ORLAND PARK, IL. (ECWd) –
In a splendid effort to justify the unjustifiable, Dennis Walsh of Klein, Thorpe, and Jenkins Law Offices, wrote several slime filled pages of “justifications” on why Lincoln’s Birthday was not a holiday in Illinois when it comes to public meetings. This will turn out to be an epic failure at justifying the Orland Park Public Library’s illegal February 12 special meeting.
He appears to have forgotten a few things, and one of those is the skillful investigative work of Megan Fox, of “Story Time With Megan Fox” and “PJMedia“, who was informed of a book co-written by Mr. Walsh entitled “The Sunshine Laws – Open Meetings and Freedom Of Information Acts“.
This book not only has Mr. Walsh as a co-author, the other 8 authors all work for the same law firm: Klein, Thorpe, and Jenkins. The book was written by them and is distributed through the Illinois Municipal League to assist and educate local governments on OMA and FIOA to keep them out of trouble with the law.
When this book referenced special meetings on “legal holidays” it specifically references the Bank Holiday Act as the source for determining what the Illinois legal holidays are. Yes, it also says you cannot hold a special meeting on those days mentioned in the Bank Holiday Act.
On their website (HERE) it is listed as a manual, and is sold thru the Illinois Municipal League (for $12.00) – there are several other manuals listed, I wonder if they have some of the same problems that this one has, or if he has argued against things written in them also.
Which leads me to a few questions:
1. How can he take several pages to argue on behalf of the OPPL in claiming Feb 12 is not a legal holiday, even going so far as to throw out the notion that the Bank Holiday Act is not the correct one to reference?
2. What will the public officials that have purchased this book think when they learn that he is now arguing in direct contradiction to his own book, and one produced by the law firm he works for?
3. Should he voluntarily search out all purchasers of the book, recall it, and refund their money?
4. Did he realize he was up against a “Mom with a Mission” (Megan Fox)?
See below:
Co-authored by Dennis Walsh
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3 Comments
George Emmons
Posted at 09:36h, 26 MarchMore legal arguments and excuses. This is exactly what got Illinois into the mess it is in right now. Never mind that his arguments are conflicted with prior statements. He’s counting on you being too dumb to figure it out. Guess he miscalculated. A real jerk for sure.
beelady
Posted at 22:46h, 25 MarchThis guy is a hot mess! Did he pass the bar? I really wonder how many times it took…
SafeLibraries
Posted at 22:19h, 25 MarchHere is some of what Walsh said in his 14 March 2014 letter to the AG so we can contrast to what is in the book Walsh wrote that says basically the opposite.
“Thus, it must be noted that any suggestion by Ms. Fox and/or other individuals that the list of legal holidays set forth in the Promissory Note and Bank Holiday Act (the ‘Bank Holiday Act’) is also intended to be the ‘legal holiday’ schedule for the Open Meetings Act fails to recognize two basic yet and [sic] important, [sic] tenets of statutory construction which are utilized in the State of Illinois and the United States….
“…. Indeed, to impose a specific list of ‘legal holidays’ for which banks can but are not obligated to remain closed under the Bank Holiday Act when no such language is found in the Open Meetings Act would violate fundamental principles of statutory construction and would amount to an unwarranted intrusion into the legislative function.
“…. Had the legislature intended to have certain prescribed legal holidays or the holidays found in the Bank Holiday Act apply also to the Open Meetings Act, it could and would have done so as it has in other statutes. There is simply nothing in either Act that suggest or implies that the term ‘holiday’ under the Open Meetings Act should have the same meaning as those listed in the Bank Holiday Act.
“…. The legislature could not have meant that the holiday schedule set out in the Bank Holiday Act is also intended to apply under the Open Meetings Act because not only did the legislature not define it that way under the Open Meetings Act as they did under other state statutes, but under the Bank Holiday Act every Saturday afternoon and evening is considered half a ‘holiday’ and if any of the holidays fall on a Sunday, the following Monday is also to be considered a ‘holiday’. It would be an act of intellectual dishonesty to conclude that the legislature meant that such a schedule should also apply to all Illinois public bodies operating under the Open Meetings Act.
“…. Suggesting now that the Orland Park Board of Library Trustees violated the Open Meetings Act when it conducted business on February 12, 2014 is without any statutory support in the Act and ignores the fundamental principles of statutory construction.”