City Council - Regular Meeting

Be bad and then.

You can't do it until they come in and test the notes. Free will.

I'd like to call to order the Tuesday, September 1st meeting of the Danville City Council. Madam Clerk, roll call to establish a quorum, please.

Mayor Ricky Williams, Jr.

Present.

Vice Mayor Eve Ledwig. Present. Alderman Ed Butler.

Here.

Carolyn DeToy. Present. James Pichard.

Present.

Tom Hightower. Here. Barry Johnson.

Present.

Mike O'Kane.

Here.

Mike Poore. Present. Rick Strebing. Here. Sherry Pickering. Here. Tricia Teague. Jaleel Jones. Here. Doug Ahrens. Here. John Cooper. Here. 13 present.

13 present. We do have a quorum. At this time, we will have the invocation led by Alderman Jim Pichard, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Alderman Hightower. Please rise.

Heavenly Father, we call it a privilege to come before you tonight to spread your word. And, Father, we just ask it, God, that you'd be with everyone in this city, Lord. God, that you'd be with the elderly people as they struggle during these hard times. heating and cooling bills, Lord, and other things. And, Father, we pray for our schoolchildren. We pray for all those that are in authority. And, Father, whatever businesses there are in town, no matter how large or how small, we pray, Lord, that your blessings would be upon them, that they would be profitable this year. And, Father, we ask you now to just lead and guide us, Lord, during this difficult time. And, Father, we ask your blessings upon each and every one. And, Father, you're upon this council in Jesus' name. Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, Alderman. I appreciate you. This time you have before you the minutes of the August 18th meeting. Is there a motion to approve those? So moved.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion or debate? All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, same sign. Thank you. You also have an agenda for this evening. Is there a motion to approve the agenda?

So moved.

Second.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion or debate? All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, same sign. Thank you very much. I do not have any proclamations for you this evening, nor board committee or personnel appointments. Are there any reports of boards, agencies, or commissions? Seeing none, I do have a couple of items of information. The first is I am proud to have with us this evening Director Christopher Leggins of the Danville Public Library to provide a brief update for us about what's going on at the library. Director Leggins, welcome.

Good evening, Mayor Williams and members of the city council. Thank you for providing me with a few minutes to provide an update of some work happening at Danville Public Library. Over the past several months, we have continued to focus on expanding our presence in the community. strengthening our services, and investing in the library as an important community resource. One of our biggest developments has been the launch of our bookmobile service. We have hired two part-time drivers and we continue to build a regular schedule route throughout our community. We have developed partnerships with organizations including the Boys and Girls Club, YMCA, Chris, and Crosspoint. The bookmobile has provided us with the opportunity participate in events such as first friday dax back to school events and we're looking forward to continuing participating in events throughout danville our goal is to provide service beyond our walls in the library and meet residents where they're at uh one of my board members mentioned that maybe i should should have brought the bookmobile tonight but given the park and i couldn't do so but uh i would like to get in contact with each one of you all So we could schedule some routes for you all's respective wards. We could take the bookmobile to you all's wards. And residents in your wards can see the bookmobile if they don't already know about the bookmobile. And it also gives you all the chance to see the bookmobile as well. Some things going on inside the library. Some months back, we reopened the teen zone. We thought it was extremely important that the teens have their own dedicated space. And as we transition into the fall, we have determined that the space that we had on the second floor was only temporary, and we will be moving the teens back into their original space downstairs on the first floor. The teens have been requesting, and I would say at this point demanding, that they have their space back, and we will be doing that for the young people. We have had the opportunity to hire a children's and teens librarian. This position will provide dedicated professional leadership for both departments and help us expand programming, outreach, partnerships, and services for children's, teens, and families in Danville. Some other projects that we're working on and we're moving forward with is the renovation of our main floor bathrooms. That is the bathrooms when you enter the building on your right-hand side. We will be renovating those bathrooms, including our stairwell. That stairwell is the stairwell that takes you to the second floor, and what that looks like, we'll be replacing the carpet, repainting the walls, redoing the handrails as well. We have our bookstore in that space also, and we will also have artwork from artists in Danville, and we have that displayed amongst the walls leading up into the second floor. I want to give a special... Thank you to DPL's Foundation Executive Director, Natalie Duncan, and the Foundation President, Patrick Holleran. They have welcomed me here in Danville with open arms. I want to thank the entire Library Foundation as well, their continued partnership and investment in the Library. The Foundation has committed hundreds of thousands of dollars to improving our facility, and the Library is investing its own resources in these projects as well. Together with these investments, will help us create a more accessible, welcoming, and improved space for our members in the community and our library as well. Our partnership with District 118. We have a continued agreement where we provide free library cards and resources to all students at District 118. We believe it's essentially very important that we continue to be and support education and learning throughout Danville. We are continuing to strengthen our library's connection throughout the state. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to be a speaker at a conference called ILA Region IV North and attending workshops such as directed university. This is just workshops and conferences where directors throughout Illinois gather together in a network Combo Solutions how to improve our libraries in our community. This has given me the opportunity to highlight Danville and let them know what we have going on here and what our library is doing here in the state as well. It's also a good opportunity for new ideas and best practices to bring back to our community. We might have a lot going on in the short 10 months that I've been here, but I want to show you all we are just getting started. And we are very excited in the direction we are going. We're going to continue to focus on being visible, building strong partnerships, improving our facilities, and providing services that meet the changing needs of Danville residents. I'd like to thank you, Mayor Williams, for inviting me here. Thank you to the city council members. Thank you to my board, the foundation, and most importantly, our staff. and the members of our community, thank you for supporting Danville Public Library. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Liggins. Director Liggins. I apologize. I just wanted to say thank you for your efforts, you and your staff, especially in regards to our youth. That's always one of the most important things in our community. And also, I didn't know if any of the aldermen had any questions for Director.

Yes, Mr. Butler. I don't have no questions. I've talked to Chris several times, and I'm just glad that we built that relationship thinking about our young people.

Yes, sir. And I'm so glad and happy to see that they're getting free memberships.

And that is wonderful. You know, that's something to be proud of. Yes, it is. And if I could, you know, could be of some service to you, you know, you've got my number, just give me a call.

Appreciate you. You welcomed me here with up my arms as well, too, when I first got here. Thank you, sir.

