By: Diane Benjamin

Jamie Mathy was not at last night’s Council meeting, Ward 6 is still vacant. Therefore, only 7 alderman took part in discussions.

The Council had 3 options for how to assist residents that suffered flood damage: (copied from the documentation)

Option A: A Resolution in Support of Utilizing the Illinois Housing Development Authority Rehabilitation Program, as well as the Creation and Funding of a Similar Local Program, to Assist Qualified Residents with the 2021 Flooding Event, and Providing Direction to City Staff on Next Steps, be approved;

Option B: A Resolution in Support of Utilizing the Illinois Housing Development Authority Rehabilitation Program to Assist Qualified Residents with the 2021 Flooding Event, as well as Potential Future Funding
of a Similar Program, and Providing Direction to City Staff on Next Steps, be approved;

Option C: A Resolution in Support of Utilizing the Illinois Housing Development Authority Rehabilitation Program to Assist Qualified Residents with the 2021 Flooding Event and Providing Direction to City Staff on Next Steps, be approved.

The discussion provided lessons in government. Below is what the Illinois Constitution says:

Molly Ward thinks she can justify keeping people in their homes as a “public purpose”. If that were true the City would be paying benefits to anyone who gets in financial trouble for any reason. She was joined by Julie Emig and Jeff Crabill.

Donna Boelen and Nick Becker stated clearly that it would violate their Oath of Office to support handing victims tax dollars. Sheila Montney agreed.

Before voting on Option A Mollie Ward proved why Democrats should never be in office. They “feel” what the right thing to do is instead of acting according to the law. Governing by feelings creates laws that never go away, they just demand an every growing pot of money to keep them going. This clip is around 2:18:42, you can listen to her entire plea before this comment:

No Mollie, the Council doesn’t have to “Do Something”! It isn’t your job to “do something”. Tax dollars belong to the entire City, you can’t hand them to people you feel sorry for. There is no shortage of people who would be in line you can “feel sorry” for. The flooding was tragic, it isn’t the responsibility of unaffected people to pay the bills of the affected.

Option A went down to defeat 4-3. Tom Crumpler was a No along with Boelen, Montney, and Becker. Option C also went down to defeat, this time Crumpler voted with the other 3.

Option B was the only one left. Even though it talks about possible future funding, that will not happen. CDBG money is available, it was available before this meeting. IADA grants are only available for work that needs to be done. Items like furnaces, hot water heaters, etc that have already been replaced are not eligible for reimbursement.

Why won’t future funding happening? Listen to this question from Sheila Montney and answer from Attorney Jeff Jurgens:

Obviously direct payments are illegal since Jeff Jurgens could not find ANY instance of an Illinois municipality doing it. It’s a dangerous path that will wreak havoc on City coffers in the future when people are lined up at the door expecting their cut to cover their loses. Direct payments can not be twisted into being a Public Purpose for “feelings”. The City will be sued if a majority votes in the future to do it.

This clip of Donna Boelen state the problem she sees: Where is the community?

Where is the community? Did Alderman Crabill (representative of a hard hit area) ever do more than try to get tax dollars? Did he ask local suppliers to discount needed items? Ask local unions to help install or cleanup? Anything Jeff?

There is more to cover from last night, stay tuned.

The video below will begin where Mollie Ward started speaking: