Palos Hills needs to increase transparency for city council committee meetings

If you want to participate in local city government, city council committee meetings are a good way to start. This is where ideas are discussed and vetted before going to the full city council. Several local city websites do a good job helping citizens by posting not only meeting dates, times and locations, but also by posting committee minutes to help you understand what different committees actually handle.

Lemont

Palos Park

Worth

For Palos Hills residents, it’s unnecessarily difficult to figure out when these committees meet and what they handle. You can click through the Palos Hills website and find information about which elected officials sit on different committees, but you won’t find committee meeting dates and times. You also won’t find any meeting agendas/minutes.

Frustrated that something so basic wasn’t on the Palos Hills website, I called City Hall. I was told the meeting dates/times were posted. I went up to City Hall and started looking at the information available. A nice woman leaned over the counter to ask if I needed help. She directed me to the city council meeting times, which were posted in the far corner of the lobby.

Palos Hills committees meet on a set schedule in the City Council chambers. The dates/times stay the same each month. She explained that the meetings on the 4th week of the month stay the same, even if there are five of those days in a month. For example, a group of city council committees meet on the 4th Thursday or every month, even if there is a fifth Thursday. It’s not the last Thursday of the month, but the 4th Thursday. Here is the committee meeting information posted:

Building & Licenses
City Administration & Golf Course
Community Resources
Economic Development
Emergency Services and Disaster Agency
Finance
Legislation and Ordinances
Parks
2nd and 4th Thursdays
7:00 p.m.

*This seems to be some sort of a group meeting. I was told that all these committees meet on the same evening in the City Council chambers.

Planning
1st and 3rd Mondays
7:30 p.m.

Police and Public Safety
1st Wednesday
7:00 p.m.

Zoning
7:30 p.m. or 8:00 p.m.
As needed

The Police Pension Board is on a different schedule. This committee meets the last Tuesday of January, April, July and October at 7:30 p.m.

A portion of the (5 ILCS 120/) Open Meetings Act states that

“(5 ILCS 120/2.02) (from Ch. 102, par. 42.02)
    Sec. 2.02. Public notice of all meetings, whether open or closed to the public, shall be given as follows:
    (a) Every public body shall give public notice of the schedule of regular meetings at the beginning of each calendar or fiscal year and shall state the regular dates, times, and places of such meetings. An agenda for each regular meeting shall be posted at the principal office of the public body and at the location where the meeting is to be held at least 48 hours in advance of the holding of the meeting. A public body that has a website that the full-time staff of the public body maintains shall also post on its website the agenda of any regular meetings of the governing body of that public body. Any agenda of a regular meeting that is posted on a public body's website shall remain posted on the website until the regular meeting is concluded. The requirement of a regular meeting agenda shall not preclude the consideration of items not specifically set forth in the agenda.”

Palos Hills elected officials need to stop doing the minimum when it comes to citizen participation and government transparency. At one time putting up a list of public meetings in the City Hall lobby might have been enough, but the IL Open Meetings Act clearly includes website requirements for posting public meeting schedules and agenda. A later portion of the act ((5 ILCS 120/2.06) (from Ch. 102, par. 42.06) Sec. 2.06. Minutes; right to speak.) requires public agency committees to keep and post meeting minutes.

Some might argue that city council committee meetings aren’t subject to the Open Meetings Act. According to the Illinois Attorney General’s website, "Public bodies includes, but is not limited to, any entity that is supported in whole or in part by tax revenue or which expends tax revenue.” Palos Hills City Council Committees are both supported by tax revenue and make recommendations to expend tax revenue.

It’s time for Palos Hills elected officials to make our city government more transparent. The ongoing efforts to do the minimum and hope no one notices are not acceptable when there are so many easy ways to be transparent.