question to Torres, are students aware of the controversy? Torres says they are in a difficult position, hard to engage students, but they try to find ways to help students

COD developing adversarial relationship with Glen Ellyn and now with the faculty and segments of the general public, what is the cause of this trend? McGuire refers to starting in 2011 and the issues with Glen Ellyn at the time. There was discussion and mediation, now we have a good relationship. Hansen comments that there is a propensity to go to court on both sides, unnecessary expenses to taxpayers especially for Glen Ellyn residents. Faculty has filed two Unfair Labor Practices complaints because of adversarial relationships.

Have vacation trips for Breuder been paid for by taxpayers? McGuire: to the best of my knowledge, no.

Has the policy of closed door meetings produced the flood of FOIA requests? Why are questions by the public not answered by the BOT? Alvarez states that there is no obligation to answer the public comments. When there are policies that shut out citizens, you see more FOIA requests. McGuire added that we are very careful to follow regulations regarding open meetings and closed sessions. She further explained the division of the comment period because of the length of the meeting. Alvarez clarified that the restriction of comments is in conflict with the first amendment because of the content restrictions, not the timing division.

Why is it so hard to find contact information for trustees? McGuire looks surprised and says that can be addressed. Alvarez says that law requires it.

First question was about the PE mural. This was deflected by McGuire who said she did not know very much about it. Referred questioner to Trustee Svoboda.

Question about the campus restaurants and their purposes. Collins answered, explained the difference between the two restaurants. Acknowledges that the Waterleaf has lost money. Plan is to see how it does over the next couple of years.

What are the programs that support minority students’ needs? Collins responds with info about Latino Outreach Center and mentions increase in Latino students, followed by new Diversity and Inclusion Center which will initially focus on African-American students. Mentions statistics of minorities, higher representation at COD than in overall district population. McGuire added a comment about David Swope’s programming with mentoring by retired African-American men. There was also a question about minority representation in an at-large election. Alvarez responded that it’s unclear how this could be addressed in the DuPage environment but that allowing 16 and 17 year olds to vote in local elections could raise interest in COD since they might be planning to attend.

Question for Torres, what areas of improvement does she suggest? She mentions several initiatives for improving student engagement. McGuire adds that recent renovations have greatly improved the public areas for students such as the “living room” lobby.

Breuder asked for relief from FOIA requests. Asked Collins to explain college’s position on these requests. He said he could not speak directly to Breuder’s comment. COD abides by all public laws including FOIAs. 150 FOIAs in the last 12 months, cost $100k. Alvarez responds that this is the cost of doing the public’s business. She suggested that putting information into a data portal would eliminate the need for the requests. (This got the first significant audience response w/ chuckles and applause.)

Question about facilities master plan. McGuire says there is an agenda item for January.

Comment/question about fund balance and tuition cost. Collins responds defensively, says that the question is based on wrong information. McGuire mentions that Rauner has said that community colleges should expect 30% cuts in state funding.

Question about the radio station fraud case to McGuire. She read a one-page statement insisting that COD did not receive information from Elmhurst College as claimed in the Tribune article. Says there will be a further investigation and that COD has cooperated in every way with states atty.

Question to Hansen about the decreasing number of full-time faculty, impact on education. Loss of core knowledge of people to drive curriculum. We now have 1200 part-time faculty. We are always advocating for full-time faculty to provide best quality education.

How is this related to class size? Hansen: use of adjuncts does not increase class size, they are unrelated. However, there is a trend to use adjuncts and increase class size in order lower costs.

Collins: 40% classes are taught by full-time and 60% by part-time. In line with national ratios. Number of full-time faculty increasing from 308 to 312 this year. Recently created Lecturer positions (not full time), one of first colleges to do so.

What is expectation for enrollment? Collins: We are up 10% while state overall is down 11%. If we had followed this trend, would have lost $8million in revenue.

Question to Collins about survey. Question assumes it was a student survey but Collins corrects that it was a community survey, done to find out whether complaints from community are representative.

