Controversial vote on appointment of Keith Pettigrew violated the Open Meetings Act, lawsuit says.
CHICAGO — Three weeks after the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) board voted to approve new Chief Executive Officer Keith Pettigrew, a coalition of community advocacy groups has filed a lawsuit contesting that appointment, alleging that the vote was not conducted in accordance with the requirements of Illinois’ Open Meetings Act (OMA).
The Open Meetings Act was passed in 2009, with a stated purpose “to ensure that the actions of Public Bodies be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly,” in order to “protect the citizen’s right to know.” OMA establishes requirements for how the general public must be notified in advance of meetings, and restricts public bodies (like the CHA board) from taking action on items that were not on the publicized agenda. These requirements are essential to ensure that the public knows what public bodies will be voting on so they can attend and make their voices heard on important subjects.
According to the lawsuit filed Thursday, the Public Notice for the March 17 meeting where Pettigrew was approved did not inform anyone that the appointment of a new CEO—the first CHA has had in more than a year—was on the agenda. The Notice only made a vague reference to “approval of personnel matters,” which the lawsuit contends was insufficient to satisfy the requirements of OMA.
“This is exactly the kind of secrecy that the Open Meetings Act was designed to prevent,” says attorney Matt Topic of Loevy + Loevy. “The leadership of CHA is of vital importance to the health and well-being of the City of Chicago, and under the laws of this state the public has a legal right to be informed about, and have a voice in, that process.”
In the March 17 meeting, two Board members—Commissioners Jawanza Malone and Debra Parker, voted no, and a third, Commissioner Mildred Harris, abstained. In the meeting, Commissioner Parker objected to the vote’s taking place, saying she had not even met Pettigrew, and calling the vote “out of order.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson, too, has publicly objected to the appointment of Pettigrew and the way it was handled by CHA Board Chair Matthew Brewer. In a statement April 1, Johnson said, “Brewer was required to conduct Board business within the legal bounds of the Open Meetings Act and other laws,” and called the actions taken “null and void.”
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include Lugenia Burns Hope Center (LBHC), an organization dedicated to the civic engagement of residents in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood and other communities; Working Family Solidarity (WFS), a nonprofit fighting for equitable development in eight neighborhoods on Chicago’s West, Southwest, and South sides; and the Chicago Housing Initiative (CHI), a grassroots coalition of nine community organizations whose mission is to amplify the power of low-income Chicago residents.
“We have supported CHA housing residents, particularly at the ABLA homes public housing complex, to exercise their rights, including the right to deal with their landlord—CHA—in an open and trusting way,” says Leone Jose Bicchieri, executive director of Working Family Solidarity. “CHA has shown a lack of communication and transparency with these residents, concerning the future of the ABLA Homes, and a major land sale of ABLA Home property to private interests, among other issues. CHA residents, and the public, deserve transparency. One step is to re-do CHA’s recent CEO vote.”
Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Matt Topic, Shelley Geiszler, and Josh Loevy of Loevy + Loevy.
###
For a copy of the complaint in this case, click here.
Contact:
Matt Topic, Partner, Loevy + Loevy, 773.368.8812, matt@loevy.com
Michael McDunnah, Comms Director, 312.371.5871, mcdunnah@loevy.com