City Council - Regular Meeting

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, no, Tom Hightower. Here. Barry Johnson. Present. Here. Mike O'Kane. Here. Mike Poore. Present. Rick Strebing. Here. Sherry Pickering. Here. Tricia Teague. Present. Jaleel Jones. Doug Arns. Present. John Cooper. Here. 12 present.

12 present. At this time, I would also ask for a motion to approve.

Right now.

So moved.

I would like a motion to approve electronic attendance by telephone for Alderman Pichard under section 3140B2C for family or other emergencies. Is there a motion to do so? Alderman Butler is moved. Is there a second?

Second.

All those in favor, signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Any as opposed, the ayes carry. Thank you, Alderman Pichard. We have you as recorded in attendance, sir. All right. Very good. At this time, we will have the invocation led by Alderman Vitoy, followed by the pledge led by Alderman Pickering. Please rise.

Heavenly Father, we come to you with grateful hearts for the opportunity to serve this community.

We thank you for the people of Danville, for their hard work, their resilience, and their hope for a brighter future. We ask for your guidance over this City Council tonight. Grant each elected official, city employee, citizen present, wisdom to clearly clearly see and courage to do what is right and humility to listen with open minds and respectful hearts. Our community has faced challenges. Help us to remember that we may differ in our opinions. We share a common responsibility to seek what is best for our city and for our future generations. Replace division with understanding, suspicion with trust, conflict with cooperation. Bless those who protect and serve our community, our police officers, our firefighters, first responders, public workers, employees, and those who work every day to make Danville a better place to live. May every decision we make here tonight be guided by honesty, fairness, and compassion. Help us to be faithful stewards of the resources entrusted to us and to lead with integrity. Finally, remind us that lasting progress comes when people work together with mutual respect and a shared commitment to the common good. We ask all these things in your holy name. We praise you and we thank you. Amen.

Ladies. You have before you the minutes of the July 21 meeting. Is there a motion to approve those?

So moved.

Second. I would like to hold item 15.

Oh, we're on the minutes, Alderman. We'll get there in just a moment.

Oh, OK. That's my fault. I'll prove it. Pardon? I'll prove it.

And is there a second?

Second.

All right. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, same sign. Thank you very much. You also have before you an agenda this evening. Is there a motion to approve the agenda?

So moved.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Yes, Alderman.

I'd like to pull item 15, make a motion to put it on as a discussion item for public works meeting 811, public services meeting 825, and make a final vote 9-1.

There has been a motion. Is there a second?

Second.

Second. Can you help provide a reason as to why he would like to?

Oh, 13. I'm really not on a roll tonight. 13. Let's go with 13. B or both? Both.

13. It's literally just there for an item of discussion.

I know, but I'd like to put it on as a discussion on committee at 8-11, 8-25. We discuss this in council. two or three times at a split score in front of the committees. And then we were going to make a final vote, and we never did do that.

CHRIS JERRAMSEN. Those will be going before the committees. But I wanted some feedback from you all before I took any updates to the committees.

DAVID BURRAGE. Well, I'm going to make that motion. If we get a second, fine. If we don't, fine. But I'd go to 811 Public Works, 825 Public Service, and vote on it 9-1.

It's been moved. Alderman Teague, do you second that as well? Yes, I do second that. Any discussion or debate on the amendment? I guess that I would ask you that we leave it on here as an item of discussion. Whether it's here officially or not, I am going to ask you questions about this because I need your guidance on things that I need answered in order for us to move forward. So I just want you to know we will discuss it one way or another, whether it's an official item of discussion or whether it's not.

Now if we pull. If not, if we pull it.

Under items of information, I will be asking you questions about this either way. I just wanted to let you all know. Any discussion or debate on the amendment? A vote no is that we will discuss the items this night as originally planned. A vote yes will mean that we are not going to discuss the items under that item of information.

Roll call vote, please. have a question yes what is for whatever decision might be made on any elected official salary what is the deadline for such a decision to be made i think it's october um yeah i provided that earlier um i think it's 180 days before the election

I believe it's October 8th, Alderman, but I'll verify that. OK. Any further discussion or debate?

This is for A and B? That's correct.

And a reminder, we are going to discuss those items and both of those committees as originally intended as well. So Madam Clerk, roll call, please.

Alderman Butler?

No.

Detoy? No. Pichard? Yes. Hightower?

No.

Johnson?

No.

O'Kane?

No.

Poore?

Yes.

Strebing? Yes. Pickering? No. Teague?

I'm sorry. I need clarification on the yeses and the nos. So the yes is to? Support. To pull it. And the no is to keep it? Yes. OK. Yes.

Ludwig? No. Jones?

Yes.

Arns? No. Cooper?

Yes.

8 yes.

8 yes, the motion. I'm sorry, it's 8 no, isn't it?

Excuse me, 8 no.

8 no, the amendment fails. At this time is roll call on the agenda as presented, please.

Alderman Dettoy? Yes. Bouchard? Hightower?

Can you clarify that for me, please?

Just approving the agenda. Approving the agenda.

Yes.

OK. Johnson? Yes. McCain? Yes. Poore? Yes. Strebing? Yes. Pickering? Yes. Teague?

Yes.

Ludwig? Yes. Jones? Yes. Farnes? Yes. Cooper? Yes. Butler? Yes. Bichard? Yes. 14 yes.

14 yes. The motion carries. I do not have any proclamations or board committee or personnel appointments for you this evening. Are there any reports of boards, agencies, or commissions this evening? Seeing a couple of items of information, I just want to thank again all of the aldermen and our city leadership team and other team members who came out to help for community day. We had a beautiful time. We had several hundred people there. We had really good food, good music. Just appreciate all of you guys who served. I also want to thank especially my executive assistant, Heather Runyon and our Community Relations Administrator, Rhianna Pierce, and also our Human Relations Administrator, Tasha Davis, as well as the Human Relations Commission. You all put on a really fabulous event, and we thank you for that.

At this time, Madam Clerk, do we have any petitions, communications, or audience comments?

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

Good evening to the mayor, the council, corporation council, and staff that are in attendance tonight. I come before you again tonight in regards to the position of treasurer to be elected and not appointed. One thing I just want to make clear, the present treasurer is Mr. Chris Herron, am I correct? Yes. And he was elected, am I correct? Yes. Okay. That's what I wanted to make clear. I have a suggestion to the mayor the Corporation Council and to the older persons last week when I was here for the Public Service Committee meeting and the week before when I was here at the council meeting there were some that weren't sure what the consent decree included or had not read it entirely, and I had suggested that, you know, everyone read it entirely. So, not being sure of that, I suggest and recommend that there be an orientation the mayor the other persons and corporation council maybe on a Saturday morning and we could have one of the plaintiffs in attendance to give you an orientation you may know or heard of what it is about but to know clearly why it was instituted and why I'm standing here begging you and again pleading with you to leave this as an elected position and not an appointed position. So again, Mayor, if you can get back with me, or Corporation Council, whoever can get back with me and let me know, I think this, again, is a strong recommendation. So all aldermen, before you take a vote on something like this, you know what you're voting for, you know what you're voting about, and how it affects the citizens of Danville. Thank you. Thank you.

Sabrina Kelly.

Good evening. As usual, I'm representing myself and nobody else or any other organization. I just wanted to also concur with previous Alderwoman Brown's statements about the treasurer's position and representation for the city and the representation of people of color in this community having a choice. I also would like to say that I don't understand how the argument for the mayoral salary, whomever that may be, be argued to such extent and then it being disturbed to be talked about the alderman's salary as a person who also served, although I was in the Army, and it wasn't about the money, it still needs to be paid. People are still here showing up every time, and it still should be increased. I mean, we do it. I mean, everybody comes here and shows up for their positions, represents their wards. I still think it should be increased, and the same arguments could be made for the mayoral salary as it could be for the alderman. And that's all I'd like to say. Thank you.