Yes, Mr. T.

A couple of questions, but also some comments as well. So I'll start with the comments first. First, I am very pleased as a former library board member that the teen space is reopening. I was on the board when we decided to reconfigure the entire library to create the teen space. So I'm very, very happy about that because I know it was heavily utilized. um way back when when I was on the board um and also I have seen the bookmobile I've been in the bookmobile as a matter of fact I think it was it might have been Juneteenth I can't remember where it was I just know it was at I was at Ellsworth and so had conversation with the staff had been in the bookmobile uh very different from the one I remember from my childhood um um that I used to frequent but better significantly better so I am so glad to see the bookmobile uh back out and about um One question is, is the library still doing fee-free late fees or whatnot?

We have late fees, but if you're talking about non-resident car fees, we do have a non-resident car fee, but now we provide a payment structure plan. So you could do an annual plan or you could do a semi-monthly plan to make it more affordable, but we do still do fees, yes.

Okay. Maybe it was a period of time that they were being canceled. Maybe it was during COVID or something like that.

With the District 118, Usually in the state of Illinois we do library cards for kids, and it's usually folks who receive reduced lunch, free lunch, they automatically qualify for a library card. So of course we're gonna do those folks, but there's individuals that attend District 118 that don't necessarily live

in danville they still get to use our services okay no i was specifically talking about fees and it's probably because i'm always late um i think i got a text from the library last week i still haven't turned the book in yet um my second question as it relates to outreach um Are you aware of or have done anything with, and I don't even know if this still exists, there used to be a library on the premises at Green Meadows, which is in my ward. They had their own little mini library that was there in their premises. When I heard about it, it was in the early 20-teens. So I didn't know if you were aware of that or if that's something that could be serviced by the bookmobile. I can most definitely look into it. We can talk about that later. Yes, ma'am. I'll reach out to you.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you, Alderman T. Alderman Ranks.

Mike, I was just also kudos on the bookmobile. It had been, as I indicated, it had been over 50 years since I stepped onto a bookmobile. So it's good to see that out there, creating new memories for the kids in the community and a good way to get out to people. So kudos to everybody.

Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Thank you, Director. We appreciate you. Thank you, Mayor.

Yes, sir.

Other items of information, I just want to remind everyone that we have Discover Danville first Friday coming up this Friday from 5 to 8. It's going to be awesome. There's going to be all kinds of music and dancing and basically showcasing Danville's talents in different ways. There also will be, I hesitate to use the word taste because people hear a taste and they think a taste of Chicago, and obviously we're not nearly that grand, but we will have six local restaurants offering different kinds of food where folks can come by and taste or sample those foods for free, and we will also have a food truck. One of those restaurants will be providing food for sale as well. It's going to be a great time, and we hope you all will come and join us. Lots of activities for people of all ages, so hope you all will come out and join us that day. Madam Clerk, do we have any petitions, communications, and audience comments?

We do. When I call your name, please come to the podium. You'll have three minutes to speak. Brenda Brown?

Good evening to the mayor, the council. I'm here in regards to item 13A. Again, I'm here. And I'd just like, again, to make a correction and I think Alderman Arndrew had mentioned but it is a correction and I did check with plaintiff Bashir Ali again to make sure and that it was not a last minute addition to have the treasurer's position as elected position that as I said I had been the means it had been discussed all along now why was it maybe in the first one I don't know but it was not a last-minute addition I just wanted to make that correction the other thing again I'm going to say we asking you to make this an elected position leave it there and not an appointed I know you have your reasons but I have my reasons also and the community for Danville again why the consent decree was created and why it is now federal court order and stands as a federal court order And that does not make it a seasonal document. I've heard the statement made, you know, has the consent decree been satisfied? It wasn't put there for a season to be satisfied. It was put there for generations, as it started in 1987. And I pray that it continues in 2027 and 2087. This is for the present. It's for the future. It wasn't just for, again, a season of time. And then so that's satisfied. Okay, blacks, women, you've had your turn. You're on the council. You've had jobs. So now we're through with that. Let's move on to something else. And that's the way I'm taking this. It's very insulting. So again, I ask you to please leave this position. Personally, I think we need to leave it alone. It started with Treasurer's pay. but now it's went into something else. And then before you know it, it's gonna go to something else. You're just picking away at this consent decree. And it was set because we, and the citizens of Danville with the plaintiffs, when they sued the city of Danville for equal representation, because you all know in the past there had never been any black, There had not been any women to serve on the city council. This is why this went to court, why the city of Danville was sued for this. And we're tearing that apart for personal reasons. And I resent it. It hurts. And I hate to say this, but it brings me back to think we are in a racist community, and I know better than that. But that's what I feel, and I resent it. And I want us again as a community to stand for liberty and justice for all. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Brown.

P.J. Bourne.

On this first day of September, I first want to tell the Mayor I do agree with you wholeheartedly on last week when you said after spending so long a time in one position, it's good to make a change and have someone else. I think that's wonderful. However, on my behalf, that has not taken place, and so I'm here again to validate that, yes, you did make a statement that you all made a vote, and you made a vote saying that, no, my street should not be changed. However, you do not include the law or the regulations for the Vermillion County or the City of Danville which says in 157.04 that the street can be changed and should be according to if the applicant have presented a petition for 60 cents or more of their property which abuts the street and the segment in question and the signatures you can verify them as well. There are 220 or more on the line, and then I have quite a few of them here as well. I also want to address the fact that I'm looking at the program tonight, and as I look at the agenda, I remember Mike Perr, Alderman Perr said that they would also revisit. And so how can you revisit if you never put it on the agenda? So I'm looking at a lot of things that are not honest. I'm hearing a lot of things that is not truth. And I'm looking at the fact that we have city council before us, and we have a mayor that we elected, that as we said, we would like to have justice for all and not just us. We want everyone to be created as equal and we want everyone to realize that just because you don't have any money or you don't have enough money or you don't have money that Mervis had or money that Heckler had, you should not be treated any differently. Everyone should be treated equal. and everyone should be acknowledged in fact because we voted in a mayor that we trusted will make a right decision and create and remember all of us so again i look on the agenda i do not see anywhere where my street change is going to be vindicated i do have a list for anyone that wants to sign my petition because what we're seeing is not correct whenever you say you open up a can of worms as i said before last week i looked around and within 10 mile radius from here to up the street past my house There are other houses on one block or on one area in the same category as mine with the name change on it. And so those people still there, why is it that you are not doing the same thing for me. It should be justice for all, as I said. Not consider what you want, but what is right for us. Also, Mayor, you called my husband, Bishop Warren, and I into your office, and you told us what you personally thought. I don't think personally should have anything to do with it. I think it should be a public statement because you're in a public office. Also, I understand that a call was made to one of my relatives asking me not to acknowledge coming back or even having this taken place again to drop it. But I refuse to drop it. Right is right and wrong is wrong. And God is going to hold you all accountable for not treating everybody equal. You say the Pledge of Allegiance and you do the prayer, but you do not do anything of it. So remember, vengeance is mine. God will repay. And another thing he said, he will take care of those that are not doing correctly. Thank you.

