Village Council Unanimously Passes Electronic Attendance Resolution

The Downers Grove Village Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday that would potentially allow Mayor Ron Sandack to attend the remaining meetings of his term electronically from Springfield, where he has begun serving as state senator from the 21st District.

Electronic attendance has been utilized in the past. Physical absence must be due to "employment purposes" and be confirmed with ample time to prepare necessary equipement.

Sandack was appointed to the Senate seat after former Senator Dan Cronin won his race for DuPage County Board Chairman.

Commissioners voted on a resolution that was modified since its first reading at the Jan. 4 meeting.

Last week, Commissioner William Waldack expressed concern that the original version of the resolution pre-approved Sandack’s attendance for all the noted meetings, when council rules dictate that electronic attendance needs to be approved at the start of every meeting by a majority of commissioners attending in the flesh.

Waldack thought it inappropriate to pre-vote on action that would normally be taken at future meetings, which commissioners cannot confirm they'll attend at this point.

“Council rules and procedure pertaining to electronic attendance are clear,” Waldack said before Tuesday's vote. He said he would not simply accept the prior version based on the support of village attorney Enza Petrarca.

“In addition to a village attorney, we have a legal staff, there are private attorneys out there and a state’s attorney general office which authored the state rules for the general assembly," he said. "So when I do my homework, I don’t work in a vacuum.”

The resolution passed was square with Waldack’s view and now states “electronic attendance is contingent upon approval of a motion at the beginning of each council meeting.”

Mayor Sandack was expected to attend electronically Tuesday but did not due to his duties in Springfield, according to Commissioner Marilyn Schnell, the mayor pro tem and acting chair.

The mayor now has the option to attend the meetings of Feb. 1, Feb. 8, Feb. 15, March 1, March 8, March 15, April 5, April 12, April 19, May 3 and May 10, on the condition his attendance is approved at each meeting's outset.

In other council action:

• The unanimously passed consent agenda included a motion to approve the 2011 Top Priority Action Items. The motion was briefly discussed at the Jan. 4 meeting without any dissension.
• Commissioner Bob Barnett responded to public comment at the Jan. 4 meeting that Sandack should pay out of his own pocket the approximately $500 it will cost the village for his electronic attendance. Barnett said the mayor is foregoing his remaining mayoral salary, about $1,900, so the village actually ends up saving money overall.
• Schnell used the mayor’s report to express sorrow over the death of retired Downers Grove Police Lieutenant David L. Rechenmacher, who died Monday. “He was truly a class act,” Schnell said of the 33-year DGPD veteran. “Great police officer, great role model.”