Berwyn's Arts Blog
Saturday, November 25, 2006
 
City Council Meeting, November 14, 2006
TIF monies were approved for a jewelry store at the corner of Grove and Stanley.

The Fire Chief had wanted more Deputy Fire Chiefs for the Fire Department, due to injuries, etc. This was defeated, which means, the current Deputy Chiefs will have to work their butts off. I voted for an extra Deputy Chief. Those voting against the extra Deputy Fire Chief were Ald. Chapman, Phelan, Lovero and Erickson.

The new contract with Waste Management is being finalized. The City will be assessing a 2% charge onto the finel cost for administration. In the past, this had been 3%.

The City Council, in a 6 to 1 vote, Alderman Chapman voting no, agreed to move forward with a new Fire Station on 16th Street, which is sorely needed. The City is getting a one million dollar grant from the state towards the new Station.

The City will soon be getting a new telephone system for all of its buildings, departments, etc. The go-ahead was given to the City to start negotiating with AT & T. We received many great proposals, so if AT & T does not work out, there are other companies to go with.

The Mayor attempted to appoint a new Director of Neighborhood affairs, but this was essentially tabled by sending it to the Administration and Budget Committee. The same thing happened with the interim Adminstrative Coordinator. So, when you see blight getting worse, this is because certain Alderpeople think that the Mayor can only appoint who the Alderpeople want; unlike the real world, where the CEO gets to handpick the people around him.
And, many things that the Administrative Coordinator did will now not get done. Can anyone say regress?

Alderman Erickson tried to stop the Computer Director from making a new City website. Luckily, the Computer Director can go on and finish the new website, which should be coming online in January, 2007. If anyone has ever seen the 8th Ward Alderman's website, you know that he is the last person to help build a website.

Alderman Phelan had a communication about Employee Conduct and the Alderman proposed having the Administration Committee have a trial concerning this employee, a matter that should never be made public. This "closed" hearing was set for Monday, November 27, 2006, but was inexplicably canceled on Thursday, November 23, 2006 by Alderman Erickson. Will this matter re-appear? I have no idea. Should it re-appear? Of course not.

The Police Chief tendered a proposed ordinance to crack down on loitering. I am hopeful this will become law soon. This was sent to the Ordinance and Resolution Committee.

Public Works is seeking two new employees.

That, essentially was the meeting. Please read the following:

First, the City will have a new Finance Director on or before January 3, 2007. She is coming from out of state, a CPA, and should finally stabilize the City's Finances.

Second, those that were interested in the bar hour ordinance, wherein bars would not be allowed to open at 6 am, read on. This matter came to an ignominious death. This matter was sent to the Ordinance and Resolution Committee, wherein matters are simply supposed to be drafted into ordinance form, and then sent back to City Council for a vote. Well, this did not happen. Thanks to Ald. Erickson and Ald. Brocato, this matter was simply tabled and left to die in Committee. This is cheap politics and just outright infuriating. I will never send anything to the Ordinance and Resolution Committee again. For the record, this has never happened before, at least not in the 18 months that I have been an Alderman.

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