All hell breaks loose at Harvey Park District board meeting over alleged mismanagement

An Harvey Park District meeting earlier this month devolved into yelling and demands for transparency following complaints of board mismanagement.

Elected in April, commissioner La’Keisha Brown hasn’t received access to her park district email. And Waynemond Cotton, elected in 2023 to a four-year term, is at odds with the park district over vacating his board seat. 

Tensions began when park district secretary and library trustee Felicia Powell-Johnson was seen directing security to deny public entry into the building before the meeting started at 6:00 P.M. Commissioners were allowed in to get settled.

Contention over public entry, a vacated board seat, and alleged mismanagement led the meeting to abruptly adjourn less than 10 minutes after it began.

Floyd Coleman lost his re-election bid in April. However, he was still serving as board president at the meeting on July 8, where the agenda was not posted online or in-person 48 hours in advance, in accordance with state law.

“They didn’t post it anywhere,” Brown said, “and all of a sudden, Mr. Coleman is back on the board.” At that point, Coleman, who is listed as board president on the park district’s website, slammed the gavel, saying she was “out of order.”

Coleman could not be reached for comment. 

According to Del Galdo Law Group board attorney Vlado Vranjes, the board appointed Coleman in April to fill a board vacancy, he told the HWH. The park district holds meetings on the second Tuesday of every quarter. Its second quarterly meeting fell on April 8 — nearly one week after the elections. 

Brown received no communication from executive director Kisha McCaskill about a board meeting, Brown told the HWH, and even struggled to secure a date for her swearing-in ceremony. Upon Brown’s request, Harvey officials allowed her to hold her ceremony at City Hall in May.

That same month, corporation counsel Del Galdo Law Group, tied to now-convicted former state speaker Michael Madigan, sent Cotton a letter indicating that he was removed from his seat over unpaid debt. Attorneys sent Cotton the notice four months after the board allegedly vacated his seat. 

According to state law, “a person is not eligible to serve as park commissioner if that person is in arrears in the payment of a tax or other indebtedness due to the park district.” 

The park district previously invoiced Cotton $500 to recoup registration costs associated with the 2023 National Recreation and Park Association Conference he never attended. Cotton couldn’t get the time off work to attend, he said, which he communicated to executive director Kisha McCaskill, according to messages Cotton provided to the HWH. He did not pay the invoice. 

Cotton was not present at the meeting where his seat was allegedly vacated. Since he was elected, Cotton has rarely attended meetings, complaining leadership does not keep him abreast of dates. Cotton has now obtained legal counsel. 

Even though the board allegedly voted to vacate his seat, the park district website still lists Cotton as a commissioner. Brown’s name is not listed. 

The board has not posted any agendas or minutes from this year online, so it’s immediately unclear whether the board truly voted to vacate Cotton’s seat in January. The state’s Open Meetings Act requires all government bodies with websites to post agendas online within 48 hours of meetings and in-person. Minutes are to be posted within 10 days of their approval. 

July’s meeting also saw former library trustee Monique Williams lashing out over the McCaskill family’s longtime control of the park district and library. 

Siblings Aaron and Amari McCaskill serve as park district commissioners. Amari McCaskill is a library trustee. Her father Anthony McCaskill is library board president. He previously served as park district commissioner. Matriarch Kisha McCaskill is park district executive director and now a county commissioner.

Kisha McCaskill’s paid consultant work at the library, where her husband serves as president, was one of several moves she called unethical, prompting Williams’ resignation last year.

Williams took aim at attorneys aiding and abetting misconduct as they reap financial benefits and Black elected officials at the center of political carnage in predominantly Black communities. 

“Ya’ll sit up here and let a whole [expletive] family take over a government agency,” Williams yelled. “Then ya’ll turn around and make her the [expletive] commissioner.”