Belleville aldermen attend private ‘serial’ meetings about Art on the Square
The Art on the Square board was concerned enough about a couple of issues that it called a series of private meetings with Belleville City Council members at a local church.
Board members wanted to let aldermen know that rumors about the annual art fair moving out of downtown Belleville were false, according to Co-Director Carol Bartle. They also asked for continued funding and expanded support related to use of buildings, including City Hall.
“A lot of the buildings have been utilized already,” Bartle said. “We’re starting early this year because last year it was up to the week of the show that we got a place for hospitality.”
Most residents who want to provide information to all 16 aldermen send letters or emails or speak at City Council meetings.
In this case, Art on the Square board members called aldermen individually and asked to meet with them last Tuesday afternoon at St. Paul United Church of Christ in Belleville. They scheduled one meeting every half hour to accommodate three aldermen at a time.
This is sometimes referred to as “serial,” “rolling” or “chain” meetings.
The Illinois Open Meetings Act requires meetings of public bodies to be advertised and open to the public and press if they’re attended by a majority of a quorum to discuss public business. That would be five for Belleville City Council, according to Don Craven, president and CEO of the Illinois Press Association and an attorney who specializes in media law.
“(A meeting of three is) not violating the letter of the law, but it’s taking advantage of an opportunity to keep information from the public,” Craven said.
Bartle said the Art on the Square board wasn’t trying to hide anything and made sure to go “by the book” when determining how many aldermen to gather at a time. The board isn’t bound by the Illinois Open Meetings Act, only public bodies such as the City Council.
Bartle noted that City Council meetings aren’t conducive to discussion because outside speakers are limited to three minutes.
Bartle said the meetings on Tuesday included great questions from aldermen and discussion that will help the nationally known art fair, which has been operating since 2002, continue to thrive.
“This was not something that had to be public information,” she said. “There was a rumor on the street that we were moving (to Southwestern Illinois College), and that is not true. So we had to let the aldermen know.”
The BND requested a comment from Mayor Patty Gregory, who served as Art on the Square’s founding director for 20 years before she was elected mayor in 2021. That prompted an email response from Kathy Kaiser, the city’s director of PR and communications.
“Mayor Gregory was not asked to be a part of these meetings, so she really does not have a comment, since she was not in attendance,” Kaiser wrote.
Gregory wasn’t involved in the meetings because they were geared toward aldermen who vote on city funding and policy issues, according to Bartle. She said 13 of the 16 attended.
The BND reached out to all 16 aldermen via email and invited them to comment on the meetings.
Ward 3 Alderman Scott Ferguson and Ward 5 Alderwoman Shelly Schaefer speculated that Art on the Square board members set up the meeting schedule the way they did so that aldermen would avoid violating the “OMA” (Illinois Open Meetings Act).
“It was very uneventful,” Ferguson added.
Ward 7 Alderman Phil Elmore similarly pointed out that meetings of three or fewer aldermen are legal under Illinois law. He described what happened on Tuesday as “much (ado) about nothing.”
Ward 2 Alderwoman Jamie Eros chose not to attend a meeting. “I felt it an odd request and a little inappropriate and unprofessional,” she wrote.
No other aldermen responded to the email.
Ward 1 Alderwoman Lillian Schneider told the BND in an interview that it was “weird” to get a call on Sunday from someone asking her to attend an Art on the Square meeting on a Tuesday afternoon at a church, where only three aldermen could show up at a time.
Schneider posted on Facebook before going to St. Paul.
“Is this a joke or a prank?” she wrote. “What is wrong? You may have to come looking (for) me! I am not going down with out a standing up (for) my self.”
Art on the Square is a juried art fair that features about 100 artists who display and sell their work for a weekend, usually in May. It’s considered Belleville’s biggest tourist attraction, drawing tens of thousands of people from throughout the region. It’s operated by a nonprofit foundation.
As a sponsor, the city provides $24,000 in funding and a 20% discount on overtime costs related to set-up, security and clean-up each year, according to Jamie Maitret, finance director.
This story was originally published October 9, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
