LaSalle County — The LaSalle County Finance Committee approved remote attendance for Miss Bush under Resolution 23-53 and moved into executive session to continue discussions on hiring a new finance director, members said at a brief Oct. 23 meeting.

The committee’s chair opened the meeting and asked for “a motion to approve remote attendance, pursuant to Resolution 23-53 for Miss Bush,” language recorded in the minutes. The motion to permit remote attendance was made by Mister Emmett and seconded by Mister Templeton and was approved by the committee.

Committee members reported that a hiring subcommittee met earlier that day to consider candidates for the finance director role. Members said the recommendation from the subcommittee could proceed to the Legislative and Rules committee and then to the full board, provided any salary recommendation stayed “within the guidelines that salary and labor set originally,” a committee member said on the record.

Several members expressed concern that some board members who were not on the subcommittee would be asked to vote without having heard the full range of information considered by the subcommittee. “There were people that weren't on the subcommittee that are in here. Do they wanna go to executive session to discuss briefly what was going on? Because they're gonna be voting on — you know what I mean? Trying to send somebody that they don't know the full range of what was going on,” a committee member said.

After that exchange, Mister Emmett moved — and Mister Aubrey seconded — that the committee go into executive session to continue discussing the hiring matter. The motion was put to a roll-call vote and approved, according to the meeting record.

Members also agreed to schedule additional Finance Committee meetings the following week to complete review of budget and hiring items. The committee discussed meeting Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 9 a.m., with the chair saying, “I don't think next week's meeting is gonna be enough.” One committee member noted she might not be available for all sessions and that she could join remotely while in Peoria.

The meeting transcript records the motions, the names of the movers and seconders, and the committee’s decision to hold further meetings and go into executive session. The transcript does not record a complete roll-call tally for the votes in the excerpt provided.

Next steps: the hiring subcommittee’s recommendation is expected to go to the Leg & Rules committee and then to the full board; the committee will reconvene in the additional meetings next week to finalize action on the finance director and related budget items.