Amen. Thank you, Sister Vaughn.

Carrie McKenna.

Well, I guess I'm going to go along with the same idea. Yeah. First off, I do not know this woman, but I have listened to her for the past year and a half and nothing against you. I love it. I love it. I love it. Because she is starting to do her research and she is bringing receipts. I live in her ward. I live just a few blocks away from her. It would not affect me in any way, shape, or form if that road has its name changed. And the excuse of something about garage entrance... That is the most ridiculous excuse I've ever heard. I don't know how that would, anyway, I'm taking away from this time of why I really came here tonight, but I came here to discuss Alderman pay. can only think of two reasons why anyone on this council would vote that down one is you're right at that edge of that tax bracket and it might shoot you up well write a check to charity get a receipt write it off um second is more of a selfish reason and that would be some of you have ran unopposed for multiple elections and you are only sitting in that seat because no one else has ran against you you don't want to lose that power is the only reason i can think of that and that to me is a little well a lot selfish um and a ridiculous reason because there are plenty of people who sit on this council who deserve to make way more money than they are sitting in those chairs They devote, most of you I'm assuming, if not all, devote hours and hours and hours to this job. And just doing one hour a day for the year plus three extra hours per month for your meetings, that's 401 hours. You're barely making $10 an hour to do your work. To me, being a salaried employee, you should at least be making minimum wage. That would put you at $6,015 a year for those 401 hours. So to me, that is the minimum you should be making, minimum. And if you have a fear of running unopposed or running opposed and have someone vie for your seat, then maybe you should do a better job and listen to the people of this community. Thank you.

Troy Streben.

Good evening.

Thank you for letting me speak tonight. Troy Strickland, no relation to Rick. I don't have a G at the end of my name. I'm the superintendent of the Veterans Assistance Commission of Vermain County. I'm here with my veteran service officer Sabrina Kelly to talk to you a little bit about what we can do for Danville veterans. We not only can help them file a claim with the VA to get them the benefits that they've earned and deserved, but we can help with short term excuse me, financial assistance for those that qualify. With that being said, I've got some brochures here of everything that we can provide to Danville veterans, but we're also going to have a ribbon cutting ceremony September 10th. So next Thursday at 10 a.m., we're going to be in the lobby of the Joseph G. Cannon Building on the first floor. Basically, we're changing direction. You may have heard some bad things in the past, but we're moving in a different direction. We're going to help any and all Danville veterans, and you're all invited, and we'd appreciate it if you could come. And I appreciate everything that all of you do sitting up here, as I get to experience it myself. But thank you. Have a good evening. Thank you for all you do. Thank you, sir. Thank you.

Deanne Ryan.

I am Deanne Ryan and I'm a children and family mental health advocate in the county for a long long time and I didn't know I guess I forgot that the library was going to be speaking tonight and I just want to kudos to something that I think is very important I talked to director Leggins several months ago about the library becoming a hub for information to get out to families about services and helping them navigate the systems, behavioral health systems. We have a lot of services, I think I've told you that before, and programs in the community, but people do not know about them. And when they do know about him, it's very difficult for them to navigate without assistance. So other libraries are promoting mental health awareness and mental health services because the libraries are a neutral, safe space for families to go to. And they're not clinical. You don't have to know what you need before you go in the door. So we're working on that. We're just about ready to open one night a week, the state. is on board with it because all the agencies because they know that they are not doing a good job of getting information out to the public so we're excited about that but I just want to congratulate or thank Director Luggins for being so on board with that he said his wife is a social worker so I'm sure he's heard some of the same situations that we talked about so I'm really glad to have him in Danville

Thank you, Mrs. Ryan.

That's all I have, Mayor.

Is there anyone else who wishes to speak this evening? I have a question. No, thank you.

I have a question for Mrs. Ryan, which is, has it been determined which night of the week yet? OK. OK. OK, thank you.

We do not have any zoning petitions this evening. However, you do have before you the payrolls of August 21st and August 28th. Is there a motion to approve those? So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion or debate? Roll call vote, please.

Alderman Butler? Yes. Detoy? Yes. Pichard? Yes. Hightower? Yes. Johnson? Yes. O'Kane? Yes. Poore? Yes. Strebe? Yes. Pickering? Yes. Teague? Yes. Ludwig? Yes. Jones? Yes. Arntz? Yes. Cooper? Yes. 14 yes.

14 yes. The motion carries. You also have before you the vouchers payable of August 25 and September 1. Is there a motion to approve those? So moved. Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion or debate? Before we get into that, I do want to let you know that we are working on updating the Elon situation and putting protocols in and retraining folks to make sure that it does indicate the vendor as previously discussed. Are there any other questions? Roll call vote, please.

Alderman DeToy? Yes. Pichard? Yes. Hightower? Yes. Johnson? Yes. O'Kane? Yes. Poore? Yes. Strebe? Yes. Pickering? Yes. Teague?

No.

Ludwig? Yes. Jones? Yes. Arns? Yes. Cooper? Yes. Butler? Yes. 13 yes.

13 yes. The motion carries. At this time, we'll receive our Public Services Committee report. Chairman Strebe? Yes.

Good evening everybody 11a we have a resolution accepting an award from the Illinois Arts Council for the creative projects grant and Authorizing a budget amendment. I make the motion to approve and dispense with the reading and ask for your approval I'll need a second please second so moved. Is there any questions on 11 a resolution?