Thank you.

PJ Bourne.

I am PJ and I've been coming here for over a year and my complaint today is I've been taking data because I have been ticketed or warranted should I say for parking on my own grass I live in a CODISEC. I'm the only one there, as I've told you several times before, and it has been on record here that you all are aware that I live in an area where I'm the only one there. So I've gotten a warning, and I went and took pictures of vehicles that have been parking on their own grass, on their own land, in their own house, and I was warranted, and so I took pictures of other places on Winter Street, on Vermillion Street, on Warrington Avenue, other places throughout Danville where they have also been parking on their street. So that's just one of my situations that I'd like for you to be interested in as well. The other one is because I live on a cul-de-sac or a dead end, It has also been on record that I live on the dead end street, and from the stop sign to the trash can, when it was snowing, that was the area of public where you clean that area only. So on the left-hand side of the trash can, that is considered private area, my area. So since that is private, that means from the street, the stop sign to the trash can, that's public. That is the name that is on that street. So that means my street does not have a name. And because of that, I am still requesting, as you have all said, that you are going to put back on the agenda. That hasn't happened. I'm requesting it be put back on the agenda. I'm requesting that my name change for my street continues. I'm requesting that you look at the agenda. I'm requesting that you acknowledge that the fact that there are no neighbors in my neighborhood I'm the only one there I don't have to answer to request anyone else opinion as to who needs to know because I have no neighbors so it doesn't matter I am the only one on that area so I want to bring that to your attention as well we've been going through this for the longest and yet every time I bring it to the attention of the neighbor and I bring it to the attention of the mayor and I bring it to the attention of the aldermen and if you all know that I'm the only one there you have yet to come forward and be honest enough to acknowledge the fact that I'm the only one there. Now, the prayer has gone forth that we shouldn't have any biases or prejudice, and I'm wondering if that's the case right now, because since I'm the only one on that street, what's hindering you from making the decision as to allowing my street to be changed? What is the real issue? What is the real problem? If you're praying and asking God to have favor and to be honest to us, why are you not being honest toward me? Why do you continue to hang and to say that there is no issue, but yet my street has not been changed? If there's no one on the street but me, why do we hinder? Why do we hold back? Why do we decide not to change? I'd like for you all to address that, as you already said that you would, and yet nothing has taken place. I hope to hear from you soon.

Thank you, Mrs. Barnes.

That's all I have. CHRIS RODGERS.

Thank you. Is there anyone else who wishes to address the council this evening? Thank you. We do not have any zoning petitions this evening. However, you do have before you the payrolls of July 24th and 31st. Is there a motion to approve those?

So moved. Second.

CHRIS RODGERS.

It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion or debate? Roll call vote, please.

Alderman 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. Pichard? Yes. 14 yes.

14, yes. The motion carries. You also have before you the vouchers payable of July 27 and special runs of July 28, August 4, and a special run, regular run of August 4, and a special run of August 4. Is there a motion to approve those?

So moved. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion or debate? Yes, Ms. Teague.

I noticed there are a number of transactions that list Elan Financial Services, which I presume is the credit card, but they do not actually list the vendor who received the payment. The one that caught my attention was item number 39, which says videography, and it doesn't have any other information. And whomever we spent $500 on for videography, Well, we spent $500. I'm assuming Elan did not. My presumption was obviously that Elan did not provide the videography services. But as I looked through, I noticed that that was not the only one, that there are several for which it just lists the credit card but no actual vendor. It's not consistently that way because there are some that do. For example... some that you know there was one that paid for a hotel for I think a an employee to go to a training and it lists Holiday Inn and so we would know that Holiday Inn is the vendor and one of the reasons why I'm asking this is because I know that there have been local vendors who provide services and it would be wonderful to be able to tell them well if you weren't hired there was this other local vendor that was hired and But I can't say that that's the case because I can't say who the vendor is.

I apologize, Alderman. I am uncertain as to why these are listed that way. They shouldn't be.

And it doesn't seem that way in the following report. So the report for 8-4, doesn't list Elan financial services nearly as much and it might be on here but it's scarce if it is but there are dozens there's several that are just list even financial services with no actual vendors listed yes ma'am I apologize our comptroller has been out so there may just be a difference in who was doing the reporting and we will make sure that that's updated as we move forward

Mayor, I can speak to that a little bit. That one is my invoice there. We all enter our invoices a little bit differently for the credit card services. Mine are a little bit vague, typically, with the vendor. So I typically provide the description of what the service was for rather than the specific vendor. So this was Be Real, Be Humble, Tyler Burris for the videography services, who is local. But if that's helpful for you all, I can make sure to provide the vendor name as well.

Normally, the finance division does provide the vendor names regardless of how they're inputted, and I'll make sure that we thank you for that clarification.

Yes, because all of them, I don't believe, came from your department. There's others that appear to be from other departments just based on what they are.

We will make sure that that's addressed. Thank you for bringing that to our attention. Any further discussion or debate? Roll call vote, please.

Alderman Johnson?

Yes.

O'Kane? Yes. Poore? Yes. Strebbing? Yes. Pickering? Yes. Teague?

No.

Ludwig? Yes. Jones? Yes. Arns? Yes. Cooper? Yes. Butler? Yes. Betoy? Yes. Pichard? Yes. Hightower?

Yes.

13 yes.

13 yes. The motion carries. At this time, we will receive our Public Services Committee report. Chairman Strebbing?

All right, we'll start with 11A. We have an ordinance enacting and adopting supplement to the code of ordinances of the city of Danville. I make the motion to approve and dispense with the reading and ask for your approval. I'll need a second, please. Second. Is there any questions on 11A's ordinance? Ms. Teague?

So this is just to publish the ordinances?

This is, yes, to approve them to be published.

OK. Thank you.

You're welcome.

Any other questions? If not, roll call, please.

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

Alderman Pichard, can you hear us?

13 yes. I'm sorry, yes. Oh, 14 yes.

14 yes, thank you.

11b, we have a resolution authorizing an application to the Illinois Art Council for the creative project grant. I'll make the motion to approve in response with the reading and ask for approval. I'll need a second. Second. Is there any questions on 11B's resolution? If not, roll call, please.

Alderman Poore?

Yes.

Strebe? Yes. Pickering? Yes. Teague? Yes. Ludwig? Yes. Jones? Yes. Arntz? Yes. Cooper? Yes. Butler? Yes. Detoy? Yes. Hightower? Yes. Johnson? Yes. Locaine? Yes. Pichard? Yes. 14, yes.

14, yes.

Thank you.

Carries. 11C, we have a resolution authorizing the Danville Fire Department to apply for a grant from the Dennis Leary Firefighters Foundation. I make the motion to approve and dispense with the reading and ask for approval. I'll need a second, please.

Second.

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

Alderman Pickering. Yes. Teague. Yes. Ludwig. Yes. Jones. Yes. Arntz. Yes. Cooper. Yes. Butler.

Yes.

Detoy. Yes. Hightower. Yes. Johnson. Yes. O'Kane. Yes. Poore. Yes. Strebing. Yes. Pichard.

Yes.

CHRISTIE WOOD. 14, yes. DAVID BURRAGE.

Yes. Motion carries. 11D's resolution authorizing the purchase of a new data center servers from the Heartland Business Systems for the Information Technology Division, item number 020. Make the motion to approve and dispense with the reading and ask for approval. I'll need a second, please. Second. DAVID BURRAGE. Is there any questions on 11D's resolution? Yes, Ms. Teague.

