Hinsdale D86 Prevails In Taco Grill Meeting Complaint

HINSDALE, IL – Hinsdale High School District 86 board members can keep getting together at Westmont's Taco Grill or anywhere else.

That's according to the Attorney General's Office.

But there's one condition: The board cannot discuss district business during such unadvertised meetings.

Last week, the Attorney General's Office rejected a complaint filed by Patch against the board. Patch alleged a potential violation of the state Open Meetings Act when three members met at Taco Grill earlier this month.

On July 11, district resident Yvonne Mayer took a photo of board President Catherine Greenspon, Vice President Peggy James and member Jeff Waters at Taco Grill together after a board meeting.

The three members told the Hinsdalean weekly newspaper that they did not talk about public business. Greenspon told the publication she had taken part in such meetings before.

The trio make up a majority of a quorum of the seven-member board. If they speak about district business, it must be in an advertised meeting under the open meetings law.

In a letter last week to Patch, Matthew Rogina, senior assistant attorney general, said the media outlet provided no evidence that the members discussed public business at the restaurant.

Because Patch had no facts backing its allegation, Rogina said his office determined that no further action was warranted.

It is hard to prove that governing body members are discussing public business. Without members' permission, it would be illegal to record their discussions outside advertised meetings.

Asked about the letter, Jamey Dunn-Thomason, a spokeswoman for the attorney general, said the Open Meetings Act does not bar members of public bodies from socializing.

"If they choose to do so, they should be mindful that their discussions avoid topics of public business that could violate OMA if they occur outside of meetings open to the public," she said.

The district's spokesman, Andrew Mayster, had no comment about the attorney general's letter.

In 2021, Patch obtained text messages showing that four members of the seven-member Burr Ridge Village Board met secretly with a developer three years earlier. It was possible that the developer may have business before the board down the road.

In the text messages before the meeting, then-Mayor Mickey Straub suggested it may violate the open meetings law. He asked for then-Trustee Zach Mottl's advice.

Mottl explained that it was fine, as long as there was no current board issue. In the 2021 story, Mottl said his advice was wrong and that he regretted the meeting.

As for District 86, Mayer, the resident who took the photo, filed a complaint earlier this year with the attorney general on the district's hiring of a new law firm, Chicago-based Robbins Schwartz, without seeking other firms' proposals.

For months, board members spoke about a competitive process for seeking a new firm. An interim superintendent explained that procedure at two board meetings in January.

Later in the second January meeting, the board hired Robbins Schwartz, despite the interim superintendent talking about the competitive process.

Under state law, Mayer said the board must discuss the process of selecting a law firm in public. The board jumped from wanting a request for proposals to choosing a firm without competition.

She alleged the switch was the result of an Open Meetings Act violation. The district denied that.