Judge denies Joliet Junior College candidate’s legal challenge against trustee

A Will County judge has denied an emergency motion from a Joliet Junior College Board of Trustees candidate who wanted to prevent a trustee from casting votes on the current board under the claim that he was “illegally appointed.”

The emergency motion against JJC Trustee Joshua Stamborski was filed March 12 by attorneys for Robert Wunderlich. He is one of six candidates running for three open seats on the JJC board in the April 1 election.

Wunderlich previously served on the board for 44 years.

On Friday, Will County Judge Victoria Breslan issued a decision to deny Wunderlich’s motion for a temporary restraining order, court records show.

Stamborski was appointed to the board Oct. 7 to serve the rest of John “Jake” Mahalik’s term after he resigned.

Stamborski’s appointment is set to end April 28, and one of the winning candidates in the April 1 election will take his place.

Nevertheless, Wunderlich’s attorneys wanted a temporary restraining order prohibiting the college from taking action on any items the board has approved with Stamborski.

Wunderlich’s attorneys also wanted the temporary restraining order to prohibit Stamborski from casting votes on any future items.

The motion for the temporary restraining order was filed in Wunderlich’s Oct. 11 lawsuit against JJC.

The lawsuit contends that Wunderlich should have been named a trustee when the board initially approved his appointment at a Sept. 25 meeting.

Instead, JJC Trustee Alicia Morales changed her vote, resulting in a 3-3 tie that kept Wunderlich off the board.

Wunderlich’s attorneys argue that Stamborski was “illegally appointed” because the board violated their voting procedures at the Sept. 25 meeting.

Wunderlich’s attorneys claim that any action taken by the board with Stamborski present are “void or voidable.” That would include the Oct. 16 vote approving the salary raise for JJC President Clyne Namuo.

JJC Trustees Maureen Broderick and Michelle Lee have criticized Namuo’s contract that increased his base salary from $275,000 to $325,000.

The two trustees are plaintiffs supporting Wunderlich’s lawsuit.

Broderick and Lee were accused of harassing Namuo and other college staff in an investigation report from the law firm Laner Muchin. An attorney for Broderick and Lee called the investigation an illegal “political witch hunt.”

Alastar McGrath, one of JJC’s attorneys, filed a response that said Wunderlich, Broderick and Lee “sat back and watched” Stamborski participate on the board for more than five months.

McGrath said they waited about a month before the end of Stamborski’s term to file the emergency motion.

McGrath said the plaintiffs “fail to account” for that delay, and they fail to demonstrate how they will be harmed by Stamborski finishing out his term.

McGrath said Morales had the right to change her vote against Wunderlich at the Sept. 25 meeting because JJC Board Chairman Jim Budzinski had not yet announced the result of the votes.

McGrath said Morales changed her vote “within seconds” of her initial vote, and that switch, “at worst, constitutes harmless error.”