LaSalle County Board of Commissioners members approved remote attendance for Tina Bush and granted discretionary leave for employees in the county nursing home, the highway department and the sheriff’s office, and debated procedures for creating a chief deputy in the auditor’s office before voting to go into executive session on collective bargaining matters.

The board voted to allow Tina Bush to attend remotely “pursuant to resolution 23-53” after members were told the reason was a “medical issue,” which Bush gave during the meeting. Commissioners then approved discretionary leave requests for the county nursing home, the highway department and the sheriff’s office. Each item was announced as approved by the chair following voice votes recorded as “Aye.”

The action items followed an extended discussion about whether the creation of a chief deputy position in the auditor’s office must first be approved by the auditor’s own committee before moving to the Finance Committee and then to the county board’s Salary and Labor Committee. One speaker cited the county’s internal rules, stating, “Page 31, section 39. And the committee shall approve all newly created positions, wages, as well as employment, appointments, agreements, or contracts under the statutory authority of the county board.”

During that discussion a speaker said the auditor’s office currently lacks a chief deputy and that the auditor was requesting authorization to create a nonunion chief deputy position; other members said the usual process was to have the proposal reviewed by the auditor’s committee and then forwarded to Salary and Labor. Commissioners agreed to take the matter up next month after the auditor discusses it with her committee.

Finally, the board voted to enter executive session for matters described in the meeting as "5 ALCS 100 and twentytwo C" — stated to concern collective bargaining or deliberations about salary schedules for one or more classes of employees. The motion to go into executive session was approved by roll call votes recorded as affirmative from multiple commissioners; one commissioner was noted as not attending that roll call.

Votes and formal outcomes announced during the meeting consisted of the remote attendance approval, three discretionary-leave approvals, and the motion to enter executive session. The board did not adopt changes to the auditor’s staffing during this meeting; members said the staffing request will be discussed further at committee level and returned to the board at a future meeting.

The meeting record includes the board’s citation of resolution 23-53 for remote attendance and a reference to the county’s internal rules (Page 31, Section 39) for committee approval of newly created positions.