Huntley school board meeting turns hostile over claim member broke law with ‘rookie mistake’ vote

A recent Huntley District 158 school board meeting got heated when one board member claimed another had committed “a felony” and said he should resign.

Former board president Andy Bittman called out board member Rich Bobby over a vote Bobby took at his first board since winning a seat in the spring local election.

At issue is the fact that Bobby voted in favor of the district’s monthly bills as part of the consent agenda, where items that generally are considered routine are bundled together for a single vote.

The problem was that within those bills was one for Little City, the Palatine-based nonprofit serving those with developmental disabilities and for which Bobby is CEO.

Bittman contended that the vote was a violation of a state law that prohibits elected officials from benefiting personally from actions taken in their officials capacity.

“I’m sitting next to somebody who I believe is committing a felony,” Bittman said – to which Bobby said he took offense.

Bobby said at the board meeting last week, which can be viewed on YouTube, that he caught his error in June and brought it to the attention of Board President Paul Troy, Superintendent Jessica Lombard and Chief Financial Officer Mark Altmayer. Bobby said he told them he would abstain from voting on Little City bills in the future and asked if they could be separated from the other bills so he could vote on the rest of the payables.

“There were payables in the month of May that I did vote on, and I’ll own to that. It was simply a rookie mistake. I was not aware of the payables to Little City in the month of May,” Bobby said.

But Bittman said of Bobby during the Aug. 7 meeting: “I’m sitting next to somebody who I believe is committing a felony. And I don’t like that and it, it bothers me. And I am fighting for good government. That is my why.”

Replied Bobby: “I’ll just say upfront [I] take offense if you call me a felon.”

Bobby added later: “I’m not a felon. I’m nowhere close to being a felon and find it quite offensive that you’re saying you’re sitting next to a felon.”

Bittman said appreciated Bobby trying to volunteer but questioned why he would run for office in a district where his employer has a connection. Bittman said he didn’t like having the discussion and it made him uncomfortable, but he wanted to get along with everyone.

Bobby said he ran for the school board because he is a parent in the district and he has “lived a life of service.”

He said his career was one of service, not one of climbing a ladder or making money. He added he grew up in a family with mental health struggles, which shaped his career decisions. He said he has a “very deep passion” for students, especially those who need special education services or who struggle with mental health, as well as their families.

Troy said he and Lombard consulted with district attorneys and “the board attorney did not see anything that would constitute a material conflict of interest.”

A letter provided by district attorneys on the question indicated that it’s not clear that Bobby’s single vote would even constitute a conflict of interest under the law and advised him to disclose the connection and abstain from future discussion or votes on Little City contracts.

Board member Andrew Fekete said that raising the issue “feels very performative. It feels like a waste of time.”

Bobby said he has no “financial incentive” to be on the board. He said there seemed to be a lot of “vigor” and anger in the questioning of his credibility and his motivations for running for the school board, and he asked Bittman what his motivation was.

Bittman said he believed in good government and when he looks at conflicts, he wants “the cleanest government I can have.”

Bittman said it wasn’t about Little City, but rather Bobby’s judgment about sitting on a board where the company he leads will get $500,000 over the four-year term of the contract between the district and Little City, which provides special education services to District 158 students. The contract preceded Bobby’s tenure on the board.

“This is real money,” Bittman said, adding the topic came up during Bobby’s interview with the board when he applied for a vacant seat in 2023.

Bobby said Bittman kept bringing up the hundreds of thousands figure, which Bobby said was an accurate number but that it goes toward services for students with severe autism and intellectual disabilities. At one point Bittman interrupted Bobby.

Bittman said Bobby should resign because he’s “hurting” the district, Little City and himself.

“There’s nothing to gain to be on this board like this,” Bittman said.

Bobby said he wouldn’t resign.

Bittman said Troy should have brought the matter to the attention of the rest of the board and suggested a coverup had occurred. Bittman indicated he learned of the situation at the July meeting when he inquired as to why the bill was being pulled out of the consent agenda for an individual vote.

Bittman said Troy “failed in every measure” related to the situation, to which Troy replied “according to you.”

Board member Laura Murray said she agreed with Bittman. She said it was “bad optics” for the district.

Bittman further questioned the district attorney’s opinion, saying it was “the same lawyer that said we had to destroy students’ lives in COVID. The same lawyer that said we had to wear masks. It’s the same lawyer that said we couldn’t track gender based on Illinois law. He’s not a good lawyer.”

Troy asked if Bittman wanted to replace the board attorney, to which Bittman said the board should look into it.

Bobby said the Little City board and legal team know about his board service, adding he wouldn’t have run if the legal team said there was a conflict and would step down if the legal team said so.

Bittman and Murray were elected on a slate in 2023, creating a new majority on the board that emphasized lowering taxes and getting what they felt were political agendas out of classrooms. Some on the slate, including Bittman and Murray, had also opposed some of the district’s COVID-19 rules. The new majority elected Bittman as school board president.

But this past spring, the school board flipped again after a grassroots group that disliked the board’s new direction campaigned for five candidates who all won, including Bobby and Fekete.

Bittman acknowledged the shift in the board.

“You won, [it] was 5-2, we get that. You resign, they’re going to put someone with your same politics on here. ... I don’t care about the politics. It is about why do we need to have someone on here who’s getting hundreds of thousands of dollars a year as the CEO,” Bittman said.

Bittman later declined to comment further on the matter, referred the Northwest Herald to a district spokesperson.

Bobby later told the Northwest Herald he has “no motive” to be on the board, and is not receiving any financial incentives or bonuses from the contract. He said Little City is highly regulated, and every dollar spent is reported to the state. Bobby said he hoped the board could move past this and focus on student outcomes.