Jan. 13--DuPage County prosecutors have asked the College of DuPage to turn over records that could shed light on a contract extension given to former President Robert Breuder shortly before he began severance negotiations.
In a letter sent Monday, Assistant State's Attorney Gregory Vaci, who heads the office's civil division, asked the college to turn over minutes and a "verbatim record" from closed-session board meetings in February and March 2014. Vaci wrote that he intended to review records to see whether the board complied with the state's open meetings act.
The letter comes after Breuder, in his wrongful termination lawsuit against the college, says he was informed March 7, 2014, by then-chairman Erin Birt that a majority of the board had approved an extension of his contract until 2019.
College records show the board had a special meeting March 6, 2014, and met in executive session for 21/2 hours to discuss personnel issues.
Breuder began negotiating a severance agreement with trustees the next month.
The lawsuit's mention of the March discussion has become a flash point for Breuder critics, who have asked DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin to review whether there was an illegal closed-door vote. The decision could depend on the interpretation of a trigger clause in Breuder's contract that automatically extended his three-year employment deal for another year every April unless the board opted to fire him. According to the contract, the board did not have to vote on its decision in an open meeting -- a caveat that arguably violates the spirit of the state's open meetings law.
Indeed, Berlin signaled his concern for the trigger clause earlier this year. In a letter to then-Chairwoman Katharine Hamilton, Berlin said if the board decided in a closed session to let Breuder's contract renew, it would have been a violation of state law because it is essentially the taking of a final action -- even though there was no official vote. But the legal remedy would be of little use, he said, because courts cannot reverse a nonaction.
Berlin's earlier review looked into a 2011 contract extension, not the 2014 extension.
"We received a request to look into it and that's what we're doing," Berlin spokesman Paul Darrah said.
The board fired Breuder in October, rescinding his $763,000 severance deal. Breuder filed his lawsuit the next day.
"Dr. Breuder was not present when his contract extension was discussed by the board and he relied on the board chairs communication pertaining to his extension," his attorney, Martin Dolan, said.
Berlin's renewed interest became public Tuesday amid prolonged in-fighting among college trustees.
Trustee Deanne Mazzochi has proposed a special meeting for Thursday with one agenda item for approval -- to address Berlin's request and vote on whether to release the closed-session recordings.
But her meeting -- slated to start at 6:30 p.m. -- comes after the board's three longtime trustees called for a 7 p.m. meeting Thursday to address a variety of contentious issues, including the continued employment of several law firms and a vote on board leadership positions. Those three trustees have boycotted the two previous board meetings after saying Mazzochi wouldn't address -- or pre-empted -- their concerns, leaving the board without a quorum to conduct business.
Mazzochi, the board's vice chairman who presides over meetings in the chair's absence, said she decided to post the longtime trustees' agenda without additions or revisions with the hope that they attend both meetings. Hamilton resigned in December and the board has not yet filled her vacancy.
"I want to hear each trustee's position Thursday on whether they agree the college should comply with the state's attorney's office request," she said.
In an email exchange obtained by the Tribune, Mazzochi indicated that interim President Joseph Collins initially balked at adding her agenda, despite a state law that allows any three trustees to call a special meeting.
"You fear the three (longtime) trustees ... will boycott it, and you believe the boycott is not in the best interest of the College," she wrote.
She also hinted that Collins was violating school policy by pushing back against her agenda -- a suggestion that led Collins to call her behavior "unprofessional."
"I remind you that you do not individually have the ability to discipline me," he wrote. "I work for the entire board, not you."
jscohen@tribpub.com
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