If not roll call please alderman Pichard I

Yes.

Hightower? Yes. Johnson? Yes. O'Kane? Yes. Poore? Yes. Strebing? Yes. Pickering? Yes. Teague? Yes. Ludwig? Yes. Jones? Yes. Arns? Yes. Cooper? Yes. Butler? Yes. Detoy? Yes. 14 yes.

14 yes. The motion carries. Butches 11b, we have a resolution approving an intergovernmental agreement with the Danville Community Consolidated School District 118 for school resource officers. I'll make the motion to approve and dispense with the reading and ask for approval. I'll need a second, please.

Second.

Is there any questions on 11b's resolution? If not, roll call, please.

Alderman Hightower? Yes. Johnson? Yes. O'Kane? Yes. Poore? Yes. Strebing? Yes. Pickering? Yes. Teague? Yes. Ludwig? Yes. Jones? Yes. Ahrens? Yes. Cooper? Yes. Butler? Yes. Detoy? Yes. Pichard? Yes. 14 yes.

14 yes. The motion carries. 11C, to accept and place on file a treasury report for June of 2026. I'll need a motion from somebody and a second.

Second. So moved.

Got a motion and a second. Second. He said it doesn't matter. Is there any questions on 11 C's to accept the treasurer's report for June of 2026? If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed? The ayes have it. It does carry. Thank you. 11D, we have an ordinance amending Chapter 31 of the Danville City Code wage chart regarding alderman compensation. I'll make the motion to approve and dispense with the reading. And as for approval, I'll need a second, please. Second. Is there any questions on 11D's ordinance?

I got one. Yes. So apparently the way this thing's reading, you can miss every committee meeting you're assigned to and not get penalized, but you can miss the city council meeting, and that counts as an absent. Am I right or wrong? That's the way I read it. Yep.

The way that is written is correct. The discussion that you all provided, the concern was an actual vote. The committees just make recommendations. The final vote is actually during the council meeting, and that's when it's important that the people's voice be heard. When a decision is actually made, it's important to make sure that you represent your people and that you're there present for that. And getting the feedback from you all, that's what was placed in there.

Well, my feedback, I was going to vote no on it irregardless. I didn't want any changes, but I just wanted to clarify that. So I'll be a no.

Any other questions? Oh, go ahead, Mike.

Well, I'm also no. The two accepted is fine, but we've had councilmen that we've lost for long periods of time being sick, their spouses or something like that, and this does not address that at all. I think that should not be left alone. Alderman if you if you're sick and whatnot if or if your spouse is sick you can actually call in by a phone and ordinance already provides for that yeah but that's I did it a couple weeks ago and that is tough to be I say hear everything and be able to answer things and get involved with it but I mean And if you're in the hospital, you're not gonna be, or something like that, you're not gonna be able to take care of that kind of stuff. I think there should be exceptions for that too.

Alderman Orange. Yes, as many of you know, I've raised this issue dating back to April of 25 when there was a attempt by some on the council to change the number of votes that it took to pass an item. And what was discussed at the meeting that night, and I've got the minutes and have reviewed them again, as well as listened, was continuously that the absenteeism and the lack of aldermen available at meetings was presenting a concern for the ability to do business. And in my opinion at that time, as I communicated, i felt that was a de facto change of government from what was authorized in the consent decree and so i would have two questions one is for those that felt that attendance was a big enough concern that they were willing to change the number of votes that it takes to pass something why do you no longer feel that way if you vote to not hold the city council accountable for pay And I would also be interested in if I could defer to Alderman, former Alderman Brown, whether she perceived that as a change of government at that time or why there was no opposition to that change when it was proposed in April of 25.

Alderman Arns, it would not be appropriate to defer to audience members at this time.

Even a former Alderman? It would not be. Okay. Thank you. Well, at that time, obviously, It was presented. It was discussed in a meeting. There was no opposition expressed by the administration or others on the council at that time. It did end up not being passed at the full city council. But that is where this originated. As mayors indicated, as well as some of you that have been with us for quite some time, we were paying elected officials while they were sitting in our public safety building. That doesn't seem right either. and so to me when accountability starts somewhere it has to start somewhere and if not the council and certainly we all have tough decisions to make but i i would suggest that if any of us or any of our spouses or family members children grandchildren it doesn't matter have a prolonged in instance where they're not going to be able to attend perhaps that's the time to step down and allow someone else who does have that time to serve so that the constituents are still being served and the votes are still being given to those groups. So that was the basis for why I've pushed for this. I still believe it's right. I think a lot of the community members feel that way. Obviously, not everyone on the council does. But let's keep in mind, a little over a year ago, there was discussion down here that it was going to take fewer votes by aldermen to get things passed, allowing the mayor to make that vote, simply because people weren't showing up at meetings. Maybe there were good reasons, maybe there were not. But that's where this began for me, is when we were willing to sacrifice other things that had been committed to. And now, as I understand it, the mayor does not support doing anything that would change the number of aldermen that would be elected. So I find it strange there was no opposition to that level. But at this point, that is where this started for me. is when we were willing to change the number of votes in order to get business taken care of as the way it was presented. And so with that, I will continue to support per diem, recognizing that all of us are expected to do work outside of these meetings. Thank you.

Is there anybody else? Yes. Ms. Teague?

