Algonquin Township settles with downstate watchdog group for $162,500

Algonquin Township will pay a downstate watchdog group $162,500 as part of a settlement reached following a years-long battle over Freedom of Information Act requests.

Township Supervisor Randy Funk called the settlement a compromise as the township did not want to continue with a drawn-out process that would incur more legal fees.

“When I inherited all of this, what we determined is there was a high probability that we would win all these lawsuits,” Funk said, “but we also determined the cost of paying for the lawsuit and lawyers would be higher than the $162,500 payout.”

The Edgar County Watchdogs, a group that advocates for local government transparency and accountability, filed seven lawsuits against the township and the Algonquin Township Road District since 2018. The road district was remove from one of the lawsuits in October 2018, settling that lawsuit for $40,000.

An attempt to reach the Edgar County Watchdogs regarding the settlement was unsuccessful.

In 2018, the township’s Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, officer, Karen Lukasik, resigned as fallout from the lawsuit, which alleged that Lukasik had removed or mishandled records. Pamela Gavers is currently the township’s FOIA officer.

The group also had raised questions about Algonquin Township’s contract for a street sweeper, in which it appeared as if they had made a prearranged deal with a supplier during a bidding process.

The township agreed to turn over any documents only “to the extent that the documents are under control of the current board,” according to the settlement.

The FOIA requests involved in the lawsuit included requests for credit card receipts and camera footage that were withheld. The group responded with lawsuits when documents were either denied or not turned over within the permitted timeframe. One complaint also alleged that the Algonquin Township Board of Trustees did not properly publicize one of its meetings.

Funk, who became supervisor in May 2021, said that there were past controversies involving township highway commissioners, including former commissioner Andrew Gasser and and his predecessor, Robert Miller.

Miller, who served for 24 years as the town’s highway commissioner, was the subject of an investigation by the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office in 2018, which did not result in any charges.

That investigation looked into the allegations regarding the street sweepers, among others, concluding that Miller did not violate any bidding procedures in the early 2017 purchase or in selling a street sweeper bought in 2012.

Funk dismissed some of the FOIA issues as problems that could have been resolved by more cordial communications as opposed to litigation.

“They hate townships, for whatever reason,” Funk said of the watchdog group.

According to the settlement, the group is waiving its right to FOIA any documents from the township prior to June 1. The payout will occur in two installments: half was paid on Feb. 10, and the second half will be paid on April 1.

CORRECTION: This article was updated Friday morning to correct the status of Andrew Gasser as highway commissioner. He is the former commission. The current highway commissioner is Danijela Sandberg.