My question is for Mr. De Silva. So obviously since these are servers, this means that they will be on site. Is there some cloud or some other redundant storage in with this process?

So this is for on-prem, like for the police department. We also have a cloud backup for these servers. So if something would happen on-prem, then we have a copy of that data in cloud, yes. Okay, thank you. Yep.

Any other questions? If not, roll call, please.

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

14 yes.

Passes.

11E, you have a resolution accepting an award from the Illinois Attorney General's Office for the FY27 Organized Retail Crime Grant and authorizing a budget amendment. 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 11E's resolution? If not, roll call, please.

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

14 yes. Motion carries. What's this 11F? Have a resolution authorizing an application to the cops office for the community police development, PCD, micro grants program. Make the motion approve and dispense with the reading and ask for approval. I'll need a second, please.

Second.

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

Alderman Jones.

Yes. Yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes.

Hightower? Yes. Johnson? Yes. O'Kane? Yes. Poore? Yes. Strebing? Yes. Pickering? Yes. Teague? Yes. Ludwig? Yes. 14 yes.

14 yes. The motion carries. What's this item 11G? Accept and place on file the treasurer's report for May. I want to reiterate, report for May of 2026. I would entertain a motion to dispense with the reading and move for its approval. I will need a second, please.

Second.

Is there any questions on 11G? Not. All those in favor, signify by saying aye.

Aye. Opposed?

The ayes have it. Thank you very much. What's this item of information? I've just got one thing. I know we had a lot of stuff that went on over the weekend with the rain. Thank you for all your help, guys, and everything you got done. I know it was nasty and it was quick. So the other thing I have is this weekend Mike and I are with Kennecook on the foundation. And we're featuring two bands on August the 8th. It's free. We've got a car cruise in from 4 to 6. We've got food vendors on site. We've got Crozier and Company and In Bloom. We're going to play from 4 o'clock till 7 PM. No, 7 is about 9 p.m. You can bring your coolers, bring your families. Doesn't cost you anything, but they'll probably be there to accept donations at the gates. If you want to, you don't have to. So just letting everybody know. It's called Pack the Park, Kennecock Park. Get people out so they can enjoy the evening. So that's all I have, Mayor.

What was the date again? I'm sorry. August 8th. August 8th.

Yep. Be this Saturday. And I believe that everything we had on our agenda, we've completed, sir.

Thank you, sir. At this time, we will receive our public works committee report. Chairman Poore.

I would say we could take everything at once, but thank you, Mayor. We will be meeting next Tuesday in these chambers, 6 p.m. Everyone's welcome.

Thank you, Chairman.

give a brief update on something i'll give more information next week at public works committee uh as to you know a little bit more in depth of what happened but long story short uh we received a letter from the state bid who we always go through to purchase our rock salt for the winter They actually received no bids for the city of Danville this year. About two-thirds of the communities in Illinois did receive bids. I am unsure as to how that was selected by the bidders, as it seems very random. However, we received no bids, neither did Urbana, neither did Champaign, neither did Danville Township. Somehow the county received theirs. We're not sure what the process was there, but We were basically told we had one of two options We could either go out for emergency bid stick with them go out for emergency bid and they may or may not be able to supply us salt But if they could then we'd have to take it But we couldn't guarantee that or we could go try to buy salt ourselves after a lot of calls with the state and and calling around a lot of local other communities, basically found out that Indiana and Ohio are in the same boat and there is a salt shortage due to a mine collapse for Cargill down in Louisiana last year. So that being said, the words, we are in a race to buy salt from other communities were used. And we heard numbers anywhere over $200 per ton, which is crazy, as last year we paid $104 a ton.

We actually heard as much as 300 plus.

Yeah, we heard some crazy numbers. So due to the fantastic work of Tara Barrett, our office manager, she did the yeoman's work, I will say, of making all the phone calls. But we've been in contact with Danville Township and then Hoopston actually also didn't receive bids. None of the other local communities were on the list. I'm not sure if they go through that or not. But I contacted both of them just so that we could try to work together a little bit and make sure that we were kind of supporting the county as a whole in any of our communities. We also worked with Champaign Urbana Savoy and even the U of I, I think, is also in that boat. In working together, we all kind of found where the lowest price was after calling through the list. We all shared our lists of who we were calling and had quite a list of suppliers. But we found SALT. We were able to lock in for our amount, and we have it all in our operating budget, so we're fine. We ended up paying $138.91 is what the total is price delivered. The only issue we currently have is we have to take it all before the end of September, so now the new problem is how to store it, and I've got solutions in the works right now, but I just wanted to give an update that that's where we're at with that, just so you guys were aware when you see a PO come through and you might hear about it.

Well, that brings back memories, doesn't it?

I want to give a huge shout out to Director Rui and his team. They've done a yeoman's job in making sure that they got this taken care of. Also, I'm really proud of the way we work with the other communities to make sure our smaller communities here in Delane County weren't left out. So I really appreciate the cooperation that we had. Also, what Director Rui failed to tell you is that not only did we have to take it, but they weren't guaranteeing us a price. So it's just sign your name on the dotted line, and it can be whatever. And again, we were hearing upwards of $300, which would have more than tripled what we were used to paying. And so just again, I appreciate you all for all of your efforts and to make sure that we have as clear of a possible winter as we can. So thank you, guys. Chairman, anything else?

Oh, thank you, Mayor. That's it. All right. Thank you so much.

Items A, we have before you now items 13A, alderman pay, and 13B, potential trains and treasurer selection. So I wanted to just give you a brief update. Corporation counsel is verifying with a couple of other entities to see whether or not you can actually forego your pay. So I hope to have that answer for you next time we gather together. Outside of that, I just want to be sure that I was clear. It was what I was receiving from the most of you that you did not want an increase in pay or didn't see a need for an increase in pay. But I want to be sure that that's accurate before I move forward. Is that generally what most of you all have said? OK. All right. Then we'll keep that unchanged. But then my secondary question is, I've heard a mixed bag. At first, I thought I heard a very strong cry from the aldermen that we need to have per diem to make sure people are attending. Then I heard a little bit of maybe not per diem. So I just need some feedback from you all as to whether or not we are even interested in that. Because if we're not interested in that, then there may not be much to change unless aldermen might be able to lawfully forego their pay.

I say leave it the way it is.

I second that.

Yeah, I agree.

Alderman Arns?

I disagree. Everyone's expected to work, to be paid. I don't think the council is different than that. My recommendation for up to two absences out of 24 meetings, I'm still good with. The work that's done outside of this is expected. And to me, being paid at all is a blessing. But to be paid when we are not here to take action does not seem consistent with the highest standards and best practices. So I will remain one that believes there should be some ability to manage the pay based on attendance.

CHRIS RODGERS. Other thoughts or feedback?

If there's no more pay, I mean, there's no point of changing anything.

Well, it seems that we are a bit divided on this matter. I can tell you I have proposed per diem in the past only because my co-alderman was not here 90% of the time. And I thought there is no way that we can say that we're representing the people when we're not here to make those important decisions for them at the end of the day. but I also understand and respect because the good thing about this council is you all do show up and you all do do the work outside of here but I do fear that at some point we could have someone who just doesn't care you know unfortunately that was the case Alderman Brown can tell you what it was like not having a co-Alderman here you know it's not good for anybody so I since we seem to be a little bit back and forth on this. I'm just going to do an informal poll and go around and ask you if you would be in favor of per diem or against per diem. And then we will kind of move forward from there, being that it's a bit divided. Alderman Cooper.

Stay the same.

OK, thank you. Alderman Arns.

