A DuPage County judge threw out a lawsuit Tuesday that claimed the County Board violated the state Open Meetings Act when it embraced the expansion of O’Hare International Airport in January.
The board’s resolution was kept secret from all but a handful of amenable board members before Chairman Robert Schillerstrom unveiled it during his opening report Jan. 14. The subsequent 15-2 vote in favor of Chicago’s airport plan reversed years of opposition to the project and led Schillerstrom to lobby at Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s side for a bigger airport and a new highway leading there from the west.
The head of the Elmhurst-based Citizen Advocacy Center, which filed suit in March, said the group is considering an appeal.
“What this decision allows is a complete shell agenda to be put before the public and allows DuPage County–and others–to then go forward and conduct business,” said Terry Pastika, the center’s executive director.
First Assistant State’s Atty. Nancy Wolfe said the ruling does not pave the way for unannounced resolutions in future meetings.
“This ruling addressed the complaint about the resolution that was passed in January,” Wolfe said. “Is it precedent that they don’t have to put anything on their board agenda? No, I would never counsel the board to act in that regard.”
With few exceptions, state law requires public bodies to post their meeting agendas 48 hours in advance. In its suit the center also cited the 4th District Appellate Court in Springfield, which recently ruled that although public bodies may consider new items, they may not take action on them.
But Judge Bonnie Wheaton on Tuesday took the board’s side, ruling its resolution is “not a violation of the Open Meetings Act” and dismissing the suit.
She drew a rhetorical analogy between the O’Hare vote and a snap resolution thanking a county employee for years of service. “Would that be a violation of the Open Meetings Act?” she asked.
“If it’s something that that board votes on, yes,” replied attorney Sarah Klaper.
In response to complaints from several area mayors, DuPage County State’s Atty. Joseph Birkett in February had backed the board’s decision.
Dan Wagner, Schillerstrom’s top aide, called the ruling a vindication. “We were grateful to the court for validating what we already knew,” he said. “It’s just a shame that taxpayers’ time and money had to be wasted on this frivolous issue.”
But board member Yolanda Campuzano (R-Bensenville), who represents the district closest to the airport, said that she was kept in the dark about the resolution until she walked into the DuPage Center Administration Building in Wheaton that day.
“I was appalled that I wasn’t told about it earlier,” she said. “How do I get to my constituents and let them know what’s happening? There was no time for planning or for thinking.”
