CAHOKIA, IL. (ECWd) –
OK. So we have finally seen a tactic never before used against citizens and their right to attend meetings where they can see and hear the deliberations occurring during public meetings. Although this tactic is not by itself a violation of law, it exposes the snakes for what they are and shows how far Cahokia and Commonfields will stoop to keep citizens from attending meetings.
We attended the Commonfields of Cahokia board meeting in June where the board room was not even close to being large enough to accommodate those wising to attend the meeting. Prior to the meeting I sent a notice of a large group who planned on attending the meeting and demanded they move it to a larger area to accommodate the crowd.
One place they could have moved it to was the Village of Cahokia board room.
Commonfileds refused to move, and stated they had no plans on moving in the future no matter how many people attend.
In an effort to claim there is no other meeting space available to move to, the City of Cahokia conveniently moved its meeting days and times to mirror those of the Commonfields – thinking it would keep Commonfields from moving to a larger space.
That move will fail as there are plenty of larger spaces within the Commonfields building, and if all else fails, out in the parking lot in front of the water district.
There is another meeting this Wednesday and I have again requested they move to a larger space. I do not expect them to comply, and will take preemptive legal action (as the Open Meetings Act authorizes under Section 3(a)) for the next meeting should Commonfields continue to meet in a place too small for public attendance.
The Chairman of Commonfields Water Board and the Mayor of Cahokia are father and son.
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1 Comment
Dave
Posted at 12:42h, 11 JulyThat begs the question…. What do they fear by allowing the public access to the meeting? They apparently have malfeasance to hide or they would be transparent.