Paul Member of thePublic

Board of Director of Veteran’s organization in Wheaton who was a friend of Sgt Robert Miller. Speaks to his loss when Miller waskilled. Talks about the sum ofmoney involved. Talks about the homelessness he has seen among veterans’. Says he spoke with Sgt Miller’s parents on the way here. Asks the BoT to name the building after Sgt. Miller.

Bill Bullrich — DuPage United member. COD is an important public institution and should be operating at the highest levels of transparency and integrity. We at DuPage United were concerned about the process that brought this President to this College. COD must build and rebuild public trust in the community. As you move forward,  it makes little sense to have Dr. Brueder involved in that selection process of the new president.

Mark Kmichek. I am here to speak of my outrage at what the BoT has done — the 762,000 lump sum severance plus the bonus plus the salary and benefits. What a deal for the taxpayes and students! Let’s not forget what he made at Harper. That’s a lot of money Dr. Brueder has made from public service. (He names various events that have outraged him at COD) LEt’s stop this. Let’s look at the best interest of the students and the taxpayers and not the employees.

Glen Ellyn resident of 25 years. Thank you for coming out, everybody. I see a pattern of reaking the public trust and breaking the law. We’re concerned about breaking the law — this is going to come up further. We’re not going to run away. Your proposed compensation  — I don’t think it is going to hold –amounts to 700 per hour for the duration of his time. How many of you here earn that? To those of you who voted for this, make this your last vote. Nobody in this room supports you, BoT. Nobody believes in you. You’ve unified a divided community. There’s little we can do about corruption at the federal level. But we can at this level, and we are not going away. Let’s hold the Trustees accountable until trust is renewed.

Mary  Pakos Human Resource manager. DuPage County property taxpayer. After two hours of listening to public comments, this BoT did not come to its senses. Brueder’s retirement should not come with this lump sum. The BoT has agreed with the exception of Hamilton of giving him Emeritus president after his retirement. Why does he need this status? Brueder is going to assist the college in his replacement?  We don’t need Brueder’s help. We do not need help in finding a clone for Dr. Brueder. We can accept his immediatevoluntary retirement starting today, immediately.

Steve Johnson. Glen Ellyn resident. I have a son now attending COD> I believe in this institution and that’s why I volunteer here. The list of Dr. Brueder’s accomplishments — a list of minutae — to cast him in a good light. Mainly those are accomplishments that are part of his job, that’s what he is paid to do. Let’s talk about public relations. Generated ill will with the Village of Glen Ellyn when that was not needed. And now the former governor distances himself, and tonight we have public speakers lining up to distance themselves from the College. How terrible, Dr. Brueder’s combative confrontational style is unnecessary. He has actually proven himself to be the wrong man for the job. I think the new president needs to have a different style.

Louise Handel — West Chicago, taxpayer and COD student. I am offended and insulted when I hear BoT members blame prior Bot members for past decisions. And those scandals such as what happened with the previous governor happened on your watch. I am concerned thay they feel we owe him something after he leaves. Why do we owe him anything after he leaves? No work, no benefits, he’s done.

Claudia  Freed — no tax dollars should ever be spent on unearned exit packages for public official who leave their position voluntarily.  You know what they call COD now? “Circus of DuPage” We take our citizenship very seriously. It’s very embarrassing to have the student Trustee vote first. All of you are professionals — you will go back to your businesses. We have lost regard for you. We came here with respect for education — we pay our taxes. We don’t get the chance to say “we would like to get money when we leave.” How has this institution gotten so off track?

Katherine Cornell. A long time ago I taught at the College of DuPAge. It was clear to me that our job was to give our students the best education process. We were about providing an outstanding experience for our students. And I haven’t heard anybody say anything about that today. For those of you who will be running for reelection, I advise you to withdraw from the race. I find this extremely disappointing that the responsibilities of the Board have not been carried out. The President reports to the Board. The Board is the boss. But not at the moment.

Frank Falesh. Discusses the confusion around this process. Bruede is given an an outrageous golden parachute. And the faculty has voted no confidence in him. IS the Bot just trying to get rid of him and is willing to pay this outrageous sum. But we are not! And outrageous that he would have a hand in choosing his successor.

