Kankakee Times

City of Kankakee City Council met June 5.

Here is the minutes provided by the Council:

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Good evening I’d like to call the meeting to order.

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

We will begin with prayer from Minister Charles Deloach from Morning Star Baptist Church

Minister Charles Deloach:

(Inaudible)Let us pray. Allow us to get attendance going. Allow us to be cooperative. Allow us to see you before we speak onto certain things. We thank you for allowing us to be here tonight. Thank you for all of our Mayor our workers, policeman and community members and leaders that are represented tonight. We thank you for all of our family members represented here tonight. Thank you for all the representatives of the schools and churches and various places tonight. We love and we thank you in Jesus name we pray Amen.

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

The council will lead the Pledge of Allegiance which will be led by the city council.

Next on the agenda we have public comments.

Public Comments – Please give your name and direct your comments to the Mayor. Comments are limited to five minutes. No personal attacks upon City Council members, staff or other persons in attendance or absent will be permitted. In addition, discussion of matters which are currently under legal review will not be permitted.

Robert S. Ellington Snipes.

Robert S Ellington Snipes:

Madam Mayor, members of the City Council. When I first initially came up here I was livid. Because I simply recommended someone which is my personal choice to do. I simply put on there if you support click like. I did not strong arm anybody. Over 300 decided they liked over 200 about 193 shared. And I thought that was there right to do. But all of the sudden it is being said that I am Bulling, lobbying. For one you have to understand my position I am going to say this and say this clear. I am an elected District 18 official. I am elected on the City to serve on the County as a representative. Under my jurisdiction I have precinct 10 and 13 under my jurisdiction. Those two wards have experienced more deaths than any other district in the City of Kankakee. I also had to come out of my pocket for indigent individuals or help pay for indigent individuals that have died without insurance. And I am also there getting the calls at 1, 2, 3 in the afternoon getting calls. Folks are shooting in the middle of the afternoon when kids are present. And I do not that thing that is anything that anyone on our council knows about. Certainly our streets need to be tended to. But at no point did I cuss out, disrespect or tell someone you must to do this. It is my simple choice. So I am going to say this and hope that it is taken in the spirit it as I am about to give it. As precinct committeeman here living as a taxpayer in this City. So that there will be no misinterpretation of my understanding you can either email me Mayor or call me. You knew before we got to this point and at no given point do need to go into a war of words. My opinion is simply my opinion and I have given before it to other Mayors. Anyone that has served is not seeing me for the first time. So I am going to reserve my comments. But I am going to say you have my phone number so whenever you have the availability because I don’t know your schedule your secretary is welcome to give me a call. This week hopefully before next week's Council meeting. We need to have a discussion because I live amongst the people. I am not moving. (inaudible) Money has come out of my pocket. As a taxpayer I have a right. I have a right to exercise my first Amendment right to vocalize my opinion and that opinion will not be abridged by no one.

Mayor Wells-Armstrong: Thank you Mr. Snipes.

Brian Scott

Brian Scott:

Good evening City Council, Mayor -Armstrong. My name is Brian Scott and I live in the 1000 block of South Willow here in Kankakee. And I have had the pleasure of speaking with many of you last week. I am a recent transplant. I am a former of police officer and I am currently an attorney here in the town. I understand that the issue has been removed from tonight’s meeting. I would like to share my concerns about finding the right person for the job of police chief. Which, as I said early I have spoken with many of you about. Specifically, I would like to discuss how I am concerned about the current process. How it has and will have unintended consequences as well as not find the most qualified person to lead the department. It is my sincere hope that you will consider my concerns while determining the what the best course of action is to fill this very important position. My first concern is what I hope was unattended consequence is the possible unattended damage moral of the police department. First there was a nomination of someone as a result of this process that has no supervisory experience without some detailed explanation of how this person met the qualifications. It was concurrently mentioned without identifying what was going on that the Police Department was in need of a change of culture. Essentially, the same qualified person was better effecting change than someone within. Without providing explanations it is hard to guess what this change of culture means. And depending on upon your perspective this could mean many things. And giving the state of policing in this country today it undoubtedly comes with negative condensations that puts the department under suspicion. Then perhaps supporting such negative condensations while apparently trying to highlight Mr. Dumas’ strengths as a candidate the integrity of both the department and its command staff is called into question. The comments that we have Sergeants and Lieutenants who have engaged in corrupt behavior and so on indicates that more than one of each rank and more than just two problems exist. These statements were later said to be with one Sergeant and one Lieutenant. To make the point that rank does not necessarily equal being a great candidate. It seems to have come at an extraordinarily high cost of unnecessarily tarnishing everyone but those two people. Given these two incidents I hope that the current process does not demoralize the department while also making the job less appealing than it otherwise would be based on the negative light cast on the department this week. My other concern is a number of a questions that I am yet to hear answers about for this process. Why is a more formal process being completed? The last I heard the search was being expanded what does that mean exactly? Reviewing both the International and Illinois Association Chief of Police Websites both offer services to tailor job searches for the right kind of candidate for the community. This seems like a very good way to find someone outside of the department to change the culture that is qualified for the job. What about the department’s culture needs changing? It has been referenced some areas and some issues both need to be addressed and improved upon. What are these issues? If this department is in need of such a change why someone with the qualifications and experience of changing the departments culture not being sought out for. Based on your own statements about Mr. Dumas Mayor, I don’t see the experience that meets the qualifications to implement this change. How do you believe that Mr. Dumas experience meets the 10 years of law enforcement management experience required for this job? If rank does not necessarily make a great chief neither does to working for the working for the executive protection units speak to your integrity or moral fiber. Finally, I would like to remind everyone that this process is not being carried out in a vacuum the more chaotic this situation appears the worse off we will be. I hope the council will vote no on Mr. Dumas and the next chief is selected after a thorough process that establishes his or her qualifications for this department our community.

