Letter: Pass College of Dupage Reform

Letter to the Editor:

I recently passed legislation out of the Illinois House to address confidentiality clauses in public body severance agreements. These agreements use taxpayer funds, either in part or in whole, and as such should be subject to transparency. Taxpayers have a right to know how their money is being spent. It has become especially clear in the last few years that there is abuse and scandals which occur that take advantage of such confidentiality clauses. My bill, should it become law, would place all settlement and severance agreements under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

Representative Kosel, my predecessor, attempted to pass similar legislation in the previous General Assembly in response to the Metra severance agreement scandal which gave former CEO, Alex Clifford, over $700,000. Her bill unanimously passed the House, but unfortunately died in the Senate.

Last year, the College of DuPage awarded one of the largest severance agreements ever given to a public employee in Illinois to outgoing college president Robert Breuder; $763,000. Since then, local, state, and federal prosecutors have opened investigations in to the COD’s spending practices. What happened with the College of DuPage proves that not only is this still an issue, it’s an important one that needs to be properly addressed. I urge you to contact your State Senator and ask him to give his support to this bill. Down in Springfield we don’t get a lot right, but we can get it right on this issue.

To find your State Senator, visit the Illinois General Assembly website at www.ilga.gov and click on “Legislator Lookup” under Additional Resources on the homepage.

State Representative 37th District

Margo McDermed