SALINE CO., Ill.—We kind of figured Peabody would make an appearance at Ang’s hearing regarding Cottage Township’s Open Meetings Act violation petition this morning, and we were right.
And they’ve apparently hired such powerhouses as a last-minute move that they can’t even spell (example: They spelled Ang’s name “Angle M. Howser”…really.) This is a positive turn for the citizens.
Delayed by the tragic SUV v. motorcycle collision out on Illinois 13 this morning, Julie A. Webb of Craig and Craig LLC law firm in Mt. Vernon (yep, we’ve never heard of them before, either) finally came in with two folks from the Cottage Township board, one of them being Kevin Wintizer, the other being one we didn’t recognize.
As she reported last night, Ang filed an amended petition in Saline County Circuit Court yesterday asking for the permanent injunction to be issued against Cottage Township prohibiting them from holding anymore meetings without agendas…and asking that all decisions made at the June 11, 2014 meeting (which was held without an agenda), and all decisions that arose from that meeting subsequently, be declared null and void.
And Cottage Township, instead of doing the smart and money-conserving thing and admitting that they’d made a mistake, saying they won’t allow it to happen again, and holding a meeting for a do-over, has apparently decided to fight it….and at whomever’s behest, has prompted Peabody to come in with an intervening petition.
What is an intervening petition? Well, that’s what we filed in our granddaughter Ev’s case when we were going for her guardianship. We needed to file for standing to appear in court when two parents, both of whom at the time were not capable of raising an infant, were both saying they wanted the baby. As intervening petitioners, we were there to show the judge that A) we had an interest in the child and B) that we were able to prove we were the best bet for that baby’s safety and well-being, and ergo the guardianship of her. We proved the two parents were unfit, and that we were the ones most fit to raise Ev (when others were trying to file intervening petitions, too, mind you)…and we got her.
That’s effectively what Peabody’s saying: That they are the “most fit” to come in and deal with this matter in court, and so they’re petitioning Judge Todd Lambert for the privilege of having guardianship of the baby: Cottage Grove Road.
Which is ridiculous…because we don’t care about the road. All we care about is the Open Meetings Act violation…which the representatives of the township were attempting, this morning, to explain isn’t the case. Wintizer (perhaps; like I said, they weren’t clearly identified in court) began explaining something to this effect, but Ang cut him off with an objection….because a continuance date had already been mentioned, and was being discussed, since now a third-party petitioner is trying to get in the way and delaying the OMA action decision, so the whole thing couldn’t be heard today.
The next date has been set for Friday, August 8, at 1 p.m. Both petitions—the one by Peabody to intervene, and Ang’s petition for declaration of nullification of actions taken June 11 and beyond—will be heard that day, so who knows…it might drag right on into the evening, especially if Cottage Township gets proper legal representation. We’ll let you know how it goes.