District 97 Facilities Committee meeting in the crib?

Public taxing bodies normally don't ever hold their meetings at the home of a sitting member of that body. But what about an unelected, quasi public body like District 97's volunteer Facilities Advisory Committee?

The answer is yes, surprisingly.

The group's upcoming meeting is set for tonight (Tuesday Dec. 4), and its announcement drew a curious inquiry from one citizen who contacted our paper, wondering how and why this group is able to hold a public meeting in someone's home. The FAC has about a dozen volunteer members. A D97 school board-sanctioned group, the FAC advises the board and does research concerning facilities matters. The FAC, as it's called, is not an elected group but its members are board-approved.

Their meetings, which typically last two hours, normally take place in a second floor conference room at D97's central office building at 970 Madison. But a prior meeting has taken place at a FAC member's home, said committee chair Jamil Bou-Saab, in an email to Wednesday Journal on Monday.

Bou-Saab said the press and others are welcome to come to such meeting locations, adding that the group, though not an elected body, does fall under the Illinois Open Meetings Act. As required under the act, Tuesday's meeting was posed publicly on D97's website, including the night's agenda and location with Bou-Saab's home address listed. In his email to WJ Monday, Bou-Saab said the meeting will include "food, drink and fun."

CONTACT: tdean@wjinc.com