Jan. 27--After approving a controversial severance package last week for College of DuPage President Robert Breuder, the school's board of trustees announced Monday that it would meet Wednesday to deal with the contract once more, suggesting that there was a problem with how officials handled it initially.
The board of trustees will meet in a special session to "clarify a procedural motion" to approve the contract "addendum" with Breuder, according to a brief statement from the state's largest community college. The board had approved the agreement 6-1 on Thursday without publicly releasing terms until after the vote.
The Tribune had obtained a draft of the severance package before the meeting and published the details, including that Breuder will get a lump sum payout of $762,868 when he retires March 31, 2016.
College spokesman Joseph Moore would not explain in more detail the purpose of Wednesday's meeting, and Chairwoman Erin Birt could not be reached for comment. The only action item on the agenda for the meeting is to approve the contract addendum. This time, though, the item includes details of the agreement as well as other supporting materials, such as a retirement letter from Breuder.
Under a recent binding opinion from the Illinois attorney general's office, such details would need to be made public before a vote under the state's open meetings laws. At the board meeting last week, Birt did not publicly read the terms of the contract change prior to the vote, and she refused to do so when Trustee Katharine Hamilton handed them to her. The board also did not publicly release the terms of Breuder's deal until about an hour after the vote and did not post them on its website.
Hamilton, the sole trustee to vote against the deal last week, said the scheduling of the new meeting "means they have done something wrong" and reflected a larger problem with trustees.
"They seem desperate to find the right way to do the wrong thing," she said.
Glenn Hansen, president of the faculty union, said the new vote points to a lack of transparency.
"They could avoid so many problems if they would just talk to people," he said.
Breuder's compensation this year is $484,812, including $305,000 in base pay and numerous financial perks.
jscohen@tribpub.com
sstclair@tribpub.com