Certainly, as I've indicated, but I'd like to see it come to a vote. I don't want to see it killed by a straw poll. This is something we can vote on. Let's take a vote.

Sure, but I just wanted the best language we could have for it. I want to make sure we have that as what I'm asking.

Same.

Remain the same.

I think the discussion is all over the place, and I think the discussion is all over the place because there's so many nuances to what could be changed. I personally propose an increase and per diem at the same time because then it makes per diem make sense. I can... see arguments for either direction as it relates to per diem now with the current salary. I'm kind of indifferent, to be quite honest, as it pertains to the current salary. But it does make more sense if alderman pay increases that therefore there should be per diem. To me, that makes complete sense. I could be in that moment deciding on one way or another. So I really can't say one way or another, if we're going to keep it the same, what I would decide on per diem. And I also agree that it should just come to a vote. We should just be able to say, well, this is what I think it is, and let us all vote on it. And whatever our vote is, is where it lands. And that's, to me, the democratic process. We just land where it lands based on the voters voting.

Mrs. Pickering. Thank you, Missy.

I'm up in the air. I was here when we had really bad attendance. So I understand what it can do. But I know we have good attendance now. So I can't say yes or no. I'm sorry. I'm up in the air. Thank you.

Chairman Chabot.

I'd like to leave it just the way it is. But you also understand something. The alderman who wasn't here a lot of times We used him, and we called him at a time that we needed him. And we still have a business that's behind because he went out and do his due diligence for probably a month straight. So whether he was here all the time or not, when we needed him, he was here. So we haven't had a problem since. He's been gone for some time. We just need to leave it the way it is.

CHRIS RODGERS. Thank you. Chairman Poirier.

DAVID P. I have no problem with it staying the way it is. But at the same token, when we do have an alderman resign or pass away in office, I'm not picking on any mayors, because every one of them has done it. It takes way too long to appoint a new alderman to take their place. I mean, we had one that took almost a year. We've had others that, you know, went around for very, very important votes because the position hadn't been filled. So that's something we need to watch, too. It can't only be because the alderman's absent. It could be because the position hadn't been filled in that time frame either.

Well, doesn't the statute give you 60 days?

It does.

Yes.

Mm-hmm. And I would also then add to that, though, the other thing that I brought up previously about all of the... how hard it is to get people to actually run for alderman in general. So I imagine that the appointing that took so long took so long because you had to find somebody who was willing to do it. Well, it's even harder to actually do it and have to run for the office, and most of the time our seats are uncontested. When I ran the first time, there were only two contested seats out of seven, and mine was one of them. So if we actually want to be able to make sure that we have representation for years to come and that we should make it more inviting for citizens to want to participate in this democratic process and keeping the pay the same when it was only been one raise I believe since we changed the form of government. Yet we've had countless mayoral raises since we changed the form of government. It just doesn't make sense. It widens the gap. It's getting wider and wider and wider as we go. So if we actually want to make sure that we have a government that works, then we should, I think, and I know I'm doubling down on what I said, but to me, what Chairman Purgis said kind of makes my point even stronger, which is we should be looking at increasing pay and putting per diem at the same time. So then that way we go on a path that is fully functional in a way in a way of excellence as we move forward and progress. Because we can't make decisions based on where we are right now. We gotta think about four years from now, eight years from now, 15 years from now.

Mayor, I would just like to note for the record that prior to my joining this council, there was a move to reduce the number of votes that were necessary to have something pass. And the proposal that was put forth by the committee that looked at it was that it would only take the equivalent of 10 aldermen, I believe, because the votes were six plus the mayor, I think was the original proposal. And so I'm both confused and a little bit disturbed that some time ago we were willing to change the form of government de facto. because of attendance. And those were the reasons that had been given, is that attendance was a problem. And that's why there was a group that was working to change the number of votes it took for the council to pass something. So I guess my question is, what's changed since then from those individuals that were supporting the reduction in the votes based on attendance? Because if you are concerned about that based on attendance, you should be supporting per diem. Thank you.

Just for clarification, I don't believe it was as much as trying to reduce votes or anything as much as it was clarifying because there had been lots of great discussion on what actually constitutes a requirement for something passing.

Well, actually, there was no question for a couple of decades. There was only a question we had legal counsel that didn't give good advice.

Alderman O'Kane.

but pretty much ought to stay the same. I can't think of a government around here that has a per diem. I think the county set it up and never did go to it. They've always paid everybody, even if they didn't show up. I don't see a sense of change in things.

Thank you. Alderman Johnson.

I think it's necessary for the pay to be in alignment with everything, progressive alignment, just like everything else. But I think it's more important to put it to a vote. I couldn't really tell you at this time how I would vote because I'm kind of a different breed when it comes to that. I did not take this job for the pay. So that's where I stand.

Thank you, Alderman Hightower.

Leave it the same.

Thank you, sir. Mr. Toye. Same. Mr. Butler.

Yes. It doesn't matter with me either way. But I always was told and believed that a workman is worthy of his hire. I mean, this past week and a half, I've been getting calls every day. And I've been going to the different houses, and I'm going to discuss a couple of them in the items of information. I get calls every day, and I kind of think I'll work just as hard as the mayor or whoever else on the staff here. I just don't do a bunch of paperwork, but I'll keep notes. I always believe that a workman is worthy of his hire. If we're going to do the work, I mean, we should, or whoever should, should be compensated. The money don't mean anything to me, but I don't mind doing it because I was doing it there before I even got on the council. You know, I was doing it for nothing.

That point right there.

And so it beats like this. So now, like, you know, Autumn and Tig said, I mean, it's hard to get new members, you know, to get on this council if there's nothing in it for them. I mean, you know, I know some folks feel that way. But a workman should get something at least. I mean, because we do a lot of work, get calls in the morning times, you know, 1 o'clock in the morning and everything. And we do it because our ward, Julio's ward and mine's, I mean, I think it's about the most active ward, I believe, that we probably have, just about. And I kind of think we should consider My little money ain't out there. I just put it all in taxes. Yeah, so I don't have to pay taxes at the end of the year. But yes, I kind of think work is worthy of his hire.

Alderman Butler, so you would prefer to leave it as is? Is that correct, or you don't have a preference? Yeah, man, you're trying to make up my mind, aren't you? Well, this puts you down as undecided for now, then.

Yeah, I think they should be compensated.

Alderman Prashard.

Yes. Bill, I'm kind of torn between the two.

I think that whether or not you can forego your pay, I'll bring forward a motion for you.

I'd like to say one thing. Yes, Alderman. When we talk about appealing to other people to be parts of this council and to be a part of the membership of this this meeting i don't think the type of pay that we're looking at will sway that one way or the other i think it's more of a inside of a person that wants to be a part of it and the type of pay that we have and the type of pay that we would get a cumulative for the years to come i don't think it has any bearing on how much it's going to appeal to people

all right i have a comment yes i apologize on the one hand i would agree with alderman johnson but on the other hand i think that and i've said this previously so i'll say it again now on the other hand i would i believe that It's a lot easier for a person who has retirement income to be able to make the decision very easily. But if you're a person who has the type of job or position where you work, maybe you work in an after school program, or other things and you're having to leave work in order to come here, which means you're forgoing pay, is there equitable pay that you're forgoing versus what you're getting here? And so when you have people who, you know, are are still in the workplace and thinking about okay i have to make sure i leave work by specific time in order to be at the meeting and therefore i might not be getting paid or um if there's and i think about myself as an example in terms of what outside of the meeting right there's lots of things i don't do that i would do but i don't get paid if i'm not working So if I have to make a decision between coming to a meeting at City Hall and being at my office and doing another meeting, well I don't eat if I'm not working. So I will always choose to make sure that my bills are paid at my house because I'm not necessarily required. I make a sacrifice every time I come to City Hall and sit in a meeting. And there's some of those sacrifices that I felt like was worth it, right? So when we were rewriting the rental registration ordinance, every single time I was here, I wasn't on the clock. And those meetings lasted for well over a year. It was a sacrifice I was willing to make for the people because it was important to me. But there are other things that I just have to say I can't make that difficult decision because I can't be at City Hall every day. I can't go to Public Works every day. I would love to. I would love to be more involved in things, but I can't. And for those of us who are working It does matter. Now, it might not matter to me as much in the evening. I have evening availability. But everybody doesn't have evening availability. And so those who might be considering possibly running or getting involved, if they have to weigh that decision, they're going to choose most likely their families and wait until they're much more older and stable and maybe closer to retirement before they actually come and participate in this process.