Thank you

Mayor Wells-Armstrong: Thank you Mr. Scott. Patricia Starks Howard

Patricia Starks Howard:

Greetings Mayor Wells-Armstrong, May I pass out a packet before I start? My name is Patricia Starks Howard. And I do live in Kankakee. I am here as a retired educator after 39 years I retired in December of last year. Oh I was waiting for an applause. And as a retired educator I am going to state my objective first. I am here to ask for money. And since I only have five minutes I will do some reading to you. I am the Founder and President of Eagle Educational Services INC. Eagle is the acronym for Enrichment and Guided Learning Experiences. Eagle educational services has been a dream of mine for decades. As a retired educator I am pursuing this because I know teacher’s administrators need all the support they can get. I’m not in competition with the district. I consider myself resource. I am here to ask for money for a summer program called summer’s cool a little play on words there. And I am on the second sheet. For the more than 25 million low-income public school students in America, Summer is often anything but a vacation. Instead of a relaxing break to explore new interests and places, it’s often time when children, youth and families struggle to find and afford food to eat and a safe place to be. (National Summer Learning Association 2017) On that second sheet I did put the stats for Kankakee District 111. And as you can see the low income enrollment for 2016 was 78.5. Next page Summer learning loss, some people call it Summer slide. This the phenomenon where young people lose academic skills over the summer, is one of the most significant causes of the achievement gap between lower and higher income youth and one of the strongest contributors to the high school dropout rate. Again this comes from National Summer Learning Association 2017. We want children to continue to learn during the summer. I hope that you can look through the packet and think favorably upon us.

Thank you, Mayor

Mayor Wells-Armstrong: Thank you.

Joanne Schwade:

I am Joanne Schwade and I have been a resident for over 40 years. I’ve always found the Police Department to be very professional and innovative. And I just hope that the next police chief that is chosen will be someone that will make sure that everyone is safe and take care of the welfare of the city.

Mayor Wells-Armstrong: Absolutely and thank you,

Ken Monjoy.

Ken Monjoy:

Good Evening Mayor and Council members. My name is Ken Monjoy and I am with River Valley Metro Mass Transit. My mission here tonight is to be informative. Approximately a year ago we took a look at our system and how it serves the community. River Valley Metro launched in the Kankakee County area in 1999. It has been 18 years already. At that time estimates were that at its peak it would serve at about 500,000 rides a year. Two years ago we were two days’ shy of hitting a million rides a year. So we are running at just about double of what maximum estimates were when the system began. Through those 18 years’ systems and processes have been tweaked and added to accommodate and to encourage that growth. But like anything else you take it step by step and you get to where you are its not necessarily like what it would look like if you built the system today based on what we know today. So about a year ago we began to look at the process and knowing what we know plus doing a lot of research including ridership surveys and talking to riders and tracking stops and so on. We now have proposed changes to our routes and schedules to make the system more efficient. We encourage everyone to take a look at those on rivervalley.com, there is a tab at near the top of the page that is titled proposed route and schedule changes. The goal of all of these changes to make the system more efficient and to accommodate riders better without spending any more money than what we currently spend. Some of you may be aware that back in November we temporarily suspended our Sunday and Holiday service. Due to funding issues in the State. Those funding issues have not completely gone away but we wanted to bring Sunday’s and holidays back. So one of the changes we are proposing is our daily service. We will go to Monday through Saturday service ending at 9:30 versus 10:30, and we will take those services hours to run on Sundays. We are in the middle of public comment period for these changes. We encourage everyone to take a look. The changes are very positive; I have been meeting with groups all throughout the county. You will find that the wait times are shorter and ride times are shorter. (inaudible) We are very happy to bring Sunday and Holidays back. The first holiday that occurred after we suspended that service was Thanksgiving. Holidays are not large ridership days but they are important ridership days for us. Thanksgiving day the prior year we serviced 628 riders. That affected over 300 people were not able to go where they wanted to go on Thanksgiving. So let’s say that everybody rode it twice going and coming. So that is about 300 people that did not get to go where they wanted to go on Thanksgiving day which is very likely to spend the day with family. So we are very happy to bring Holidays and Sundays back. Assuming that the public approves what we are doing the changes will go into effect July 1, 2017. And the first Sunday that will go into effect is July 2 , 2017. Again please take a look at rivervalleymetro.com

Thank you

Mayor Wells-Armstrong: Thank you, Michael Malloney

Michael Malloney:

Good evening Mayor, Public and Officials, I’d like to thank the Mayor for attending our fashion show earlier this month. And then I would also like to invite everyone to our Ribbon Cutting and S.A.F.E. Summer Ceremony starting at 11:00 this Friday. We will be having a BBQ, Hot dogs, chips and bounce houses and fun things to do. We will be out until 4:00. I just wanted to come out to let everyone know all the great things we are doing. Come out and see the wonderful things we are doing. We are starting our S.A.F.E. Summer camp. So far we have about 53 kids that will be attending. We have a wonderful relationship with District 111.So we will be out at the former Aroma Park Primary School. 101 South Division Street. Aroma Park. So come on out to enjoy our fun and festivities. We would love to see you there and have you out there.

