The Robbins Park District filed a notice to appeal Monday in a lawsuit that sought resolution to the April election, when three candidates were elected for only two available seats on the board.
Park District attorney Michelle Broughton-Fountain filed the notice, writing the Park District seeks for Angelia Murphy-Watts and Terry Lee to be sworn in and for Ryan Buckley to be prohibited from taking the oath of office. The notice also again requests Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough not list Buckley as a board member on the county website.
Broughton-Fountain declined to comment. Park District officials and board members did not respond to requests for comment.
Murphy-Watts and Buckley, who received the most votes in the April election, said Monday they had not been informed by Park District officials about being sworn in at Wednesday’s board meeting, which is the first regularly scheduled meeting since the case dismissal.
Buckley said the board held a rescheduled meeting Nov. 6, which he attended as a resident. At that meeting, board members said the board’s attorney advised them to not swear in the candidates, Buckley said.
“It’s frustrating because I feel it’s a disservice to the voters,” he said. “It’s limiting us to do what we were elected to do.”
Murphy-Watts said since the lawsuit was dismissed, she’s reached out to park officials to find out what next steps would be taken, but was told the case “is still in the hands of the lawyer.”
“I’m very upset about it. It’s been too long. You would figure after the judge gave her verdict it would be easier, but it’s not, and I don’t know why,” Murphy-Watts said before the notice of appeal was filed.
Cook County Judge Araceli R. De La Cruz dismissed the case Oct. 20 filed by the Park District arguing that Buckley, the second-place finisher, should be ineligible to serve on the park board because he serves on the library board and is a legislative assistant for the village. By disqualifying Buckley, the Park District would be able to swear in Murphy-Watts and Lee, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit also sought to have Yarbrough change the election website that certified all three candidates as winners.
In her 10-page ruling, Judge Araceli R. De La Cruz wrote disqualifying Buckley would be “based on an assumption or speculation that his candidacy is incompatible with the other positions he holds and not based on any reason caused by the County Clerk.”
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The official results show Murphy-Watts received 393 votes, Buckley received 349 and Lee received 344. Murphy-Watts and Lee were incumbents, said Buckley. None of the three candidates has taken office since the new terms began in April because of the confusion.
De La Cruz rejected the Park District’s request to have Yarbrough’s office change the official results on its website, that show all three candidates were certified as winners.
“Petitioner’s demand from the County Clerk to alter the election results published on their website does not remedy the injury of confusion caused to its constituents because the election has not been contested or declared invalid,” De La Cruz wrote.