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Confusion, anger in Joliet after migrant grant announcement

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Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy wants Joliet Township Supervisor Angel Contreras to withdraw his application that could bring $8.6 million in state of Illinois tax dollars to Joliet Township to cover the costs of bringing people from other countries seeking asylum status.

“I want to take a moment to clarify the facts regarding the recent news about a grant for Municipalities Serving Asylum Seekers,” D’Arcy announced Monday evening. “The people sitting on this dais were placed here by the people of Joliet with a duty and obligation to preserve and protect their investment in their property and preserve their quality of life.

“That said, the decision-makers in the city did not have knowledge of a grant request made by Joliet Township and with community partners and organizations.” […]

According to Joliet’s new mayor, “The City of Joliet Mayor’s Office and Joliet Fire Department did not sign or approve any Memorandum of Understanding with the Township or with other community partners and other organizations on the grant that was submitted.

* Joliet Herald-News…

Joliet Township is a separate unit of government from the city of Joliet and operates independently. But D’Arcy said he believes the terms of the grant required certain agreements with the city that were never made.

City officials have said they were unaware Joliet Township was seeking the grant and only learned about it after the governor’s office announced the award late Friday.

Contreras did not return calls on Monday seeking comments about the grant.

Township Trustee Ray Slattery told the council at its meeting that the township board did not know about the grant.

* WJOL…

Meanwhile, Illinois State Senator Rachel Ventura says Contreras had mentioned that Joliet Township would be a getting a large amount of money but didn’t know the details and nor did she hear from the governor’s office. Local officials say they want to know how and where the money will be spent and in what areas.

* The governor’s office is pointing at the Metropolitan Mayor’s Caucus, which was quoted in the original press release as partnering with the Illinois Department of Human Services to provide “management oversight in the form of a competitive Notice of Funding Opportunity process.” Jordan Abudayyeh…

While an award has been made to Joliet Township, that is subject to both an updated budget and entering into a grant agreement. No grant monies are paid until a grant agreement has been completed. As part of this process, the Metropolitan Mayor’s Caucus, as the administrator and monitor of this program, will be asking the Township to provide additional information on any listed support and partnerships and, once confirmed, how they will support asylum seekers.

I’ve reached out to the Metropolitan Mayor’s Caucus for a response. Nothing yet.

…Adding… The “updated budget” is for the locals, not the state. “Everyone applied for more money than they got so they have to update their budgets and plans as part of the grant agreements before money is released,” said Abudayyeh.

* More from the governor’s office on the Metropolitan Mayor’s Caucus…

MMC identified external reviewers with expertise in philanthropy, grant-making, and immigrant services as a part of its administrative responsibilities. IDHS and MMC together determined grant award amounts based on reviewer recommendations and scoring.

Oak Park’s portion of grant funds is meant for planning – which is an opportunity to prepare for additional State funds that may become available in the future.

In the end, though, it sure looks like the township supervisor claimed he had the buy-in of other local governments and stakeholders when he clearly did not. And now the supervisor has gone to ground.

Oy.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 12:38 pm

Comments

The lesson is likely that if you want to lead on a policy that is controversial to who buys in, get all the ducks in a row to who exactly you have in putting policy in play.

===And now the supervisor has gone to ground.

Oy.===

That’s what happens “going it alone”

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 12:56 pm
The Joliet Township supervisor is on trial in October for felony DUI, his third DUI arrest.

Comment by E Pro Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 1:03 pm
It’s easy to say you want to help migrants until they show up on your doorstep. Then it becomes politically tricky. Hate to admit it, but the bus strategy is forcing a lot of localities to put their money where their mouth is and it’s proving difficult.

Comment by Jed Bartlett Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 1:19 pm
It was interesting that during the council meeting last night, near the end, it was mentioned there are already over a thousand in Joliet, and the police chief has said there has been no increase in problems or any calls relating to them.

But that doesn’t get in the way of the mayor digging in against other government bodies, and some council members calling for the full on elimination of the township.

Just 2 weeks ago, the mayor was adamantly stating how the city should not get involved with the decisions of other governing bodies within Joliet, in relation to a request giving landmark status to the old courthouse in the face of the county government voting to demolish it.

2 weeks before that, the mayor had to call for a re-vote on a liquor license from the prior meeting because he openly stated he didn’t understand what he was voting on at the last meeting when he voted to deny it.

