Three who met for dinner say they didn’t break the law, as no D86 business was discussed
All three Hinsdale High School District 86 members who met for dinner following their July 11 meeting say they did not violate the Illinois Open Meetings Act.
Board President Cat Greenspon and board members Peggy James and Jeff Waters, who gathered at Taco Grill in Westmont, said no board business was discussed.
“We all stayed after (the meeting) to help clean up as we typically do — there are any number of board members that stay after to clean up — and decided we were hungry and went to eat,” Greenspon said. “That was it.”
The Illinois Open Meetings Act prevents the majority of a quorum (three members for a seven-member board) gathering “for the purpose of discussing public business.”
James noted the three were meeting outdoors at a public restaurant, not behind closed doors.
“I can only tell you we did not discuss board business,” she said.
Yvonne Mayer, who has been a critic of recent board actions, and Greenspon in particular, discovered the three at the restaurant and took a photo of them at about 8:30 p.m.
Mayer said she went home after the meeting, which adjourned at 7:02 p.m., and didn’t want to eat the dinner her husband had made.
“I was hungry after the meeting. I went to go where I regularly go and there they were,” she said. “I thought, ‘This is gossip confirmation. There they are.’ ”
Mayer said she has heard many rumors that board members get together after meetings to debrief, and she doubts no board business was discussed.
“It’s just not credible. It’s just not believable,” Mayer said. “Even if it was true, they should have avoided the appearance of impropriety.”
Greenspon confirmed that she has been out with other board members after meetings and said she does not believe such gatherings are inappropriate.
“As a board member, I do not give up my rights as an individual private citizen at all,” she said.
Waters agreed.
“Upon being elected to the District 86 Board of Education, I did not give up my private life,” he wrote in an email.
