Winnetka Park Board debates what is an absence, vacancy

What would it take for Winnetka Park Board to declare one of its seats vacant?

That question was the focus of a discussion at the Park Board’s regular meeting on Thursday, Sept. 26, as commissioners debated how specific the board’s manual should be in the event one of them misses repeated meetings without an excused absence.

Commissioners were initially scheduled to vote on amending the Park Board’s Policy Manual at the meeting, but due to the number of amendments discussed, they decided to table a final vote on the changes to the next scheduled regular meeting on Oct. 24.

Current board policy states that a commissioner who misses meetings for at least two consecutive months or at least eight meetings in a calendar year faces a hearing to determine if their seat should be declared vacant. Staff are proposing changing this to at least three consecutive months or six meetings in a year.

Another proposed change states that if a commissioner leaves a meeting without giving two hours’ advance notice, they will be declared absent from that meeting.

This would be a change from the current policy, which says a commissioner is only considered present if they stay for the entire length of the meeting.

Multiple commissioners had issues with the proposed change.

Commissioner Colleen Root said she thought the proposed new language was too strict and questioned if the change was necessary.

“I think, as a volunteer board, we need to be understanding, and I don’t see that we have had difficulty with this particular issue, at least during my tenure,” she said.

Commissioner Cynthia Rapp said she was concerned with how the proposed language would impact someone if they were running late to a meeting and the parking lot is full.

Park District Executive Director Shannon Nazzal said that anyone who is late to a meeting will not be declared absent under the proposed policy.

“So, if there is a reason that someone is late, whether it’s kids, or parking, or a Zoom call, whatever the case may be, it doesn’t indicate any absences from being tardy to a meeting,” she said.

Board Vice President James Hemmings had concerns about the requirement that commissioners had to provide a reason for their early departure from a meeting.

“Why do we need to have that? Why can’t I just say I’m not going to be there after 8:30?” he asked. “Do I have to tell you I’m going to take my child to the hospital? Do I have to tell you I’m taking my wife to dinner?”

Board President Christina Codo said the “reasons for the departure” were included as a courtesy.

“No one needs to be nosy, but it’s a courtesy, especially if you’ve made a commitment to attend board meetings,” she said, later adding that a commissioner can say they have to leave early for “personal reasons,” which would not penalize them.

Hemmings also asked if a commissioner said they “may” be absent from a meeting, if that would count as an absence or not.

Nazzal said it would not be counted as an absence if that phrasing was used.

“If you don’t depart, it’s a moot issue, and if the commissioner does depart, then they have given advance notice,” she said.

How long should a commissioner be present?

Another suggestion from Root was changing the number of meetings a commissioner is present for to length of time at a meeting. Her idea was to state that a commissioner must be present for at least 50 percent of the meeting.

“So, what we’re doing here is we’re recognizing we have parents, we have traveling board members, we have people that share cars,” Root said. “And it just seems to me we don’t need to be so bureaucratic and so byzantine.”

Codo supported Root’s idea, but suggested changing the amount of time spent at a meeting to 75 percent, calling that “an average performance.”

She also said she does not believe this will be an issue for the Park Board.

“I just want to stress that I don’t envision anyone on this board falling under any discipline because of this,” she said. “It would take a lot of missing of things for people to become very concerned about someone’s ability to do their job to declare a vacancy.”

Nazzal did say that park district staff considered using a percentage instead of a number of meetings, but there was concern that number would be difficult to track since not all meetings are the same length.

In response, Codo said the Park Board will not declare an absence in that situation.

“The reason I’m doing that is because the board still retains the discretion to discipline fellow board members with regard to consecutive missing of board meetings,” she said. “That’s the other extreme. It’s the more flexible.

“I do think that if you come to 51 percent of the meeting and you leave consistently, that’s cause for concern. I really do. But that’s not a problem that we’ve had.”

In addition to setting a time limit for attendance at meetings and requiring advance notice of departures, commissioners also expressed support for adding a line that states a commissioner can be present in person or electronically in accordance with the Open Meetings Act.

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