I’d be careful about giving credence to anything he’s saying now as being accurate.

2 weeks before that, the city voted to annex a finger of land within the township to put a diesel truck stop in an area surrounded by residential homes on well water. Not just nearby those homes, sharing a property line with them - putting them well within the 200ft margin the ILEPA looks at when deciding if a new/replacement potable water well can be drilled next to a potential contamination source. Meaning those houses are worthless now if any of their wells need to be replaced. The city ignored the city land use committee recommendation to deny, as well as the city zoning committee recommendation to deny. The mayor really wanted to push through the property deal for a PUD which also has the now current city managers company listed as a beneficiary in some of the original property documents on record from years ago with the county recorder.

The city response to the dozens of township residents who showed up in opposition was basically, well you can’t vote for us so we don’t care about you.

It seems like just yesterday I made a statement about getting to enjoy the… organizational abilities of Joliet.

Even if the township grant proposal falls apart, the vitriol and hatred coming FROM some of the council members which went far beyond just an opposition to a grant was something that isn’t going to go away for a long time.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 1:19 pm
A member being told by the Supervisor of their biggest township, that contains the 4th largest city in the state, that they were “getting a large amount of money” and not asking what its for would have to be a first…if true

Comment by Wobblies United Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 1:19 pm
You have to talk with other people before making promises on their behalf, sheesh.

That being said, this is an incredibly disgusting statement, the “…with a duty and obligation to preserve and protect their investment in their property and preserve their quality of life” bit.

I have no other way to read that than 1) he thinks having migrants around is dangerous and or destructive and 2) he cares more about property and comfort than, you know, housing and feeding people in need. Disgusting is the nicest description I can make.

Comment by Perrid Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 1:22 pm
“The Joliet Township supervisor is on trial”

Ah yes, the favorite attack attempt to… smear migrants?

Not mentioned of course, is the drunken public brawl with a real estate developer, and subsequent arrest one of the current city council members opposed to this grant was involved in. He was a city council member at the time of the arrest too.

Glass houses, E Pro.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 1:23 pm
@Perrid- I wont spam the thread with it again, but I posted the link to the video of the meeting in this mornings open thread.

You should watch it. I noticed the exact same thing you did. But it gets worse from there. Much worse.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 1:29 pm
TheInvisibleMan: It speaks to the Supervisor’s incompetence. Read the last paragraph of Rich’s blog entry above.

Comment by E Pro Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 1:33 pm
===but the bus strategy===

It’s a bus stunt designed and dedicated to causing problems not looking to help migrants or be welcoming.

The simpleton thought to “they don’t want it” seemingly forgets the preparation and needed buy-in with ready to do the necessary possible.

Choosing to merely say things as you did, it’s about the chaos not the solution, and it’s a tell.

That said, the politics of this supervisor without securing the buy-in is both part of the busing stunt fallout but also clearly someone forgetting how hard governing can be when going alone.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 1:34 pm
“It speaks to the Supervisor’s incompetence.”

Of which all we have is the mayor word, which as pointed out above has been less than stellar itself over the past 2 months, with very specific examples.

I’ll wait until I see the actual grant proposal documents. I certainly won’t listen to a mayor who doesn’t know how a liquor license works, and a council made up of OTHER drunks getting arrested for physically fighting real estate developers.

The blunt reality;

The township supervisor demonstrated a desire to help people. The city council and mayor responded with flat out vitriol publicly calling for the complete elimination of the township directly from the city council dias, and not cooperation.

However it ends up shaking out, everyone showed their true colors. There were only about 15 at most people in the audience from the public for the grant issue. ALL of them were old, white, and angry. Over a hundred thousand residents didn’t go to the meeting.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 2:00 pm
==not looking to help migrants or be welcoming==

I agree 100. It IS a stunt deigned to cause problems and it’s working. The busses have been coming for over a year now. That’s plenty of time for preparation and buy-in, but there’s no political will federally or locally for solutions.

Comment by Jed Bartlett Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 2:10 pm
Just checking in to express how dumb the concept of townships are. There is no reason to have so many overlapping governmental bodies.

Comment by Homebody Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 2:46 pm
===I agree 100. It IS a stunt deigned to cause problems and it’s working.===

What you are failing to grasp (it’s not a failure, it’s a feature) is that there’s no want to make it better.

