Another quiet night: four trustees, three votes, all unanimous. The bigger numbers came from the auditor an hour earlier.

At roll call, Trustees Boudreau, Vaughn, Barry and Crockett answered. Trustees Gesky and Zimbelman were called and did not answer, and neither appears in any roll call after. Mayor LaMore chaired. Four trustees and the mayor make a quorum of Manteno's seven-member board.

The roll calls, in order:
October 5 minutes: moved by Vaughn, seconded by Boudreau, 4–0.
Ordinance 26-10, sale of surplus municipal equipment: seconded by Vaughn (the mover is not clear on the recording), 4–0. The police chief read the list: a Federal Signal light bar, front and rear prisoner partitions, and a set of rear window bars.
Bills of $191,575.06, including $0 from TIF #3: moved by Barry, 4–0.

The mayor also answered "yes" on the ordinance roll call. Her vote did not change any result.

The bills figure is the agenda's. The captions render the spoken number as "$191,5756." The agenda prints $191,575.06.

Sources: board recording, 1:47, 2:18, 21:33–23:04; posted agenda, items 4, 6, 10A and 10B.

The posted agenda lists, under the Finance report (item 8C1b), "New Business on Agenda: Compensation for FOIA Officer." When Trustee Barry gave the finance report he said: ⚠ "New business on the agenda, payment of the bills." The FOIA item was not read, discussed, moved or voted on, and it does not appear in the agenda's own New Business section (item 10), which carries only the ordinance, the bills and the closed session. It did not come up at the 5 p.m. finance committee either.

What we don't know. Who put it on the agenda, what amount was proposed, and why it was skipped. Nothing on the recording explains it. We have asked for the proposal (see "What we're requesting" below). Disclosure: The Bourbs files many of the records requests Manteno receives; see the Toolbox, section 14.

Sources: posted agenda, p. 1; board recording, 14:59; committee recording.

The agenda listed a request to donate $1,000 of Village money to Turkeys for Tots. At the reading of the agenda the mayor removed it, saying a private, anonymous donor will make "a large donation," and invited residents who want to help to contact her. She said the same at the 5 p.m. committee meeting. No vote was taken on the item, so no public money was given.

Context. At the committee meeting a trustee noted the board has had ⚠ "a good discussion on public funds" for donations, and suggested the board use its platform to promote causes instead. We could not confirm the donor or the amount, which the mayor did not state.

Sources: board recording, 1:47–2:18 and 14:29; committee recording, 49:09; posted agenda, item 8A4a.

The mayor administered the oath, ⚠ "of the office of building director," under item 8A2a of the agenda, "Swearing in of Jim Paicz." He was turned down 2–3 on September 8, appointed by the mayor on September 21, and confirmed by the board 6–0 on October 5. See October 5.

Sources: board recording, 13:12–14:29; posted agenda.

Announced by the mayor and printed on the agenda (item 8A5a). She said the longer hours are for this year only, because Halloween falls on a Saturday and young families asked for them.

Sources: board recording, 14:29; posted agenda.

Item 10C was "Executive Session, Pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(11), Litigation." After the bills vote the mayor told the audience the board would go into executive session, that nothing else would be taken up afterward, and ⚠ "you are all free to go." Someone on the dais said the lawyers ⚠ "are both supposed to be coming in by telephone." Another voice reminded her that a motion, a second and a roll call were needed; she answered she would do it ⚠ "as soon as room clears." The stream ends there.

What the law requires. The Open Meetings Act requires the vote to close a meeting to be taken in the open meeting, by a majority of a quorum, with each member's vote recorded, and the exemption cited (5 ILCS 120/2a). For the litigation exemption, the basis for finding that litigation is pending or probable must be recorded in the minutes (2(c)(11)), and the closed session itself must be recorded (2.06(a)). A vote taken after the audience has been told to leave is still taken in an open meeting, but it is not on the public recording. The minutes will show whether, and how, it was done. The recording does not say which lawyers were on the line or which case was discussed. The mayor's lawsuit against the trustees over who the Village attorney is has a court hearing on November 12.

Sources: board recording, 23:04–23:36; posted agenda, item 10C; 5 ILCS 120/2a, 2(c)(11), 2.06(a).

