Paul LaForte.
I have observed a Board that does not want the public to see important information (lists various things the Board has not revealed willingly)
This Board has failed us. But fortunately there is an election coming up. A Board member should be smart, honest and engaged with a high integrity level, willing to take on Administration’s decisions. Looking for rationale on the cash reserve. Representing the students, public and faculty. Not just the administration.
It’s time for a true watchdog and a bulldog for this institution.
Claire Ball. 9B3
Really? You’re voting to spend money to hire on a PR firm. You’re not actually fixing anything. It doesn’t matter. The real issues are not being addressed. You’re only throwing money away. You can put lipstick on a pig but….do I need to finish that sentence? This si the wrong way to handle the problems at COD. The problem, not the symptoms, need to be addressed. Covering your mistakes is not going to work. You want to save face. Start by saying no on item 9B3.
Dan Bailey — I’m a 30 year resident of DuPage County, COD graduate. I have a 60 day plan to fix the issues at COD. My proposed 60 day plan includes an independent legal investigation to look into legal issues surrounding Breuder’s contract, a serious investigation of WDCB radio station, a serious discussion of the 4-year college debate, reviewing no-bid contract process, reviewing the high reserve fund we keep. We need to produce details of the money actually spent on construction, as opposed to what had been planned. Reserving a 10 minute section of each BoT meeting to answer factual questions. Answering public questions and avoiding expensive FOIAS. Avoiding making important decisions in closed session. When I am elected in April, I will bring these and many other issues. I will be a watchdog, bulldog, and clean-up crew.
Miguel Marino– I speak as student, community member. I am not concerned with the political parties of the candidates. I am concerned about the community. But the media bias has distorted our impression, blinded by mixed emotion. And it is easy for people to take advantage of us. But we the people give the power and we have the power to take it away. I wish I could see people’s intentions. But in this chaos we are missing the big picture. We are all connected. We are all unit. If one part fails to deliver, all suffer. We have forgotten about the community. COD supports students. Think of it as a car. If the engine or the wheels do not work, then the car cannot move. If it does not have the right driver, it cannot move forward. Apart from all the negative students we have forgotten that COD is far ahead of the competition and we should be proud of it. We are moving though we have hit some bumps in the road. We must elect people who can keep the big picture in mind. I am here to remind you that even though we all have different interests
Kirk Allen 9B3 Having run over 100 public meetings, and attended many more than that…how can this College hire a PR firm on March 5th before the Board votes on it tonight? Instead, approve the state’s audit. Lots of claims of being transparent but not a peep from this Bot on the FOIA lawsuit we filed? Instead of claiming you don’t have documents responsive, now you are telling me you cannot locate any records. Ask your attorneys right now if they have ever represented Brueder as his private attorney? Just ask. Why is it so hard to answer? We had to sue to get records on the radio station released. Your lawyers have free rein to do what they want. You have concealed public records, which is a felony. There are 35 documents that were concealed form me, that I have now seen from Hansen’s records. Now you have hired a pr firm who just happens to be on the board of US Bank?
John Kraft– When I heard you were going to spend public money on a pr film, I was wondering, why would they go through the attorney? Why would the attorney hire the PR firm. I just figured it out about 5 minutes ago. You are trying to claim attorney client privilege on all the documents you will provide to the pr film. But attorney client privilege is destroyed when you have a third party. Anything the PR films writes about, any paper work you give them — I will be requesting a copy of it. I want to make sure the pr film is not going to pull the wool over our eyes as I believe they will., You can’t give exclusive access to public records which is what you want to do by going through an attorney. The College is at financial liability for all information provided by or directed to Res Public. Anything you give them, you will have to defend it — with our money.
Representative Jeanne Ives. I came to speak to the BoT because the Bot will not speak to us. We sent out a request to conduct a performance audit. We gave you a good estimate of the cost. There is only one e-mail for the Board by the way so I hope you all saw it. I have called Chair Birt but she has not called me back. The Bot does not want to talk to me. The letter came back from the attorney, not from the Chair. As far as I know, only Mr. Florey is involved in the discussion. He asked us to talk about the audit. There is no negotiating the scope and terms of an audit when the auditor conducts it. It’s pathetic that I have to come to speak to the Bot in this manner because the Bot refuses to speak to me. Who speaks for the board? Is it only Mr Florey because he is the only one who speaks to me. I’ve also learned that pr film is already back-channeling information to other folks, they have already started working before you vote to hire them today. Today the media called me — they asked, do you think they will approve this firm? I said I always hope that people will do the right thing.