A proposal was presented to the Rock Island County Board in April 17, 2012 by then Coal Valley Village Board Trustee and county board candidate, Drue Mielke, to reform Rock Island County Board’s rules that govern the manner in which citizens can address their county board. Attending county board meetings, Mr. Mielke noted the stiking disparity in how the public is given access to address the county board differed dramatically from his Coal Valley Village board. The county board lacked a public comment section and those wishing to address the board must do so with a two working day advance notice.

Mr. Mielke petitioned the Rock Island County Board to adopt new rules for the public to speak at the full county board in April 2012 and then in committee on April 12, 2012, which provided a framework for the revised rules. The response to this request was delivered at the May 7, 2012 Governmental Affairs Committee that “with all due respect to Mr. Mielke, he is not an attorney. We have had our procedures reviewed by legal counsel and they have repeatedly been found to be consistent with the law.” No change was made. http://www.rockislandcounty.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=id&ItemID=35012&libID=1000002871

Filing a request for review with the public access coordinator of the Illinois Attorney General on October 7, 2012, Mr. Mielke ask that the rule stating “any citizen or representative of a group wanting to address the Board shall put their request in writing and submit to the Chairperson of the Board at least two working days prior to the regularly scheduled Board meeting.” be reviewed. (Rule can be found at http://www.rockislandcounty.org/CountyBoard/Home/ ).

In the October 2012 request, it was sited that Mr. Mielke was denied the right to speak as a member of the public at the September 2012 county board meeting regarding the issue of the drawing to be conducted to determine the county board terms. Mr. Mielke felt that determining the county board terms was related to the then pending advisory referendum to change county board size from 25 members to 15. Mr. Mielke felt that if board member terms could be kept to all two year terms, it would allow for implementation of redistricting if the referendum passed. Mr. Mielke had missed the two-day written requirement to speak and asked Chairman James Bohnsack for the right to speak to the board per the Open Meetings Act. Mr. Mielke was denied by Mr. Bohnsack and Mike Miller, Rock Island County State’s Attorney.

In May 2014, an elected county board member, Mielke was advised that two people were denied the right to speak to the board regarding Hope Creek and decided it was time to again bring the proposal back a second time to the governmental affairs committee (this time as a county board member) to reform the county’s rules. “Before, I was denied the right to speak and I filed a request for review. Now, I am on the board and am responsible for change to address any wrong doings. Even when following rules that violate the spirit of openness that the Open Meetings act sets down, two citizens were denied the right to address our board. That is unacceptable.” At Tueday’s county board meeting, the governmental affairs committee presented Mr. Mielke’s draft for 30 days to be voted on at next month’s meeting. “It isn’t necessary for me to wait for my a response to request for review with the Attorney General. Since I am now a county board member, I can make reforms now, and that is what I was elected to do.”, Mr. Mielke explains. http://www.rockislandcounty.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=id&ItemID=37608&libID=1000005469

A ruling to the Mr. Mielke’s October 2012 request for review was received yesterday, July 17, 2014 from the Office of the State of Illinois Attorney General, Lisa Madigan. (A copy is attached.) In that answer it states, “the current rule regarding public comment CLEARLY discourages, rather than promotes, public participation, contrary to the spirit of the OMA. The Board has not demonstrated that the advance registration rule is reasonably necessary to ensure that its meeting proceed in an orderly and efficient manner. Accordingly, this office concludes that the rule requiring any person or group to put their request in writing and submit such request to the Chairperson of the board two working days prior to the regularly scheduled board meeting” violates section 2.06(g) of OMA. The Board is directed to modify its current rules for public comment to eliminate the requirement that individuals who wish to address the Board submit a written request to do so two working days before the meeting commences.”

Relating the first impressions of the county board meeting’s lack of openness at the March 3, 2012 Candidate Forum, Mr. Mielke spoke saying, “The first time I attended one of those meetings, I got a horrible pit in my stomach because the difference of what goes on in the county board and our local village is dramatic. Right now there is a new law that was passed a year ago, the Open Meetings Act... and every open meeting must have public comments- a portion where the public can speak and that is not being given currently and I would like to fix that before getting elected.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DfV7QfobQo

Mr. Mielke now states “As an elected official, I have fought to reform our county board and to assure that people’s right to access to government is not restricted. This statement from the Attorney General ensures that the public’s rights are maintained. Being a former Coal Valley Village Board Trustee, I learned and adhered to the Open Meetings Act and continued that commitment to citizens as a Rock Island County Board Member.

Copyright © 2013 Friends of Drue Mielke