If COD is toying with becoming a 4-year college, will taxpayers vote? McGuire says, indirectly through representatives since it would be a legislative act. ICCB is still studying the question. She is hoping to see legislation. Alvarez comments that there could be an advisory referendum to test public opinion. Hansen comments that faculty wants more details – not enough information to know whether to support. What will it cost – unlikely that a 4-year degree would have same pricetag for credit hours. We are open admissions, what requirements will be in place? Follow-up question to Collins about details – he deflects by saying that discussion will be state-wide. We would be allowed to offer only a very select set of degrees in technical areas. A great deal of community support showed in survey for 4-year degrees in areas of job opportunity.

How does the Waterleaf Restaurant fit into a student’s learning experience? Collins: on Monday and Tuesday, students use the restaurant for their classes. Money we lose on Waterleaf is like advertising money, 16,000 people went through Waterleaf. (Audience laughs at this.)

Where would someone find the revenues and expenses for the Waterleaf? Is it online or would it have to be FOIA’d? Collins says that it could considered to be put online. He responds defensively that many programs lose money, no one asks about those.

Question to compare Waterleaf to the Buffalo Theatre Ensemble. McGuire responds that fundraising efforts were put in place and that BTE did not meet its goals.

Question about manufacturing programs. Small program, why would we offer 4 year degree? Collins responds that we can’t even keep students in the program because they get hired away before they can graduate. Local businesses want these graduates.

Can you explain the expenses that have been reported in the news related to the president? McGuire explains the “hunting club” as an educational conservation organization, agreed to in contract negotiation with Breuder by a previous board. $24k/year.

Is there a timeline for the BOT to respond to the faculty about the vote of no confidence? McGuire says we did take it seriously and that it is incorporated into the evaluation of the president but that is confidential. Everyone should know that the BOT took it very seriously and that is all she can legally say. Hansen adds that it should not have been news to the BOT. It was not until recently, after the last board meeting, that there would be a meeting with McGuire and Birt. Accumulation of six years of grievances with this president. Our questions are never responded to.

Question for Collins about the purpose of the foundation. Raises money primarily for scholarships, gave out $700k last year.

League president introduces the speakers and reads the ground rules, emphasizing civility and respectfulness of differences. Questions can be submitted to specific panelists or all the panelists. There are timers in the front row who will signal to the panelists when to end their remarks. The moderator can ask clarifying questions.

Judar: mentions what an important community asset COD is. She hopes that the event will contribute to transparency.

Alvarez: Community Lawyer of Citizen Advocacy Center. Mission is to build democracy to strengthen citizen involvement and education. Frequently deals with specific laws such as Open Meetings Act, Freedom of Information Act, and First Amendment. Asked to contribute because of transparency. Purpose of Sunshine Law is to bring transparency. Commented that the public comment policy still upheld by COD’s BOT conflicts with first amendment. FOIA requests are not clearly forthcoming as reported by citizens who have turned to the CAC.

Torres: President of Student Leadership Council, similar to student government, represent students. Current strengths of COD = variety of academics, quality of education provided by faculty, affordability. Improvement = student engagement always an area of concern, difficult to get students involved.

Hansen: President of COD Faculty Association [full text of remarks provided]. Good evening. First I’d like to thank the members of the Wheaton League of Women voters holding this forum and inviting me to participate. While I usually prefer to attend, listen, and learn; it’s a pleasure to be part of the discussion. And thank you for your continued attendance at our Board of Trustees meetings.

Collins: Exec VP at COD. Thanks for the opportunity to discuss. Agrees w/ Professor Hansen, everything should be transparent. Public owns the college. Gave a brief summary of his career starting as an engineer and moving through faculty and administration roles. Extensive experience in quality evaluation of community colleges. CoD is extremely well run. The faculty is as good as it gets. We are very fortunate to be in this rich county where we can achieve this level of excellence. CC system as created by legislators originally was supposed be funded in thirds, with a third from the state, the students, and local property taxes. Nowadays we receive only about 5% from the state. Yes, the college is very conservative in budgeting and saving, because of the state’s poor financial condition. Better to err with money in the bank. College is subject to a law limiting property tax extension. College has AAA ratings, highest possible. Thus our bonds are less expensive.

McGuire: Thanks to League, references her pride in being a member of the board of trustees. Lists responsibilities of Board – audit, oversight of president, approval of contracts and degree programs etc, advocate at state and federal level. Getting a handle on everything is a big job. (Holds up Dec board packet to demonstrate how much material it is.) Has submitted hundreds of questions about her board material. Gets responses back from college administration, all the questions and responses are shared among all trustees. Acknowledges people’s interest in seeing more discussion at meetings but not practical. Transparency: shows a set of documents available on the COD website, a great deal of public information is available to anyone. References imprest fund which has come under fire, now all online. (She begins to rush as she sees time signals.) Mentions that issues with students, such as advising, and issues with faculty (not glossed) are being addressed.

