Township Approves Citizens Group's Agenda, but Things Remain Contentious

It took only two minutes for Wheatland Township Supervisor Todd Morse to make a motion to withdraw the special meeting agenda the township board and its attorney had drawn up and for the board to unanimously approve it. 

Instead, the agenda drafted by an attorney for a residents group demanding more details about the proposed township building prevailed and will be the basis for discussion and voting in a special town meeting set for 7 p.m. May 23. 

“They got an agenda in, and we withdraw our agenda,” Morse said. 

For the last month, the two sides had been bickering over language for the meeting agenda, finally putting forward two separate documents for meetings slated for the same time and place. The township board had approved its own agenda when one was not forthcoming from the residents.

“The electors posted an agenda and that was all that was necessary – it was all they needed to do,” said Trustee Karl Karantonis, who has advocated buying or leasing existing office space instead of building a new $1.5 million town hall.

Citizen group leaders Deb Holscher and Mike Crockett worked with Chicago attorney Doug Ibendahl, former general counsel for the Illinois Republican Party, to draw up an agenda. 

Their agenda seeks approval for a needs assessment study, in which prices for identified needs will be available and an analysis of “viable space options” conducted. It calls for the creation of a space study committee, consisting of township trustees Frank King and Joe Hudetz and three other members to be elected by voters at the May 23 special meeting.

It also includes a provision dictating that the space study committee present its findings to electors at a special meeting no later than Aug. 11. 

Voters who attend the May 23 will vote on these items. 

“I’m glad it was short and sweet,”  Hudetz said. “I’m happy we all agreed."

But the peace did not last long.  

Brenda Morse, Todd Morse's wife, read a statement in which she said that she believed the agenda crafted by the “maverick electorate group” was “not lawful” and that “slanderous statements” had been made.

“They will continue to do it because they believe they can,” she said. 

When it came time to approve April’s bills, Hudetz and Karantonis voted no because they included more than $2,900 in legal fees for the township's legal firm Ancel Glink. Hudetz said he could not approve the bills because the board members did not see itemized legal statements, which he said he has requested in the past.  

Hudetz also said he is uncomfortable with how much the township might ultimately pay for Ancel Glink’s services in drawing up the agenda that the town board discarded in favor of the citizens group's agenda. Those bills have not come in yet. He suggested the board consider retaining a different attorney. 

“It’s a can of worms for the township,” he said.  

Hudetz said he does not trust the quality of the firm’s work, citing the preparation of an agenda for the annual town meeting on April 12 as an example. 

“I don’t trust the quality their work,” he said. “I do think it needs to be examined.” 

Todd Morse read a passage of township code that indicated the supervisor has the authority to retain the township attorney. 

“I, personally, have no problem with Ancel Glink,” Morse said. “I used them because they wrote the township book.” 

Ancel Glink wrote a handbook for Illinois township officials that is commonly used as a reference guide.

As the board retired to an executive session, Holscher was not celebrating. 

“I’m disheartened this has to be so contentious and ugly,” she said, “but I am pleased the people’s agenda was adopted.” 

But the legal battle is not yet over, she said. 

Ibendahl had just called to tell her that Ancel Glink vowed to take the agenda issue to court. 

“The people made significant ground tonight with the board adopting our agenda in its entirety,” Crockett said after the meeting. “Our hope is that between now and the 23rd everything goes smoothly and our plans are not derailed in some manner.”