City Manager Mark Biernacki addressed rumors surrounding the resignation of City Clerk Steve Kapitan at a press conference Tuesday.

“We hope to put an end to speculation and rumors that are going around,” Biernacki said. “The resignation of Mr. Kapitan is a challenging issue that the city has been working with.”

Biernacki explained that because of Kapitan’s unique situation as both an elected official and city employee, certain confidentiality rights are in place.

“The city, as the former employer of Mr. Kapitan, has certain obligations to keep his personal records confidential,” said city attorney Dean Frieders “Mr, Kapitan was exposed to confidential city information in executive sessions and in various other capacities and agreed to maintain the city’s confidentiality as well.”

Kapitan’s resignation was based on his inability to regularly prepare legally required minutes of City Council meetings, Frieders said.

“The city identified the failure of the city clerk to prepare meeting minutes that are required under the Illinois Open Meetings Act,” Frieders said. “The city council and mayor worked with the clerk in earnest to attempt to resolve this problem. They offered additional staff support, additionally resources and established timelines for the minutes to be completed…ultimately Mr. Kapitan was unable to meet those deadlines or complete the minutes.”

Kapitan failed to record minutes from executive meeting sessions, which are meetings that are closed to the public where confidentiality can protect private matters.

“The executive minutes are reviewed on a rolling six month calendar basis,” Frieders said. “When circumstances pass that minutes are no longer required to be maintained as confidential, a city counselor can then elect to then make them public.”

Biernacki said that was the primary issue surrounding Kapitan’s resignation.

Frieders said the city council is currently in the process of confirming that backed minutes are accurate and complete, saying that the issue was “relatively recent” or at the least recent in their “escalated severity.”

After the city decided the issues could not be resolved in house, they then contacted the state’s attorney’s office in an effort to find a solution.

“Because Mr. Kapitan was an elected official of the city, the city lacked a clear and direct remedy for the issue,” Frieders said. “At that point in time we requested the assistance of DeKalb County State’s Attorney Clay Campbell to review the circumstances and provide resources.”

Frieders said following that meeting, he and Biernacki weighed various options to Kapitan, who then chose to resign.

“Mr. Kapitan decided that the best interests of the city were served by his resignation,” Frieden said. “He chose to put the best interests of the city over his own personal interests. He voluntarily resigned from his position and…we appreciate his selflessness in that regard.”

Frieders said after the issues were shared with Kapitan and he chose to resign, “Mr. Kapitan and the city agreed, at least for a brief period of time, it was in everyone’s interest if he took a brief leave of absence.”

Following that decision, Kapitan was accompanied out of the building with Biernacki and other staff, carrying personal artifacts.

Late Friday afternoon, Kapitan’s resignation was official.

Kapitan received a severance package from the city, however, Frieders described the compensation as “one of the areas the city is really prohibited from the disclosure of.”

While city funds are public and therefore typically subject to approval, Biernacki said he used his spending authority to authorize the package.

DeKalb Mayor Kris Povlsen said after Kapitan came to him and Biernacki to explain his resignation, they offered him the package.

Povlsen said he “felt it was in [Kapitan’s] best interests and the city’s best interests” to offer him the compensation.”

Biernacki confirmed this was accurate and said there was “something behind that” that the city was not in a position to disclose.

Kapitan is one of three DeKalb officials who have resigned recently. Biernacki insisted that the resignations were coincidental.

“There is no pattern; this is an unbelievable set of coincidences,” Biernacki said. “We’ve never seen this before and probably will never see again in the future.”

The city does not expect to face legal consequences for the unprepared minutes.

“Our consultations with the State’s Attorney was a remarkable step showing how dedicated we are to comply with the Open Meetings Act,” Frieders said. “It is not uncommon for governments to consult the State’s Attorney. There is no litigation at this time.”

Filling Kapitan’s vacancy is set to be discussed during a Feb. 13 city council meeting, which will likely be a closed session. However, from thereafter, Biernacki expects for the discussion to continue in open meetings.