We are blogging tonight from a forum sponsored by the Wheaton League of Women Voters and the Citizens Advocacy Center (based in Elmhurst). Depending on the format of the program and the wifi connectivity, we will cover this event as well as we can. The speakers on the panel are as follows:

Dianne McGuire, COD Trustee

Stephanie Torres, Student Leadership Council President

Glenn Hansen, President of the COD Faculty Association

Joe Collins, Executive Vice President, COD

Andrea Alvarez, Community Lawyer, Citizens Advocacy Center

The program moderator is Maryam Judar, Executive Director of the Citizens Advocacy Center.

The program is designed with five-minute opening statements, questions from the audience which must be submitted in writing and screened, and one-minute closing statements.

Ira Aquino, Student Leadership Council

Sophomore at COD.

I took my last exam today.  I’d like to relate some of the things I have been able to accomplish his semester.

In September I organized the Hunger Banquet to give students at COD an experience of what hunger is like in the world..

Represented the College at three conferences this semester.

Rachel ???

Sophomore at COD. Talks about her experiences at COD. Talks about her reasons for coming to COD. IT was at first because it was affordable. But she has realized how incredible the faculty here are. She will be traveling to South America this summer. She thanks faculty members Eric Thompson, John Santiago and David Goldberg for their extra help to inspire her.

Happy Birthday to Student Trustee Escamilla.

Stephanie Torres — Student Leadership Council.

Reports on activities that SLC has been engaged in as well as plans for next semester. She discusses activities that will help students get involved in campus life.

Haroun Atcha

Good evening board members thank you for having me. My name is Haroon Atcha and tonight, for the final time, I’m here as an advocate for the students. As I enter my final semester at the college I find myself reflecting on my time here. My mind wanders to the multitude of experiences that have served to mold me and I find myself lost in fond recollection as I pass certain rooms: here a relationship formed, there a lesson learned. These walls, seemingly cold and foreboding on my arrival, now glow with the warmth of attachment. this warmth however dissipates upon entering this room. In this room I have found none of those qualities which elevate this college to the highest tier of institution. Moderation, healthy skepticism, political will and student representation have been replaced by hyperbole, pettiness, gridlock and most fatally, silence. These past many months have done more to instill in me a sense of pessimism than I am willing to admit but frankly, I don’t know what other outcome could have occurred given recent experience. Ultimately this pessimism has not manifested itself as anger, but disappointment; disappointment with all parties involved. Because it was not anger that I felt when a trustee invoked memories of the holocaust to justify political behavior or community members rabidly shouted at administrators with no regard for decency. It was not anger when the college newspaper failed to inform the students in any substantive way on the goings on of these meetings. It was not anger when month after month those elected to represent the students sat by in apathetic silence or even when the students themselves took little interest in these meetings. It was crushing disappointment. Crushing, not because of the actions themselves, but because of the loss of potential they represent. It is the potential of the college newspaper, student representation, public influence and board of trustees that has been seemingly squandered. So before I leave let me offer a few final words to each of those institutions. to the Courier newspaper: Research claims made by those in positions of power and challenge authority. The truth will stand to scrutiny.To the student representatives: Silence squanders your mandate.  Your recent stories regarding the honors program and police boxes have started you on the right path, continue that good work. To the student representatives: silence betrays your mandate. You have each been elected by an astoundingly wide margin by the students; with that comes the responsibility of action. Advocate on behalf of those who remain voiceless at these meetings; vigorously take up the cause of the students because anything shy of that is negligence. To members of the public: I urge you to consider restraint in your mannerisms. Antagonism only suffices for so long; put aside needlessly inflammatory Behavior. Finally, to the board: behave with the dignity befitting your position. I am confident that men and women of your stature can find it in themselves to behave cordially for, at the very least, three hours once a month. Put aside your petty grievances, exaggerated speeches and farcical behavior and manage this institution with the grace and level-headedness it deserves. As my suggestions these past few months gone unheeded, allow me to end by sharing a few

words by rousseau: words I hope resonate more than my actions ever could: To everyone here tonight: “Let equity, moderation and firmness of resolution regulate all your proceedings”.

