WHEREAS, the Retirement Board of the Laborers' and Retirement Board Employees' Annuity & Benefit Fund of Chicago ("Fund") recognizes a commitment to increase the transparency and accountability of governments at all levels, including the Fund;
WHEREAS, the General Assembly of Illinois declared it to be the public policy of Illinois to ensure that the actions of public bodies, including the Fund, be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly;
WHEREAS, the Illinois Open Meetings Act ("Act"), 5 ILCS 120 et seq., permits the attendance of members of a public body at public meetings by a means other than physical presence after the public body adopts reasonable rules in accordance with the Act;
WHEREAS, the Act permits any person to record the proceedings at meetings required to be open by the Act by tape, film, or other means and authorizes the public body holding the meeting to prescribe reasonable rules to govern the right to make such recordings;
WHEREAS, the Act permits any person an opportunity to address public officials under the rules established and recorded by the public body;
WHEREAS, the Retirement Board of the Fund ("Board") acknowledges that it is a "public body" as defined in the Act, 5 ILCS 120/1.02, and adopts the following policy regarding the methods of attendance by Board Members at meetings, the procedure to record open meetings, and the procedure to address the Board at meetings, in accordance with the Act.
Article 1 METHODS OF ATTENDANCE BY BOARD MEMBERS
1. Physical Attendance Requirement for Quorum. A quorum of Board Members must be physically present at the location of an open or a closed meeting per the Act, 5 ILCS 120/2.01.
2. Meeting Attendance by Other Means. When a quorum of the Board is physically present at a meeting, a majority of the Board may allow a Board Member to attend the meeting by video or audio conference ("Other Means") if the Board Member is prevented from physically attending due to:
(a) Personal illness or disability;
(b) Employment purposes or the business of the Fund; or
(c) A family or other emergency.
3. Prior Notice for Attendance by Other Means. If a member wishes to attend a meeting by Other Means, the Board Member must notify the executive director of the Fund ("Executive Director") before the meeting unless advance notice is impractical.
Article 2 RIGHT TO RECORD OPEN MEETINGS
Any person may record the proceedings required to be open by the Act by tape, film, or other means, subject to the following reasonable rules enacted to ensure the business of the Fund can be conducted:
(a) Designated Location. The Executive Director shall designate a location(s) for recording equipment. The movements of people using recording equipment are restricted to the designated location(s) for the duration of the meeting.
(b) Minimal Disturbance. The person recording the proceedings shall take all reasonable efforts to ensure that the recording activity does not disturb the meeting or impair the ability of other meeting participants or members of the public from viewing the meeting.
(c) Audience Release. An announcement shall be made at the beginning of a meeting when a meeting is to be recorded. Individuals in attendance, who continue to attend the meeting after the announcement, give their implicit permission to be recorded. No releases are required.
(d) Witness Exception. If a witness at any meeting required to be open by the Act, refuses to testify on the grounds that he or she may not be compelled to testify if any portion of his or her testimony is to be broadcast or televised or if motion pictures are to be taken of him or her during the testimony, then the Board shall prohibit such recording during the testimony of the witness per 5 ILCS 120/2.05.
(e) Violation. Violators of this section risk dismissal from the meeting as deemed appropriate by the Board.
Article 3 RIGHT TO ADDRESS THE BOARD
The Board shall hear comments from members of the public who wish to express their views before the Board. The agenda for each regular board meeting may allot up to twenty minutes for this purpose. The right to address the Board is subject to the following reasonable rules enacted to permit the orderly progress of the Board through its agenda:
(a) Reasonable Prior Notice. Requests to address the Board shall be made to the Executive Director prior to the meeting.
(b) Procedure. The Board shall recognize each speaker in the order of notice. Each speaker shall give his or her name and employer or affiliation for the minutes.
(c) Comments. Subject to the discretion of the Board, public comments shall be limited to five minutes and to a topic on the agenda. Public comments are not to be repetitious or disruptive and may not be used to solicit business.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT, the Board approves this policy to address the methods of attendance by Board Members at meetings, the procedure to record open meetings, and the procedure to address the Board at meetings, in accordance with the Open Meetings Act.
I HEREBY CERTIFY that this is a true copy of the Policy first duly adopted by the Retirement Board of the Laborers' and Retirement Board Employees' Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago, at a meeting held on September 21, 2010, and subsequently revised at a meeting held on November 15, 2011.
The Retirement Board
Revised Date: 11/15/2011