CHRIS RODGERS. THANK YOU, MS. TAYGUE. ALL RIGHT. REGARDING THE POTENTIAL CHANGE IN THE TREASURER SELECTION, I AM OPENING THE FLOOR FOR FEEDBACK, BUT THERE IS ONE QUESTION THAT I NEED TO ASK YOU ALL VERY POINTEDLY. VICE CHAIRMAN O'CAIN HAS SAID THAT HE WOULD LIKE US TO SEEK OUTSIDE LEGAL COUNSEL AS TO well as to how the consent decree might impact any kind of change we do in the treasurer's office and my question to you all is is that something that the rest of the council would like us to do or is that something you feel like we will be able to go by the advice of our of our own council yes chairman for in reading through that decree several times

You can interpret it different ways, depending on how you read it. I know the key to the dissent decree was to guarantee there was minority representation in at least one ward. That's how the maps were drawn. And then, of course, elected the mayor and treasurers at large. So does it say you cannot elect a treasurer? I don't know if that can be determined. I mean, the decree's two pages. I don't know if checking with other communities that we followed have more information on what it says. I don't think it'd be a bad idea to have So I may look at it.

Yes, Alderman Arns.

ALAN M. Well, excuse me. I would certainly agree that it would make sense to have an outside legal counsel because of some of the issues that are involved here. But I would like for the legal counsel to also offer an opinion to determine if the city of Danville has satisfied the conditions of the consent decree and whether the consent decree still needs to exist. Most consent decrees don't go on forever. We've gotten out of a couple here ourselves with EPA and other things. So typically there's a consent decree. The courts retain jurisdiction to ensure that the governmental bodies implement the changes that were desired. And if they don't, then the courts can entertain jurisdiction. But if they don't and the conditions have been satisfied, consent decrees don't typically go on in perpetuity. And so the question would be, in addition to the treasurer's question, is does the consent decree need to still exist? We've had people of color in citywide offices elected, multiple. We've had people of color represented. About a reward over my time, I think. You'd have to go back. I'm not gonna make that statement as a fact. But I think it's in everyone's best interest to know going forward what are the conditions, what are the requirements, and then everybody knows what they are. Because right now they're interpretations. And I think any interpretation that we do with our own city corporation council may be viewed as suspect from people who don't agree with that ruling. So I think a third party makes a lot of sense, as long as they can do that quickly.

So I, as a mixed kid and as someone whose family members literally in my dad's lifetime were burned alive for registering people to vote in Mississippi, I understand your question. I think we have to be incredibly, incredibly careful to get rid of anything like that. We look at what's happening with the Voting Rights Amendment on a national level, and things are being gutted. and then what's happening afterwards as a result of that, because then you're trying to fix, once again, what was the problem in the first place. So if you have some kind of monitoring or some kind of oversight, you can make sure that it doesn't ever end up in that place again. So I understand your point very well. I think we have to be very cautious with that, because I would not want to see in Danville what's happening to our country as far as voting rights go.

Hmm.

Alderman Johnson. Oh, sorry. Go ahead. Go ahead. I can't wait.

And another thing, I mean, the dissent degree set seven wards. I mean, that was when our population was 20,000 more. We may be needing to look at reducing to five wards or something, too, down the road. I mean, that's all stuff that could be asked. I mean, are we allowed to reduce the number of wards and the number of elected officials when it comes time for that based on the consent decree. CHRIS RODGERS.

So essentially, it seems to me that the question we need to ask is, are we still subject to? If so, what does that mean? And are we allowed lawfully to make any changes to such? Yes, Mr. Johnson. JAMES JOHNSON.

My point is simply this. We ask people to vote for us. We've given them an opportunity to vote for a position that we will have as part of the city. And I think to take that away from the people is tantamount to hypocrisy. I just feel that way.

Yes, I'm going to try to give everybody who's not had a chance to speak a chance, and I'll come back around to everyone else. Yes, Mr. Butler.

Yes, and I agree with Brother Johnson as far as the voting, for the people to vote, give them a chance to vote. Now, in board one, I believe it has been increased. And so to delete some of the words is going to be impossible. Because everybody have to be represented in this city. It divided fine. Why mess with it? Because like the mayor just said, I mean, it's common. We are in a suppression, a voter suppression to where that we're not going to be able to vote equally. And I feel it. I just came back from a conference. I mean, we're adamant about our voting rights. Folks are trying to take our voting rights. And it's getting to that point. That's why this midterm is very important for each and every one of us to vote, to recognize, to energize our votes. And we need to take our votes to our people. give them a right to vote. CHRIS RODGERS.

Thank you, Mr. Butler. Yes, Chairman Streetman. DAVID BURRAGE. Over there. CHRIS RODGERS. Oh, I'm sorry. Alderman Hightower. DAVID BURRAGE.

Every one of those men on that wall played a major factor in my life. They worked hard and diligently to get the things done. And I will never vote against that. Never. So don't even bring it back to me. You bypass me. Because I'm going to stand with those gentlemen until the day I die.

First thing I want to do is I want to thank the treasurer for the small report you sent to all of us. Very informational, right to the point. The other thing I'd like to say is I don't care where you go with this, one way or the other, except if we do do it and it comes back to us, I've already made my challenge very clear is that we should be the ones doing it as an ordinance versus going out to the polls to ask the people. There's a lot of them didn't understand, don't know, they'll probably never understand what we had to deal with when we had to make the decisions to hire the auditors to come in to fix the things that we did. And it was a lot, a lot of money. I really still think, no matter, it needs to come back here. Don't put it on as a selection for somebody to vote on. We need to vote on it here because the people put us in this position. We took care of the problem. We're at another problem that we don't ever want to have happen again. So that's my voice on that.

Chairman, thank you for mentioning the summary. Just so you all, the public will know, we asked the treasurer to, the council asked the treasurer to provide a summary of kind of what we lost or what we had to pay out as a result of problems in the treasurer's office. And essentially, it's almost a half a million dollars that it cost the taxpayers. And also, lower bond rating. We were placed on the Illinois Do Not Pay list for IDOT for a period of two years, which we would not have been able to do any road work here had it not been for the good stewardship of this council and our leadership team and their team members. So that's just a little bit of information for the public as to what . Yes, and the pension funds, because the taxes were paid late on those, $100,000 each that that cost as well. Yes, Ms. Teague.