Miguel Moreno

Personal comment form the student perspective.

He thanks Brueder for leading the institution. He laments the negativity that has surrounded the college lately.

End of public comments.

Announcement section.

Trustee Svoboda — reports on the SURS back-to-work correction bill.  The bill that made exempt people whose pension is under 10,000. Svoboda describes the potential impact of the bill.

McGuire — Discusses the COD Foundation activities.

Savage: I have been asked to help the treasurer elect transition team.

Motion to adjourn the meeting.

Seconded.

Meeting is adjourned.

General Public Comments

John Kraft

Will read something that was sent to the Attorney General from College of DuPAge;

“IF the College had adequate advance notice that a large crowd was going to attend the meeting, that they would move to a larger room, as the Gerwin Decision requires, and the college has no issue with that requirement.”

Then he reads a reply from COD that the College will continue to hold its meetings in the Board Room.  How can you lie to the Attorney General and say you are going to move to a larger room and then change your mind?

The other item: There are 30 general public seats available. Occasionally we might reserve a couple of them. Yeah, a couple.

He then notes that there are very few seats left for the general public.

Why do you want to lie to the Attorney General again?

Roger Kempa: One of your graduates.

The Comiskey research report. I found that mind-boggling.  The 400 people who were contacted about what the reserves should be at COD. What would you say?

25% cash to keep on hand is the recommendation, not 100%.

I don’t know if there is press here but there are 6 seats here for the press. There was a reporter here taking photos and …..

interruption from the Board table and he doesn’t continue the comment.

The big thing tonight: you don’t have an American flag here, or the flag of the State of Illinois. Does that offend someone here?

Has the Board ever been threatened? Because when  we came here there were 5 guards here. Are you afraid?

I would recommend the Pledge of Allegiance.

The last thing: Boards in general have their closed meetings towards the end of the meeting so the public can make their comments and not have to wait. And the seating capacity. There aren’t many seats left for the public.

Kirk Allen

Agenda item 3B was Public Comment Policy. Respect for the Board.

Respect is earned, not legislated.

Citizens have the right to address their comments to anyone, not only to members of the Board.

Why is it okay for Trustee McGuire to make disrespectful comments but not for a member of the public to say what they want?

I will not sit silent while you or others try to legislate what people from the public have to say.

What is happening here is despicable. Where is the accountability?

When are we going to get accountability. You say that you encourage questions form the public, but nobody ever answers the questions. So the public makes assumptions. You need to communicate.

Glenn Hansen

Good evening, I’m Glenn Hansen, President of the Faculty Association and Faculty Senate.

Tonight I want to thank 2 colleagues who have stepped up to fill a void in administrative leadership as interim associate deans. Sandra Anderson and Chuck Boone have served as faculty leaders and I respect their wisdom as leaders. Sandra has been a Senator and Chuck has been Association President. They bring to the table more classroom experience than your entire management team.

That seems like a good thing. Have you ever thought about that?

Thank you.

Richard Jarman, Vice President of the Faculty Association

German theologians and board meetings: See your Niemoller and raise you a Bonhoeffer.

Hearing the name of Martin Niemoller during last month’s board meeting awakened from their slumbers remembrances of another German theologian, and sometime hero of mine, Dietrich Bonhoeffer who, along with Niemoller founded the Confessing Church during the prewar years of the Nazi regime. Unlike the mainstream church that threw in its lot with the Nazis, no doubt with much personal gain, Bonhoeffer refused to bend the knee before the tyrant. He later participated in an unsuccessful plot to kill Hitler, for which he was prepared to pay the ultimate price, being executed in April 1945, days before the war ended.

Bishop Bell wrote in a forward to Bonhoeffer’s seminal book The Cost of Discipleship, “He was crystal clear in his convictions…, he saw the truth and spoke it with a complete absence of fear.” Traits I think we would all like in our leaders. Well, traits that I would like to acquire.