I'd like to first correct the record because it was strongly opposed by several people that the number of votes be changed, which is why it failed. So I know you didn't mean it that way, but I want to make sure that everybody understands that it was opposed because I strongly opposed the number of votes being changed and actually called it illegal at the time. And I know you have the minutes, so you know that I said that. I have been an advocate for per diem because of some of the issues that happened previously. I do agree with Alderman O'Kane that there CAN AND SHOULD BE SOME SORT OF CONCESSIONS MADE FOR ILLNESS OR LONG-TERM ILLNESS OR WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE. I ALSO KNOW THAT SINCE I'VE BEEN ON THIS COUNCIL SINCE 2021, THERE HAVE BEEN MULTIPLE INSTANCES WITH MULTIPLE PEOPLE WHO HAVE LONG-TERM ILLNESSES. And I do know that that was one of the reasons why we had some of the attendance problems that we had that led to that discussion in April of 2025, or at least since that was touted as the reason for the discussion. And so in that instance, if those were the result of long-term illnesses, then based on how this reads, then they still would be getting paid anyway because it was a long-term illness. Now I was a proponent of raising alderman pay and then adding per diem so that an increase in pay would be palatable to the public. This pay is not actually changing. It's staying exactly the same. The only thing that changes is that we get paid for meeting attendance. Again, for me personally, not a problem because I very rarely miss meetings. And if I am missing a meeting, it's typically because I have a work commitment which is already allowed for in the ordinance that we have. it's either and allows for me to attend virtually um in the ordinance that we have so um for me this doesn't really change anything i have been a proponent of it i've thought long and hard about well would i vote for this um or not because it doesn't contain some of the things that i do want but it does contain some of what i want i feel like it is a step in the right direction And because of that, I would vote for it, but I also know that that's just me, and I'm probably in the minority on that. And I'm okay with that as well because that's how the democratic process works. But I don't think it goes far enough. So I do agree that there are some other changes that could be made and should be made. And I also understand the reason why some people say that they're against it. And I can respect that. I can even agree with some of those. And I think that those changes could be made. But for me personally, I'll go ahead and vote for it because it is a step in the direction that I think we should be going.

Anybody else? I'm going to say that I'll probably vote no on this because when you went around the room and you asked, I said I didn't want any change. So I will continue to stick with that. The many times that I've been elected for this position, I never had a problem with anything the way it was running. And I think there was one time out of all the years that I ran that I ran unopposed. I ran all the other times with somebody, either two or three other people against me. I just wanted to get that out there. But I will be voting no on this as well.

Yes, Mayor. Thank you, Chairman. Many years ago, you'll recall, I actually sponsored legislation just to make sure that we had per diem because we were having issues. There was a time before Alderman Brown joined us that Michael Alderman was not here over half the time. In fact, there were times where we were literally as well not to get too specific but there were times where we were paying someone when they were incarcerated so what that meant was that I was the only voice for Ward 1 for that extended period of time and they did not have representation I absolutely a thousand times agree with you all the constituent services are the bread and butter of what you do helping our people all the things that you do outside of this room are incredibly important however in the end this is where we vote on budgets that prioritize how we're going to spend community who prioritize projects that we're going to do this is the place where we make major decisions and while committee meetings are absolutely important they're only making a referral it's not a final decision the final decision is made here at the council level And so for those reasons, I strongly support being per diem. But I understand why some folks would not. But we have a good council now. We could get to a point where we were having that issue. But again, there were literally, for more than a year, one of my co-aldermen in Ward 1 missed over half of the meetings. And I do believe that that person was, well, let me not speculate to motive. I know that there were some financial challenges. And so pay was a motivating factor to continue on service. And I would like to make sure that people are here to make votes for their people. Because if you don't make a vote, then your people do not have a voice. So I can understand it going either way. I personally, as your mayor, do support this. This is an issue that I raised more than a decade ago. And I'm thankful that we're attempting to address it again.

Anybody else have anything to say? If not, roll call on 11D's ordinance amending chapter 31 of the Danville City Code wage chart regarding alderman compensation.

Alderman Johnson?

Yes.

O'Kane?

No.

Core?

No.

Strebing?

No.

Pickering? Yes. Teague? Yes. Ludwig? No. Jones?

No.

Arntz? Yes. Cooper? No. Butler?

No.

DeToy? Yes. Pichard?

No.

Hightower?

Nope.

I'm sorry? No, ma'am. Thank you. 9 nos.

9 nos. The ordinance fails. Well, Mayor, I don't have any items of information unless somebody else does. I know Labor Day is coming up, and I know we're going to have a big parade going in through town. Do you want to speak on that a little bit, dear?

Yeah, we picked up the Labor Day parade this year. Our unions weren't able to get grouped together and take it on. So we offered to partner with them and are carrying on the Labor Day parade. I have 66 entries, and many of them have two cars per entry. So I plan for it to be very busy, very full. And I'll just ask now, many of you are in the parade. So ask for a little bit of patience as you work with our team and we get you all lined up. But we're excited. Kickoff will be at 9 a.m. So whether you're in the parade or whether you're downtown, be there at 9 a.m. to see it.

Thank you very much. I know you're going to be busy with Friday night, and then you get a couple days off, and then you'll have Monday. And through you, when I came to visit you the other day, all of you were work, work, work, work, work. Yeah. That's all I have, Mayor, and we've done everything that was on the agenda in front of us this evening.

Thank you, Chairman. At this time, we'll receive our Public Works Committee Report. Chairman Poore.

Thank you, Mayor. We will be meeting in these chambers next Tuesday, 6 p.m. Everyone is welcome, and Director Rui has information.

Hey, so last weekend I received some information about potential for emergency relief funds for this most recent flooding, and so reached out to Vermilion County EMA and had a meeting with them yesterday morning. learned about the process that they go through, which is different than the last time we've been through this. But the process they're going through, they're basically having people submit self-assessments of the damages that they had. And this is not just for the municipalities and other governmental entities. This is actually for residents and business owners as well that received damage that was And the way they have it, that is not covered by insurance, but things like roof, gutters, basement, hot water heater, furnace, air conditioner, washer, dryer, furniture, vehicles, things like that that people receive damage to. And what is happening is we basically have to meet a threshold for IEMA to be able to go to the federal EMA and receive potential disaster relief funds. So there is no guarantee by putting this in that anything will happen. However, all of us working together to put in what damages we may have had does help the cause for the state to go chase after those relief funds. So, as I stated, there is no guarantee whatsoever. However, this is a way that we can all help each other to potentially receive relief funds, and they do it in some different ways. There's been a lot of things described to me, way too much for me to remember everything, so I don't want to state anything and get anyone's hopes up as far as what relief funds look like. I've heard anything from from reimbursement of damages to just low-interest loans that assist people with the recovery efforts as well. So if there's anybody that had any damage whatsoever, it's on the Vermilion County Emergency Management Agency's Facebook page. They have a link, and I asked Rhianna to share that. She shared that on the City of Danville Facebook page, and she has emailed that out to you as the alderman as well. I just wanted to make sure I made that clear. I will say in discussions, it sounds like the deadline to put this all in is the end of day on Thursday. So two days from now. So that is what I'm told is the deadline right now. I don't know if that will change or not.