Ms. Gates said she had watched the battery energy storage (BESS) presentation, which was given to the Plan Commission on October 13, and asked whether the units would be tested to Underwriters Laboratories' standard (she said "954A"; the battery fire-propagation test is UL 9540A), whether they would follow NFPA safety standards, whether there would be gas monitoring to catch off-gassing before thermal runaway, how much spacing there would be, and how fire water would be contained. She also asked where accountability lands if the manufacturer is an LLC.

Context. The standards she named are real and are the ones fire officials use: UL 9540A for testing and NFPA 855 for installation. The 2019 explosion she referred to in Surprise, Arizona, a battery site near Phoenix, injured firefighters and led to industry changes. We have not checked the specific injury details she gave. Her questions were not answered at the meeting; the company was not there. The next Plan Commission meeting is November 10 at 6 p.m.

Sources: board recording, 2:48–6:26; Village YouTube, October 13 Plan Commission; Gray News, March 6, 2026.

Trustee comments were taken off the agenda in September; asked why on September 8, the mayor said, "Because our meetings have been so contentious." Ms. Brzezicki suggested a compromise: keep committee reports to business, and give trustees the same three minutes residents get, at the end. She then said she plans to run for trustee in the spring election, saying she doesn't ⚠ "lean too far one way or the other." Three trustee seats are on the April 6, 2027 consolidated election ballot; we will confirm which with the Village clerk and county.

Sources: board recording, 8:31–10:05; September 8.

Ms. Herman, founder of the local nonprofit Cute and Acute, which mails art and encouragement each month to young adults with cancer, said her organization now has 95 members in two countries. She said she has been used as ⚠ "a scapegoat online" for the town's political differences, that several people have made AI videos and deepfakes of her, that her comments at meetings are never political, and that police are aware. She closed by saying she forgives those responsible.

What we checked. We have not seen the videos and have not confirmed a police report. We report her statement as she made it. If you have seen this material, the form below reaches us.

Sources: board recording, 10:05–13:12.

A resident of the Jeanie Drive area said he has maintained nearby streets himself for twenty years, that the Village does not plow or sweep them regularly, and that a worker with a pickup and shovel threw a waist-high pile of pine needles into his landscaping instead of hauling it away. He asked for it to be removed within 24 hours. Nobody on the board responded at the meeting; Public Works answers to Trustee Crockett's committee.

Sources: board recording, 6:26–8:31.

Ms. Huizenga, a shareholder at SKDO, the Village's annual auditor, said the opinion on the financial statements is unmodified ("essentially a clean opinion") except for a qualified opinion on governmental activities. The qualification is because the Village has for several years chosen not to pay for an actuarial study of its retiree health benefits (other post-employment benefits), so those liabilities cannot be calculated. She said this is not new.

She reported one material weakness in internal control: payables for construction projects finished before April 30 but paid in July or August were not being recorded at year end. SKDO did extra testing this year to catch them, and she said the Village has already submitted a response. She reported no instances of noncompliance, no disagreements with management and no significant difficulties.

Not final yet. She said the audit cannot be issued until SKDO receives the attorney's response letter and finishes ⚠ "final inquiries and final review of the mayor." The mayor said they were working on it. The annual financial report is due to the State Comptroller at the end of October, along with the TIF report.

Sources: committee recording, 17:09–21:50 and 39:53–41:28; committee agenda.

From the draft, as presented for the year ended April 30, 2026:

General fund ending balance: $7.296 million, of which about $7 million is unassigned.
General fund revenue: about $7.7 million. Expenditures: about $10.4 million.
All governmental funds: fund balance down $3.6 million, which she said is "substantially less" than the roughly $5 million decline in FY2025, and mostly capital spending.
Capital outlay: about $2.8 million, down from almost $6 million the year before.
Cash and investments, governmental funds: $8.22 million.
Debt: none; legal debt margin about $25.9 million.
Overall net position: down $2.99 million.
Property tax rebate: about $1.1 million, booked under administration; the original budget left it out and the amended budget added it.

What we left out. Partway through, Ms. Huizenga gave a two-year general fund decline, then said ⚠ "Actually, that is not right" and gave different figures. Because she corrected herself and the replacement figures were unclear in the captions, we do not publish either set. We will use the final audit when it is issued.

Sources: committee recording, 21:50–27:59 and 29:33–31:38.

