Harvey library trustee reports board president to state attorney general over outstanding public records requests
As the McCaskill family seizes influence over the city’s library, trustees are resorting to filing public records requests, seeking state intervention, and suing the library to fulfill their duties as library fiduciaries.
Harvey library trustee and former board treasurer Tamika Price locked horns with president Anthony McCaskill last month, suggesting she reported McCaskill to the state’s transparency arm after he failed to process her records request for the library’s finances.
Price expressed frustration at the lengths to which she, as a trustee, has gone to obtain information she believes should be readily accessible to herself and the public.
“I’m hoping that the information is provided and that the board does the right thing,” Price said. “Or the FOIA officer – sorry, the president – does the right thing and provides those documents.”
McCaskill serves as the library’s public records officer. It’s one example of how his family has taken control of the library district, seemingly gatekeeping access from trustees. Just this spring, trustee Charwana Morgan filed litigation against the library, which has violated her rights as a person with disabilities in denying her remote access to meetings, her lawsuit alleges.
That dynamic reverberated at the meeting Aug. 14 as Price sounded the alarm on a measure to hire a law firm connected to McCaskill family to conduct an investigation.
Upon return from an hour-long closed session discussing employment matters, McCaskill made a motion to hire the Del Galdo Law Group for what he described as a “60-day investigation on the things that was talked about in executive session.”
Del Galdo Law Group serves as corporation counsel for the Harvey Park District, where Anthony McCaskill is a former commissioner at the district, while his wife, Kisha McCaskill, serves as the executive director of the park district as well as a paid consultant for the library. Their daughter Amari McCaskill serves as both park district commissioner and library board secretary. Son Aaron McCaskill is the park district board president.
“… Is having Del Galdo Law Group as counsel, while it’s also the counsel for the park district, and we have a park district employee and also a park district trustee [on the library board], is that a conflict of any sort?” Price asked.
President McCaskill spoke over Price’s question, trying to push through a vote without the attorney’s response. During their tense exchange, McCaskill threatened to remove Price’s husband, former library trustee Keith Price, from the audience for making audible disruptive comments.
The board passed the measure. Trustee Charwana Morgan was absent. Price and Chappelle Hooks voted no.
Official business
Treasurer Felicia Powell-Johnson offered her treasurer’s report. The library holds a little over $3 million across its six accounts, according to Powell-Johnson.
Price cast a shadow on the report, asking if Powell-Johnson was reading the bank statements themselves or a report she or someone else had prepared. “Did you make it up? Because I know the president made it last time,” Price asked. She also asked about the status of a $180,000 bond payment designed to shorten the library’s mortgage on its facility.
McCaskill dismissed her. “Trustee Price, you’re out of order,” he said. The McCaskill-helmed library board has been opaque with its finances. In an odd move, president McCaskill delivered the finance report instead of treasurer Powell-Johnson in June.
Public comment
Former library IT manager Sam Hentz arrived at the meeting in hopes of securing his final paycheck, which he said the library has withheld from him. The board fired Hentz in May after he had filed a harassment complaint about another employee. He said his emails to president Anthony McCaskill regarding his final paycheck have been ignored.
Hentz did not offer a public comment. Cheryl Jones, a longtime Harvey resident, read an excerpt from Illinois employment law aloud on Hentz’ behalf.
Executive director search
The library has received no resumes for its long-vacant executive director role, according to administrator Carol Morris. Under McCaskill’s direction, board attorney Tom Condon posted the job listing on a page of the Illinois Library Association’s website to court applicants. This summer, president McCaskill took the search out of the hands of a consultant group Korn Ferry. Instead, he nominated his daughter and Powell-Johnson to the personnel committee, responsible for vetting director candidates.
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