I recall that Niemoller’s name was invoked in an impassioned speech against the critics at the gate – or rather overflow gallery. I have read a lot written against them of late and the tendency is to label them as the “Tea Party.” Back in September, we were urged to “settle our differences” and join together to fight the Tea Party for it wants to take over the college. I wondered then, and I think now, that the real “enemy” is not the Tea Party; but I realize it is not uncommon for embattled regimes to deflect criticism onto outside activists and agents provocateurs.

Closer examination reveals that people that could well be associated with the Tea Party, whatever that really is, have enjoyed a close association with this board over several years. I can recall former trustee Atkinson waving giant checks accusing us of buying trustees in 2009. Former chair Carlin worked for Congressman Joe Walsh, a man unlikely to be identified with socialism. And, wait, was not Mr. Carlin endorsed alongside current Vice-Chair Hamilton in 2013? Current chair Erin Birt ran her campaign in 2011 with James Long of Downers Grove, a republican who posted photos of Sarah Palin on his website.

So, really, is it the Tea Party that we have to fear here? Or is it a distraction from the main thing?

New Business — Paying back some of the COD debt, based on maturity of the bonds.

They are recommending the same tax levy as next year. No increase.

Vote: all except Hamilton yes.

Hamilton: I told Brueder last week I would not support any tax increase. Not with all the money, an obscene amount, in reserve is spent down would I consider this.

Birt asks Glaser to provide information on what we are voting on.

Glaser — there is no increase in this. We could be asking for this, if we were operating as we have historically. That’s not what we are asking.   No increase in this resolution. The operating levy that you are considering now is the same as last year.

Last year 71 million was the tax levy amount.

Hamilton: Are you saying that through all this language that you are freezing the levy. It is the same levy that was followed in 2013.

Glaser: yes

Hamilton: look guys, it is fine to get confirmation for me.  I found this language quite unclear.  You could have put it as “tax freeze.”

Birt warns someone in the audience that she is about to ask him to leave.

Birt: We are not voting on an increase.

Savage: I would like to read a paragraph on this. reads from document that says it is a good idea to continue to ask for modest increases. Savage says that there will be a drop in 20-30% drop in the map grant to 2nd semester students until the State looks at their budget.

McGuire: They will be slashing Pell grants.

Discussion continues. All Trustees vote “yes.”

McGuire — Tom Glaser was very helpful in helping me to understand this. She pulls out her tax bill and reads out how much she pays to COD.

MRI Certificate Program. Motion carries.

Motion to approve the WDCB Radio Station audit.

Discussion:

Hamilton “This audit ignores the matter referred to the State’s Attorney. ”  Misappropriations 4 times the review. Corrective steps are not mentioned to solve the issues at WDCB. I cannot vote for this.”

McGuire: I asked about underwriting activities. And fundraising activities. We do subsidize the radio station but to a lesser degree than we used to. That’s a good direction.

Vote: All yes except Trustee Hamilton “no way.”

Motion: Approve the Hearing instrument Dispensary Program Certificate.

All approve.

Chair Birt: There are no Trustee Discussion items to discuss now.

Hamilton has questions about imprest account and minutes from last meeting. The minutes are wrong from last month.

Savage: We approved the minutes, at the beginning of the meeting. That was the time to say something.

Hamilton: I know. I understand that. But we are all still here and can vote so why not do it now?

Hamilton: Another point about the imprest account. I didn’t see it on the website.

Glaser: Go to the website and you will see it there.

BOARD goes into Closed Session.

Consent Agenda

Chair Birt asks Trustees if they want to take any items off the consent agenda.

Trustee Hamilton wants to remove 8B2 Financial Reports

Trustee Savage wants to remove 8B4A Lobbying Services.

All other items can remain.

Motion for the rest of the agenda to be read and approved. Motion carries.

Expense items on the agenda include 20,880 for SRC Library Furniture move, 1kkK for Waterleaf Produce purchasing, 29K for consulting services for Tennis

DISCUSSION of 8B2 Financial Reports.

IT would provide some clarity for the public if we allowed transparency for the public to see expenditures from the imprest accounts. We should remove the restrictions on providing info to the public on expenditures under 15,000. It would alleviate tensions.  I will not be signing off on this part of the agenda until we start providing the public with this information.

Also last month I asked that this particular topic be put up for discussion and for a vote because I think that everyone here would like to reduce conflict and questions about the imprest accounts. This would really solve this for our Board. I am asking our Chair to put this on the agenda for next month since she didn’t put it on for this month.

