🎧 Episode Summary:
The West Chicago City Council is in limbo right now over essentially one thing: the employment of an appointed staffer—former city administrator Michael Guttman—and whether or not he will receive his pension. Legacy aldermen continue to insist on this, although they appeared to soften on Monday night when Mayor Dan Bovey offered five concessions (listed below).
📝 Key Topics Covered in Monday night's Meeting/in this episode:
🐔 Backyard Chickens (Coming Soon):
- No official debate yet, but a draft ordinance is in the works and will go through a public process.
🔥 Council Drama Highlights:
- 12 public comments were made—100% in favor of Mayor Bovey's leadership.
- Aldermen tried to conduct a vote without the consent of the chairman (Mayor Bovey).
- Confusion and conflict over a “corrected agenda” and alleged violations of state transparency laws.
⚖️ Legal Showdown – The Lawsuit:
- Mayor Bovey filed a Petition for Declaratory Judgment (May 13)
- Hearing scheduled for May 28.
- Debate over whether the mayor can act without council approval—case law appears to support him.
🔧 Procedural Skirmishes:
- Disputes over Robert’s Rules vs. the document presented by Sandy Dimas to the council.
- Friction on how meetings are conducted and who has the right to speak or preside.
The Olive Branch:
Mayor Bovey is proposing 5 things:
- Firewall himself from decisions made around the Greenhouse.
- Legislative counsel - the city council can keep Pat Bond as their attorney for legal matters, would not be the official city attorney.
- Appoint interims for a maximum of 6 months.
- Since the city council doesn’t like his choice of Jeff Jacobson as his interim corporate counsel, Dan offered choice of 3 different firms. One of them showed up to the meeting and spoke: Kevin Sterk of Ancel Glink. (Their attorneys wrote the Illinois Municipal Handbook, and they represent over 70 public bodies around the state.)
- Get Guttman to his goal of retirement.
📢 Civic Engagement on the Rise:
- There was unusually high public turnout at this meeting—especially among younger residents!
📆 Upcoming Meetings:
- June 2: Finance Committee – 6:00 PM, City Council – 7:00 PM
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