Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Comment Allegation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Public commenter alleges county-board member sought to 'censor' a speaker
Summary
During public comment on June 18, 2026, David Young told the Kane County Public Health Committee he had FOIA records showing a county board member (identified in Young’s remarks as Mavis Bates) used a county email list and drafted a proclamation to mobilize action against a public commenter; the committee record contains no rebuttal or confirmation during the meeting.
At the start of the June 18 meeting, public commenter David Young said he had reviewed Freedom of Information Act records he said showed county board member Mavis Bates used a county board email to call for others to attend meetings and to 'censor' a person who had spoken during public comment. "FOIA records show that Mavis Bates made a call to action from her county board email ... I have spoken with our assistant state's attorney about censoring him," Young said, reading excerpts he attributed to Bates.
Young said Bates had drafted a proclamation "against hate speech" that characterized speech at board meetings as recent "hate speech," and he argued the conduct amounted to retaliation intended to punish or silence a public speaker. He asked how many other board members might have been involved in efforts to limit that speaker’s continuing public remarks.
No member of the committee recorded a direct rebuttal from Bates during the meeting transcript. Chair Cheryl Straffen thanked Young and moved on to the department reports. Committee discussion and votes that followed did not address Young’s allegation.
The committee record contains the comment as part of the public-comment period; the allegation was not investigated or resolved during the meeting. The transcript shows the allegation and part of the excerpt Young read but does not record any response from the board member named in the comment.
