel is speaking out against the decision, a change with no apparent origin that has only been partially confirmed by other library officials. Dubiel said entire meetings were recorded for several decades until now. “This decision, made without trustee input,moves the library in the wrong direction,” Dubiel said.“It was never publicly announced, debated or discussed. At a time of great corruption and concern in our community, county and state we should be moving toward more, not less, transparency.” Dubiel said he first became aware of the new policy at the end of an April 25 meeting when the board was exiting executive session and nobody turned the recorder back on. The executive session was recorded, as law requires, and Dubiel was waiting for someone to start a new track. In his protest, Dubiel did not, however, give any reason why the decision was made. Board President Barbara Nakanishi said the decision is not final and will likely be reviewed during the May 16 regular board meeting. “It wasn’t my decision to stop recording meetings,” Nakanishi said. “Personally, I don’t care if we record them or not, as long as we have the minutes. It must have been an administrative decision, because I know neither Morgan nor I suggested it.”
PAGE 3
NO MORE TALK Our Village, Our News
NILES LIBRARY TO ALLEGEDLY STOP AUDIO RECORDINGS OF PUBLIC MEETINGS “This decision, made without trustee input, moves the library
in the wrong direction. It was never publicly announced, debated or discussed. At a time of great corruption and concern in our community, county and state we should be moving toward more, not less, transparency.” Morgan Dubiel, trustee
MAY 10, 2012
Vol. 56 No. 31
The Illinois Open Meetings Act does not require public portions of meetings to be recorded, and word-for-word written minutes are not necessary. Niles Library Board minutes have traditionally been summaries of discussions. “I really don’t know why they suggested we don’t record – other than it’s not required by law,” Nakanishi said. Dubiel acknowledged the legal notion but still opposes the decision. “I understand that we are under no legal obligation to create a verbatim recording, but just because we aren’t legally obligated isn’t a good reason to stop,” Dubiel said. Library Director Linda Weiss confirmed the lack of an audio recording for the public portion of the April 25 board meeting, but did not comment on why that meeting wasn’t recorded. “Whether or not to record the open sessions is a board decision,” Weiss said. “They will be discussing this at the May meeting.” The agenda for the April 25 meeting included discussions on joining the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, potentially hiring a lean consultant to review library procedures, and a potential “food for fines” program. “Given the timing and climate, it appears odd and gives the impression that we are hiding something,” Dubiel said. “We’re doing the public business and this should be as open as possible. Instead of turning off the recording we should work to increase transparency of everything that the library does.” Dubiel referenced a May 31, 2011 meeting as an example of when an audio See TALK, page 22