The Village of Island Lake is about to violate the Illinois Open Meetings Act. A Village Board meeting is scheduled for tonight at 7:30PM and one of the items on the agenda is an assault weapons ban.
Illinois law requires "public bodies" that maintain a website to post agendas at least 48 hours in advance. As of this morning, no agenda is published on the Village's website.
Could it be that they don't want residents to know that they are thinking about springing an "assault weapons" ban on the town? Not publicizing the meeting would be one way to keep residents in the dark.
Municipalities all over the state, but especially in northern Illinois, are panicking as the date draws near for Gov. Quinn to sign HB0183 into law. Quinn, a Chicago, Democrat, anti-gunner, says he is "studying" the bill. Yeah, sure. Maybe studying how to avoid political suicide if he does sign it (or doesn't).
Local law firms must be licking their chops over the legal fees that HB0183 is generating for them. I've previously called HB0183 "The 2013 Lawyers' Relief & Retirement Act" because of the municipal-law legal work it generates and the defense fees that municipal-law lawyers will earn, as innocent people continue to get hurt in gun-free zones.
Let's say that the City of Woodstock tells people they cannot be armed in the Park on the Square. Let's say there is a shooting there. Then let's say that the victims sue the City of Woodstock for prohibiting them from arming themselves for self-defense. Ka-ching, ka-ching.... just listen to the dollars rolling out of Woodstock into its outside law firm.
Now repeat that scenario all over McHenry County.
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Hey Gus -
The Agenda appears to have been created and publicly posted in physical form in time. Your greater question, as posted on your Blog, is whether or not it was posted on the Village Website "in time". An entirely separate legal standard.
This issue was explored numerous times by the now former "opposition" over the last few years. The OMA and other relevant language in State Statutes does not broadly require 48 hour internet posting simply because a Website exists. It's a requirement ONLY if other various and particular criteria are met, regarding local Ordinance, funding, contracts and employee and/or vendor contracts and job descriptions.
Back in the day, and to our chagrin, Island Lake wasn't required legally to meet that standard for Agenda postings on the website. And still does not.
However, I do believe it's their desire to see that happen going forward, as quickly as it can be arranged. Those who have been attending Meetings are all too well aware of the disarray discovered in the Village's IT system in the wake of the past election, and as on so many other issues; there's an awful lot of work needing to get done by our new Board. This issue being but one.
Currently, there's no violation. In the future, I'm sure this will no longer be an issue one way or the other.
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