Geneva resident alleges city may have violated Open Meetings Act

A Geneva resident alleged that city officials may have violated the Open Meetings Act and asked the Illinois Attorney General for a review.

Lindsey McCall filed the request Feb. 24, stating that a letter sent March 27, 2024 to the Illinois housing Development Authority, signed by Mayor Kevin Burns and listing everyone on the City Council, could be the result of a private meeting.

“The accusation is false,” Burns said, speaking in a March 12 interview with his opponent in the April 1 consolidated election, Karsten Pawlik. “What is important to note is the letter ... also impugns the entire City Council, and claims that a private meeting was held with 10 council members and myself to ‘make a determination outside a public hearing.’”

Under Illinois law, all meetings of public bodies are to be held in public, allowing only certain exemptions to close them, such as for litigation or purchasing or selling property.

The city is to respond to the Attorney General’s Office within seven days, by March 18.

In documents supporting the possibility of an open meeting violation, McCall listed a March 25, 2024, email from City Administrator Stephanie Dawkins to the Council and Burns telling them the Burton Foundation submitted a project to IHDA.

The Burton Foundation is a nonprofit that builds affordable housing. The letter was sent so it could apply for tax credits for the former service station, Duke and Lee’s, at 609 S. Third St., for an affordable senior housing project.

McCall included a screenshot of a social media post from Burns, which stated, “The letter accompanying this post, signed on letterhead with the ENTIRE City Council listed, reflects the unanimous support of the City Council and its direction to me to send the letter to IHDA expressing the City’s continued support for affordable housing opportunities.”

In her complaint, McCall took issue with that.

“If they all unanimously supported the sending of this letter, this would lead the public to believe that there was a private meeting held between the dates of March 25th ... and when the actual letter was sent on March 27th,” according to McCall’s letter.

“There was no public meeting where this information was shared,” according to McCall’s letter.

The Attorney General’s Public Access Bureau responded March 10 with a letter to Burns asking for a written response within seven days.

“In particular, this office asks the Council to explain how the Mayor obtained the support of each Council member,” according to the letter.

“If this was done electronically, please provide this office, for its confidential review, with copies of any e-mails, text messages, or messages from other platforms,” according to the letter. “If the Mayor contacted Council members by telephone, please describe who took part in these conversations, what was discussed, and how long these conversations lasted.”

In the interview with Burns and Pawlik, Burns said anytime someone files a complaint with the Attorney General, the office seeks more information.

“That letter will be responded to,” Burns said. “It is, on its face, insulting to the council...I sit here before you today, with nothing but integrity, stating that the accusation is false. It will be determined as false. It is in the hands of the city attorneys to respond,” Burns said.

In the Chronicle interview, Karsten defended McCall’s letter to the Attorney General.

“In March, the mayor wrote a letter to the Illinois Department of Housing Authority. And supposedly, this letter was approved by the City Council,” Pawlik said. “But there was no meeting for it. We can’t find [it] anywhere in the meeting minutes.”

The letter on behalf of the Burton Foundation also was discussed during the March 3 City Council meeting.

Burns said it was a zoning determination letter, sent routinely on behalf of developers, and that the city has not received formal plans from the Burton Foundation. The City Council’s unanimous support of affordable housing comes from its unanimous support of the city’s Strategic Plan 2030.

McCall said she had a private meeting with Burns after the double murder at Emma’s Landing, and asked if the Burton Foundation had more plans in Geneva and was told no.

McCall said she does not accept the distinction between formal plans that are submitted to the city and the March 27, 2024, zoning determination letter to the Illinois Housing Development Authority.

“I just want honest answers and I want transparency,” McCall said. “That’s all I’m asking for.”