Mayor Wells-Armstrong: Thank you

Barbara Volkman:

Mayor -Armstrong Welcome, I have been a very long standing member of this community. Both in business we have been in business for many years and in the schools. Both my husband and I have served on the school board. We have also been very concerned about all aspects of government. We are very concerned about law and order. And we hope that you considered your appointments in that field.

Mayor Wells-Armstrong: Anjantia Dumas Resident of Kankakee.

Anjanita Dumas Resident:

Good evening City Council, I come before you tonight as a resident of the City of Kankakee and also as the ex-wife of Price Dumas. It was brought to my attention that some of the Alderman have received a letter. Someone actually mailed the letter to their homes our 14 law makers of the city of Kankakee. It is unfortunate that we are still slandering one another and tearing one another down and the campaign season is over. The election is over. Outside the fact that when I ran for office no I did not support Chasity Wells-Armstrong. I do not support her running for office of Mayor. But she is our current administrator. And so I look at it like this when we come together as a body, even as a body in our community we have to learn to work together. The part that I want to address tonight that is outside of her selection whoever it is she chooses to select. When you start bringing in people that is connected to others you don’t know what type of affects that you are having on people that try to damage their integrity, character, who they are and what they stand for. The letter they sent out had me included and I am not even trying to become the chief. But they also tried to include me in this nonsense. If you want to attack someone it’s unfortunate that we have to tear one another down just to make ourselves look good. It is time to look at ourselves in the mirror. We have to do better as a community. It’s time for us to move forward. I am not here to advocate for Price. I am not here to advocate for anyone that is trying run for office or trying to become the police chief. What I am trying to say is what is right is right. What is wrong is wrong. Let’s look at facts. Let’s allow the current administration to do the job that she was elected to do by the people. Everyone came out you voted her into office now let her do what she needs to do. I am asking the residents of Kankakee whoever is on Facebook whoever is taking rocks throwing them at glass houses and trying to hide their hands, please do not include me in the nonsense. Please keep me out of it.

Mayor Wells-Armstrong: Roll Call

Clerk Dumas:

Tetter; Brown; Curtis (Absent); Baron; Lewis; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; O’Brien; Gall; Malone-Marshall, Kennedy (13)

Mayor Wells-Armstrong: Department heads

Clerk Dumas:

Dumas; Schuldt; Kubal; Power; Simms; Piggush; Cross; Bertrand; Nelson; Schmitz

Thank you

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

I’ll take a motion to approve the City Council meeting minutes of May 15, 2017.

Alderman Barron: Mayor before we take a motion (I hate to do this) I have a couple of changes that I think should be reflected in the minutes. The first is on page 3.

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Alderman Baron don’t we do that after we take the motion to approve?

Alderman Baron Ok ok thank you that’s fine

Alderman Osenga: So moved

Alderman Crawford: Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion made by Alderman Osenga Seconded by Alderman Crawford

Does anyone have any corrections, comments or concerns? Alderman Baron

Alderman Baron:

On page 3 on the top of the page in reference to my comments. I’d also at the time (in my business this is called double hearsay) I had also made reference that Elizabeth Kubal was not listed as a department head that was being reappointed from the meeting before. And I said that here and I don’t see that rejected. So I think that was like a double hearsay. It should have been listed in the first meeting. And I also made reference to it in the last meeting. It should had been referenced in the first meeting. Second is on page 13 at the very top of the page this has to do with the nominations of KRMA board. In the minutes it had Chasity Wells-Armstrong as the chairman and me as the Vice Chairman. And we made it clear that meeting. The Mayor made it clear. And I brought up the fact that we don’t appoint people then the KRMA board itself elects officers. And in fact Mayor Adams was there and he was elected as Chairman and I was as Vice Chairman. But the motion was that Chasity Wells- Armstrong as be appointed as Chairman (you cannot do that) which does not accurately reflect what we did at the meeting. I won’t always do this but I was reading this. And finally page 16 on the vote on Mr. Piggush for City engineer. The vote itself does not pick up until Alderman Tall. So the votes of Tetter, Brown, Curtis, Baron, Lewis weren’t reflected. That is significant to me because I abstained and I want that reflected. If I vote yes, I want that reflected as well. But if I abstain I want it reflected. I do not recall how the first 4 voted. But I know I abstained. So I am sorry but.

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Any other amendments? Hearing none

Roll call

Clerk Dumas:

Tetter; Brown; Curtis (Absent); Baron (with those amendments Aye); Lewis; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; O’Brien; Gall; Malone-Marshall, Kennedy (13)

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

There no petitions. Moving onto communications item A is a thank you is from:

A) Thank You For The Black History Scholarship From Melany Villagomez (Information Only)

If There Are No Objections I Would Like To Combine Items B, C, And D They Are:

B) Ken Crite Is Requesting A Noise Permit For An Outside Entertainment Event, “Que It Up Summer Kick Off” At His Restaurant, Que It Up Café, At 2005 West Court Street, On Saturday, June 10, 2017 (With A Rain Date Of Saturday, June 17, 2017) From 2:00 p.m. Until 10:00 p.m.

