Thornton Township School Board President Kenneth Williams Wins Legal Victory

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Thornton Township High School District 205 Board President, Kenneth Williams.
Thornton Township High School District 205 Board President, Kenneth Williams.

Judge Maureen Kirby of the Circuit Court of Cook County ruled that District 205 violated the Illinois Open Meetings Act which prevented current Thornton Township High School District 205 Board President Kenneth Williams from being on the April 9, 2013 school board ballot.

Section 1. of the Illinois Open Meetings Act mandates the following policy:

It is the public policy of this State that public bodies exist to aid in the conduct of the people's business and that the people have a right to be informed as to the conduct of their business. In order that the people shall be informed, the General Assembly finds and declares that it is the intent of this Act to ensure that the actions of public bodies be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly.

The General Assembly further declares it to be the public policy of this State that its citizens shall be given advance notice of and the right to attend all meetings at which any business of a public body is discussed or acted upon in any way. Exceptions to the public's right to attend exist only in those limited circumstances where the General Assembly has specifically determined that the public interest would be clearly endangered or the personal privacy or guaranteed rights of individuals would be clearly in danger of unwarranted invasion.

To implement this policy, the General Assembly declares:

(1) It is the intent of this Act to protect the citizen's right to know; and

(2) The provisions for exceptions to the open meeting requirements shall be strictly construed against closed meetings.

"They tainted the entire process," said Williams' attorney, Andy Finko in a released statement. "They did not follow the rules that all public bodies are supposed to follow. They hid the records and they defied the judge's court orders on two separate occasions. The Electoral Board was supposed to file all the transcripts and documents that the Electoral Board reviewed. They came in today with a file that was a foot thick and even though it was a foot thick, they left out things that would have been favorable to Kenneth Williams."

Elected in 2009, the court's ruling was a triumph for Williams, as it prevents an appeal by the Electoral Board and Williams' main detractors.

In addition, Finko stated that Williams and his running-mates want his name to be first on the ballot as it was slated to be before the court ordered to have his name removed.

"The original ticket had Kenneth Williams listed as number 1 on the ticket," Finko said.

Williams' two running-mates were also returned to the ballot as a direct result of the court's ruling.

Current board member Judith Gibbs will be on the ballot with Williams. Gibbs was voted onto the school board in September 2010 to replace a resigning board member.

Running for the first time is Annette O'Neal, the third name to be returned to the ballot. O'Neal, a resident of Riverdale and has two children who have graduated from Thornton Township High School.

Outside of his duties as Thornton Township's school board president, Williams, is a fixture within the South Holland community where he resides, coaching the Dolton Bears youth football team and as the founder of Silk n' Classy Barber College. Through the college, Williams has donated over 6,000 free haircuts for back to school programs and events for seniors and veterans.

By Lee Edwards

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