Joliet Junior College Trustee Censured for 18th Time

The Joliet Junior College Board of Trustees last week censured one of its members, Maureen Broderick, for the 18th time since 2024 following remarks at a city council meeting on April 20, Shaw Local reported.

Trustees censured Broderick after she offered public comment at a Joliet City Council meeting about lifting a residency restriction on a former college housing complex that would allow nonstudents to rent there. Broderick spoke in opposition to changing the ordinance, identified herself as a trustee and said she was speaking on behalf of the board, which she was not authorized to do, the news outlet reported.

Board members also accused Broderick of misstating their position (trustees have approved of the change) and of disclosing information that the governing body discussed in closed session. Broderick bristled at the backlash and said at the meeting that she was tired of being “targeted for all these darn censures,” which she described as “continuous harassment.”

Broderick, who was first elected to the public college’s board in 2015, was previously censured for making disparaging remarks about the college’s president, allegedly violating attorney-client privilege and revealing closed-session discussions, among other issues. She also sparked outrage for falsely claiming the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, led by supporters of Donald Trump, was carried out by Antifa and the Black Lives Matter movement; however, she was not censured in that incident and claimed that her comments were taken out of context.

The college has repeatedly distanced itself from her remarks.

Broderick was also arrested in 2023 over accusations that she stole political signs, but she was not formally charged. She was one of two trustees accused of creating a “hostile atmosphere” for JCC president Clyne Namuo and staff. He alleged in a report conducted by a law firm that she sent him 810 emails in 2022, his first year on the job, along with multiple messages on Facebook and LinkedIn, and repeated phone calls. An attorney for Broderick dismissed the report as a “smear job” and argued that she and another trustee were subject to a “political witch hunt.”

Despite her multiple controversies, Broderick was re-elected last year.