Outgoing Downers Grove Township Clerk Laura Hois can't claim a taxpayer-funded pension based on the township board's earlier approval of such a pension because the board didn't approve it in the first place, a public advocacy group argues.
In a recent article on its Illinois Leaks website, the Edgar County Watchdogs (ECW) pointed out that at the original meeting in question, on Oct. 4, 2012, the Downers Grove Township board listed revisiting salaries and benefits on its agenda. It did not list a vote on giving an Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) pension to the clerk.
On Sept. 15, 2016, the board voted against granting the clerk a pension for the four-year term that begins this year.
"However, later in the same meeting, the Board approved a resolution 'acknowledging' that the Board, in October of 2012 (minutes), approved IMRF for the Clerk (and others)," the ECW posted. "Based on that, this Board, in Sep 2017, approved a resolution authorizing IMRF for the Town Clerk for the 2013-2017 term. All present voted in favor except for Trustee Cuthbert, who voted “nay” – and incidentally, is the only person who voted correctly."
The ECW contends that since the board couldn't have voted to approve the pension in 2012, it can't retroactively make it available to Hois, who was serving as clerk at the time.
The board followed up on the September 2016 meeting in October and voted to "rescind, repeal and annul the resolution" and to deny the pension for the township clerk. The vote received three "aye" votes, making it a legal vote.
"The short version of what happened here is that Laura Hois tried to ram-rod IMRF, and backdate it, for herself under the guise that it was previously approved in a set of minutes from 2012," the Illinois Leaks article says. "However, nothing was on the agenda to vote on for that meeting, leaving any vote VOID."
In the comment section of the website, a "Laura Hois" responded to the article.
"This article is all wrong," the writer says. "The truth is, I am not receiving a pension as Town Clerk, and there is no 'void ordinance.' No taxpayer dollars, NONE, have been paid to me for IMRF. See all agendas and minutes on dgtownship.com. One may not 'correct' the minutes to reflect a change in position or viewpoint that was changed after the meeting. Yet, that is exactly what Trustee Cuthbert is trying to do. October 2012 was over 4 years ago! He and Trustee (Greg) Boltz don’t like that I am running for Township Assessor; so they engage in political retaliation."
Hois recently lost to Boltz in the race for Downers Grove township assessor.
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