Peeking into closed meetings
Posted in Local with tags closed session, Creve Coeur, Mike Button, open meetings, Peoria Times Observer, PTO, strippergate, Word on the Street on September 10, 2002 by Billy Dennis“Closed sessions” are a fact of life for journalists who cover public meetings. And, it is in these meetings where the dirty laundry gets aired. Illinois has a strong open meetings law. But, it requires state’s attorney’s to enforce and that is almost never done. But public bodies are required to keep minutes of meetings, then release those minutes at a later date. The Peoria Journal Star mines these documents for pieces of gold.
The Word on the Street column, a weekly round of local political news, often includes fascinating bits of information about public controversies that were previously unknown to the general public. Take, for instance, the matter of a Peoria police captain who was demoted to lieutenant after being being involved in a drunk driving accident with a city-owned vehicle. The Illinois State Police report said there was open liquor in the car, and his blood alcohol content at the scene was .18 percent.
Also, former Assistant Chief of Police Mike Button was officially on duty on the night he arranged for a stripper to perform (all she did was remove her top) as part of a practical joke (the story was revealed by the Peoria Times-Observer, by the way). But the most interesting nugget was that a detective who was conducting a real interview about a real crime was told to relocate the interview because the room he was using was needed for the practical joke. Button was suspended and is now chief of the tiny Creve Coeur Police Department.
More newspapers need to use this news gathering tool.
Mike Button,open meetings,Creve Coeur,strippergate,closed session,word on the street,PTO,Peoria Times Observer