C) The Juneteenth Celebration Community Council Is Requesting Permission To Host The 2017 Juneteenth Celebration Parade On Saturday, June 24, 2017, From 10:00 a.m. Until 12:00 p.m.

D) Gerry And Judy Kilbride Are Requesting Permission To Host Their Annual Kilbride Family Classic 5k-Run/2-Mile Walk For Autism At Cobb Park On Sunday, June 18, 2017, Starting At 8:00 a.m. And Ending At 10:30 a.m. Do I have a motion to approve?

Alderman O'Brien: So moved

Alderman Brown: Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion by Alderman O’Brien Seconded by Alderman Brown. All in favor, opposed same sign motion carries.

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Moving Onto Standing Committee Reports Public Safety

Mayor Wells-Wells Armstrong:

We have budget committee report Alderman Baron.

Alderman Baron:

Mayor you have in the packet of materials the minutes from our special budget committee meeting from last Monday. In which the final draft was presented to the budget committee. At that point there was a surplus of $104,005.00. It was a balanced budget. The comptroller told us that there was going to be final adjustments and that happened. Of course the budget you see before you have is somewhat of a smaller surplus. But yet a surplus. It is still a balance budget. I do not see the sense in going through changes that were made. But we all given an executive summary of the changes from last year to this year. So I do not know if you want to act on the budget this late in the agenda. But that is the sole purpose for meeting last Monday.

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Thank you Alderman Baron. Now we have Economic Development Alderman Tetter.

Alderman Tetter:

Thank you Mayor, we went directly into new business. The committee discussed various ideas and ways to promote economic development in the city of Kankakee. Topics included: Lakota Plan modifications and suggestions, increasing affordable housing stock for the city and reducing vacant lots in inner city areas. Expanding the economic activities in the downtown area to include establishing events in perspective wards throughout the city, working with neighborhood associations and other stakeholders in wards. Formulating plans to increase small businesses and encouraging more local spending in city boundaries to enhance more sales tax for the city, we discussed our infrastructure strengths and weaknesses to identify better use of our assets. Lastly we had a discussion regarding establishing partnerships with other area Economic Development and the Community Reinvestment Fund, a national organization dedicated to improving communities. Director Cross discussed possible grants which could bring in 3.3 million dollars which would be used for planning, tech pay, infrastructure. Could also be used for beautification projects at exit 312, east side corridor. He will update the committee at the next meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 6:12 Thank you Mayor.

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Thank you Alderman Tetter. At this time, I would like a motion to approve payment of the bills.

Alderman Faford:

(Inaudiable) Place the money in the proper accounts and pay the bills in the amount of $588,611.83

Alderman Faford: So moved

Alderman Tall: Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion by Alderman Faford and seconded by Alderman Tall. Any questions or comments on any of the bills.

Mayor Wells-Armstrong: Roll Call

Clerk Dumas:

Tetter; Brown; Curtis (Absent); Baron; Lewis; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; O’Brien; Gall; Malone-Marshall, Kennedy (13)

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion carries. There is no unfinished business. Moving onto new business. We have an ordinance:

A) Ordinance Authorizing The Renewal Of Aggregation Program For Electrical Load

Motion to suspend the rules

Alderman Brown So Moved

Alderman Baron Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong;

Motion made by Alderman Brown. Seconded by Alderman Baron. Roll Call

Clerk Dumas:

Tetter; Brown; Curtis (Absent); Baron; Lewis; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; O’Brien; Gall; Malone-Marshall, Kennedy (13)

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion to put the ordinance on final passage.

Alderman Brown: So oved

Alderman Baron: Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion made by Alderman Brown. Seconded by Alderman Baron. Any discussion?

Alderman Brown:

I do not know if a lot of citizens know but this but the city goes out and they solicit people to bid for a low rate for electricity services. It is important because people come around the neighborhood come to door and try to get your bill and switch you over. With this they will not come to your door and try you to get your bill. I think that there is a form that you have to opt out if you want to. But other than that nobody is going to come to your door and try to get your bill. Because a lot of people right now walk around the neighborhoods every day to get you to switch. That is not city that is not Com Ed. So I just want to make sure people understand that.

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Mayor Wells-Armstrong: Roll Call

Clerk Dumas:

Tetter; Brown; Curtis (Absent); Baron; Lewis; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; O’Brien; Gall; Malone-Marshall, Kennedy (13)

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion carries.

Mayor Wells-Armstrong: The next ordinance is

B) Ordinance Adopting The Prevailing Wage Rate For 2017

May I have a motion to suspend the rules?

Alderman Tetter: So Moved

Alderwoman Gall: Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion made by Alderman Tetter, seconded by Alderwoman Gall

Roll Call

Clerk Dumas:

Tetter; Brown; Curtis(Absent); Baron; Lewis; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; O’Brien; Gall; Malone-Marshall, Kennedy (13)

Mayor Wells-Armstrong: Motion to place the ordinances on final passage.

Alderman Tetter: So Moved

Alderwoman Gall: Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion made by Motion made by Alderman Tall, seconded by Alderwoman Lewis. Any discussion?

