A member of the Niles-Maine District Library Board is suing another board trustee, alleging that her appointment earlier this year was illegal.
Trustee Joe Makula alleges that Trustee Becky Keane was “illegally appointed” to the seat, according to documents filed in Cook County Circuit Court.
The court complaint does not cite a legal argument for why Keane’s appointment was illegal.
Makula is joined in the suit by plaintiffs Gerald Szczepanski and Robert Zalesny — two Niles residents who have spoken at library board meetings in favor of measures supported by Makula.
Court documents state the plaintiffs initially approached the Illinois Attorney General and Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office with their allegations, but both offices declined to pursue legal action.
Cook County Circuit Court Judge Michael Mullen on Nov. 9 ruled that the plaintiffs could file their complaint against Keane, according to court records.
The complaint seeks removal of Keane from the board.
Makula and his attorney Daniel Kelley did not respond to messages seeking explanation for why Keane’s appointment was illegal. Szczepanski said he could not comment on the lawsuit and a message left with Zalesny was not returned.
Whether taxpayers of the Niles-Maine District Library will foot the bill of the lawsuit was not immediately clear. Library Executive Director Cyndi Rachemacher declined to answer, stating in an email that a reporter’s simple question on the matter constituted a Freedom of Information Act request and that “FOIA does not require a public body to answer questions.”
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The filed court documents also allege that Keane has also prevented the board from appointing a new trustee to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Trustee Olivia Hanusiak in August.
Keane called the lawsuit “frivolous” and said that she was lawfully appointed to the library board.
“Whatever part of the (state) statute that outlines the appointment process was not violated as far as I can tell,” Keane said. “I feel the board did it the proper way.”
Keane joined the Niles-Maine District Library Board in October 2020 when she was appointed by the board to fill the remaining seven months of a term vacated by Trustee Sue Wilsey.
Keane ran in the April 6, 2021 election for a six-year term on the board, but was not elected. Her term would have ended in May, but on April 21, 2021, Trustee Dianne Olson made a motion to appoint Keane to fill the seat vacated by Karen Dimond, who tendered her resignation that night, meeting minutes show.
Dimond, the board’s president, resigned because she had just been elected supervisor of the Maine Township Town Board. Her term was set to end in 2025.
According to minutes from the April 21 meeting, the library board vice president asked Keane if she was “willing to resign from Sue Wilsey’s vacancy and serve in Trustee Dimond’s vacancy.” Keane said yes, and the board voted 4-1 in favor of her appointment, with Trustee Carolyn Drblik voting against.
Keane was administered the oath of office that night.
The Illinois Library District Act states that vacancies on a board “shall be filled by appointment by the remaining trustees until the next regular library election.” The next election is in 2023.
Makula was elected on April 6 to fill a two-year term. Elected to six-year terms were Suzanne Schoenfeldt and Olivia Hanusiak, though Hanusiak later resigned just three months after taking office.
Since the swearing in of the new trustees in May, the board has been at odds, bitterly divided between the faction of Keane, Dianne Olson and Patti Rozanski, and the voting bloc of Makula, Schoenfeldt and Drblik. Meetings, presided over by Drblik, the board’s president, include frequent arguments and, since the resignation of Hanusiak, tie votes on several matters have caused motions to fail.
The board has also failed to appoint a new trustee to fill Hanusiak’s seat. While the board met on Oct. 27 and interviewed 12 candidates, the meeting ended without a vote.
Keane denied Makula’s allegations that she is holding up the appointment of a new trustee on the board.
“It’s not 3 to 3 because I’m on the board. It’s 3 to 3 because one of their people left,” she said, referring to the bloc of Drblik, Makula and Schoenfeldt. “We had an opportunity to appoint a trustee and they refused to do so.”
Keane declined to share specifics of the board’s closed-door meeting of deliberations following candidate interviews, but did say that no candidate names were placed on the table for consideration.
Keane said she plans to fight the lawsuit filed against her and has hired an attorney.