May 27th, 2014 VIA FAX & EMAIL Attorney General’s Office Public Access Bureau FOIA Request for Review 500 S. 2nd Street Springfield, Illinois 62706 FAX: 217-782-1396 EMAIL:
[email protected] Re:
Megan Fox www.Facebook.com/MeganFoxWriter
[email protected] Submitted: 5/27/14 #Griffindor21
Request for Review Violation of the OMA at the 5/19/14 OPPL-BoT meeting Expedite determination for ongoing problem
Dear Public Access Bureau, Please accept this letter as a Request for Review of violations of the Open Meetings Act committed by the Orland Park Public Library Board of Trustees (the OPPL-BoT) on May 19th, 2014 at their monthly board meeting. I ask for an expedited investigation and determination in this matter as it is an ongoing problem stemming from improperly handled changes to the Board’s Public Comment policy that occurred on February 12th and March 17th, with ramifications of these bungled changes effecting us still. -- At Issue – On May 19th, 2014, in violation of the OMA, the OPPL-‐BoT allowed James Fessler, an attorney employed by the Board, to speak out of turn and without having the floor during the Public Comment portion of the meeting. Fessler claimed at that time that the Board’s policies forbade a member of the public from addressing the Board via videoconference during Public Comment. Specifically, the OPPL-‐BoT desired to keep Dan Kleinman, the national expert on child porn and other evils being accessed in libraries, from speaking during the Public Comment segment. I had brought my iPad to the meeting and had Dan Kleinman present via FaceTime so he could see and hear what was going on in the meeting and could likewise be seen and heard by the Board. It is undisputed that the OMA contains no prohibition on the use of FaceTime or other such videoconferencing software or equipment and that the OPPL-‐BoT itself regularly uses telephonic conferencing during Board meetings when either Cathy Morrissey Lebert or Julie Anne Craig don’t feel like coming to a Board Meeting in person that month and instead are deemed present
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via telephonic conference call. It should be noted that both Lebert and Craig have on more than one occasion both voted on matters for final action while deemed “present” as disembodied voices over a speakerphone at Board meetings. Why then shouldn’t Dan Kleinman be allowed to speak during Public Comment when he can be present via FaceTime on an iPad? Surely if Board Members are allowed to be deemed “present” at meeting and even vote on important matters via telephonic conference then the public should be able to address the Board using modern technology in the year 2014 since the OMA does not prohibit that (and, in fact, states that all reasonable efforts should be made to increase public participation in these meetings). Dan Kleinman is not financially able to appear before the Board in physical form but the OMA does not require a physical presence in meetings. An electronic presence via FaceTime or SKYPE is consistent with the OMA, especially in light of the fact that Lebert and Craig can appear as just voices over a phone and vote on matters when they don’t feel like showing up to meetings in person. I maintain that Fessler was wrong to disallow Kleinman from speaking during Public Comment first on the grounds that Fessler is not a Board Member and should not be allowed to conduct meetings or address the public during Public Comment. He was further wrong to deny Kleinman the right to speak because the OMA does not provide for such a denial of Kleinman’s right to address this Board when Kleinman was present and ready to speak on 5/19/14 via FaceTime on my iPad. Thirdly, Fessler was wrong in stating that the OPPL-‐BoT has a policy on the books that prohibits public speaking via FaceTime when the OPPL-‐BoT has never properly passed such a policy. This brings us back to the mess that the OPPL-‐BoT caused for itself on February 12th, 2014 when this board made the decision to hold an illegal special meeting on a state holiday and ram through several controversial matters on a day that the law firm Klein Thorpe Jenkins wrongly told the Board they did not have to allow public comment. One of the items that the Board took a vote for final action on was a batch of revisions to its Public Comment Policy on Feb 12th, including a new rule that was designed specifically to block Dan Kleinman from ever addressing the Board via FaceTime or SKYPE. As you know, on 5/19/14 Tola Sobitan issued a letter of determination confirming what we already know: that the February 12th, 2014 illegal meeting that this Board held was illegal (and thus inconvenient to the public). That means everything done at that meeting was void ab initio. On 3/17/14, Dennis G. Walsh from the KTJ firm presided over another improper vote on changes to Public Comment Policy for this Board when he rushed through a rapid fire vote “to ratify and affirm” everything illegal that the Board had done on February 12th at that illegal meeting. The problem with this is that no recital or deliberation was done for any of the items on 3/17/14 that were being ratified and affirmed. Since the February 12th meeting was deemed to be inconvenient to the public and improperly held, then any recital or deliberation done for these items on
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that day were also illegal and void, as they were not convenient to the public by nature of being done illegally at an illegal meeting. This means that everything that was “ratified and affirmed” on 3/17/14 never received proper recital or deliberation and is thus null and void under the OMA. There can be no other determination in this matter, since everything done at an illegal meeting is void ab initio and it is undisputed that no recital or deliberation was ever done at the 3/17/14 meeting before the OPPL-‐BoT attempted to “ratify and affirm” what it had bungled on February 12th. We are, thus, left in the bizarre situation where the OPPL-‐BoT is attempting to enforce policies to restrict Public Comment when those policies were never properly voted upon by this Board and these items for final action have never had proper recital or deliberation performed at an Open Meeting that is convenient to the public. As this applies to the 5/19/14 OPPL-‐BoT meeting, we have the situation where the OPPL-‐BoT has used nonexistent policies as an excuse to rob Dan Kleinman of his first amendment right to speak in a public meeting and address a public body. This is certainly an unreasonable restriction of his rights under the OMA. I ask that the PAC finally address the matter of the improper “ratify and affirm” session held on March 17th and the fact that the OPPL-‐BoT continues to violate the law month after month by attempting to enforce improperly passed policies that all stem from that illegal meeting of February 12th. Additionally, yet again Beth Gierach has been seated as a Board Member and was allowed to vote on items for final action at the 5/19/14 Board Meeting. You recall that Gierach has never been properly appointed to the Board and has never taken a proper oath of office. This is because Gierach was initially appointed to the Board on 2/12/14 at the illegal meeting and then her appointment was “ratified and affirmed” on 3/17/14 improperly…with no recital or deliberation ever done on her appointment and no oath of office ever taken by her at a proper Open Meeting that is convenient to the public. Gierach is, to this day, not a properly appointed Board Member but yet she continues to be seated and cast votes illegally at all OPPL-‐BoT meetings. I will continue to complain about this month after month and challenge all of her votes until the PAC finally determines the legal status of Gierach’s appointment. Respectfully submitted and electronically signed, Megan Fox
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