Roll Call

Clerk Dumas: Tetter; Brown; Curtis (Absent); Baron; Lewis; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; O’Brien; Gall; Malone-Marshall, Kennedy (13)

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion carries

Next item is

C)Ordinance Amending Chapter 2 Of The Kankakee Municipal Code, City Of Kankakee, Illinois By Adding Article Xxii To Said Chapter Creating The Office Of Media And Cultural Engagement.

At this time, we do not have an Economic Development Director and the vision that I have for the city is that we need to brand the city and start marketing and promoting (inaudible) for Kankakee. Currently if we were to go out to a trade show or some type of event and someone would point to our website, it does not market to who we are. We have different brands that market Kankakee. We have a tree and a river which Alderman O’Brien hates. We have the City Rising and I really feel like we need to become very cohesive as a community to identify our brand. One of our Municipalities has done a great job by tying in their brand with their school district. And so I would like to add this position so that we can start that work. Branding and marketing, updating our website making it accessible to developers, to residents. We want our residents to know what services are available and so we would have someone dedicated to that type of work. Also engaged in media getting our message out about who we are as a community. Telling our own story instead of Channel 7 telling our story. And also cultural engagement. So there will be some overlapping from the former position where this particular position will support some of the other entities such as the Kankakee Development Corporation. That puts on a lot of our events and partners with the library. So we have a lot of those things coming up like Music Fest, and some of the Friday night concert series and sandwiches with a side of jam. So this person will support some of those activities as well. So that is kind of a scope. All of the City Council members have received a sample job description and some information on that. And at this time I would like a motion to suspend the rules?

Alderman Brown: so moved

Alderman Tetter: Second

Mayor Wells Armstrong:

Motion made by Alderman Brown, seconded by Alderman Tetter

Roll Call

Clerk Dumas:

Tetter; Brown; Curtis(Absent); Baron; Lewis; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; O’Brien; Gall; Malone-Marshall, Kennedy(Naye) (12-1)

Mayor Wells-Armstrong: Motion carries

Motion to place the ordinance on final passage.

Alderman Brown: so moved

Alderman Tetter: Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion made by Alderman Brown, seconded by Alderman Tetter.

discussion? Alderman Osenga.

Alderman Osenga:

Do we have a salary attached to this position? (inaudible)

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Yes, it is. And I am being creative in soliciting support for the salary from ESU because they are charged with technical services and because a large component of this position would be technical services. Internet and up keeping the site upgraded they are supporting the position as well.

Alderman Crawford: What part is the ESU paying? Are they paying half?

Mayor Wells-Armstrong; They are paying half.

Mayor Wells-Armstrong: Any other discussion?

Roll Call

Clerk Dumas: Tetter; Brown; Curtis(Absent); Baron; Lewis; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford(Naye); Osenga; O’Brien; Gall; Malone-Marshall, Kennedy (Naye)(11-2)

Mayor Wells-Armstrong: Motion Carries

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Next ordinance is D) Ordinance Adopting The Annual Budget For The Fiscal Year Beginning May 1, 2017 And Ending April 30, 2018 (Will Be Distributed On Monday) I believe our comptroller has distributed a packet for everyone. I first off want to start off by saying this very aggressive to get a budget passed the first meeting in June. This being my 34th day in the office as Mayor and I want to thank Elizabeth. They have had vehicle stickers to get ready for and she spent a lot of time getting this ready because I wanted to make the deadline. I also wanted to thank the Department Heads everyone worked really hard. Working on ways we can spend our money more efficiently and cutting where we could. So everyone took this very serious. The budget meeting, we had on May 22 as Alderman Baron mentioned was a special budget meeting. I believe 11 of our Alderman and Alderwoman were there in attendance for that. That really speaks to how serious we take the budget in Kankakee. And wanted to make sure that we are responsible and accountable to you in terms of tax dollars.

Motion to suspend the rules?

Alderman Baron: So moved

Alderman O’brien: Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion made by Alderman Baron, Seconded by Alderman O’Brien.

Roll Call

Clerk Dumas:

Tetter; Brown; Curtis(Absent); Baron; Lewis; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; O’Brien; Gall; Malone-Marshall, Kennedy (13)

Mayor Wells-Armstrong: Motion to place the ordinance on final passage.

Alderman Baron: So moved

Alderman O’Brien: Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion by Alderman Baron, Seconded by Alderman O’Brien. Any Discussion?

Elizabeth Kubal:

