The McHenry Township Board has scheduled a special meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday to reconsider whether a last-minute addition to the agenda–a proposal that the township be abolished–be allowed for the annual town meeting April 8.
The special meeting was called Friday by Township Supervisor Albert Adams.
The day before, at their regular board meeting, township trustees amended the agenda for the annual meeting to include a request by Wonder Lake resident Bob Anderson.
Anderson, who tried unsuccessfully last year to put a referendum measure on the November ballot on abolishing the township, asked for discussion of a resolution to accomplish the same feat.
He charged that Thursday’s meeting, posted as a “special town meeting,” does not meet the statutory requirements for 10 days’ notice.
“To me, there’s no question: The meeting is illegal,” Anderson said.
Adams said Thursday’s session will be a meeting of the Township Board, not to be confused with a town meeting on the scale of the annual event set for April 8.
Adams left last week’s board meeting after the original agenda had been approved but before it was amended to include Anderson’s request.
The resolution should not have been added to the agenda, Adams said, because Anderson “doesn’t even have the resolution written. I can’t say we’re putting on a resolution if I don’t know what the resolution is.”
Anderson said he addressed the board toward the end of last week’s meeting, after Adams had left and during the time reserved for residents’ input.
“I asked what time frame I had to present a resolution and get it on the agenda,” Anderson said.
To his surprise, Anderson continued, Trustee Joseph Stanek said the board could amend the agenda to include his resolution on the spot, which it did.
Saying ,”I think I took them by surprise” last week, Anderson added, “Basically, they have no reason to keep it off the agenda.”
Adams disagreed, saying, “You have to have specific items to get on the agenda.”
By putting Anderson’s resolution on the agenda without knowing what form it eventually might take, Adams said, “You’re playing with a can of worms, and you don’t know which worm he’s going to pull out.”
