November 22, 2005 City Council Meeting
Some time in summer, we had the "perfect storm" meeting. On November 22, 2005, we had the "stormy" meeting. I will get to the storm.

The City is now looking into a new telephone system. If anyone has called the City, you know why.
There will now be the Education Aldermanic Committee that will oversee and review all grant requests from the Drug Forfeiture Fund. The Police Department will have final say, but the Committee will get to look at everything first.
A homeowner at 3625 S. Wesley was seeking a variance to knock down the single family home and put up a two flat. This was denied.
Bars may now have two pool tables if certain criteria are met.
Bars may now have seven, up from five, video amusement devices. I was the only Alderperson to vote against this.
Four parking violations' fines were increased to one hundred dollars. This is the first part of several changes to parking in Berwyn.
The most controversial, of which was approved seven to one, and I did vote for this change, is that in any residential parking area, only residents with City stickers, or those cars with parking passes(books of fifteen will have to be bought-price to be anywhere from five to fifteen dollars) will be allowed to park on Berwyn streets from 3 to 9 am. The City is trying to take cars off the street, especially those from neighboring municipalities. I have already received one loud complaint about this soon to be new ordinance. The City is simply attempting to address the parking problems in most parts of town and this may also help on overcrowding.
To help enforce the new soon to be ordinance, the City will be hiring parking only enforcment people. We are looking at the most cost advantageous way to do this.
28 new parking places will also be created along Roosevelt Road.
One of the controversial Alderpeople, the 8th Ward Alderperson, who was behind the parking, also wanted to give the Alderpeople the option of hiring its own attorney, rather than use the City attorney. It was a four to four vote and the Mayor voted against this, as did I.
The City will also be using a professional project manager who has volunteered her services to figure out what to do if Berwyn were struck by terrorism. She will figure out how to keep the City running. This is apart from the Fire and Police personnel.

I just lost the rest of this posting. I will write the following a second time. Computers!

The communication was simple enough from the 8th Ward Alderperson: "Regarding: A Government Responsive To The Needs Of Berwyn Residents".
It was a one page letter. It discussed "a brief summery outlining the restructuring..." While the Alderperson was speaking from a prepared speach for about ten minutes, someone passed out a fifty page document. The Mayor then spoke. The crowd was restless. The matter was ultimately voted, five to three, to be discussed in a joint Budget-Adminstrative Committee meeting. I will not be in attendance. What the Alderperson has presented is a Village form of government that has to be put to a referendum. I voted against further discussion, as did the fourth and fifth Ward Alderpeople.

The above does not capture any of the acrimony at the meeting.

Stay tuned. Same Bat channel. Same Bat time.
- posted by Mark @ 9:25 PM