Ed Frangoliak. Asks the folks in the crowd to stand up and say the Pledge of Allegiance. (Recites the Pledge and asks the crowd to stand with him and recite it. Audience rises) I have had three sons graduate from COD, went on to NIU. But I don’t have respect for this Board. Not the way they have handled this meeting and previous meetings. This Board has to change. They voted on this now because they knew they would not make it past the April election. This Board 6-1 vote is not even understandable. They did not discuss why the need for this vote. Why do they want to give Brueder this golden parachute. In closing I am sorry, well no, I am not sorry for you.

Paul Bradley.  One piece of the Addendum I would like to point out specifically, Page 2, Item 1C.  that The BoT will observe the decision made in May 013 to name the building after Robert Brueder after his retirement. This time they added the clause about his behavior.  Thiswhole document should have been read to the public, not partially selected bits. When someone leaves an organization, voluntarily or not, they are generally shown to the door immediately. As an employee, he’s been here long enough. You’ve known this since last year. He should have been asked to leave last year when he announced he wanted to retire.

Brian Lambrecht. Chair of DuPAge Libertarians. COD BoT his the buyout from the public. Now people are covering yourselves, so much backpedaling. Tribune says you are under a spell. I’m not buying that. This is corrupt. There is drinking going on at the College — but not the students, this time, it’s the executives. Ten grand on a Xmas party. Why do you BoT members run when the media comes your way. IF you believe in your decisions, why your silence? Three of you won’t be here by May.  In the end we will right the wrong. though positive change is never easy.

Bruce ????  Something bad has happened here. That’s been expressed by many people. It’s been a one-sided message, sincere people, but it’s a monolithic message. I came here to learn. But I didn’t learn if there is more to the story than what the Bot members are allowed to talk about in an open forum. I’ve been on Boards and in situations where I couldn’t tell the whole story. I hope there are good journalists here. I hope the good journalists will find out what more there is to the story and write the last chapter so we the public can learn what else is going on here, that can not be talked about in public. Good journalism I am hoping they are listening in case there is more to the story. There has been a verbal flogging. It’s been painful, the length that has gone on. An expression of anger about the things we want to know. I hope the BoT has the chance to get the rest of the story out.

Bartlett resident — second chance learner. I have had a great time around. When I was 18 I was sick and almost died. But then I came back here later and had a great time. I feel sorry for the young people who earn so little at minimum wage. (Mentions how much the administrators are getting

Part-time employee of COD off campus. I work two part time jobs. I am a returning homemaker. I want to speak as an employee. My third child is here. My youngest. Dr. Brueder gave her the chance with the 3+1 agreements. She is one of the first to graduate. I thank him for pursuing these 3+1 opportunities. This is a wonderful institution. As a parent I am so thankful for this institution. I am so thankful for 5 BoT members. I don’t know the people from Edgar County. That’s far away. Why are they here. What is their purpose. I don’t understand the hate. COD is my choice. We could go to Waubonsee. But we choose COD. I am so proud.

Ross Mackey. Renaming the Homeland Security Building. I want to talk about the damage done to this institution by the killing of one elephant in Botswana and posed with its carcass. This practice is now illegal. Robert Brueder kills an elephant in Botswana and there are no repercussions. Why would you name a building after him. Why name a building after a person who kills purely for fun. That’s despicable, that’s disgusting..

John Kraft. I can’t believe you don’t know that there is media. That you have to respond to FOIA requests. You’ve sent me a letter saying I am not media. We have to take you to court to get you to do this (hold a meeting in a large open venue). Why don’t we just get rid of him and find someone new who knows about open meetings?

Kirk Allen- Edgar County Watchdogs. So that there is no confusion, here are my Illinois State media credentials. Your attorney will not respond to me, but here are my credentials. But we will continue to sue and to expose. I am a no-profit too. We qualify as media and non-profit. But you people have continued to claims that we are voluminous and repeated requestors. I am still waiting on other documents that you people are still refusing to supply. So here in front of hundreds of people, here are my credentials.  If you don’t respond, it leads people to make assumptions. You opened up a house account Mr Brueder, you slept in that small hotel you opened up — the BoT did not vote on that. You didn’t think so many people would show up. We are going to continue to embarrass you. We were asked by people in this institution to expose the corruption. We are not done yet.