One of the things that happens when government is working well and properly, the reason I think that government exists is to both represent the people and also solve problems for the betterment of the people. This conversation started with, do we raise this treasurer's salary? That was the whole point. It has now devolved into a bunch of other things about potentially changing the form of government by making, potentially changing the form of government by making that position elected versus appointed. Now we're talking about the possibility of reducing the number of wards. There's all of these other things that are coming up when the whole point was whether or not we should change the treasurer's salary. When a government makes changes, typically it's to solve a problem. I'm not seeing how all of these other things that are coming up are solving any problems, because the only problem that we had has already been solved, which is we previously had a treasurer that was derelict in on-time payments. which is part of their duties. That was solved when that person resigned and therefore new people were elected. And then supports were put in place in that department to help bring that department up to par and ensure that that problem does not happen again. So if the things that we've already done solve that problem, There should not be a need to do anything further to solve a problem that's already been solved. So we should really just be focusing on the thing that we actually have to do by October, which is whether or not we should change the treasurer's salary, except we already made that decision. That decision was already made and voted on. There's nothing else that should be happening here because we do not have any other problems with that position. And if we do have problems with that position, and if we ever have problems with that position again, we already have a blueprint for how that problem should be solved because we already did it. So everything else to me seems to be a deviation from what we were trying to do. And there is no problem to solve there any longer because that problem has already been solved. The treasurer's pay has already been increased. We already voted on that several weeks ago. Everything else is a distraction.

Alderman Teague, if I may, I think you were one of the leading proponents that said, if this were an appointed position, we should pay the person more. Because then we could get a qualified person. We would have a job description and all of those things. And if not, then it should be, and if it's elected, it should be lower. So I think the question that the council is trying to answer right now is one that you and others presented about what pay we should base based on qualifications.

No, my argument was never based on qualifications, it was based on data of elected positions, of other elected positions around the state. It was not, I did say, it would be warranted if the position was appointed, but I also said, It should not be appointed and it should remain elected because that is what the consent decree said. And if you're making it elected and it remains elected just like the mayor's position is elected, if you looked at the data from around the state, this is what the pay is. But that vote has already occurred. We don't have to argue that again. That is done. The only thing that we are talking about now is whether or not we need to change it from elected to appointed. But if we've already made the decision for the position to receive a specific pay based on it being elected right now, there's no need to change it because it's already been done. We're actually introducing the possibility of other problems, of potential lawsuits, of all of these things for something that has already been done. been done and decided. We don't need to change this because it is working as it is now and we put in safeguards to make sure we don't have those problems again. Alderman Arns.

There's no way to put a safeguard in this and the problem is not solved. It's temporarily delayed because Mr. Heron is in the position as a capable individual If Treasurer Herron decides not to run for reelection and no one with financial qualifications runs, or someone more popular wins who has no financial qualifications, the problem's right back in front of us with no potential solution. We don't have anything on the books today to do a recall vote. I don't think those are very likely to occur regardless. But the fact of the matter is, is the problem was solved. you can control who is in the position to be able to have skill sets and capable of performing the function. There's a lot of focus on what's happened with the most recent one. For those that have been around a while, that's not the only situation. For those of us that have been around for a couple of decades, it was a continual problem with a very high level of turnover. Most of those, I don't know, I'd have to go back and look, but I would say probably the majority of the treasurers after Brandon were all appointed. because people left midterm because they weren't cut out for the job because they weren't finance people so no problems not solved problems delayed and to solve the problem you have to fix something now I certainly worked with some of these gentlemen as well and I have ultimate respect for them and what they did no question about that I don't want to do anything to diminish that but what I would say is is the position of the treasurer was never voted by the citizens You know, the consent degree is the result of a settlement between those fantastic plaintiffs and the four commissioners who were in charge of the government. And guess what? One of those parties, they all got sued because of the way they settled it. So I don't have a lot of confidence in that. They heard all sides of the law or was reviewed. What happened was... whoever, dozen guys and gals got into a room and said, this is what we'll do. And somebody said, well, we'd like the treasurer to be citywide. OK, so they agreed to it. That was never voted on by citizens. The only vote of any type that's taken place was the one that took place eight years ago, eight to 10 years ago. And that had nothing to do with the treasurer's position. But what I can tell you is, for the last 15 years, it's been discussed at a minimum, probably annually, that the treasurer should be an appointed position. not elected. And so that's the protecting of the democracy and the protection of the financial assets to do it. There was discussion at one time, should another position be made citywide so that there are no diminishments in the number of citywide positions that are there? not to chuck Rachel under the bus, but the city clerk's position is the one that was often talked about as perhaps that one would be more appropriate citywide because the technical skillset is not the same as the financial person. Now, with what we do today and things, I think that's probably tough to argue too. But if there needs to be another citywide position, let's find out what that is. But the technical requirements of this position scream that to protect the financial resources of the city, there has to be a management way to do it. And I don't know how many we went through, half a dozen at least. So Gale was by far the longest serving. Anybody else is probably less than one term on average.

Alderman .

Yes. I just want to note it. OK. The change the seven plaintiffs made in our form of government was much needed. In no way do I want to change the consent decree from the Alderman Mayor form of government. In fact, I was on a committee with Brenda Brown and others to keep this form of government when there was a referendum to change it. So again, in no way do I want to change that, but sometimes, just like the United States Constitution, we need to amend some things. In almost 40 years, we have seen the problems of having an elected city treasurer and what it has cost our citizens in Danville, and it could have cost us so much more. I've asked some of our constituents if they knew what the job of city treasurer is. Their answer was usually general, just taking care of the finances. And I asked if they knew any of the particulars, which they didn't know, and if it was very limited. Then I asked if the city treasurer did not do their job and or made mistakes that could have an impact on our city finances and cost our city money, what should be done? And most of them said, let them go or fired. But as an elected position, that is not possible. There has been comments that we could discharge an elected city treasurer. If true, how long would that take? Maybe long enough for there to be more damage that our city could not regain the losses? Many municipalities have moved their elected to an appointed treasurer because modern municipalities' finances have become increasingly complex, requiring expertise in accounting standards, managing investments, and financial reporting. I feel we need to change the position to city treasurer to be an appointed position. I also asked some of our citizens if they remember the problems we had at the last elected city treasurer. No one remembers or recalls the problems we had. City Council deals with the City Treasurer on a regular basis and vote on items that they present to us. So we are educated on the duties of the City Treasurer and if they are performing their duties. Because the City Council is elected to make decisions about the City is how the city is governed and more educated on the position of city treasurer. I feel the city council is a better position to evaluate and appoint a city treasurer rather than voters who may only hear a campaign message. So I feel it would be better to have an ordinance to change the position of our city treasurer to appointed rather than by referendum. Thank you.

Thank you. Yes, Miss Teague.

Alderman Arns brought up something that is a potential remedy that is not necessarily on the table, and that is the ability to recall. And I think that that is a potential solution that could be put on the table that we could look at. I'm not saying that we should or shouldn't. All I'm saying is that if you're looking at problems, then you have to look at all the possible potential solutions. Right now, we have a... We have blinders on as it pertains to potential solutions to a problem, and we're only looking at one thing because we are just so focused on this one thing, which is elected versus appointed. But there are many other potential solutions to the problem that could be explored. One of the things that I am curious about, and I don't know any information on it because I haven't had the opportunity to research it because I just thought of it right now, is, well, what do cities do who also have elected treasurers? Is there a deputy treasurer that is appointed by the council or by the mayor who makes sure that all of the functions occur, whether or not the treasurer does their job or not? Because you could have that position be an employee and still have all of the functions occur like they're supposed to. We, in many ways, have something like that, it's just that the title is not called Deputy Treasurer. So that is also a solution. I think one of the other things that we also have to look at, and I have not heard any information on, but I did bring it up the last time this came up for a discussion, is what does state law say about the number of citywide elected officials? because I cited the state law section that I looked up during the meeting the last time this came up in terms of what we are required to do and not required to do. So one of the things we have to make sure that we do is have the requisite number of citywide elected seats because some of those cities who don't have the city treasurer elected actually have at-large aldermen to make sure that they have the required number of citywide elected seats. Since we do not have any other citywide elected seats besides mayor and alderman, making a decision like this could put us in contradiction to state law. And I get that other cities don't have their treasurer elected, but we have to look at the whole swath of their government to make sure what they're doing to comply with state law because we don't have those seats in place now. So we have to make sure that we don't do something that hurt our city in the long run because we did something that was contrary to state law. And in a reading that I had from the last time I looked it up, my understanding was we had to have a specific number of citywide positions. Right now, we only have two. And at least in my understanding of state law, you can't have it be just one. So if we're going to do this, then we have to look at everything. Or we could just leave it like it is.

