CARTERVILLE (WSIL) � After more than three years, John A. Logan College releases the recording of an illegal closed-door meeting.
Brandi Husch was the student trustee on the John A. Logan College board in 2016 when the board laid off 55 employees.
"This place is completely different already. Its like walking through a funeral home," Husch said of the environment on campus as the college mulled layoffs in the meeting. "I’m the one walking through these hallways everyday. I’m the one having to see people losing their jobs and not being able to feed their families."
She posted a photo amid the budget impasse, criticizing the College of DuPage for past financial decisions, but trustee Bill Kilquist interpreted the post as an attack on the John A. Logan College board.
"You want to tell us about bad decisions? I got a whole stack of bad decisions," Kilquist said, referencing a copy of Husch’s legal history
For several minutes, the attacks continued.
"What are you doing to change students� lives? Looks like a mugshot to me," Kilquist said about the photo.
Kilquist wasn’t the only one. Husch said trustee Jake Rendleman criticized her for suggesting cuts elsewhere.
"I knowÌýyou’re young, you don’t understand, you can go out and play, but I’ve been around," Rendleman said. "I’ve been around the block a few times."
Kilquist, the current board chairman, said in a statement that it was a stressful time because of the budget impasse, and he was upset by Husch’s criticism of the board.
"That night I tried to defend those that had worked so hard, and had given so much to the college," said Kilquist. "If I overreacted to the point that my words offended Miss Husch or anyone else, I apologize."
He also maintains the college did nothing wrong.
"I will continue to differ with the AG’s opinion that the Board was in violation of the Open Meetings Act because our discussion was about the pending personnel decisions, although perhaps not with the specificity they say was required," Kilquist said.
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Husch said she doesn’t think Kilquist’s apology is enough.
I have been accused of doing many things by the John A. Logan Board of Trustees and their attorneys. Those accusations include: violating the sanctity of an executive session, using questionable discretion, throwing the board "under the bus," and jeopardizing funding for the college, among others.Ìý
I want to first address the sign that I held and posted on social media that prompted Bill Kilquist’s personal attack. The sign did not name John A. Logan College. Therefore, Mr. Kilquist’s statements that my sign "threw the board under the bus" and "threatened funding for the college" are dishonest and serve only to divert attention from the fact that he behaved inappropriately and felt personally threatened by a general statement. Mr. Kilquist felt threatened enough to research my personal history, finding my former married name, which I had never used while attending JALC. If you are wondering how he accessed that information, you are not alone. How did the former Jackson County Sheriff find that information? That is a question I have not yet been able to answer. Yes, this was a stressful time, but does that justify the extensive premeditated research and then attack of a student? Is that a valid and acceptable response to a stressful situation on the part of an elected official? Every college and university in the state was under the same stress and financial burden, but only JALC’s Board responded by laying off 55 employees and personally attacking a student trustee into silence into silence, as Chairmanâ€� Brewer’s remarks indicating that I had been speaking too much seemed clearly designated to do. Kilquist has insufficiently tried to apologize "if" his words offended me. I would like to point out that his wordsâ€� only intent were to shame and intimidate me. Kilquist claims that he had no intention of violating the OMA; if that were the case, why didn’t he make his comments during the open sessions that evening? I would guess that is because he knew that it was unethical and inappropriate to do so.Ìý
I would also like to speak to the Board’s destruction of the recording of the meeting in question. It is clear that the destruction was not illegal, but it was certainly unethical. Bill Kilquist has equated the Attorney General’s office to a student who turned in their homework late. I would respond that he is like a student who never read the assignment at all. The AG’s office did not have a time constraint to make their determination because it was not a binding opinion. If the JALC board had any questions, all they had to do was call the AG’s office; indeed, I have done so on several occasions and always received a quick and correct response. The Board, or their attorney, could also have read section 3.5 of the OMA, which they seem unfamiliar with.Ìý
The reason there are still "rumors", "social media posts",Ìýand "coffee shop talk" is because the Board has tried to justify and validate their unethical behavior in every conceivable way. It is as if they are so used to being able to intimidate individuals that they no longer recognize how unethical and illegal it is. The only reason I was able to stand up against this normal behavior is because my, or my family’s, employment was not in jeopardy. This has to change, and it starts with holding Board members accountable. Bill Kilquist’s attempt at an apology does not satisfy that immediate need in any way.