We will send a text message reminder to folks as well. Just as a reminder, though, make sure that you, if you have that kind of damage that wasn't covered in by insurance, put it in because basically we as a county have to hit a certain threshold in order for them to even make the case for us federally, okay? So the more people that we have, it's kind of like the census. The more of us who respond to it, the better resources we get for our community. It's very similar in a sense, okay? So if you have any damage that wasn't covered by insurance, please do make sure you get it put in there.

The other thing I would add to that, make sure you save the pictures. You have to provide proof for everything. So pictures, receipts, anything like that, make sure you save that stuff for the potential of relief coming there.

Over to you.

A few questions. First of all, a couple of my questions have already been answered, so thank you. Is sewer backups included in that or no?

My understanding is yes.

Okay. Is there... I just opened an email. Is there a phone number or a call? I'm thinking about a lot of our citizens who are not tech savvy or older who do not have computers and those types of things. And the only thing I see on here is a link. And if not, are we providing or can we provide, I don't even know if it's possible, but is somebody providing some sort of assistance to help those people who

Need assistance and do not have the technical capabilities to provide this in two days Good question the Your first question I had an answer to was number Okay, so as far as a phone number, I'm not aware of a phone number This is how they put it out for us. This is I've just learned this yesterday that this is a thing and So as far as the tech savvy side of things goes, the Illinois EMA, that's how they're doing it, is that. If there is someone who's not tech savvy, I'd encourage them, just give our office a call and we can either, we'll figure out how to help somebody.

So I have a person, doesn't live in my ward, but that I know of, and I have pictures myself that she sent me where her basement wall collapsed. And it's not covered by insurance. And so obviously that's a significant cost. Yeah. And I know she's not the only one. I've heard of tons of backups, tons of flooding, tons of basements that have had problems. And, oh, I guess another question that I have is, does it matter if it's a homeowner or a tenant?

According to the Facebook post, it does not matter. It can be a tenant as well that has seen loss there. So the one thing I would say, it sounds like EMA is going to be in and around town. This is very preliminary. I was not going to say this, but I will. It sounds like they're going to be in town and trying to assess certain areas of town that we basically provided them with the list of calls that we received. And they're going to be trying to make contact with those people as well of the backups, calls that we received during the storm. So I don't know. Honestly, this is the first time I've seen it done this way. So I'm not exactly sure how they're doing it. So I would just say if someone had damage and they're unable to fill that out online, please call Public Works. We will make a list and provide that to EMA, and hopefully they can connect with them that way.

Illinois EMA or FEMA?

Illinois EMA is here, and they're trying to basically get to a threshold so that they can go to FEMA. Okay.

Thank you.

Anyone else on the stream here?

Yes, Director, I wanted to ask, because I asked two weeks, well, I got in the middle of a conversation two weeks ago. There was an individual who was here, and they asked Mr. Kronk about this. That morning, the governor signed off on a bill. I think it started at $1,000 for anybody who needed help. Does this fall underneath this deal, or is it a separate deal?

I don't know, in all honesty. I know that, like, there is, there's, I was at, that's why I called the Vermillion County EMA. My understanding is this is the only thing there is right now. I hope I'm not wrong. That is my understanding, though, is they're working on an assessment right now for potential relief dollars.

Could you find out and let me know? Because the governor was on TV that morning. It was in the newspaper that night. And somebody asked a question here. OK. And he signed it in law. And it was statewide.

OK. Yeah, I can find out. Please.

Yep.

It was statewide, however, I know it was not on the Illinois EMA website as of, I believe it was last week. Because last week, someone was in my office and they were trying to resolve these issues and they went to the website and they only saw the information on the prior storm and this was well more than a few days after the governor had issued that proclamation but it was not on the website so there was nothing that they could do to submit anything because there wasn't anything to submit to thank you anyone else

Thank you chairman items of information potential change in treasurer selection just a reminder we do anticipate having an opinion this by the end of the week and as soon as we have that we'll be sure to share that with you as well any other items yes Mr. Artower I suggest that we shut that down

Under the Illinois and Illinois Constitution, no city with over 10,000 residents can change the city treasurer from elected to an appointed position by simple council ordinance alone. Everything that we're trying to do has to go for a referendum. It says it right here in Illinois' Municipal Code 65ILCS5-3.1-15-5 and 3.1-25. We have a legal counsel here. We got attorneys sitting here. But we rounding this up? Who are we trying to get over on? This mess was not presented by only one that presented this ordinance was somebody that thought they was going to win the mayor race. That's what that's all about. The law says right here this should not even, this should come off the damn table today.

Thank you, Alderman Hightower. Alderman Butler.

OK, thank you, Mr. Hightower, for that information. Yes, I have two, maybe one, two into one situation here. And I was going to ask Rihanna last week about the first Fridays. I've been receiving some calls around this. You might can answer this. There was some line dancers that were going to perform on that Friday night, and something changed that they told them that they weren't going to dance, the line dance. And they have some concerns of why, you know, that they're not going to dance on that night. And also, they're supposed to be a singer. They're supposed to sing that night. And this young man is about the best singer in Danville. And he done sang in Champaign, Peoria, went to Chicago singing for these R&B. And he was not, he didn't receive a recall to perform on that night. And then we're trying to be inclusive. We're trying to get everybody involved. And then, I mean, these groups, were prepared to perform and and I'm asking Rihanna this question and you know the way I understand that she's the community director for for this

Yeah, Alderman Butler, I can speak a little bit to the dancers. Kind of what happened is we were in our preliminary planning and we were booking things and going through the process and then we kind of in the process realized we, A, weren't gonna have space at the time for the dancers. At that time, we also weren't planning on having a DJ at Temple Plaza. So we actually completely restructured the event. We were planning to center this all around Temple Plaza and we ended up moving multiple musicians to different places throughout downtown. So we changed up a lot of the event. As far as the other individual that you said is incredibly talented, please give them my information. We would love to have them, but it's really hard to have a connection with everybody. I don't know they exist. I can't book them or invite them to First Fridays, but I guess I'll give this as a message. First Fridays are for everyone, so if you want to be part of it or if you know somebody who should be part of it, please tell them to contact us. We're happy to have everybody involved.