===That’s plenty of time for preparation and buy-in, but there’s no political will federally or locally for solutions.===

Tough for local buy-in when the fed response is so weak to needs.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 2:58 pm
“There is no reason”

It would make more sense to dissolve cities.

Take a look at the city boundaries of Joliet. Specifically the east side. Swiss cheese has fewer holes in it. With many single houses on a block remaining unannexed. You can walk in and out of the city limits a half dozen times in a single block on the same side of the street.

The city does that of course, to disenfranchise ‘the poors’ from being able to elect the city council, and keeping them with no say in how the city completely surrounding them is run. There’s a HUGE history to it locally, and it’s ummm, bad.

Watching a council member now openly declare they don’t want to just ignore those areas, but that the city wants to take even more voting away from them is quite telling.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 3:01 pm
==Tough for local buy-in when the fed response is so weak to needs==
So tough that even when there’s grant money available, pols are still running away from helping.

Comment by Jed Bartlett Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 4:10 pm
===So tough that even===

It appears the supervisor didn’t secure the buy-in and went on this on their own.

Keep up

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 4:12 pm
“It appears the supervisor didn’t secure the buy-in”

We only have the mayors word on this. No document has been produced showing this to be the case. Other than the grant announcement itself, everything is hearsay right now.

I kept hearing this repeated too, and then immediately wondered if Lake County secured a buy-in from every municipality in the entire county. I’m betting the answer to that is ‘no’. Yet the same explosive reactions weren’t coming out of Lake County.

One of the council members also pointed out if that is the case, he could simply remove the city from the application and refile it. It’s not the show stopper the mayor wants it to be.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 4:52 pm
===We only have the mayors word on this.===

The burrowing Supervisor could refute such language.

So it’s more than mere hearsay at this point.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 4:55 pm
No, until that document is produced it’s still hearsay.

Too much emotion right now. Not enough evidence.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 5:22 pm
===No, until that document is produced it’s still hearsay.===

(Sigh)

If this is the hill you choose to die on, I’d first contact the supervisor.

What do you hope for, a “gotcha”?

Hearsay in this instance has forced this supervisor into hiding?

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 5:44 pm
== It appears the supervisor didn’t secure the buy-in and went on this on their own.==

They’re not saying they didn’t know and will have to look into it but would love to help. They are running the other direction.

Keep up.

Comment by Jed Bartlett Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 5:51 pm
“Hearsay in this instance has forced this supervisor into hiding?”

I don’t live in his township, so I can’t speak to if he is speaking to his constituents or not. But none of them I know who do are complaining, so read that how you will.

Local news has at best been indifferent to covering local government. Again, without evidence maybe he’s busy lining up the grant and the work which needs to be done, instead of responding with “how high” when told to jump 4 days later?

It was reported elsewhere today one of the other agencies involved in the grant with a MOU was the Will-Grundy Medical Clinic and one other organization.

Meaning the fact right now show the mayors claim the city and fire department were the two agencies needing to provide a MOU is already proven to be false.

The police chief stated there are over a thousand migrants already in Joliet, with no reported problems or crimes.

The mayor then said “we will stop this grant to prevent any of that crime coming to Joliet”. He’s just talking to hear himself talk, despite evidence already slowly coming out to disprove what he is saying.

I’m not hoping for a gotcha. I’m waiting for evidence. I’m certainly not listening to the claims of the mayor, which seem to be failing apart more by the hour.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 6:08 pm
===They’re not saying they didn’t know and will have to look into it but would love to help. They are running the other direction.===

Read what I wrote …

===It appears the supervisor didn’t secure the buy-in and went on this on their own.===

That’s the ball game here.

What “gotcha” do you see here?

It’s like mouth breathing for it’s own sake.

===In the end, though, it sure looks like the township supervisor claimed he had the buy-in of other local governments and stakeholders when he clearly did not.===

So… what exactly has you so giddy you wanna tell the favorite aunt you “know”?

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 6:09 pm
===But none of them I know who do are complaining, so read that how you will.===

You want facts while speaking in the anecdotal?

Let’s see what happens when the supervisor comes out of hiding.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 6:13 pm
“It appears the supervisor didn’t secure the buy-in”

Again, that’s the mayors claim. Which as of reporting today has shown to be inaccurate at best. The mayor claimed the city and fire department needed to sign MOUs. Without seeing the grant, how can he make that assertion?

