Town Hall Hour Extensions, Bargaining Agreements with Platform Workers Union and Concerns Over Safety and Permits
The Town of Cicero trustees hold their bi-weekly board meeting on Tuesday April, 26th, 2022. President Larry Dominick (center), with Town Clerk Maria Punzo-Arias (left), addressed a community resident during public comment (Photo by April Alonso).
By Michael Izquierdo
Leer en Español
Cicero Town Board members met on April 26 for their biweekly meeting to discuss and approve several agenda items.
These discussions included a bargaining agreement between the Town of Cicero and the Health Inspectors in the Cicero Health Department who are represented by the Truck drivers, oil drivers, filing station and Platform Workers Union Local No. 705. The town board also extended the terms of appointed officers, employees and officials to specific boards, approved an amendment to the Town's Program Year 2021 Annual Action Plan for the Community Development Block Grant and more.
All agenda items were approved and the documents for the meeting can be viewed here.
Here is a summary of the approved items:
Amendments to 2021 Annual Action Plan
The Town made an amendment to their current Annual Action Plan for the 2021 Community Development Block Grant Program. This amendment added an additional project entitled the Safety Town Park Renovation and allowed three alleys to be reconstructed. The total costs for these projects come out to:
Safety Town Park Renovation: $500,000
PY 2021 Alley Project: $77,000
Town Extensions
The Town made two extensions to the current operations of Town Hall hours and terms of certain Town employees.
Certain appointed officers, employees, officials and members of the board of trustees expected to have their terms in office expire on April 30; however, the Town approved extending their terms until 11:59 p.m. on May 31. It is unclear which appointments this applies to.
Town Hall hours will be extended and open on Saturdays for the month of June that way residents have ample amount of time to renew their vehicle stickers, set to expire on June 30. Town Hall's hours on Saturdays will operate from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 4, 11, 18, and 25.
Approval of Certain Agreements
The Town approved a memorandum of understanding with the union representing health inspectors, the truck drivers, oil drivers, filing station and Platform Workers Union, Local No. 705. According to the memorandum, each employee will receive a one-time check for $2,000 separate from their base wage earnings. The MOU details everything from base wages, how overtime hours are paid, vacation days (8 during the first year) how much in health insurance the town has to pay weekly per employee ($468/week) and their agreement to not go on strike.
The Department of Senior Services received approval to coordinate with third-party contractors to provide lawn maintenance services to senior citizens in Cicero. These lawn mowing contracts began on the first week of May and each residential lot will be mowed a maxim of once a week. The prices for these services are set at a fixed rate, including:
Single Lot: $9
Double Lot: $16
Triple Lot: $23
Faust, Inc. dba ABC Automotive Electronics entered an agreement with the Town to provide certain automotive services to the Cicero Police Department vehicles. These services include but are not limited to, supplying new products to facilitate any repairs, ordering and sending out damaged parts for repair, and ensuring materials are in stock.
The town has a total of 70 vehicles that can be serviced with 38 marked vehicles and 32 unmarked vehicles. Any line/patrol car with exterior lighting and police markings has a monthly fee of $18.50 per vehicle; whereas, any admin/detective car that doesn’t have police markings will be charged $13.50 per vehicle.
Approval of Certain Invoices
The Riccio Construction Corporation submitted an invoice in December 2021 to the Town to approve maintenance services. The company repaired an emergency water main that broke and leaked at 28th Street and Cicero Avenue. The total cost for the services was $11,873.48. Lido Mannetti requested that the payment be included in the April agenda, four months after the work was completed.
Citizen Comments
Connie Favela, a resident of Oak Lawn, was invited by Blanca Vargas to discuss their work at Devices for the Disabled, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing disabled individuals access to proper medical equipment. Favela was looking for the Town Board to help spread the word of their services to the Cicero community.
Elena Rodriguez, the owner of Calaveras, has been seeking help from the Town over concerns about not being able to hold her business' grand opening. Previously, she had spent $20,000 on a sign and received tickets daily for not having a sign permit; alongside, her business received additional tickets and was shut down due to incidents and fights occurring outside of the property. She has had to take responsibility for these issues due to owning a liquor license.
Rodriguez has spent money and body cameras for her security to alleviate these issues and show the Town she's taking precautions to prevent future incidents. However, due to financial troubles, she is leaving Cicero and hoping her business partner, Maria Puñoz, can resolve these concerns.
At the board meeting, Arias asked the Town for a legal opinion on how police were following ordinances set in the Town. Town Presidents Larry Dominick made a comment he supports officers who have to go "into those places" where fights are occurring and will close her business if he had the chance.
"Policeman's life is more important than your business," said Dominick. "Your clientele will ruin your business," before continuing, she is "bringing in the wrong clients."
You can view the video recording of the full meeting here:
Michael Izquierdo is a local freelance journalist and a contributing reporter for Cicero Independiente.
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