Meeting recap: Rain check on new HVAC system at Harvey Public Library after trustees break quorum

Twenty minutes after the meeting began, officials were required to adjourn because they no longer had the required attendance to conduct city business after one trustee abruptly left the virtual meeting.

The entrance to the Harvey Public Library, as shown November 4, 2022. HWH / Amethyst J. Davis

Meeting date

January 12, 2023

Roll call

Library Director Xavier Menzies: Present

President Tamika Price: Present

Vice President Roberta Patterson: Absent

Treasurer JoAnn Nesbitt: Absent

Secretary Charwana Morgan: Absent

Trustee Monique Williams: Present

Trustee Yadira Garcia: Absent

Trustee Anthony McCaskill: Present

The big picture

Board trustees were required to adjourn the meeting due to lack of quorum after Trustee Charwana Morgan, initially present, was no longer present in the virtual meeting.

President Price remarked that Morgan appeared to be at a youth cheerleading practice. The board requires four members minimum be present to conduct official business.

Notable presentations

HVAC

Joseph Zeiler, a mechanical engineer at P.E./Superior Engineering, was present to deliver a presentation on a new HVAC system as part of an open bid.

Major decisions

Ending the meeting early

Almost 20 minutes into the meeting, right before Zeiler was about to begin their presentation, library board attorney Maryclare Touchy indicated the meeting needed to adjourn because the body lacked quorum. Touchy said Zeiler couldn’t deliver the presentation as a result.

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Author

Amethyst J. Davis is responsible for spearheading the growth and development of the HWH, including outlining the editorial trajectory and content. She was an administrator at New York University before launching her journalism career. She was previously a member of the Sounding Board, the community advisory board for Chicago Public Media, which includes WBEZ Chicago and the Chicago Sun-Times.

Amethyst is a 2023 Leader of a New Chicago award recipient, as recognized by the Field Foundation and MacArthur Foundation. She was named to Forbes 30 Under 30. In 2025, she received Public Narrative’s People’s Choice Award.

A Harvey native, Amethyst is a Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School (’11) and Thornton Township High School alumna (‘15) and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from NYU (BA’19). She is an alumna of the Data and Policy Summer Scholar program at the University of Chicago.

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