FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Madison County’s Agency for Community Transit is Declared a Public Body
Madison County, Illinois — After a relentless five-year battle, the Illinois Attorney General has determined that the Agency for Community Transit (ACT) is a public body subject to the Open Meetings Act (OMA). The ruling comes in response to a complaint filed in December 2019 by Robert E. Dorman, one of the founders of the Madison County Public Corruption Task Force (MCPCTF.org), a registered Illinois nonprofit organization of political policy activists.
Robert E. Dorman, one of the founders of the MCPCTF, has been a driving force in uncovering governance failures and advocating for transparency in Madison County. His leadership and commitment have brought critical issues, such as the ACT’s compliance with the Open Meetings Act, to public attention.
“This decision is a victory for transparency and accountability,” said Dorman. “I told the county board members multiple times they had a problem there, and they ignored it.”
Dorman discovered issues with the Madison County Transit (MCT) District while serving as IT Director for Madison County under the Republican Prenzler Administration from 2016 through 2020. “First you had County Board member Mike Walters being a paid lobbyist by MCT, and we got that shut down, but unfortunately they (the county board) just gave him a raise and moved him to a made-up, useless position in the county’s community development department,” Dorman said.
The MCT Board of Directors is appointed by the Madison County Board, with one county board member also serving as a member of the MCT board. Chris Guy of Maryville currently serves in that role.
At the June 2023 Madison County Board meeting, Dorman detailed his concerns regarding ACT and the Madison County Transit (MCT) District to the county board. “Previously, I highlighted the fact that the MCT Board entered into a fifteen-year, no-bid contract with the Agency for Community Transit, amounting to over a third of a billion dollars, which is in violation of the law.” Dorman told the board members.
“I also informed you that Ron Jedda's appointment at MCT has expired, yet he continues to hold the position of Chairman of the MCT board, while also serving as the Vice President of ACT,” he also said.
“It is important to note that ACT is the very entity that received the 15-year, no-bid contract, effectively allowing Jedda to grant himself the contract,” Dorman emphasized.
“As the Chairman of MCT, Ron Jedda has appointed himself as the vice president of ACT for a term of seven years, which is half the duration of the no-bid contract. In Illinois, the only term longer than Jedda's self-appointed seven-year term as ACT's vice president is the ten-year term for our esteemed Illinois Supreme Court justices. It is evident that this arrangement is questionable, and the ethical concerns are apparent. It is fundamentally wrong,” Dorman also said.
The Attorney General’s ruling confirms that ACT relies on public funding, receiving $500,000 annually in taxpayer funds from MCT. Its board members are appointed by the MCT Board of Trustees, which is in turn appointed by the Madison County Board. ACT also violated the OMA by failing to provide public notice of a meeting on December 17, 2019, where a new Executive Director was selected. Despite its claims of nonprofit independence, ACT operates under public oversight and is legally bound to comply with the transparency requirements of public bodies.
For more information on the MCPCTF’s initiatives, visit www.mcpctf.org.
Read the Full Ruling