Despite protests from the mayor that they were usurping his powers of appointment, the Crystal Lake City Council voted to appoint several members to a newly restructured Economic Development Committee.
The committee has been a bone of contention each time it has been brought up at City Council, and Tuesday’s meeting was no different.
On Tuesday, in a 3-1 vote, with Mayor Robert Wagner the dissenter, the council approved the appointments.
Wagner objected to the motion made by Councilman Aaron Shepley, saying that the council did not have the authority to make those appointments, but rather that they fall under the jurisdiction of the mayor.
Shepley insisted that the motion go to a vote, stating that if the mayor proves himself correct, the members could be recalled, but in the interim, the Economic Development Committee would be a viable organization.
The City Council disbanded the Economic Development Committee on June 19. Although members were invited to reapply for their seats, many chose instead to resign from the committee.
The committee has since been in limbo pending the official appointment of new members and a few who returned.
Shepley, like Wagner, is an attorney, and he said that under Illinois law, you can take away a mayor’s power to appoint and give it to the council at-large with respect to advisory boards not created by statute.
Wagner asked City Atty. John Cowlin to check with the Illinois Municipal League to verify his contention that the council was illegally usurping his authority.
