Plainfield Park Board: No New Vehicle, and No Public Comment Policy Changes

After signing off on a new budget, the Plainfield Park District board decided against purchasing a Ford C-Max Hybrid, to be used as a pool vehicle by park staff — for now, at least.

Read: Plainfield Park Board Eases Up On Budget Cuts

“After receiving the bids, it was determined by staff that additional research needs to be done before considering the purchase of an additional pool vehicle for the district,” Executive Director Garrett Peck said in a memo to the board. The lowest of three bids came in a $22,491 from Rod Baker Ford in Plainfield.

In a somewhat surprising move, board member Janet Silosky joined fellow commissioners Mary Kay Ludemann and Larry Newton in voting against amending the park district public comment policy, which was approved last month.

Related: Plainfield Park Board Passes New Public Comment Rules

The proposed changes included offering two public comment periods each meeting — one to discuss agenda items, one to discuss other, non-agenda issues — as well as removing the requirement that residents must sign up prior to the meeting in order to speak.

But Ludemann said she felt the policy is still too restrictive, since it contains language that would allow the board president to have a resident removed from a meeting for comments deemed to be abusive or disruptive.

“I’m not comfortable with how we perceive someone’s comment as a reason to remove them,” she said. “I just think it causes more problems than it’s worth.”

Noting that she agreed with Ludemann, Silosky hesitated a moment before casting  a no vote. Although he said he believed the language was reasonable, Hurtado also ultimately voted against the measure, with only Peter Steinys voting yes.

Finally on Wednesday, the board voted 3-2 to allow board members who are unable to physically attend a meeting use other means — such as audio or video conferencing — to participate. Board attorney Matt Campbell said board members can attend via other means if they can’t physically be there due to illness, disability or a personal emergency.