Alderman Arns.

As we're having the discussion, I realized I'm not sure everybody realizes the scope of the issues that we've had in this position. When I became an employee of the city of Danville, the elected treasurer, probably the first elected treasurer, was under investigation and was prosecuted. And we lost hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars out of our fire and police pension funds. I don't recall the number specifically 35 years later.

Billion.

But it makes what we've spent in the last 10 years look like peanuts. And so once again, there has been a record. We had one treasurer, Gail Brandon, that was staying in there, probably the only person elected citywide four times and what have you. But since then, we have had multiple people in the position. And I don't care what position it is. When you're having turnover every two to four years in a top leadership position that is critical to your financial functions, that's a problem. So thank you. I just wanted to bring that up. That was a long time ago, but it was big, big money. And I think prosecution that ended up happening was the only way he left. Either he left or he resigned, I don't recall.

All of them, Cooper. It wasn't a question, should we seek outside?

Well, we're talking about anything you all need to say to me.

I would like to see outside counsel give their opinion also. We may not even be able to do anything. Might as well verify it and get, you know, see what direction we can or cannot go.

And I can ask Corporation Council, and I will work with whoever it is to answer all these questions. You know, that way we're getting an outside perspective, and it's not our opinion or our, you know, thought process or our biases that are ruling things. That way we have someone outside looking nice on it. I'm sorry, Mrs. Brown, that would be out of order at this time. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, but it's not appropriate at this time. Thank you. Having satisfied the agenda, I'm sorry. I apologize. We do need to go into closed session briefly. At this time, I would entertain a motion to go into closed session under section 2C1 of the Open Meetings Act to discuss specific employees in section 2C2 to discuss collective bargaining matters and salary schedules. Is there a motion to do so?

So moved.

Second. Second.

It's been moved and seconded.

Is there any discussion or debate? Roll call vote, please.

Government Butler.

No.

Detoy? Yes. Bichard? Yes. Hightower? You can't come with us. Johnson? Yes. Okane? Yes. Poore?

Sure.

Strebing?

Yes.

Dickering? Yes. Teague? Yes. Ludwig? Yes. Jones?

No.

Arntz? Yes. Cooper?

No.

11 yes.

11 yes. We are adjourned to closed session.

A jacket. My hands are cold.

At this time, I would entertain a motion to return to open session.

So moved. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. We have before you item 15, an ordinance amending section 39.07 of the city code pertaining to compensation to municipal employees. Is there a motion to approve?

So moved. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion or debate? Roll call vote, please.

ELLIE WILSON- Alderman Dettoy? Yes. ELLIE WILSON- Pichard? Hightower? Yes. ELLIE WILSON- Johnson? Yes. ELLIE WILSON- O'Kane? Yes. ELLIE WILSON- Poore? Yes. ELLIE WILSON- Strebeing? Pickering? Yes. ELLIE WILSON- Teague?

Yes.

ELLIE WILSON- Ludwig? Yes. ELLIE WILSON- Jones? Yes. ELLIE WILSON- Arntz?

No.

Cooper?

Yes.

Butler?

Yes.

Pichard?

He already said yes.

12 yes.

12 yes. The motion carries. Having satisfied the agenda, I would entertain a motion to adjourn.

So moved.

Second.

I'm sorry, Mr. Butler.

We've done had items of information. I saw that on the agenda to where that the only items that we were supposed to discuss was the ordinance pay and potential treasures. I thought we usually have items of information.

Oh, yes. I apologize, Alderman. We did not cover those. I'm happy to. Yes, sir. The floor is yours. Yeah, OK.

I have three of them here, mainly, that I really, really, really, really have concern about. And I'll go by the order I got them. Yeah, OK. PJ Barnes, about her street change. She has a vital point. Since she bought the street change to her, To our attention, it seems like to me that she'd been harassed, okay? Her car had been parked on the grass, and if it's a private property, And then our inspector said, got to go way on up in her yard, and it's private. I mean, why are we on a private property? Saying that her vehicle is on the grass, and down the street, you know, there's a whole lot of cars that's parked on the grass, okay, that's not being addressed. And then if her property is private, I mean, so she should have the right to go ahead on and change her street if it's private. Because this is what we are telling her. That it's private property. So why can't she change it?

CHRIS RODGERS- Mr. Butler, first to address your first item, people being parked in their yard, guess what? I have received a ticket for being parked in my yard. It is illegal to park in your yard regardless of who you are. I actually still have it. I keep a copy of it to remind people that, look, you ain't above the law. I have received a ticket for parking in my yard. So that is not uncommon. Nobody is trying to discriminate against or harass anybody, especially Sister Bourne. She's a beloved member of this community. The people, myself and the people of this council respect Mrs. Bourne. So I'm very concerned by the insinuation that that's harassment or because that happens to other people all the time. What I will say to you also is this. Every time anyone gets a fine or gets any kind of ticket from code enforcement or from the law, they say, oh, well, you're picking on me. You didn't, you are telling me about my house, but look at this house over there and look at that house over there and look at that house over there. But guess what? 95% of the time, those houses have already been cited or are sometimes in the court process, too. So it's not that we're picking on everybody. We're going after everyone the same. Like I said before, Rick and Laura Williams, the people that I love and respect the most in the world, for those of you who don't know, that's my parents. They have received citations from the city of Danville since I have been the mayor. So if Rick and Laura are subject to the law, I can assure you we all are.

Yeah, okay, you know, before I was cut off, that's the way she feel as well, okay? And so, like I say, you know, we try to represent our clients, our constituents as much as we can. And so that's the way she feel. And then ever since she started there, I mean, she lives way on up in the cut. I mean, out of sight and out of mind. Yeah, so while the inspector going way on up in the cut, you know, it concerns me. And so they stopped prying the snow. Okay, they plowed that snow for 50 years that I've been here. And so here all of a sudden they don't apply it, okay, because it's private property. I somewhat understand, and, you know, it's just the timing was just off, okay? Now, I've talked to, though I'll hold this for last, okay, Harmon Street, 336 Harmon. A neighbor has been calling me and calling me. I'm way in Chicago, you know, the conference. And this is the third time he's done called. Okay, now they boarded up the house, okay, you know, from the complaint. And I'll get with corporate on this one as well, but I thought I would mention it. It's what the inspectors and the police is saying is that they can't do anything about it. So I'm coming to the council. because people are still going in the house they took the boards off the house in the back parking the cars in the back that's what they do okay and so they're still living that house and the landlord is letting them okay i think we boarded up okay but they're still in the house and he have concern there was some shooting You know, coming from the house, the neighbor said. And so he has some vital concerns about that one house. Okay. Now, the last one is that my house is my kingdom. I don't care how it look. It can be falling down on me. It's my kingdom. It's my house. And if anybody try to take my house, it's going to be some ramifications. I pay the taxes, and I do what I want to do with my house. And I'll say it again. If somebody try to take my house, something's going to happen because I pay the taxes. And I've seen on Facebook, And all this stuff until, you know, that Facebook is something else. I mean, it's disturbing to me.

