Confidentiality Vote Raises Suspicions In Bensenville

BENSENVILLE, IL — This week, some residents raised questions about an item on the Bensenville Park District board's agenda. However, the district says it was "generally housekeeping."

On the agenda for Wednesday’s special meeting of the park board, members were to vote on a proposal to keep closed session meeting minutes confidential.

Board President Rich Johnson asked the park board's attorney, Patrick Bond, about the item. Johnson said some suggested the park district was hiding information about the White Pines Golf Club controversy.

An example of this belief was an email forwarded to Patch by the White Pines Community Alliance.

Part of the email read, “Maybe that is why the last motion to be voted on by the Park District's Board … is 'finding confidentiality still exists as to closed session minutes which have not been declassified.' What exactly are certain board members of this PUBLIC GOVERNMENT AGENCY so afraid of?”

The Illinois Open Meetings Act requires public bodies, like the park district, to conduct semiannual reviews of closed session meeting minutes. In these reviews, they determine which ones should remain confidential. This happens all over the state.

In his response, Bond cited the open meetings law.

Johnson also asked Bond why the board just didn't say it was reviewing closed session meeting minutes.

Bond said the Open Meetings Act also requires the agenda items to have reasonable specificity to put the public on notice. Simply putting the item as a review of closed session minutes would not have reasonably put the public on notice, he said.

The board approved the confidentiality.