Alderperson Keith Turner Lied to Residents—Skirts His Aldermanic Duties

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. 

The events of this meeting were covered in a Lake County News-Sun article.

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.

Upon learning that Turner was not going to attend the meeting and his social media post, Mayor Taylor’s response to Turner’s neglect of his aldermanic duties was hammered by Mayor Taylor, who said that Turner was AWOL, a military term for Absent Without Leave, in essence, Mayor Taylor was saying  Turner had deserted his aldermanic duties, which don’t involve investigating criminal activity as that is the role of the Waukegan Police Department.

The facts are self-evident. Only after the Lake County News-Sun lambasted Turner for skipping out on a crucial meeting did he make up a lie about being ill, even claiming to be laid up in bed due to illness. Further, this is not the first time Turner has skirted his aldermanic duties. In August 2023, instead of attending a meeting where alderpersons could have a say in how Waukegan should use an estimated $130 million windfall from gaming and cannabis, Turner was again spotted on Facebook live in his ward because of a minor power outage.