From the South Suburban Herald News Online:

Fay wants to know who complained

December 3, 2006
By CATHERINE ANN VELASCO STAFF WRITER
PLAINFIELD -- Village Trustee Paul Fay has sent a letter to the Illinois attorney general's office, saying he should be given the names of the people who complained to the office alleging Open Meetings Act violations made by some trustees, including Fay himself, in 2005.

On village letterhead dated Oct. 31, Fay wrote: "I respectfully request the names of the complainants in this case be released to me, and the board of trustees of the village. I believe that in so doing, it can be clearly demonstrated that the complaints leveled against us last year were instigated for defamation and political adversity."

He said the disclosure of the names "is clearly in the best interest of the public, most especially to the citizens of Plainfield. ... I am quite certain that there is a direct connection of a certain elected official, his personal contacts, his wife, and a reporter to cause harm to other officials."

In Fay's letter, he indicated that he has spent countless hours trying to get a response from the attorney general's office.

On Nov. 3, Terry Mutchler, public access counselor for the office, wrote to Fay, saying his request under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act for the names was denied.

"While the content of the complaints would be available to you, as I have previously indicated in telephone conversations ... the Act authorizes a public body to withhold from release 'information revealing the identity of persons who file complaints with or provide information to administrative, investigative, law enforcement or penal agencies,'" she wrote.

2005 case
On June 12 of this year, Mutchler sent the village board a letter describing what the attorney general's office said were violations in 2005.
The attorney general's office recommended the board undergo training related to the Open Meetings Act. Mayor Jim Waldorf and Trustee Bill Lamb attended training held at Plainfield High School-Central Campus. However, the other trustees did not attend. Lamb was not on the board when the violations occurred.

Mutchler said the trustees violated the Open Meetings Act twice in June 2005 by discussing a trustee appointment and a joint letter to the editor of a local newspaper in closed session, and by calling an emergency meeting to deal with the resignation of a village administrator.

In a closed session June 13, 2005, Trustees Jeffrey Dement, Jim Racich, Michael Collins, Fay and Walter Manning told Waldorf that they would support his plan commission appointments and the renewal of then-Village Administrator Terry Burghard's contract if Waldorf would recommend former Trustee Steve Thomson for a vacant seat on the board, according to a public letter the five trustees wrote. Thomson was the next highest vote-getter in the April 2005 election.

Waldorf's refusal to accept their terms prompted the trustees to write a letter to a local newspaper objecting to the mayor's application process for filling the vacant seat.

Trustees said they did not violate the Open Meetings Act in writing the letter because no more than two trustees met at a time. Mutchler said the board violated the act by discussing the trustee appointment and letter in closed session.

Fay declined to comment on his Oct. 31 letter.

"I'm pursuing an appeal with the attorney general's office," Fay said Friday night.

However, Mutchler said she has received calls from the public expressing concerns that the names will be released.

"They stated that they were fearful that we would release their names to the public and asked whether that was our policy," she wrote in an e-mail to The Herald News. "Citizens said they called us because the village indicated during a public meeting that the attorney general's office released names of complainants.

"This is false. Our office did not and has not provided the names of the complainants in this case. However it is critical to note that the content of the complaints would be available if somebody asks for those," she wrote.

"The tone of the trustee's letter underscores the need for the exemption. He wants to go shoot the messenger instead of discussing the merits of the complaint," said attorney Don Craven, general counsel for the Illinois Press Association.

Fay's letter
Waldorf and trustees contacted by The Herald News said they didn't know that Fay had sent the recent letter.
"I could only imagine one motive for it. Beyond that, I don't have any comment," Waldorf said. "That issue was settled. ... I can't imagine bringing up the topic after all the embarrassment they experienced."

Waldorf said the village board didn't discuss sending out the Oct. 31 letter.

"I think it certainly has impact when it is on letterhead from the village itself," Waldorf said. "I probably wouldn't have used village letterhead because it makes it seem like an official document."

Lamb said he doesn't know what Fay is trying to do with the letter.

"I think we have some important issues in front of us -- how we handle growth and revenue issues. This, I think, is a distraction and not productive for us and throws the village in the bad light. That kind of publicity we don't need. We are too good of an organization to have that keep plaguing us," Lamb said.

"As far as I'm concerned -- it is history," Manning said. "As far as I'm concerned it's a dead issue."

Dement said he didn't do anything illegal regarding the letter that the trustees signed in 2005.

"I know in my heart that I didn't do anything wrong. ... I was talking to one trustee," Dement said. "To me, it's a done deal. As far as I'm concerned, I moved on. I don't look out the rearview mirror. I look out the windshield."