All Trustees vote to approve the Financial Reports except Trustee Hamilton.

DISCUSSION of 8 B4A Lobbying.

Savage says she is happy that the Lobbyist Service bid was an open bidding with an RFP issued. But only one bid came in, so the process was open.

McGuire IT was beyond our control to get other companies to bid.

Svoboda — Scott Marquardt group has a history with the College. It’s not somebody out of left field. We have a longstanding relationship with that company so I have confidence in it.

All Trustees vote yes on this agenda item.

Chair Birt asks for a brief recess.

Motion approved. 8:36. Request Trustees to come back in 5 minutes.

President’s Report.

President Brueder says there will be two presentations.

First is Jim Bente. VP of Planning and Institutional Effectiveness.  Talks about surveys that are beginning.  “Community Pulse Research”  March of 2013.  400 residents of District 502 for information and in 2014, 18 months later did a secondary survey.

Introduces Mr. Saltz, President of Comiskey Research who COD outsourced for this research project. Comiskey Research conducted the follow-up research. A 39 year business with many clients including other community colleges. Discusses methodology and results of phone surveys. Reports that COD came in 4th after UIC, U of I, NIU then COD when asked the first question  “when you think of colleges and universities in Illinois, which ones come to mind?” He reports on the survey which consisted of several more questions, including whether or not COD should offer 4 year programs, and how much reserve revenue in the fund balance COD should keep in case the college had unforeseen circumstances. 74% said the College should have 12 months of funds in reserve for this. I can tell you that your District wants you to have cash reserves. Another question of residents was about how much tax paid to COD is a reasonable expenditure to keep the College programs going.  His conclusion: the people in your District value education.

Hamilton asks about the way the questions are framed.  Saltz says the questions were a joint project framed together with Bente as a team. Hamilton asks how many people in the survey were from other counties. To what extent did you get into Will County and Cook County?

Svoboda says “very interesting information, Can I get a copy of the report?” The report will be put together at a later date.

Bente says that anyone who rated COD at a 5 or below was asked for further comments. Some respondents rated us low because they thought we should get more money. Bente then compares the 2013 and 2014 surveys.  He notes the surveys were different so they can’t be compared one on one.

Value, Image/Reputation/Bachelor’s Degrees.

All three categories went up from 2013 to 2014.

I’ll leave you with that because those are pretty striking changes.

Hamilton says that we see there is a marked increase in the top box but she notes that it is important to note that in survey research it is very important to look at how questions were framed.  She wonders if there were changes in the way the questions were framed.

Hamilton notes that the questions were posed in two different ways on those surveys and therefore she questions whether there is really validity to this follow-up surveys.says she rejects the conclusion that Bente and this research company have drawn.

Mr. Saltz responds that he feels comfortable with the conclusions.  Sometimes numbers are not statistically significant.

Hamilton thanks him. She says it is misleading.

Savage says it should be posted on the website.

Hamilton says it shouldn’t because it is flawed.

Earl Dowling speaks next. He holds up a copy of the latest IMPACT, the promotional magazine published by COD. He says 5 years ago they set up a goal to become the primary institution that District residents choose when they go to their post secondary education.  We made a plan and put the plan into motion. Enrollment targets and new buildings. Our enrollment is up 10%.

This evening I want to share with you some new news. Community College Week, ranks COD as the fastest growing community college in the nation. Fall 2012 to fall 2013 stats show an increase in enrollment.

She notes a lot of people don’t understand statistics. Hamilton

Kempa continues speaking. 274 millions of cash in the bank, the public will not miss the increase in taxes. But with that much cash, you could have a decrease.

Mark Kemecik

Approval of Lobbyists contract must go out to competitive bid.

The bid process was not open and competitive. Only one company bid. The same company Scott Marquart is the only company and they are the company that got a non competitive bid the last five times.  The process was a sham. Are you kidding me?

Competitive bidding is competition. But not here at COD.

Marquardts wife is the    State’s ATtorney  Bob Berlin.  Can Bob Berlin say he does not have a conflict of interest.

Tonight is the one year anniversary of the fraud at the radio station. Bob Berlin has not issued an indictment. What is going on at COD.

Jan Shaw. Tax Levy.

Please freeze the tax levy. We are all broke.

