By James Kadlec
Possible Bolingbrook Cricket League Board Resignations
DuPage Township Supervisor William Mayer and Trustee Faisel Rashid may have resigned in the last few days from the Bolingbrook Cricket League's Board. Although the League's website- http://www.bolingbrookcricket.com does not report the resignations, it no longer lists Mayer as the League's Treasurer and Rashid as its Secretary. In 2010, the League elected each to two-year terms.
If Mayer and Rashid did resign, they may have done so because of the political heat they've been receiving regarding their dual Township and League positions.
We previously reported on news websites, including The Number Crunchers, Bolingbrook, Naperville and Romeoville Patch, that Mayer and Rashid breached their fiduciary duties to Township residents when they voted at the Township's May 10 meeting to approve a $2,000 donation to the Bolingbrook Cricket League.
Neither informed the meeting attendees of their conflict of interest. Both should have excused themselves from discussing and voting to approve the $2,000.
Other Township Conflicts of Interest
Beside William Mayer and Faisel Rashid, two other Bolingbrook Cricket League Board members have ties to the DuPage Township Board.
The League's website lists Talat Rashid as its Vice President and Kevin Palmer as its Board Member At Large.
Talat Rashid is the father of Township Trustee Rashid and Kevin is the brother of Trustee Leslie Palmer. Because Trustee Palmer's family member is a League officer, she also had a conflict of interest when she voted to approve the $2,000 to the Bolingbrook Cricket League. Palmer also failed to disclose her conflict before voting.
If other Township officials knew of Supervisor Mayer and Trustees Rashid and Palmer's conflicts of interest when voting on the $2,000 donation, they too breached their fiduciary duties to DuPage Township residents. (Note: At the May 10 Township meeting, Trustee Felix George voted to donate the $2,000; Trustee Steve Mikos was absent.)
The Township Board's conflicts of interest regarding the Bolingbrook Cricket League were learned after the May 10 Township meeting. Because the Board members have not publicly acknowledged their Bolingbrook Cricket League conflicts, it's uncertain whether they would disclose additional conflicts with other organizations that have matters that come before the Board.
Who's Minding the Store?
There are no checks and balances over the DuPage Township Board. Township officials who vote on Board matters - the Supervisor and four Trustees are members of the same political party.
The Township's two other elected officials - Collector Shirley Valevicius and Assessor John Randall do not vote. In addition, the news media does not attend and report on Township meetings.
DuPage Township residents have little or no knowledge regarding Board dealings. The Township's annual financial statements are distributed only to those who attend the Township's annual meetings, but are not posted on the Township website. In addition, these statements are not comprehensive annual financial reports (CAFRs) of the Township's total performance that government transparency organizations recommend.
No financial information (for example, vendor payments, employee salaries and benefits, budgets, and contracts) is reported either online or to meeting attendees. Meeting minutes also are not shared with residents. It appears that the Board prefers keeping Township residents in the dark and not providing them the means to monitor how their tax dollars are spent.
If you, as a DuPage Township resident, want oversight over your Township Board, you need to periodically attend Board meetings. Meetings are at 7 PM on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at the Township Office (241 Canterbury Lane, Bolingbrook). Please join your neighbors at the next meeting on Tuesday, June 14. Meetings are usually short - 30 minutes or less. The Board regularly approves agenda items with little discussion; they seem to like it that way.
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