Joliet Junior College Board Appoints Tim Bradley to Vacant Seat

Joliet Junior College | August 3, 2026

Article Summary: The Joliet Junior College Board of Trustees appointed Tim Bradley to the seat left vacant by the resignation of former Chairman James Budzinski, voting 4-1 in his favor on Aug. 3 after a competing nomination of Kimberly Fladhammer failed 2-3. Bradley was sworn in the same night over a trustee’s objection that the oath should wait for a regular board meeting.

Trustee Appointment Key Points:

Trustee Elaine Bottomley moved and Trustee Alicia Morales seconded the appointment of Tim Bradley; the motion carried 4-1, with Trustee Diane Harris opposed.

An earlier motion by Trustee Maureen Broderick, seconded by Harris, to appoint Kimberly Fladhammer failed 2-3.

Seventeen people applied for the vacancy; an ad hoc committee selected five to interview, one withdrew, and four were interviewed, according to Morales’s committee report.

Secretary Bottomley administered the oath of office to Bradley at the same meeting; Morales said the seat will be on the ballot again, with petitions opening “in about a week or two.”

JOLIET — The Joliet Junior College Board of Trustees on Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, appointed Tim Bradley to the trustee seat left vacant by the resignation of former Chairman James Budzinski, seating him the same night after rejecting a competing nomination and after a trustee unsuccessfully objected that the oath should be administered at a regular meeting instead.

The special meeting, held in the board room at the college’s main campus at 1215 Houbolt Road, was called to order at 5:40 p.m. by Interim Chair Nancy Garcia Guillen, according to the minutes. The published agenda had set the meeting for 5:30 p.m. in Room A-3104. Trustees Bottomley, Garcia Guillen, Harris, Morales and Student Trustee Byron McCullum were present at the start; Broderick arrived at 6:41 p.m., and Trustee Michelle Lee was not present. The minutes do not state a reason for Lee’s absence.

The appointment came after the board met in closed session from 6:00 p.m. to 8:20 p.m. — roughly two hours and 20 minutes — on a motion by Morales, seconded by Bottomley, citing “the reasons of 2(c)3.” No formal action may be taken in closed session under the Open Meetings Act, and the board took up the appointment after reconvening in open session.

Competing Nomination Fails 2-3

Broderick moved and Harris seconded to appoint Kimberly Fladhammer as a trustee. The motion failed, with Broderick and Harris voting aye and Bottomley, Garcia Guillen and Morales voting nay. The minutes record that McCullum did not favor the motion.

Before that vote, a trustee asked for a point of clarification on whether the board was voting on a candidate “who is not here and was not interviewed.” Two voices in the room answered, “That is correct.”

Casting her vote against the Fladhammer appointment, Morales said: “This person was not recommended and is not here present nor were they interviewed and I cannot support that. So, no.”

Bottomley then moved and Morales seconded to appoint Bradley. The motion carried, with Bottomley, Broderick, Garcia Guillen and Morales voting aye and Harris voting nay. The minutes record that McCullum favored the motion.

The roll call on Bradley’s appointment did not run cleanly. The transcript records Morales, Broderick, Harris and McCullum each passing when first called before the clerk returned to them, with Broderick and Morales ultimately recorded as ayes and Harris as a nay. Applause followed the announcement, with one voice saying, “Welcome, Tim.”

Seventeen Applications, Four Interviews

Morales delivered the report of the ad hoc committee that handled the search. She said the committee was formed to review the trustee applications and to decide which candidates, and how many, to interview from the 17 applications submitted. The committee selected five candidates for interviews, she said, and one of the five withdrew.

“This board went at length to interview four people,” Morales said. The committee consisted of Garcia Guillen, Morales, Bottomley and Student Trustee McCullum, according to both her report and the minutes.

“Everyone has been a great candidate. This was a very difficult decision,” Morales said. “I wish we could appoint all of the four that are here today, but we cannot.”

Morales also told the room that the seat filled Monday will not stay filled for long without an election, saying two seats will be open on the ballot, “including the person that is being appointed tonight,” and that petitions would be available “in about a week or two” at the campus. The minutes do not record the length of the term to which Bradley was appointed.

One trustee objected to swearing Bradley in at the special meeting, citing Board Policy 01.27.00 and arguing that committee findings or recommendations must be reported at a regular board meeting. The board’s legal counsel, serving as parliamentarian, disagreed, saying the ad hoc committee had made no recommendations and had only selected candidates for the full board to interview. Another trustee raised a point of order that the full board was assembled and could proceed. (See the separate story on the process dispute.)

Secretary Bottomley then administered the oath of office, which Bradley repeated line by line: “I do solemnly swear and affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Illinois, and I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office as a member of the Board of Trustees of Joliet Junior College, Illinois Community College District 525, according to the best of my ability.”

The vacancy Bradley fills arose from Budzinski’s resignation as chairman and trustee. Neither the agenda, the minutes nor the transcript states when Budzinski resigned or why. Garcia Guillen had been presiding as interim chair, and the same meeting elected her to the chairmanship. The agenda had also scheduled a second closed session after the appointment and oath; the minutes record that no second closed session was held. The board adjourned at 8:28 p.m. on a voice vote, with all members voting yes.