Litchfield Park Board Grants Director 5% Raise After Closed Session

Article Summary: After a 35-minute executive session, the Litchfield Park District board voted May 6 to give Executive Director Steven C. Bryant a 5% raise. Neither the agenda nor the minutes state a purpose for the closed session or a dollar value for the raise.

Director Raise Key Points:

The raise motion was made by Vice President Katie Cross and seconded by Treasurer Brian Kulick, and carried in open session after the board reconvened.

The board entered executive session at 7:40 p.m. and exited at 8:15 p.m. No purpose is recorded in the minutes or on the agenda.

The minutes contain no base salary figure, so the dollar value of the 5% increase cannot be determined from the record.

The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.

LITCHFIELD — The Litchfield Park District Board of Commissioners on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, voted to give the district’s director a 5% raise, taking the action in open session minutes after emerging from a closed-door executive session.

The minutes record that a motion was made to give Director Bryant a 5% raise, that the motion came from Vice President Katie Cross and was seconded by Treasurer Brian Kulick, and that the motion carried. No roll call or vote tally is recorded. The Reference Guide identifies the district’s executive director as Steven C. Bryant; the minutes refer to him only as “Director Bryant.”

Because no current or prior salary appears anywhere in the agenda or the minutes, the record does not support stating what the increase is worth in dollars.

Closed Session Purpose Not Recorded

The board voted to enter executive session at 7:40 p.m. on a motion by Kulick, seconded by Cross, and voted to exit at 8:15 p.m. on a motion by Cross, seconded by Kulick. Both motions carried. Neither the minutes nor the agenda states a subject or a statutory exemption for the closed session; the agenda lists “Executive Session:” as a bare heading with nothing under it.

No formal action can be taken in executive session. Consistent with that, the raise was voted after the board returned to open session, and it is the only action recorded between the close of the executive session and adjournment at 8:20 p.m.

The agenda distributed for the meeting listed one item under New Business — the annual meeting schedule — and no salary, personnel or compensation item.

Director’s Work Elsewhere on the Agenda

Bryant appeared elsewhere in the night’s business. Under the Financial committee report, the minutes credit him with locating approximately $400.00 in Illinois unclaimed property belonging to the district, with the forms completed and submitted and a check expected. Under the Ball Parks report, he passed around the rendering of a logo Litchfield Baseball had asked to add to the concrete in front of the Schalk field concession stand, which the board approved.

The board also re-elected its officers at the start of the same meeting, keeping President Jeff Heyen, Cross as vice president and Kulick as treasurer.