THE FOLLOWING STORY IS BY BILL PICKETT
A committee of the Vermilion County Board is recommending a member be temporarily or permanently removed from the Board’s Health and Education Committee. Jerry Hawker – who is the target of the action – voted ‘no’.
Sexual harassment allegations against Hawker were raised at last month’s County Board meeting. No information is being released, though, on why the Committee on Committee’s recommended the action on Monday (March 13th) against Hawker. The full County Board is expected to vote on the recommendation when it meets Tuesday evening (March 14th).
Hawker and some other County Board members were asked to leave the room as the Committee on Committees went into a closed executive session Monday (March 13th) afternoon. Hawker is a member of the Committee on Committees, and filed notice that he believes asking him and other board members to leave the room is a violation of county board rules.
Board member Nancy O’Kane was one of those asked to leave before the closed meeting began.
AUDIO: We were not able to be in the executive session. And when you’re not in the executive session, and the next day you’re asked to make a decision, I don’t feel I have all the information. And until I have all the information, I won’t be voting at the meeting tomorrow (March 14th) night.
And O’Kane feels she and other board members should have been allowed to attend the meeting….
AUDIO: We’ve read the bylaws, and the bylaws said that we can stay. Not only can we stay, we can comment. And we weren’t allowed to stay; and we weren’t allowed to comment, because we were not allowed to stay.
Vermilion County State’s Attorney Jacqueline Lacy was in the closed meeting, along with an Assistant State’s Attorney from her office. ‘’We’re not going to discuss details discussed in the executive session’’, Lacy told our news department afterwards. She also said it was her opinion that those in the meeting should not discuss details with other board members. But another executive session of the full County Board is expected before the board votes on the recommendation Tuesday night (March 14th).
