Seeking to avoid allegations that McHenry County Conservation District trustees violated the state Open Meetings Act, the board Thursday discussed increasing the number of board members from five to seven.
Roger Stelle, conservation district attorney, said state law says a “majority of a quorum cannot discuss business outside of the meeting.”
In the district’s case, a majority is two. If there were seven board members, at least two members could talk about business.
“Every one of us was investigated up to three times last years thanks to (state Rep.) Cal Skinner,” said Board President Ken Koehler. “Because of comments made during a meeting, he assumed we had talked beforehand. It cost taxpayers thousands of dollars (in legal fees.)”
Skinner often attended conservation district board meetings last fall while the district discussed and eventually voted to issue $5 million in bonds for land acquisition.
