College of DuPage (ECWd) –
“We must pass it to find out what’s in it“… I think we all remember that statement, or something similar, a few years ago.
In a recent document dump from COD, it became painfully clear that Erin Birt, Diane McGuire, Joe Wonzniak, and the others on the “Breuder Board” voted on Breuder’s severance package without knowing what most would consider an important piece of the equation as far as the taxpayers are concerned.
Is it not their responsibility to know what they are voting on, completely, to protect the taxpayer, and be good stewards of taxpayer funds?
An email dated January 26, 2015 (after the first severance vote) from Linda Sands-Vanerk to Erin Birt purported to clear up the issue of whether Breuder participated in SURS:
From: Sands-Vankerk, Linda
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2015 5:27 PM
To: Birt, Erin
Cc: Breuder, Dr. Robert
Subject: Dr. Breuder’s Participation in SURS
Importance: High
Erin,
Please be advised that while Dr. Breuder is a participant in the SURS retirement plan, he elected the Self-Managed Plan Option. As such, when he retires, he will not receive the traditional annual pension annuity provided by the state’s pension system. The lump sum payment approved by the Board will be paid for by the College of DuPage and not from the State of Illinois.
The first illegal vote for the Breuder serverance package was January 22nd, 2015. The re-vote was Janaury 28th, 2015, two days after this email.
Hey Erin, you already illegally voted on his package so why would this need answered after-the-fact?
It would appear, based on the timeline, a vote was put forth without knowing who would pay for it.
Did the vote itself violate the Public Community College Act?
These questions will be answered in the coming days.
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