Most importantly I’ll speak to the budget. It was an aggressive timeline. And I also have to be appreciative to the Mayor and to all the department heads. And to my staff who dealt with some other situations while I worked on the budget a little bit more than I usually does in the month of May. Thank you to everybody for your efforts. Most importantly the council came out most of you and some twice in a two-week period on top of all your other meetings and I greatly appreciate that because I think we had really great discussion and we were able to create a really great document. Most importantly like Alderman Baron said it is a balanced budget. The revenues for fiscal 18 (inaudible) We did do some final adjustments that Alderman Baron alluded to just making sure that when we lay the actuals next to the budget in the last couple of weeks. In the past couple of weeks’ bills paid were referring back so we wanted to make sure that we had the most accurate picture. And as I alluded to I thought there would be some amendments and there were and I shared those with all of you. We did have some increases to revenue. The MFT that you have become accustomed to seeing was not in last year’s budget. So it is included in this budget. We increased charitable gamed tax. And added substantially to ambulance fees. Those were the highlights of that area. The reductions of expenditures there were many but the summary items would be that every department gave back something dollar wise which totaled $150,000. Which does not seem like a lot with our bigger departments but it really is because they have been asked to cut for several years. And they were asked to cut for several years now and they were still diligent and going back to drawing table to figure out where else they could make some necessary cuts. Our liability insurance has had a decrease of $75,000. We have a reduction of our sales tax expense what will be going back out the door with our agreement of $100,000.00. And the reduction of our homebuyer’s incentive program of $100,000.00. Our additional expenditures most of these are simply because the calendar year turns over and it’s a new fiscal year. We have contractual increases dealing with all the contracts that the city has of the 1-2% of which is slates is about $250,000.00. We added the additional property tax rebates dealing with the Armstrong and BSAF situation $175,000.00. We had increases to group health and projected increases to workman’s compensation insurance to the tune of $110,000.00. We put in $150,00.00 for potential retirement buy outs. We’ve transferred some capital for some future needs with equipment. And then department needs of new situations of about $100,00.00. I want to assure everyone that the pension is still funded at 100% as mandated by state statute. Those are in but as we levy those from the residents with the tax levy. Those dollars all penny for penny all go back out to the funds both fire and police. So I do not include those as an adjustment because what does in goes back into the funds. Any questions?

Alderman Baron:

(inaudible) About the ambitious nature of this budget. When we passed the continuing spending resolutions a couple of months ago and had it expire tonight. I thought that was very ambitious. I thought Okay! But let’s see if everyone can pull this off. But clearly they did. This has been a difficult 30 days with new administration and everyone just coming on board. We are dealing with a 24-million-dollar budget. It started out behind about a million dollars. I just think we have to recognize everyone working together on this to come up with a perfectly good project. I just want to make sure we all recognize that.

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Thank you Alderman Baron that means a lot coming from you as the budget chair.

Alderman O’brien:

(inaudible) I think we all know that a budget reflects the priorities of the community and this is no different. I think to me the number one priority that is reflected here is the embrace fiscal discipline by the new administration. I’ve been impressed with that as well as the timeline. Also the leadership from our budget chair as well as the comptroller and the department heads. So thanks to all of you for helping us in that process. And again it sets priorities what is important in our community. And I think this is a document that is the one or two most important things we do a year. And it is a real reflection of how we can work well together. So thank you.

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Thank you Alderman O’Brien. Any other discussion?

Roll Call

Clerk Dumas:

Tetter; Brown; Curtis (Absent); Baron; Lewis; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; O’Brien; Gall; Malone-Marshall, Kennedy (13)

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

E) Ordinance Amending Chapter 32, Section 231 Entitled Handicapped Parking Of The Municipal Code Of The City Of Kankakee Rescinding Ordinance No. 13-43: Handicapped Parking At 1182 South Elm Street

Motion to suspend the rules

Alderman Baron: So moved

Alderwoman Swanson: Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion made by Alderman Baron, seconded by Alderwoman Swanson.

Roll Call

Clerk Dumas:

Tetter; Brown; Curtis(Absent); Baron; Lewis; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; O’Brien; Gall; Malone-Marshall, Kennedy (13)

Mayor Wells-Armstrong: Motion for final passage

Alderman Baron: So moved

Alderwoman Swanson: Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion made by Alderman Baron, seconded by Alderwoman Swanson. Any discussion?

Roll Call

Clerk Dumas:

Tetter; Brown; Curtis (Absent); Baron; Lewis; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; O’Brien; Gall; Malone-Marshall, Kennedy (13)

Motion Carries

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Next I would like to move on to the appointments

1)River Valley Metro Board – Carole Franke

I need a motion to approve the appointment.

Alderwoman Gall: So moved

Alderwoman Kennedy: Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion made by Alderwoman Kennedy, seconded by Alderman Baron. All in favor Aye

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion carries the next appointment is:

2)Kankakee County Convention Visitors’ Bureau – Mayor Wells- Armstrong

Do I have a motion to approve?

Alderman Baron: So moved

Alderman Tetter: Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion made by Alderman Baron and seconded by Alderman Tetter. All in favor AYE Same sign. Motion approved

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion carries.

3)Police & Fire Commissioners

1.Nickey Yates

Do I have a motion to approve?

Alderman Tetter: So moved

Alderman Tall: Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion made by Alderman Tetter, seconded by Alderman Tall. All in favor AYE. Opposed. Same sign.

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion carries. Next nomination is:

2.Dawn Landwehr

Do I have a motion to approve?

Alderman Baron: So moved.

Alderwoman Lewis: Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion by Alderman Baron, seconded by Alderman Lewis. All in favor Aye. Opposed Same sign. approved

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion carries. Next I would like to nominate

3.Dr. Willie Davis

Do I have a motion?

Alderman Brown: So moved

Alderwoman Kennedy: Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion made by Alderman Brown, seconded by Alderwoman Kennedy. All in favor AYE

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion carries. Next I would like to nominate

Adjudication Hearing Officers

1.Kimberly Donald May I have a motion to approve

Alderwoman Swanson: So moved

Alderwoman Gall: Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion by Alderwoman Swanson, Seconded by Alderwoman Gall. All in favor Aye

Opposed. Same sign

Motion carries

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Next we have the appointment of

2.Michael Parish

He has completed his training last week.