The devil's child.

Yeah. It's terrible that we're getting on Facebook there, you know, about, you know, talking about this man that the city took his house. Okay, I know he had a bunch of stuff around his house, and I talked to corporate counsel about it, and everybody's coming to demand rescue. and the watchdog dude came there last week. Now, I didn't know that, you know, this is this man's counsel. Have this man been approached to check out his status quo of can you afford, is he on Social Security, or what have you, but this is his man's house. I didn't know that we were in the business of putting people out on the street. So now we're taking his house, and so now he's out in the street somewhere. I think before the city start doing some stuff like that, can we have somewhere to put the poor man? Yes, okay, we do him. We have to do others. Okay, I don't have no issue with that. But I'm hoping that this city is not in the business of putting people out of their homes and putting them in the street, just because his house is raggedy on the inside and outside. I mean, if that's the way he likes to live, I know the neighbors talk and don't like it. But there's something needs to be discussed with this man. Check out his ability to afford to fix up the house. Yes, we say, you know, it needs to be tore down. I mean, that's the way he lived. Yeah, just knock down all the other old buildings. I done saw the other buildings. Just knock them down and just tell the man, hey, man, don't keep putting this junk in this yard. But, I mean, to take the man's house and put him out on the street, I mean, it's ludicrous. It's unethical. I mean, it's disgusting to put a man out on the street along with the other people that's out there that's homeless. And I just didn't know that the city was like that. We need to try our best to get this man some kind of help. And sure, if he refused to help, I mean, we can't help that. But don't tear the man's house down.

Mrs. Pickering.

I heard his taxes all paid up, right?

Well, I think what we need to look at and you need to ask about the safety of him. Be concerned about that. And that's all I can say. But if you find out about that, I think you'll find out a lot more. I think it's more about the safety of this gentleman than anything.

Yeah, okay, so did we give him any other solutions, or did we say, hey, we got another house, or try to put him in a home, I don't know, his next of kin? I mean, to put him out on the street, you know, it's...

And I don't know those details, but I do know that it is a safety thing for him.

Yeah, right. It is. It does so help him.

Mr. Butler, what I can tell you is he has been offered resources. He has been asked, hey, please stop bringing things here. We have cleaned up this gentleman's house multiple times to over $10,000 that the taxpayers have paid to clean up this house. Plus, we are in the middle right now of trying to secure our bid to keep the junior college tournament. One of the things that they do is they assess the neighborhood that it's in and what it looks like and whether or not it's safe. It's not safe for that man to live there because of all the issues that were there. So I guess what I would encourage is before we make accusations about what we have or done it or just call people disgusting or disgraceful, maybe we make sure that we have a full understanding of what already has happened and what has already been offered to people. This man has been into court multiple times, at least four times. since I've been mayor, and there were issues before I was mayor there at that house. Anybody who lives on the East End or works on the East End has looked at that stuff for more than a decade. The man was offered all kinds of assistance, and at the very least, we have cleaned up his property for him at least twice in the last seven and the last eight months, okay? and yet he still continues to bring more there. It's not like it's a person who just has a whole bunch of stuff and they're a hoarder. This man is illegally hauling garbage, he's illegally dumping, and a whole bunch of other things that are creating problems for your constituents in Ward 1 and all of our constituents throughout the city of Danville. So guess what? I am proud to be the kind of city that is finally addressing problems like this instead of allowing them to go. And then we continue to lose homes. We continue to lose neighbors. I don't know if you read on the commentary at all, but we get the calls from the neighbors. Mrs. Pickering and Alderman Hightower, I'm sure, have probably gotten calls about the condition of this home. People complaining about it. People complaining about the smell. People complaining about rats and stuff coming out of there and other vermin coming out of this house. And if you look at the houses next door, those neighbors are doing all that they can to keep their property up. So no, a person cannot do whatever they want to on their property because there are laws. And if you live in the city, in any kind of city, you have to follow those laws, period. And it's a matter of safety. It's a matter of common decency. And when you've been offered help and you haven't received it, then that's on you.

Yeah, but have you taken, you know, the man might have some type of mental issue. Have we offered or sent a counselor there to talk to him?

It's not the city's job to send counselors to people. We have offered to make connections for him, but he has not taken us up on those.

But it's our job to put him out in the street.

Mr. Butler, the bottom line is we have to protect everyone, including that man, and that house is not safe.

You had to protect him by putting him out in the street. OK. I feel you.

All right. I'm sorry that you don't understand. I don't understand it. Yes, Mr. Hightower.

I don't know who this question is going to go to, but I see Ms. Boren's come in here every meeting. First of all, somebody came up with the idea of 250 signatures. Where does she get that petition from? Who creates that petition for her?

She would need to do that. It's not a, the city doesn't create petitions for people.

So her attorney would need to file that petition, is that right?

Yes, Alderman. But then whoever applies for this would have to meet the eligibility criteria and for the name change as well.

Can you explain just a little bit more for me, real quickly? I know we're ready to go.

No, it's OK, Alderman. I don't remember all of the qualifications, but I know that they have to be deceased.

They have to. It came before committee meetings on what needed to process was, what went on.

Yeah, but I can make sure that we get that packet for you, Alderman. But I know that they have to be deceased. They have to have contributed to the city in some kind of way. I can't remember all of the other requirements.

Now, the council voted on this. Is that right?

Yes, sir. The council voted five to, I think, six to one to turn down the name change. That's been voted on more than a year ago. And then Alderman, I'm sorry, and then the council voted on the rules for honorary naming of roads as well. Yes, sir.

Now, my next question is, unless it's been geographically modified, her address is listed as an alley. I might be wrong. It could have been modified in the past couple of years. But as to my understanding, that address is an alley. I may be wrong. I'm just learning.

I'm sorry.

Go ahead, Mayor. I'm just learning. No, go ahead. And my next question, is this ever going to be tabled again? Or, I'm just learning. She asks every meeting, is it going to ever be tabled again? Everybody just looks around like, what's that? I don't even know. I'm confused. I would like clarity myself.

I will make sure that I get that question answered. But I'll be honest. In my opinion, when the council has voted on something, unless it is specifically requested to be voted on again, it's a dead issue. And then also, I think that there are rules on how things can be reconsidered. It's been a long time, Alderman, since we've done that. So I will have to research and have council research what the rules are for reconsideration. And we can certainly let you know.

But from my own understanding, I would like to see what the actual requirements are for Mrs. Boren's to get this going. I would like to know.

CHRIS JERRAMSEN.

Yes, Alderman. Chairman Porter.

ALDERMAN PETER PORTER. That is a street. That is a street. There are two houses that access that street to get to their garages. They access the garages off that street, correct? right but they still use that street that's not a private street to access their garages on their houses so it's it's now the end of the street is yeah that's that's a call site that's your private property the street though is used by the neighbors to access their property and their uh garages and it is and it is and that and what the part that we maintain is planned

Any other? And Mr. Butler, regarding, and I'm sorry, you had three issues, so I was trying to address them each as you brought them up, so I didn't forget what you said, because I know you were asking for answers, and you deserve those. Regarding the Harmon Street, that's literally just right by my house. I see it every day. I deal with it every day myself. Yes, it was boarded up. I know that code and police are working to address it as we speak. So they're working on a more permanent solution. But it is a problem. And I spoke with that gentleman, too, because he's my neighbor. And I wouldn't say a friend yet, but a good acquaintance. Yes, sir. All right. Anything else? Having satisfied the agenda, I would entertain a motion to adjourn.

So moved.

Second. It's been moved and seconded. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, same sign.