Merit Commission letter - Part 1

On July 23 Attorney Susan Connor wrote to the Public Access Bureau of the Illinois Attorney General's Office, in response to my complaint about an Open Meetings Act violation that occurred on June 13.

Attorney Connor was not present at the June 13 meeting. Therefore, her letter had to be based on information given to her by someone on the McHenry County Sheriff's Department Merit Commission. The chairperson of the Commission is Janelle Crowley.

The letter contained factually incorrect and false information which I considered defamatory and about which I consulted my attorney. Before I get to the parts that really upset me, let me quote Attorney Connor's defense of the violation.

She wrote, "To be clear, I am not asserting on behalf of the Commission that the Chair's advising Mr. Philpott that he could not photograph (more than he already had) was necessarily correct, but merely attempting to explain the context in which the Chair ruled on the matter."

Since I had taken only one photograph (and that one from my seat in the room), what do you suppose ("more than he already had") means?

Masterful. A real piece of literary genius that should win a creative-writing award.

Regrettably, her "explanation" was grossly incorrect. Yet I understand that Attorney Connor would have prepared her letter based on information that was given to her. I shall be setting the record straight with the Commission, even though the members who were present know exactly what happened on June 13.

The September Merit Commission meeting has been re-scheduled to (the third) Thursday, September 20, at 9:30AM.