This is the mayors claim;
“Without actual MOUs from the mayor and fire department, D’Arcy said he believed the grant application to be invalid.”

The Will-Grundy Medical clinic is listed as one of the agencies participating in the grant, and the mayor didn’t even know about that. The mayor wanted to pretend he has some sort of control over this by instead claiming the MOUs have to be with the city and fire department - which is now shown to be false.

Additionally, here’s what the Will County health department put out in a press release this afternoon;

“the Will County Health Department just learned of the grant for asylum seekers in the last few days. We are beginning conversations this week with leadership from Joliet Township. Given the fact that these conversations are in the preliminary phase, we are unable to provide any specific details at this time.”

I’d wager the other MOU is with the county, but I’ll wait for evidence of that.

The point being, it is easy to see right now the mayor has polluted the discussion with outright false information with regard to MOUs. Either deliberately, or accidentally. It would be wise to not listen to his claims and draw conclusions without evidence.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 6:27 pm
===The point being, it is easy to see right now the mayor has polluted the discussion with outright false information with regard to MOUs. Either deliberately, or accidentally. It would be wise to not listen to his claims and draw conclusions without evidence.===

Explain why the Supervisor is MIA?

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 6:29 pm
==What “gotcha” do you see here==
Funding to help migrants available. Local government running away from it. Set aside how it happened and help people.

Comment by Jed Bartlett Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 6:36 pm
“Explain why the Supervisor is MIA?”

I don’t know how much more clear I have to be that I’m not joining in on the speculation game here.

If you want those answers, then attend the township meeting tomorrow evening.

A whole bunch of people who have demonstrated they don’t care to do anything about immigrants, sure do suddenly care about what places they don’t live in are going to do about immigrants.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 6:40 pm
===I don’t know how much more clear I have to be that I’m not joining in on the speculation game here.===

Also…

===I’d wager the===

Speculation?

I want to hear from the supervisor who can refute any or all the claims, and discuss why it went south if all were on board.

This wouldn’t be the first time to stall on something by blaming “paperwork”, because in the end it’s not a “you will” but it needs to be “we will”… all working together.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 6:46 pm
“I want to hear from the supervisor”

Then attend the township meeting tomorrow.

“Speculation?”

Correct, which is why you had to cut off the copy paste of my sentence right before ‘but I’ll wait for evidence of that.’

” because in the end it’s not a “you will” but it needs to be “we will”… all working together.”

Also correct. And at this time the city of Joliet has stated clearly they won’t help. Luckily, they also don’t appear to have been asked on the grant application in the first place. That appears to be the Will-Grundy medical clinic, and one other agency.

Frankly, I’d prefer for the sake of the immigrants success, the city of Joliet government not be involved either. They can go back to destroying people’s private water supplies instead.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 7:01 pm
===Then attend the township meeting tomorrow.===

Or Rich might cover it, or I can look it up in news, or…

Right now? Right now the US House has no Speaker, we have 42 days to fund the government of our country, we have bus loads of migrants coming without any plans that help the migrants, and the reality, for me, is what is making the supervisor silent.

The bigger end game is … because in the end… it’s not a “you will” but it needs to be “we will”… all working together.

Allies are needed. Controversy for its own sake is unhelpful

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 3, 23 @ 7:07 pm
“Controversy for its own sake is unhelpful”

And since that seems to be all the city is able to provide, then lets say goodbye to them and let them cause problems somewhere else they haven’t been invited.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 7:22 am
===And since that seems to be all the city is able to provide, then lets say goodbye to them and let them cause problems somewhere else they haven’t been invited.===

So the migrants are the problem? NIMBY?

===Controversy for its own sake is unhelpful===

That was a statement of the situation where the supervisor has been unhelpful, not the idea of the migrants.

Which is why I wrote…

===The bigger end game is … because in the end… it’s not a “you will” but it needs to be “we will”… all working together.===

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 7:42 am
“So the migrants are the problem? NIMBY?”

No, the city is the problem. The city jumped into this without being invited. They just assumed they would be involved, due to an overinflated sense of their own importance in the region. They didn’t want to help before, and they’ve decided to interject themselves into a situation they don’t plan to help with now, and are going beyond mere indifference to actively trying to destroy an entire agency who is trying to help.

“the supervisor has been unhelpful”

To you maybe. Are you an immigrant he is trying to help? I’m not sure how much he cares if you feel he isn’t being helpful to you. Nor should he.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 8:40 am
===The city jumped into this without being invited.===

Huh?

===Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy wants Joliet Township Supervisor Angel Contreras to withdraw his application that could bring $8.6 million in state of Illinois tax dollars to Joliet Township to cover the costs of bringing people from other countries seeking asylum status.===

The supervisor got involved, the city, “apparently” got dragged in?

===they’ve decided to interject themselves into a situation they don’t plan to help with now, and are going beyond mere indifference to actively trying to destroy an entire agency who is trying to help.===

So the supervisor didn’t overstep? Isn’t buy-in part of the deal?

===Are you an immigrant he is trying to help? I’m not sure how much he cares if you feel he isn’t being helpful to you. Nor should he.===

I don’t know how that helps your argument or adds to your alleged points, but if it makes you feel better saying it to…

===the supervisor has been unhelpful===

… does that mean you have no response, like the supervisor?

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 9:17 am
And now we know all 3.

Joliet Township, the Spanish Community Center, and the Will-Grundy Medical Clinic.

Those are the organizations with an MOU.

Do you see the city of Joliet in that list anywhere?

When do we start asking questions on why the mayor was spreading false information?

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 10:41 am
===Those are the organizations with an MOU.

Do you see the city of Joliet in that list anywhere?

When do we start asking questions on why the mayor was spreading false information?===

Huh?

===According to Joliet’s new mayor, “The City of Joliet Mayor’s Office and Joliet Fire Department did not sign or approve any Memorandum of Understanding with the Township or with other community partners and other organizations on the grant that was submitted.===

Isn’t that true?

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 10:49 am
“Isn’t that true?”

Obviously not.

Seeing as there are two other community partners involved. None of which are the city if Joliet.

You also accidentally left off from that statement that the mayor says that is the reason the grant is invalid.

Which, is also not true.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 11:39 am
===Obviously not.===

===Joliet Township, the Spanish Community Center, and the Will-Grundy Medical Clinic.

Those are the organizations with an MOU.===

======According to Joliet’s new mayor, “The City of Joliet Mayor’s Office and Joliet Fire Department did not sign or approve any Memorandum of Understanding with the Township or with other community partners and other organizations on the grant that was submitted.===

Friend, the supervisor politically made a mistake to seemingly un-seek by-in.

I’d like to hear from the supervisor.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 11:43 am
“seemingly un-seek by-in.”

Again, the township is not a subsidiary of the city. They are independent and cover many locations and residents the city has purposely refused to annex.

There is no ‘buy-in’ required from the city. Neither legally or ethically.

You are operating under the assumption Joliet is the feudal lord of the entire area. Joliet thinks they are too.

You, and they, are incorrect.

But, lets say you are correct.

Show me the ‘buy-in’ of every municipality within Lake County who signed on in the grant which went to Lake County.

Either apply your concepts everywhere equally, or nowhere.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 11:51 am
===There is no ‘buy-in’ required from the city. Neither legally or ethically.

You are operating under the assumption Joliet is the feudal lord of the entire area. Joliet thinks they are too.===

… and yet…

===As part of this process, the Metropolitan Mayor’s Caucus, as the administrator and monitor of this program, will be asking the Township to provide additional information on any listed support and partnerships and, once confirmed, how they will support asylum seekers.===

I dunno, it’s likely the supervisor is silent because being thick headed to “we are our own people” kinda puts the whole thing in flux as Joliet questions why they are seemingly iced out?

===of every municipality===

You need to ask that of the Metropolitan Mayor’s Caucus, as the administrator and monitor of this program since their criteria is the measure.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 11:59 am
“You need to ask that of the Metropolitan Mayor’s Caucus”

No I don’t. I know the answer is they didn’t have to.

I’m trying to lead you to see you are applying different standards to Joliet township, than to Lake County. For the same situation.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 12:06 pm
===I’m trying to lead you to see you are applying different standards to Joliet township, then to Lake County. For the same situation.===

That’s up to the administrators, and since the supervisor is silent, how can I look at this as anything but a supervisor wanting something without looking at the landscape and deciding to be MIA to this, it’s not my opinion, it’s what I’m actually reading from the folks involved, not what you want it to be.

I’d ask the supervisor why Lake County seems to have this down and this is in a quandary.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 12:09 pm
“Joliet questions why they are seemingly iced out?”

Maybe this is your first exposure to following events in Joliet.