May I have a motion to approve the appointment?

Alderman Baron: So moved

Alderman Tetter: Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion by Alderman Baron, seconded by Alderman Tetter. All in Favor Aye. Opposed Same sign. Motion approved

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion Carries. Next we have

5)Director Of Media & Cultural Engagement – Michael Costanza

He will start 10 days after he is appointed.

Do I have a motion to approve?

Alderman Brown: So moved

Alderwoman Swanson: Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion made by Alderman Brown. Seconded by Alderman Swanson. All in favor Aye opposed? Same sign

Mayor Wells-Armstrong: Motion Carries.

13 Motions And Resolutions

A) Resolution Authorizing The Execution Of The Lease Between The City Of Kankakee And The Board Of Trustees Of The Firefighters Pension Fund Of The City Of Kankakee

They use a space above the depot.

May I have a motion to approve?

Alderman Tetter: So moved

Alderwoman Kennedy: Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion made by Alderman Tetter. Seconded by Alderwoman Kennedy Any discussion? Roll Call

Clerk Dumas:

Tetter; Brown; Curtis (Absent); Baron; Lewis; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; O’Brien; Gall; Malone-Marshall, Kennedy (13)

Motion Carries

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion carries. At the request of Alderman Baron we are pulling off the revised employee policy handbook. He requested that they see the old copy with the strike outs compared to the new copy. So the goal is to get that to you and have it ready for the next agenda.

There is not an executive session

Are there any Alderman comments?

Alderwoman Gall:

As you may know, the South Chicago Wheelman held a state championship bike race near Cobb Park yesterday.

I wanted to thank Public works for keeping the streets clean and safe in time for the races. I also wanted to give a big thank you to the fire department for having an ambulance stationed at the race in case of emergency.

I also wanted to give a quick reminder that the License and Franchise committee meeting will meet at 5:30 at the Aqua water treatment plant for a tour this Thursday.

Please wear sensible shoes.

Alderman Brown:

Public safety meeting tomorrow Tuesday 5:30 in this building.

Alderman Baron:

I’d just like to briefly address the issue of the police chief. I see that the administration pulled that from tonight’s agenda the appointment of your candidate. And in doing so you made reference to the fact that you would expand the search. And I would encourage you, as I have encouraged you in our own conversations that you expand the search consistent with Illinois Chief Association. A search that has been done and should be done by the Illinois Police Association. I think that we need all the help that we can get. To get the largest pool of candidates to get the most appropriate and experienced candidate. That would involve asking the Police Chiefs Association to advertise on a wide basis. Apparently what they do they have protocol for this. They gather all the best resumes that they can get. They select the best five or so. Those people are then handed over to the city and those five are put through a rather rigorous examination. Lasting two or three days. And the last time they did they did right here. Where the various candidates are put in very intense stressful situations. For instance, if there were a horrific event going on and then the police chief candidate had to go through a press conference. Things that could defiantly happen in our experience. After that they would recommend two or three candidate to the Mayor. Now there is nothing magic about the numbers. But then they would recommend two or three candidates to the Mayor. The Mayor who would then select one on her own or in conjunction with a committee that she would appoint with all the stakeholders and all the participants for the community. Then they would interview the candidates themselves. And then after that point. And all of these things are open to the public. I would strongly urge as part of the process. At that point the Mayor would than select her candidate. And then that candidate would be subject to the advice and consent of the council. I think for a job that is probably the most important appointed job that we have in this city. (inaudible) I think that we deserve at this point to expand as at least as wide as we have done before. And we owe it to ourselves to get the best and the brightest here. And of course anybody can apply, including current staff. And I am just saying I just hope that the administration follows through with this, the widening of the search. And I believe the widening of the search in the way that I have just described is the best way to achieve that. Thank you.

Alderman Tetter:

Mayor, I would like to also speak briefly in regards to this temporary assignment of the police chief. Most of us are well aware of the structure of our police force, the disposition and the makeup of it. And here in the last several days we’ve had an uptick in crime and in my opinion we could not sit back and seek the best candidate and the most ideal candidate. When we are faced with people faced with actually losing their lives on the street. And that position was left vacant through a resignation. Myself, I know Mr. Dumas to be an outstanding officer. I trust the Mayor’s judgement after all she did run the race and she won. And elections have consequences and this is one of them. I do believe that we as a body and as a community should fully embrace her nominee. Give him the same opportunity that we have afforded to any other Mayor previously appointee. And I think in time we will be proven that we have made a wise choice. I just want to encourage my colleagues to ask yourselves would you want someone to questioning your judgement? I think with that being said I think it is time for the politics to stop. And for us to get on with the work within this city. Thank you Mayor

Alderwoman Kennedy:

Well actually what we do is politics. Politics concerns our residents. And we do have to consider what our residents want as well as what we would do if we were the Mayor. But what is most important is what the people want as they elected us. So with that being said I do respect other people’s opinions, decisions, but I just want to say for the record I expect mine to be respected as well. Thank you

Alderman Osenga:

