Harvey library board votes to ‘vacate the seat’ of trustee Tamika Price, prompting lawsuit

Harvey library trustee Tamika Price filed a lawsuit along with its former board treasurer after the embattled entity voted to vacate her seat over claims she does not reside within Harvey.

Del Galdo Law Group, which serves as corporation counsel for the Harvey Park District run by the McCaskill family, conducted an investigation into Price. The board approved the investigation in August, although at the time it was not clear who the law firm would be investigating.

The investigation stemmed from board president Anthony McCaskill’s claim of Price’s malpractice as library president in 2023. He alleged Price contracted and paid a staffing agency $217,000 without board approval. McCaskill also claims Price didn’t live in Harvey, and filed a homeowner’s exemption on a property in Arizona. Price denied both claims.  

“The reason I feel that it’s being brought up now is as a form of retaliation,” Price said to the HWH. “I expressed concerns about the board needing to be reorganized because of what I considered could possibly be a conflict of interest, with the secretary being the daughter of the president and also an employee of the park district.”

At a special meeting one week later, McCaskill, who said at that same meeting he maintains a total of 34 properties, including two on Randolph Ave. in Chicago, distributed department of motor vehicle records to trustees as evidence that Price violated the residency requirement.

State law requires library officials to reside within district boundaries. Price owns properties in Maricopa, Arizona, but maintains a primary residence in Harvey’s 6th Ward.

The decision to vacate Price’s seat and subsequent lawsuit comes after months of Price becoming more authoritative, demanding answers from McCaskill over finances and operations.

McCaskill is also the library’s public records clerk. This summer, Price reported him to the Illinois State Attorney General Public Access Counselor after he failed to process her records request.

Hooks is a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit, which is seeking an injunction on the board’s actions. Hooks was ousted from her treasurer role after she raised questions around spending. 

McCaskill said outside counsel was needed to conduct the investigation into Price as it would present a conflict of interest for board attorney Tom Condon to lead an investigation into and take legal action against a current trustee. Del Galdo Law Group is the corporation counsel for the Harvey Park District, also run by the McCaskill family. Price raised objections around potential conflicts of interest to that respect, but was shot down by McCaskill while Condon did not respond.

McCaskill also butt heads with Price and Hooks over the library’s heating and cooling system.

This summer, the board approved an HVAC repair proposal from J. Smith Heating and Cooling, which trustees Tamika Price and Chapelle Hooks voted against. Price later added the company did not submit a bid in 2023. Price also expressed concerns over the timeline for repairs, lack of insurance documentation for the board to review, and the legality of the deal.

“Four members of the board voted to pay a company $66,000 last meeting for work that has not been done,” Price said during the meeting on Aug. 14. “That’s a problem.”

Illinois law mandates that public libraries contract companies through an official bidding process for projects exceeding $35,000. Price emailed Condon a list of companies who submitted bids in 2023, and J. Smith Heating and Cooling did not appear on it. Condon said he will have to do more research before determining if this was in violation of the law. 

McCaskill backpedaled on his claim that the company had submitted a bid, instead blaming former information technology manager Sam Hentz for “bringing that company in.” Hentz declined to comment about the claim.