The Winnetka Park District Board of Commissioners recently voted 4-2 to discontinue holding regular committee of the whole meetings, and to shift instead to holding such workshop-level meetings on an as-needed basis only.
On Sept. 26, commissioners decided to eliminate committee of the whole meetings as a way to streamline operations. Board President Christina Codo, who supported the measure, noted to commissioners that the board still can call a special meeting should an issue arise. In the interim, she said that the district’s executive director, Shannon Q. Nazzal, has been sharing a tremendous amount of information with commissioners that could obviate the need for committee of the whole meetings.
“We now have a series of weekly reports from the executive director that are written by every single business enterprise leadership team member, so we (now) get an enormous amount of detail each week,” Codo told her colleagues. “We get a download of all of the constituent concerns weekly, and that is available to the public weekly also. We’re not removing the option to call a meeting, should a special question arise. We do have a new advantage of an incredibly detailed written summary that comes weekly and is published in the board packet, and I think that is a huge step forward in terms of communication, and that’s why I think…we can dispense with some of the committee meetings.”
Up to now, the board had eight scheduled committee of the whole meetings each year, to allow for deeper discussions on district issues. With the recent vote, the remaining three committee of the whole meetings for 2024 have been cancelled, and have been replaced by three budget workshop-type meetings. That’s in line with previous years’ budget preparations, so as a result, on a net basis, the board would meet five fewer times in 2025.
Two commissioners complained that eliminating the committee of the whole meetings reduces the number of opportunities for the community to engage with district officials.
“In (the) summary memo, (it’s) noted that four (nearby) park districts that don’t have regular committee of the whole meetings, but Glenview and Northbrook do have very active and vibrant standing committees,” said Commissioner Colleen Root. “I’d like staff and the board to consider it. It’s another way to involve the public. It just seems to me a very good way to get the input of people who use our park services — they can tell us what they like and what they don’t like. Going to one meeting a month, I don’t know how we’re going to get our business done.”
Root also noted that the board also now only offers one time for public comment during regular park board meetings. In the past, regular meetings had two sections set aside for public comment.
Commissioner Cynthia Rapp told her colleagues that she feels that “I think it’s helpful for boards to be able to discuss things in committee knowing that you will not be on the spot to vote on them and to work through issues.”
“It’s really unclear to me what the objective is in terms of removing the committee of the whole meetings without a replacement plan,” Rapp said. “Like, what’s the urgency to remove these meetings versus canceling them? I really think we need a plan of, here’s how we’re going to cover the business that we need to cover. I think we are creating a structure where we will never have committee meetings.”
Nazzal’s memo to the board noted that state law does not mandate committee of the whole meetings, and she also wrote that the district’s staff supports the change “in an effort to enhance efficiency.” Nazzal also revealed that eliminating committee of the whole meetings would save about 80 hours of staff time that would be redirected away from meeting times and preparations.
Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
