The Sangamon County Board decided to punt at its Oct. 13 meeting on the idea of moving the board’s monthly meeting from Tuesday to Wednesday so as not to conflict with Springfield City Council.
A trio of Democrats proposed the move: recently appointed District 12 board member Sheila Feipel, outgoing District 18 board member Sam Cahnman and District 23 board member Tony DelGiorno. Feipel is being challenged for her seat by Republican Joel Oschwald, Cahnman was defeated in the primary by fellow Democrat and political newcomer Miguel Valente and DelGiorno is facing the county’s sole write-in candidate, Patricia Lynn Hayes, this November.
The resolution cites how most residents of Sangamon County reside in Springfield, and thus “the County Board by meeting at almost the exact same time as the Springfield City Council makes it nearly impossible for 58.2 (%) of the county’s residents to watch or express public comments at the meetings of both their city and county government.”
Board members approved a proposal by District 9 board member Tom Madonia Jr. to have the board’s ad hoc rules committee review the proposal before any final votes are taken.
Chairman Andy Van Meter, who represents District 24 and chairs the ad hoc rules committee, said changing the meeting time requires additional bureaucratic legwork.
“Well, different days of the week pose other scheduling conflicts for members of the public as well,” Van Meter said. “There’s a lot of church meetings on Wednesday night; it’s a complicated issue best addressed by the ad hoc committee.”
Before the decision was sent over to the county committee, Don Hanrahan, an environmental advocate and member of the Coalition for Springfield’s Utility Future, implored the board to reconsider its meeting time.
“These meeting times that are together can be exploited when there’s public engagement on multiple issues – sensitive issues – I can’t imagine it’s always an accident, but even if it is, it sure does look bad,” Hanrahan said. “Public meeting best practices and the spirit of our state open meeting laws emphasize planning for accessibility, fairness and the right of all parties to be heard, so scheduling meetings on the same days and times risks reducing public participation, limiting oversight and undermining the democratic process.”
Meeting times have become a point of contention for county government bodies lately, with the Sangamon County Mental Health Board facing monthly complaints about its 3 p.m. meeting time.
