On February 20, the regular Waukegan City Council meeting was canceled as there wasn’t a quorum because Waukegan Alderperson Keith E. Turner (6th Ward-D) failed to attend the meeting.
City Hall sources say that Alderperson Turner knew his attendance was needed as several alderpersons were out of town. Still, Turner did not attend, causing the meeting to be canceled at the last minute.
The posted agenda for the meeting included many important operational items, specifically a critical vote on a license for a Waukegan business owner to operate within the city.
At the following meeting on March 4, Alderperson Turner said, “Prior to the scheduled start of the meeting (February 20), I notified the mayor of my inability to attend the standing meeting due to illness. This decision was not made lightly, but out of my genuine health condition.” He also stated,” Unfortunately, due to my health condition, I found myself unable to fulfill that commitment.” An investigation by Waukegan Watch News has found both statements to be false.
According to documents obtained from the city, Turner emailed Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor (I) and Waukegan City Clerk Janet Kilkelly (D) at 4:50 PM on February 20, notifying them he would not attend the meeting due to “unfortunate circumstances.” The documents below show that at no time did Turner tell the Mayor or the Clerk about any health condition.

After sending the email to the mayor, Turner went on Facebook live on his Keith Turner Sixth Ward Facebook page at 5:06 PM on February 20, showing himself driving around Waukegan, where he said he would be “creeping around this evening and the rest of the week” looking for a car burglar or burglars. The time-stamped video below shows that Turner had no complaints of health issues and was out in his ward the evening the meeting was canceled.
