Dive Brief:
- College of DuPage trustees are scheduled to meet today to vote again on a controversial $763,000 severance pay package approved last week for the college’s outgoing president.
- The vote is required because of a “procedural error,” the details of which aren’t known, the Chicago Tribune reported
- Two watchdog groups filed a lawsuit on Tuesday that accused the board of trustees of violating open meetings laws by not disclosing details of the 2016 pay package before voting on it.
Dive Insight:
Besides the severance package vote, the board has reportedly violated state open meetings laws repeatedly over the last six years by approved contract extensions and perks for the president, Robert Breuder, without notifying the public. Illinois law requires that public bodies give a “public recital” of the business they will conduct in a meeting, before the meeting, or else they can’t vote on those matters. State Rep. Jeanne Ives announced last week that she will ask the Illinois auditor general to audit the College of DuPage, and the planned severance package — more than double the president’s annual base salary — has been widely condemned, the Tribune reported.