The Skokie Village Board last week released minutes and a recording from a closed meeting one year ago after the Illinois Attorney General ruled the Village Board had violated the state’s Open Meetings Act.
The office of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul sent a letter to the Village Board in January saying it had violated the Open Meetings Act at a Feb. 21, 2023 meeting when it discussed a multimillion-dollar loan to a hotel in downtown Skokie.
The Open Meetings Act was designed to ensure that the public is aware of their elected officials’ statements and actions.
According to the letter, Skokie Trustee James Johnson, a political independent, submitted a Request for Review to the Attorney General’s Public Access Bureau alleging that the Skokie Board of Trustees violated the Open Meetings Act when it discussed the prospect of $4.5 million loan from the village to the Hilton Hotel development at 4930 Oakton Street and whether the village’s Economic Development Fund could be used to authorize the loan.
On April 13, 2023, the Attorney General’s office received from the village of Skokie a copy of the closed session’s meeting agenda, minutes and recording. The office determined that the board did violate the Open Meetings Act and directed the Village Board to release the meeting minutes and recording to the public.
In response to the Attorney General’s letter, Van Dusen wrote back saying he did not believe the board breached the Open Meetings Act, writing, “The memorandum of the village manager sent to the Board as preparation for the meeting explicitly details these alternatives and they were thoroughly discussed, even so far as the proper interest rate for the village’s investment.”
Van Dusen said the board has a legitimate reason to go into a closed session to discuss economic development surrounding tax increment financing in the village. “The consequences for economic development involving TIF funds in the State of Illinois will be severely hampered if this determination is upheld,” he wrote.
Citing Illinois’s code for exemptions to open meetings involving economic development, Van Dusen wrote, “Municipalities are in need of guidance on the rules for conducting executive sessions. The rules seem to be changing but there is no guidance as in the past.”
The resolution, directed that the meeting minutes from the closed session be made available to the public.