Ms. Huizenga said Kankakee County made errors in the Village's tax levy: the 2024 levy included a levy for bond payments though the Village had none, and it was collected before anyone caught it. On the 2025 levy the county meant to back it out, but ⚠ "they actually adjusted it backwards. So they doubled it." The fix did not make it into the 2026 levy either. SKDO deferred the extra revenue in the FY2026 statements (a figure of $333,553 was read in the room), and she recommended the Village set the money aside, because next year's levy will be about $380,000 less than it otherwise would be as the county claws it back. She said that over time taxpayers are not overtaxed; it is a timing problem, and the county is handling the correction.

Why Open. This is the auditor's account of the county's records. We have not yet seen the county's extension records or the governance letter that explains it. Both are on our request list below.

Sources: committee recording, 33:09–37:14.

The auditor said the police pension's net position rose from about $14.1 million to $17.4 million in FY2026, driven by a $3.15 million increase in the fair value of its investments plus about $84,000 in interest and dividends. A voice on the dais concluded ⚠ "So they got a 30% return on their money," and later compared it to the Village earning 2 or 3 percent on its own money.

The math: $3.15 million on a $14.1 million starting balance is about 22.3 percent; with interest and dividends, about 23 percent. Not 30. It was a strong year, as the auditor said.

Context. As the auditor explained, Illinois now pools every downstate police pension's investments in one statewide fund, the Illinois Police Officers' Pension Investment Fund, and allocates returns back by each fund's share. The Village does not pick those investments, so its own bank deposits are not a like-for-like comparison. The 2 to 3 percent figure for the Village's money was not documented at the meeting.

Sources: committee recording, 26:58–29:33 and 1:03:43.

Mr. Paicz corrected an earlier estimate of about 100: 72 residential permits and one commercial permit, 16 new contractor registrations (four of them renewals), and five stop-work orders, all of which he said have since complied and pulled permits. He said he will send contractors a letter requiring them to call in inspections, with a fine if they don't, and wants to replace the paper inspection slips with approval stickers and inspection software.

Context. He did not say what period the counts cover; he spoke of his first month on the job and of a staff meeting. We have asked for the permit log.

Sources: committee recording, 54:55–57:32 and 1:05:43–1:06:46.

A trustee said he wants the Village to start licensing businesses, to make sure they carry insurance and to allow annual fire inspections, and that he knows of no other town in the area without one. A voice in the room said ⚠ "The last state that was updated was in 1956." Mr. Paicz said his previous town inspected every business at licensing and fined those who did not fix problems within 30 days. The same discussion turned to the $50 vendor permit: trustees said some event vendors were charged and others, including at Oktoberfest, were not, and asked that the rules be applied evenly.

Why Open. We have not yet checked the Village code for a licensing chapter or its date. Nothing was voted on; a licensing ordinance would have to come to the board.

Sources: committee recording, 52:17–1:04:43.

Trustee Vaughn read the police department's report at the board meeting: on October 13 and 14 the afternoon shift checked all 13 tobacco-selling businesses in the village, and none had kratom or other banned intoxicating products for sale. The chief said the same at 5 p.m. The Village banned their sale by ordinance earlier this year.

Sources: board recording, 17:01–18:31; committee recording, 49:41.

The Open Meetings Act requires approved minutes of a regular board meeting to be posted on the public body's website within 10 days of approval (5 ILCS 120/2.06(b)). The board approved the September 21 minutes on October 5, so the deadline was October 15. On the morning of October 20 we checked all six pages of the Village's 2026 meetings index, 153 posted files. The September 21 entry has only its agendas. The only September minutes posted are for September 8 (board) and September 9 (Planning & Zoning).

Next deadline. The October 5 minutes were approved last night, so they are due on the website by October 29. The 5 p.m. committee's agenda also listed finance minutes from May 26 and June 15 for approval, four to five months after those meetings; the committee approved finance minutes by voice vote at the end, and the recording does not make clear which. Manteno has no Village clerk; a temporary clerk was appointed by the mayor on September 21.

Sources: Village meetings index, pages 1–6, October 20, 2026; committee agenda; 5 ILCS 120/2.06(b).

The agenda gave the next Finance Committee meeting as "Monday, 10/21/26" (October 21 is a Wednesday) and the next Public Safety meeting as "10/19/26," the day of the meeting. Both were read aloud that way. Near the end, a trustee caught it: both committees next meet Monday, November 16, at 5 p.m., the third Monday, which matches the schedule printed on the agenda's own last page.

Sources: posted agenda, pp. 1–3; board recording, 14:59, 18:31, 21:33.