So why were these groups eliminated?

The dancers was because we restructured the event. And then are you talking about Christian Cunningham? No. Oh, OK. I was like, we are having him perform.

He's performing. We have a number of people who are performing as well of all different races and ethnicities.

Why were these two groups eliminated?

I don't know what you would have to tell me what groups you're talking about.

Yeah, there was some line dancers named Christine. And who was the other one? And the other one was Jason Parker.

Mr. Parker was never eliminated.

I think we'd reached out to Mr. Parker because we had him on contact for First Fridays, but I don't believe we got a response back. I've worked with LaJason Parker through Danville's Got Talent, so I'm really familiar with him. I think we did initially reach out to him, but I don't think we've received any interest that he wanted to be part of it.

And so we got – that's one of the reasons why Christian is there. Right. And then the other thing is, you know, sometimes – help me be diplomatic. Sometimes – Not everyone has all the information that they need to make decisions. And in this city of Danville, we believe in supporting people, especially those who have been victims of sexual assault. And one of the individuals, and certainly not Mr. Parker that you mentioned, has a problematic history. And that's the way I can respectfully put it.

You mean that this young lady could go into District 118 and she can go out to the college and perform and hear all of a sudden, you know, that she can't perform for the city? And this is out in the open. And the way I understand it, these are mainly adults that's in this line dancing. And, you know, it's kind of for a fact there, you know, Meredith, that you're doing all the talking. And you must be behind it.

I can tell you, I absolutely am, because I would encourage you to speak to the young man's parents, Mrs. Christy Spencer and Mr. Chad Cooper. If you want to continue, we certainly can, but I would not encourage it. But what I will tell you is that we will always protect people from sexual assault. That's what I can tell you, especially children. And as somebody who led young people for years, as someone who oversaw our youth chapter of the NAACP and who was one of my role models, I know you love and respect and protect children, Mr. Butler. So all I'm telling you is that there is proof beyond a shadow of a doubt that there were instances of violations with this young woman, and that's why she was removed once we found out about it, because I'm not going to subject anyone to that.

And I respect what you're saying there, too, Mayor. I mean, no, I'm not going to say it. I'm not going to say it. But it's just ironic. that these two people here, one is a brother-in-law of Patricia Tigg that's running for mayor, and the young ladies, they perform at our center, which Red McCullough is owner of the building. And so it just, at this time, it's just bad timing. And so I don't know if you're trying to use this as a political thing. I don't know. I hope not. I really hope not. But, you know, it just looks like it.

Respectfully, Mr. Butler, the fact that you would continue on this line, what I would tell you is pedophiles actually usually protect pedophiles. They actually stick together. So I will just leave it at that. I'm not accusing you of pedophilia, but what I'm saying is I had proof that I saw with my own eyes that this young woman was a pedophile. And the only reason that it wasn't prosecuted is because the young man wouldn't cooperate. But I encourage you to ask his parents, and then you ask me if it's political. That is absolutely disgusting and disrespectful.

Yeah, okay, as you talk about pictures and everything, I got some pictures there, too, there for somebody in this room. Very good. Yeah, yeah, playing with some little boys, okay? We'll bring it up.

Let's go ahead and bring it up, then, because I would be glad to see you in court.

Yeah, okay.

So, anyways, we have concluded. Are there any other items of information for the good of the cause?

I got one on a lighter note. yes alderman johnson i would like to go back to where we have uh let me look at it now let me bring this up the sros where we continue the engagement with the sros i think to give that kudos i work in the school district i'm not a spokesperson for the school let me make that clear but i think it's very fundamentally sound that we make that a continuing effort to continue the safety, security, and effective learning engagement of our peoples. So I give us our kudos that we had the foresight to continue to engage the SROs in our school system.

Thank you.

All right. Mr. Hightower.

I just have one last thing to say. You know, we keep bringing up this treasurer's deal. Who tabled this ordinance?

I don't recall.

Who tabled it?

Because one question I have to ask, when I asked for something to be tabled, when it was in the best interest of this community that the parents be held responsible for their children's action, I asked for a 10-day return. I ain't heard jack. So don't tell me then you're coming up with some mess that somebody else comes up with. Come on. That's malarkey. That, again, that thing about the right here where you want to change the treasurer selection is for somebody, one of the good old boys, who thought they were going to put somebody in there they wanted to do. And yes, I think it's racist. Take it any way you want to.

Yes, Alderman Cooper.

I've got a question. And since last Tuesday, it sort of bothered me a little bit. Can somebody give me clarification? Committee meeting is an informal discussion. Why aren't outside aldermen allowed to partake in the discussion with us? They weren't last week, and I can't figure that one out.

They actually were allowed to participate, but council advised against it. I don't agree with that decision, and neither did the chairman, and so it proceeded.

So as an alderman, if you come to the committee meetings, you can say whatever, I assume. Am I right? I mean, I disagree with it, too.

Everyone has a right to their interpretation. We all always will. There could be consequences if we are in violation of the law. But yes, Ms. Teague.

How would that be in violation of the law? You can say it was. Okay, well, let me finish. I was just responding in general. I never said that you said it. How would that be in violation of the law if it is a posted meeting, posted lawfully 48 hours before the meeting, and the public has the opportunity to come in and speak, and we're all speaking out in the open, it would actually be an open meeting. at least that's my understanding of the Open Meetings Act, right? That the Open Meetings Act is to make sure that we do not have conversations privately that the public is not aware of. It is a public meeting, and we are all elected officials participating in that public meeting. And the other piece that's critical to the Open Meetings Act is that it has to be posted lawfully within so many hours prior to the meeting, which the committee meetings are. So we... I think the other thing that is curious is that we've operated from that vein, at least in my entire tenure here, and I'm sure in, you know, for those of you who have been here much longer than I have, have always operated in that vein as well. So... I don't know why it was questioned. I can't even guess why. It doesn't really matter to me why. But just in terms of standard operational procedure, that's what we've always done, and it's never been a legal concern prior to last week. I'm still not seeing the legal concern. So that's what I wanted to say about that. What I also wanted to say about the questions that Alderman Butler brought up, just to say, Alderman Butler brought up my brother-in-law. I specifically did not and was not going to. I do believe, or at least I thought I heard, and the reason why I wasn't bringing it up is because I don't know enough, because I don't like to speak on things unless I have more information. I thought I heard that he had responded and that he never got a response back. I don't know if that's true. I also know that our emails block a lot of stuff that's legitimate. So it could be sitting in somebody's junk or somebody's, what do you, Yeah, it's the file where all the stuff goes and disappears. And I have actually seen, personally, been looking at my email, saw an email come in, and then couldn't find it. So that also may have happened as well. Again, I don't like to speak on things unless I know more information and have actually done my due diligence. I never did any due diligence on this. I just heard it anecdotally. And I left it at that. And whatever happened, it happened because it's not my business on either side of the scenario. So I just wanted to make it be known that I was not the one bringing it up, even though it is my brother-in-law. Because in Danville, there's about one degree of separation between everyone.

