Public Comments — Agenda Related

District 502 Citizens

Jan Shaw– asks the audience to stand up and say the Pledge of Allegiance. Asks the BoT to add the Pledge of Allegiance to meetings.

Kathy Hamilton — 9B4 — addendum to President’s Contract.

To award a golden parachute to Dr. Bureder today is nothing other than a wanton betrayal of our constituents and our students. Instead we should show Dr Brueder the door — based on last week’s Tribune story. (COD employed radio engineer despite theft conviction)

This comes after months of stonewalling no-confidence votes and revelations of mismanagement and improprieties.

It comes after a bizarre secret trip to DuPage County Circuit Court — about which I knew nothing –where this community college said Brueder’s embarrassment outranked our taxpayers and the First Amendment, and therefore the court should seal records that would tell taxpayers how their money was spent.

The voyage ended in disaster– and further embarrassment. Thanks to the Tribune, the law prevailed, by a judge who said, in effect, “This is America, own up to your taxpayers.

I was ashamed for our school when I learned that in the Tribune article Dr. Brueder would do us a service were he to resign — and pick up the tab for taking us to court without briefing the Trustees.

John Valenta, the convict who worked here, ignored our policies that Dr. Brueder was paid to implement.

Valenta circumvented procedures we paid Brueder to enforce. Basic management broke down — for years.

A conviction was ignored. Valenta’s salary was bumped up. A departure bonus was awarded meaning not only are our taxpayers out whatever Valenta converted under Dr. Brueder’s nose but Dr. Brueder tagged state taxpayers in perpetuity for Valenta’s enriched pension.  Accountability, is Dr. Brueder answering for this?

But instead, this Board falls over itself to give him a golden handshake. Here tonight, taxpayers do not count. Insiders do. We saw that with Valenta then, and we see it with Brueder now.

My fellow Trustees see this very differently. That is their right. I say no to the golden parachute and yes to getting rid of Dr. Brueder. Let’s leave it to voters to decide what they want on this Board and all of us can go from there.

Adam Andrejewski– Founder of OpentheBooks.com

Tonight I am speaking to Brueder’s contract extension. Today we learned that the Board secretly negotiated a lump sum severance package.

This should be tables. A full cost study of this extension should be done.

If this happens, he will make  1.4 million dollars over the next 6 months.  This will increase Brueder’s lifetime pension payment, obligating taxpayers all over the state.

Chair Birt, this is the problem when you hide negotiation s. This is gaming the system. This is corruption unfolding before our very eyes.

The last 7 contract extensions were done in violation of the  Illinois Open Meetings Act. They were not done in public meetings with an agenda.

I urged the Trustees to stop and think.

Stop, look and listen to your stakeholders.

Laura Reigle  8B2 — Financial Statement — Imprest funds.

How many people here would condone waste, fraud on taxes — by COD? Hold up your hands?  I see no one is.

Taxpayers do not find it acceptable to use their taxes wrongly. Which is precisely while critics of this administration have been coming to meeting. They care enough to stay here until midnight to let Trustees know about things that they do not know about.

For example how many Trustees know about P cards?

Last month I let you know about 2 FOiA requests made to the College. One regarding Waterleaf, the other for a complete list of all accounting codes with descriptions used by the College. You BoT are here to make sure waste fraud and corruption are not occurring.

Why hasn’t the BoT followed through? Where are the answers to these FOIA requests? Does the BoT want to spend more money on legal action?

In closing, answer all FOIA requests now so there is no additional cost to the taxpayers.

Paul LeForte — my 5th time coming before the BoT. We really have to stop meeting like this.  It took 4 Bot meetings to get all COD expenditures posted to the website.

35,000 on the imprest account

He mentions that it is very unclear what procedures COD uses for bidding or not bidding. on contracts.

Why was lobbying bid on, but not contracts given to Foundation related companies.

In 2010 Brueder posted the Masters Facilities plan for 414 million dollars.

Was there a cost overrun or change orders?  It seems we spent more on it.

How can a Bot and a chair allow an internal e-mail to censure a trustee.

And with an election coming up the Board should keep Dr. Brueder from intervening in the election process the way he did last time when he allowed a story to circulate about a candidate that ruined his campaign?

Ed Francoviak — I have been here for the last few meetings. The Board has always given awards — I am going to present an award that goes towards the imprest accounts — The Washington Post presented the Golden Hammer Award — COD managed to hide more than 95 million dollars..

He mentions the Vote of No Confidence made by faculty..

The payments made to Brueder for his hunting club and satellite phones.

He pulls out a golden hammer and the award in a frame and says it is for Chair Birt and the BoT.

Roger Kempa — one of COD’s own graduates.

This is the 5th meeting I have attended. The public has made suggestions for how to make the meetings more welcoming to the public, district taxpayers, prospective students, etc.  1)Return of the American flag to the Board room. 2) Pledge of Allegiance

Mark Mechik — Wheaton resident.

Notes Brueder’s words in the student newspaper at the beginning of the term. “I hope Santa was good to you.” Santa has been very good to Dr. Brueder.

He then reviews Dr. Brueder’s contract and perks — and notes he is paid more than the Governor of Illinois.  Notes vacations, housing allowance, vacation days, etc.

292 K base salary

SURS — 24K

469,325 dollars per year

Kirk Allen — An agenda to appoint Brueder was an agenda — his initial contract was illegal since it began in 2009. None of the contract extensions are agenda items.

He notes that non of Brueder’s contract extensions have been done legally. This business has been done in closed session. But no action can be taken in a closed session. Any action taken in a closed session can be turned over in the courts.

There are legal requirements for public contracts to be binding. The item must be on the agenda and voted on.

He Outlines the procedure for contractual approval and notes that this procedure was never followed.

Melissa  McKirty 8B3

From the DMIS program. I thank you for allowing me in the program. And I am up for tenure this evening and would like to thank Dean CAmeron.

John Kraft  9B4

Reads e-mail from the COD attorney. “All seating is available on a first-come first-served basis” But tonight I was asked by the police to get out of a seat I was in that had a reserved sign on it.

Broadcast Technology Equipment — 3 people have FOIA ed this information, including the Tribune. Somebody had sealed that information.

Provide documents to the public or you are going to have to answer to the press again.

Speaks to the restrictions on voluminous and repeating requestors FOIA reports and notes that there are exemptions and the BoT needs to know what the laws regarding FOIA requests are because they don’t seem to know them.

Student Trustee Report — Talks about the “Be a Hero” CAmpaign, SLC will register students to organ tissue donors. April 29 will be student advocacy day in Springfield. They are working on getting items on to the agenda.

President’s Report — none.

Consent Agenda–

Hamilton requests items to be removed and discussed separately:

8B1 minutes of 12/18 BoT meeting minutes

and 8B2, Financial Reports  b — Payroll and Accounts Payable Report

Chair Birt asks for motion of approval of all items on the Consent Agenda that have not been removed. Trustee Savage moves. Seconded.

Minutes of BoT meetings including closed sessions.

Bid items –Diagnostic Imaging equipment.Vascular Systems for the sonography program.

Purchase ORders

Personnel Actions (resignations, appointments, terminations)

Construction-Related Items

Construction Change Orders

McGuire asked a question about what an instructional Designer is, as she had no idea what this type of position is.