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Allen v. Illinois Community College Board

Case Date: 07/25/2000
Court: 5th District Appellate
Docket No: 5-99-0012 Rel

Rule 23 Order filed
July 26, 2000;
Motion to publish granted
August 17, 2000.
Opinion filed
August 17, 2000.

NO. 5-99-0012

IN THE

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

FIFTH DISTRICT

EDNA ALLEN, individually and in her capacity as a
member of the Board of Trustees of Metropolitan
Community College, and GORDON D. BUSH,

     Plaintiffs-Appellants,

v.

ILLINOIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD,

     Defendant-Appellee.

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)		 Appeal from the
Circuit Court of
St. Clair County.



No. 98-CH-236

Honorable
Scott Mansfield,
Judge, presiding.

JUSTICE HOPKINS delivered the opinion of the court:

This case stems from the formation and subsequent dissolution of an experimentalcommunity college district, which is now known as Metropolitan Community College (theCollege), pursuant to the Public Community College Act (the Act) (110 ILCS 805/1-1 etseq. (West 1998)). Edna Allen and Gordon D. Bush (plaintiffs) filed the complaint in their individual capacities as registered voters and taxpayers of the district. Allen also filed thecomplaint in her official capacity as a member of the board of trustees of the College. Plaintiffs argue that the trial court improperly dismissed their complaint for a failure to statea cause of action. Plaintiffs claim that their complaint stated a cause of action for thefollowing reasons: (1) that the Act is unconstitutionally vague; (2) that the Act deprivedplaintiffs of their property without due process of law; (3) that the Act allows for animproper delegation of legislative authority to an administrative agency; (4) that the Actunconstitutionally infringes upon plaintiffs' right to vote; (5) that defendant, the IllinoisCommunity College Board (ICCB), abused its discretion in dissolving the College district;(6) that the trial court improperly denied plaintiffs' request for injunctive relief; and (7) thatthe trial court erred in dismissing count II of plaintiffs' complaint because there was nopending motion to dismiss count II. We affirm the dismissal of the complaint.

FACTS

The College is the successor to the State Community College of East St. Louis (StateCommunity College), which was formed over 30 years ago by our legislature as anexperimental community college district. See Public Act No. 76-724, 1969 Ill. Laws 1489;110 ILCS 805/2-12.1 (West 1998). Unlike other community colleges, the State CommunityCollege was maintained and operated by the ICCB and was funded entirely by the State ofIllinois. See 110 ILCS 805/2-12.1(a) (West 1998).

This State-controlled arrangement ended when the Act was amended to provide fora voting referendum on whether the experimental district should be abolished. See 110ILCS 805/2-12.1(c) (West 1998). Since the vote was favorable, the College was establishedin the place of the experimental district. See 110 ILCS 805/2-12.1 (West 1998). In 1995,a board of trustees was elected for the College. Allen was elected as a member of that board. She and Bush are both residents and taxpayers of the district. Bush is also the mayor of EastSt. Louis, a city within the district of the College.

On May 15, 1998, the ICCB voted to place the College on "recognition withconditions" status. The Act creates a system under which the ICCB recognizes thosecommunity colleges that meet the standards in the Act and its accompanying regulations. Section 2-15 provides, "The [ICCB] shall grant recognition to community colleges whichmaintain equipment, courses of study, standards of scholarship[,] and other requirements setby the [ICCB]." 110 ILCS 805/2-15 (West 1998). The recognition standards by which thecommunity colleges are evaluated are the "applicable statutes within the *** Act andapplicable ICCB rules." 23 Ill. Admin. Code