Mayor, I have some real concerns with this acting Chief that has been appointed. I come from the police department of 30 years. I started out as patrolman and went through the ranks. And I retired as commander of the Detective Bureau. I was the number 3 person in the Kankakee Police Department. We were allowed to interview this candidate I was advised during this meeting that racism is running rapid and out of control in the police department. And I was just absolutely floored to hear that comment. I still have a lot of contacts with police officers and I have never heard that situation. (inaudible) And when I was allowed to interview the candidate I asked him a pertinent question. Now to me this is the second most important position in the city. The Mayor’s position being the most important. The Chief of police being the second. Because as the police department goes the community goes. If the police department starts to go downhill, thank the community starts to go downhill. The police department is filled with some of the most trained men and women you could ever have. The police department is Nationally and State accredited. Now there are very few police departments in the state of Illinois that have all of those accreditations. I think that we are the only one’s south of I-80 that have both accreditations. So we have a very professional police department. And crime is up as Alderman Tetter pointed out. But regardless to all the internal issues and problems our police officers are going to go out there. They are going to do their job and they going to do it well. And they are going to protect you citizens. And we as Alderman for some reason this appointee was not put on the agenda tonight to talk about or vote on. It was taken off and Mr. Dumas has been made the acting Chief on a 30-day period. Think that circumvented the process and the Alderman were taken out of the formula. There are 14 Alderman here and we all represent the citizens in the city of Kankakee. And I think we should we have a right to vote on this candidate. Mr. Baron is correct; I also agree with him that we need to do a search. A Nationwide search. Two communities just north of us have hired new chiefs. One of them had 42 applicants. Another community had 15. We haven’t done that. We have had one person presented to us as a chief. This person does not have the criteria needed to run a police department with 70 men and an 8-million-dollar budget. Now we have to do the best for our community and that is get the best qualified candidate. Thank you,

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Any other comments? Ok I’ll be brief. First of all, for those of you who don’t know I was born and raised here. This is my home and I care about this city and the people who live here. I don’t take my job lightly. This process that has just been described was just told to me last Thursday. I have not violated any state statutes any ordinances, any policy and procedures. Yes, in the past I am informed after being in office for 30 days that is how the process had been done. But there is nothing holding me to that particular process. With that being said I did not make this decision on my own. I have sought out several stake holders in the community. From the States Attorney’s office, the school district, the fire department, I have spoken with people in the police department, I have spoken with residents. There are a lot of voices in the community that I have listened to and I have given every city council member an opportunity to interview. Some of you did not show up. Alderwoman Kennedy you did not show up. I gave everybody the opportunity. I wanted everyone to have the chance

Alderwoman Kennedy: You are a liar

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Please do not interrupt me. You are out of order Alderwoman Kennedy.

Alderwoman Kennedy: You are out of order. You are a liar

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

No I am not out of order. No I am not. You were scheduled for Thursday June 1, 2017. You were in the city administration building that afternoon and you did not show up and you did not contact me to say that you were cancelling. So everyone on council has had the opportunity to interview this candidate. This was not something that was done in secrecy. I did list I believe when I was asked by the Journal if I was going to list an ad. I did. But that was not going to limit me to only using that tool hire a police chief. Now keep in mind when I was elected on April 4, 2017 our police chief Regnier quit the next day. I have been put in situations where I have had to make a decision. Now it’s always been professional standard that when you quit your job you give a two-week notice. I was not notified that he was leaving, I was not given the courtesy that of addressing a transition. So then I made Robin Passwater the acting chief. He too did not give a notice. He to quit. So I did not want to go into the weekend without someone in office that I feel can handle this job and that I trust. That is the other component of being the Mayor. Your department heads work very closely with you and you entrust a lot of responsibility to them and I need to trust that person. And despite your 30 years on the force and I sat a respectfully listened to you tell me how you wanted to be chief and it was between you and Regnier. And I sat and listened to you. And there seems to be some issues with you and that. I believe that is your personal issue, but I sat and respectfully listened to that. But I made a decision before we went into the weekend to have somebody in place that I trusted. And that I feel would do a good job. Many people that voted in the election said I was not qualified. You know that term is thrown around a lot. Particularly when we don’t want certain person. So I am going to as Ms. Volkman stated and other people have stated. This is on my watch; I take this very seriously. But I am going to make the best decision. I have the right to make that decision as the Mayor. I will continue to listen to input. If we talk about doing this expanded search of police chiefs, I do not know what that costs. I have to find out. Because we are doing it through fire and that is costing us $20,000.00. So I need to find out how does that work and where does that money come from. But we do have some issues in our department. I didn’t make that up. There is a culture in our department where we need to change that. We do have good officers that do good work. However, we need to be better. And we can raise the standard of professionalism in the department. When you have people just quitting I question professionalism and leadership when that happened. I know Price will not quite. And I am not going to quite. And we are going to get someone in here that is going to make sure they take care of our community and continue to move us forward. Thank you everyone for coming. Thank you for being engaged.

Mayor Wells-Armstrong: Are there any other comments? May I have a motion to adjourn

Alderwoman Swanson: So moved

Alderman Tetter: Second

Mayor Wells-Armstrong:

Motion by Alderwoman Swanson, Seconded by Alderman Tetter. All in favor, opposed same sign

We are adjourned

8:15 p.m.

http://www.citykankakee-il.com/City%20Council%20Minutes/ccm2017/06-05-17MIN.pdf