Du Page County County Board Size Working Group met July 7.
Here is the minutes provided by the group:
1. CALL TO ORDER
11:30 AM meeting was called to order by District 1 Ashley Selmon at 11:32 AM.
2. ROLL CALL
PRESENT: Hart, Healy, Noonan, Ozog, Rutledge, Selmon
ABSENT:
Also in attendance, Members Chaplin and DeSart.
3. CHAIRMAN'S REMARKS - CHAIR SELMON
Chair Selmon welcomed the Group members back and reminded all what the goals of the Group are moving forward. First to review the data collected since the first meeting and the survey responses gathered from Board members.
4. MINUTES APPROVAL
A. County Board Size Working Group - Regular - Jun 30, 2020 10:30 AM
RESULT: ACCEPTED AS AMENDED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Greg Hart, District 3
SECONDER: Sheila Rutledge, District 6
AYES: Hart, Healy, Noonan, Ozog, Rutledge, Selmon
5. STAFF PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION
Jon Nelson, Policy and Program director, began with a presentation detailing comparable counties duties and responsibilities. Of the 9 comparable Counties outside Ilinois, the duties and responsibilities vary widely as do the number of Board Members, services provided and annual budgets. Within the State, DuPage County has the third lowest amount of County Board members with populations over 100,000. Member Hart inquired as to what type of Staff the Chairman's counterparts have. Mr. Nelson detailed his findings, specifically from Pierce County, Washington. A more detailed response was difficult to attain from other Counties due to COVID and a reduced workforce. Number of Board Members and their salaries were discussed as well as stipends for serving as a committee chair.
Survey results were brought forward by Chair Selmon. Board Members responding, the hours worked average out to 20 hours per week per member, depending of course on the committee Chaired. A further breakdown of the survey results were requested as well as a request for the results to be shared, with the permission of the responder.
A report must be gathered to be voted on at the final meeting on July 21, 2020. Chair Selmon asked for a show of hands in favor of keeping 18 board members. In favor: Selmon, Hart, Rutledge, Noonan Oppose: Healy, Ozog. The report will be written to keep 18 Board Members. A minority report can be submitted if Members Healy and Ozog would like to write one. The findings will be presented to the Board.
Committee consolidation and restructuring was raised as a concern with all members of the Group in agreement.
State statute for district representation by a Board member was discussed. Single member, multi member or at large representation, as well as redistricting, was clarified by ASA McCarthy
A. Presentation
a. Meeting Handout
1. County Board Size Working Group Presentation
6. PUBLIC COMMENT
Assistant State’s Attorney, Conor McCarthy, read the public comments submitted electronically for this meeting. Mr. Nick Mastro submitted a comment in support of reducing the size of the Board to 12 and redraw the districts. Mr. Edgar Pal submitted a comment in support of surveying current Board Members to better understand their workload. Mr. Pal went on to say that he supports a plan to reduce the number of members per district and to divide the County into at least 9 districts.
7. ADJOURNMENT
http://dupage.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=15&ID=7310&Inline=True
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