This is the environment Joliet has created with ALL of its neighbors. Talk to Elwood or Manhattan how they feel about how Joliet listened to their concerns. Talk to the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery.

Joliet has *firmly* established a pattern of demonstrating not needing to gain approval from anyone else for what they want to do.

In that environment, the township simply moved to work with agencies having a track record of cooperation. And it looks like they found them.

That whole ‘we are our own people” thing, is what Joliet is doing, and has been doing for years.

Joliet is the one standing out all by itself here. Because Joliet put itself there by its own actions long ago. It never allowed for the possibility any other local government would be able to do anything on its own, which is all on their failure of governing and not the township.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 12:13 pm
===Maybe this is===

Friend, instead of trying to educate me, read what is out there.

===As part of this process, the Metropolitan Mayor’s Caucus, as the administrator and monitor of this program, will be asking the Township to provide additional information on any listed support and partnerships and, once confirmed, how they will support asylum seekers.===

You point out, the MOU…

===Joliet Township, the Spanish Community Center, and the Will-Grundy Medical Clinic.

Those are the organizations with an MOU.===

The mayor…

===According to Joliet’s new mayor, “The City of Joliet Mayor’s Office and Joliet Fire Department did not sign or approve any Memorandum of Understanding with the Township or with other community partners and other organizations on the grant that was submitted.===

This is the ball game, for me, until the supervisor speaks to this.

That’s it.

It will be up to the Metropolitan Mayor’s Caucus, as the administrator and monitor of this program going forward, no matter what Lake County did or did not.

You’re now in the weeds of histrionics, I’d still talk to the supervisor.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 12:18 pm
“According to Joliet’s new mayor[…]. This is the ball game, for me”

Okay, so it is your first exposure to events in Joliet.

In things this mayor has stated publicly in the few months he has been in office, the VAST majority of them have been factually and legally wrong.

Last city council meeting, he called for a revote on a liquor license he previously voted to deny. He didn’t know what his vote meant at the last time when he made it, and wanted a ‘do over’.

He pushed for a city ordinance change to put the inspector general under the control of the city manager(who he appointed), to match with what he claims is state law for city manager forms of local government. He made this claim despite not only the former city attorney stating he was wrong, but the city ordinance itself from its incorporation in which specifically defines which offices are city officers under control of the city manager. He was confusing ‘official’ with ‘officer’ in his statements and reasoning.
That was embarrassingly bad.

What he is saying now about “requiring a buy in from the city and fire department”, is equally something he just made up in his own mind and not justified by any statute or existing agreement between any governing body.

I’m sure the mayor *wants* that to be the part of this he can use to justify inserting himself into this, in order to destroy it. But outside of the mayor, nobody is saying what he is either.

“You’re now in the weeds of histrionics”

These are called details. And the failure to understand details is what leads to making false statements.

Honestly, I don’t think the mayor is smart enough to be doing this purposely. He’s just sloppy and makes up new justifications depending on what he wants that day. Sometimes the very same justifications he makes up end up contradicting themselves just weeks apart in different situations - i.e. 2 weeks ago when he said “the city can’t get involved in the decisions of other independent governing bodies” to this weeks “the city needs to be involved in the decisions of other independent governing bodies”.

His own words, just two weeks ago at a city council meeting, are directly contradicting what he is saying and doing today.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 12:40 pm
===These are called details.===

They are not. They are irrelevant to what will be the deciding factors.

Honestly, the fact you won’t hold accountable the supervisor is more telling than your insistence to try to sway with history.

You haven’t refuted anything I wrote, you want this, “lemme educate you” nonsense when in fact the whole thing could be settled with the supervisor speaking, and you have this need to blame the mayor.

It’s a tell.

Like this is just pure silly…

===What he is saying now about “requiring a buy in from the city and fire department”, is equally something he just made up in his own mind and not justified by any statute or existing agreement between any governing body.===

… because this kinda says it all…

===As part of this process, the Metropolitan Mayor’s Caucus, as the administrator and monitor of this program, will be asking the Township to provide additional information on any listed support and partnerships and, once confirmed, how they will support asylum seekers.===

Talk to the supervisor. Why is there no additional buy-in.

If all you want is there, then the Metropolitan Mayor’s Caucus, as the administrator and monitor of this program going forward will see it too, no?

Where is this supervisor?

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 12:46 pm