The Illinois attorney general’s Public Access Bureau is considering a request to review if the tollway board followed the Open Meetings Act at a recent session.
Daily Herald file
The Illinois attorney general’s office is considering a request to review whether the tollway board violated the Open Meetings Act when members came out of executive session and into open session Thursday.
The action was prompted by a request from the Daily Herald to the attorney general’s Public Access Bureau.
Illinois directors went into executive session early in the meeting, at which point employees, visitors and a Daily Herald reporter left the board room.
About 50 minutes later, the board resumed the open session but did not announce this to people waiting outside.
The Daily Herald returned to the room as directors were leaving and learned the meeting was over. Directors had voted on contracts worth about $40 million, a construction change order for $3.2 million and a controversial $25 million legal settlement.
Tollway officials said that after finishing the executive session, the board re-engaged the livestream meeting video and returned to the public session.
“All of the board action to approve the items on the August board agenda took place in a public session on the live video stream,” spokeswoman Joelle McGinnis said.
“It was live for anybody to watch, and then the recording was made public immediately after the meeting was adjourned.”
On Thursday, the Daily Herald asked the Public Access Bureau to review if the agency’s actions had deviated from the requirements of the Open Meetings Act.
Assistant Attorney General Katherine Goldsmith said the bureau had opened a file on the request and would review it.
Meanwhile, tollway Board Chairman Arnie Rivera will “affirm the action taken at the August meeting at the next meeting” in September, McGinnis said.