Yeah, I was just going to say, please tell him to call my phone number because that way I will 100% get it. But I'll have my team double check their emails and make sure that it's not missing. But we would have loved to have him. I didn't even know he was related to you, to be honest. But we'd love to have him. He performs amazing at Danville Scott Talent every single year.

Yeah, I'll ask him Sunday. Y'all got an announcement? Yes, sir. Yeah. Okay, for the good of the cause. uh... sleep heavily peace uh... is the biggest bill for sleep and heavily peace nationally this year bunks across america will take place on september twelfth in the lowes parking lot in champaign yes the link uh... use the link below to sign up we will have uh... two shifts available the morning shift is eight o'clock to twelve The afternoon shift is 1230 to 330. You can sign up for both shifts. If you do plan to work both shifts, please sign up for both shifts. We are looking for 150 volunteers for each shift. I have the link here, and if anybody's interested, no child. We sleep on the floor in Danville. And Deanne Ryan, you know, she first got us started, and we haven't stopped yet. So anybody that want to be a part of this, Lowe's and Champaign, you know, if they need a ride, they can ride over with me. I'll be taking a U-Haul. And, yeah, because we're going to bring some bids back. Right, and a local one will be here in October at the work source in October.

Thank you very much. Alderman, Mrs. Ryan, will you please make sure you let us know those dates so we can let everyone know? Sure. Thank you. Yes, Mrs. Pickering.

Yes, at our last meeting I also was, I didn't understand all of it, and I did talk to our attorney afterwards. He explained it. I don't know if he'd like to explain it the way he explained it to me, and that was one of my comments. This is something we've always done, but a comment to me was just because we've always done it doesn't mean it's legal. So I don't know if you would like to explain it.

My position was stated on the record at the last meeting. Okay.

Thank you.

Yes, Ms. Teague. Corporation counsel, could you share the whatever law section, citation, attorney general's ruling or whatever that led to your position?

Thank you.

So I actually shared this concern a few months ago with a council member and others that when you're noticed up for a committee meeting, that's what you're noticed up for. And when you have other aldermen participating outside of that committee meeting, you now have a quorum for a full council meeting, and we're not noticed up for a council meeting. And so I believe that's my concern for the issue concerning the Open Meetings Act.

Have we inquired with the Attorney General or the IML on this?

I spoke to the Attorney General several months ago when I had a concern and the advice that I got was that the council members that are not on the committee should sit in the audience and their comments should be limited to the public comments.

Can I ask a question? Yes, sir. The only time that the reason why I come to the meeting is just to hear what the Public Service Committee is talking about. And those are the only questions that I ask dealing with the other public service. Because why am I going to ask for public works information when they're not here? And so that will help me to make a better decision like tonight. You know, Arim asked the comments that I asked at that meeting. Yeah, because I read up on it and I got an understanding of what the voting was going to be about. And so I voted tonight without any questions or answers, you know, statements. And that's why I really appreciate, you know, coming to the meetings. And now if I can't be a part of that meeting or can't ask questions that's going to help me during the week, I mean, I'll just stop coming. And then I ask my question and prolong this meeting and ask the question that I could ask at Charles' meeting. That's the only reason why I come to those meetings.

Has the public access counselor provided a written opinion on this, or was it just based on the conversation?

Yeah, I'm not aware if there's a written opinion on this matter. This was based on my conversation.

Okay, thank you.

Alderman Detoy.

Mine's totally something different. I just want to say thank you to all that was involved in getting the situation in front of Meyer and the roadway taken care of. In the past, I've had several calls on that, several people that had close calls. So I'm happy to see that. that happening and that it'll be a much safer area now that we're putting that in. And I want to thank Mayor and everyone else who's been involved in that.

You're welcome. I just want to make sure that we clarify for the public. People are like, why did it take five years for them to make that kind of decision? The city of Danville made recommendations over five years ago. It was our understanding at that time that the recommendations that we made had to be a yes from Meyer and possibly a yes from IDOT. We had a no from Meyer at that time. Unfortunately, they were missing some of our traffic data. When Chief Yates provided the additional traffic data at that time, they said, oh, there's a problem. And so that's when IDOT forced the issue. We did not have Meyer's agreement to do anything on their property which would have been the easiest and most sufficient solution and therefore we had to go with a secondary solution IDOT building the median in the way so I'm thankful to IDOT that they helped us because quite honestly although you can just go to the light many people were not choosing that and a lot of folks were hurt as a result of it unnecessarily so thanks to everyone to Dave and Tim and all their team for their leadership and especially former Assistant City Engineer Eric Childers because quite honestly he did a yeoman's work to make sure that that happened before he left So it was in process Yes, Alderman Pichard.

Yeah, I'd like excuse me. I'd like to concur with Alderman Dottoria. I Understand why that needed to be done there in front of Myers. I've seen this firsthand and There was a cars coming north and south. One car was coming in to turn into TSC and Myers. And there was a pickup truck pulling a utility trailer from Lowes and crossing the highway. He got halfway across the highway and he stopped. He didn't know if the car that was gonna turn in right to TSC was gonna let him turn in, go across or not. And there was a standoff right there and cars actually had to drive around him. And that's the reason that that needs to be done. And I'm glad it's getting done. And there does need to be a light there that what's being done is the proper thing.

You'll be glad to know we don't have any closed session. At this time, I would entertain a motion to adjourn.

So moved. Second.

Moved and seconded. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed?

Me.

We are adjourned.