You do not have the Pledge of Allegiance on your agenda. Please stand up and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.(Some in the crowd stand and say the P of A)

Kirk Allen–Brueder, you’ve accused Hamilton of leaking information to the Tribune. None of our tips have come from Kathy Hamilton. Stop accusing her, Brueder.

Talks about “no-bid contracting game” held by COD Foundation Board members.

Hurricane Graphics and   Advanced Sign   are owned by the same person, COD Foundation Board member.   Both companies have gotten no-bid contracts.  90,000 awarded went to 400,000 paid through imprest accounts “Services do not have to be bid in Illinois” quotes Brueder. Allen refutes this.

Time for Brueder and McGuire to go.

Matthew Tyrmand  (full text provided by speaker):

My name is Matthew Tyrmand and I am Deputy Director of American Transparency. Our website is OpenTheBooks.com. My comments are in reference to the agenda item: the Treasurers report, which contains the Imprest hidden spending accounts.

I flew in from New York City today to speak to residents of DuPage county and to the board of trustees of the College of DuPage and to demand the resignation of Trustee Dianne McGuire for her comments from the November 20th Board Meeting as McGuire defended the Imprest payment scheme of obfuscating COD accounting. To do this, McGuire used rhetoric evoking Nazi Tyranny in a comparison with those who would demand honesty and integrity in government. Those that invoke Nazis in a spending debate have no place IN government and especially in a position of trust in a public educational institution. McGuire’s statement goes well beyond politically incorrect and approaches hate speech.

Here’s why:  As a Polish Jewish American the majority of my father’s family including his father, my grandfather, was murdered in the holocaust. Recently, I visited Auschwitz and Majdanek- two notorious German death camps in Poland- where my paternal line was all but exterminated. This was a powerful and sobering experience and it has compelled me to speak up- even to fly in from New York for tonight.

To, Dianne McGuire: I am shocked, offended, and most notably disgusted with your hateful rhetoric in defending wasteful spending that is clearly divorced from reality. Is this what the COD board has come to? Comparing those who would keep elected officials honest with Nazis? Putting YOURSELF in the place of revered German theologian Martin Niemoller, to defend further brazen dining on Filet Mignon and Crème Brulee, not to mention high end wine, at taxpayer expense? Are you kidding me?

I am currently reaching out to the anti-defamation league and have spoken to people affiliated with the Israeli Knesset about next steps on how to deal with such a callous and self serving act that does so much damage to the battle against anti semitism, the memory of the holocaust, and to those actually persecuted by nazis like my father and his family. This is a shameful act of moral corruption and there is no place for those who would speak like this on America’s educational campuses. Trustee Mcguire, you have supremely violated the public trust with this shameful and inexcusable behavior. Please resign now. It is the right thing to do. Thank you.

Treasurers Report. Flew in from NYC today to talk to DuPage residents. Wants McGuire to resign after her rhetoric invoking Nazi tyranny. It approaches hate speech.  It has no place in public requests to discuss wasteful spending. Is this what the COd BOT has come to?  You dine on high end wine and crème brulee and then accuse the public who want to discuss this of Nazism. McGuire please retire now. It is the right thing to do. He speaks about his family experience in Nazi death camps and says this attack by McGuire has infuriated him. He is reaching out to the Anti-Defamation League to pursue this further.  This is moral corruption and violation of public trust.

Student Trustee– speaks about globalization at COD. Tonight students from other countries are going to speak about their time at COD.

Students from Montenegro speaks. Thanks her Anatomy professors. I gained a lot of knowledge at this school and have had a good experience. I have a BA in Economics but have chosen to go back to school in Nursing at COD where I will apply next year. Then I hope to get a BS at Elmhurst.

Beatriz from Spain, Majoring in Marketing. TAlks about what she has learned from her professors.

Student from South Africa. Construction Management.  Came through a CCIP program sponsoring students at community colleges. COD has 15 students. Each student has a social host. Professors are friendly and helpful. A student is not taught what to think. A student is taught to think independently. Thanks the American taxpayer for this program because without the American taxpayer I wouldn’t be standing here.

Student Trustee Escamilla notes that he had the opportunity to go to Italy on a COD program.

Trustee Svoboda.

Chair Birt congratulates Omar for completing  a national student leadership program. He is now a Certified Student Leader. Photo is taken.