March 8 Town Board Meeting Recap
During the first board meeting of March 2022, several items were discussed along with the announcement of Blanca Vargas as the new trustee of the Town of Cicero Board. President Larry Dominick (Center) with Town Clerk Maria Punzo-Arias (left) (Photo by April Alonso).
By Michael Izquierdo
Cicero Town Board members gathered on March 8 for their biweekly meeting. They discussed several items including amendments to The Code of Ordinances for the town’s Emergency Communications Department, abating taxes for bonds, authorizing settlement agreements for The Case Tuff Car Company, Inc. v. Town of Cicero and Christoper Avila-Merlin v. Town of Cicero and more.
You can view all the related agenda items here.
All board members were present and on time for the board meeting with the exception of Trustee Viruso who was late by four minutes. The meeting also concluded with a few public comments from Town President Larry Dominick.
Here are all approved agenda items:
The Emergency Communications Department
The board approved an amendment to Chapter 2, Article IV of their Code of Ordinances of the Town of Cicero to create a new department within the town as they transition the town’s emergency response system away fromNORCOMM Public Safety Communications Center. Previously an outside company managed the Consolidated Emergency Response Center of Cook County (“CERCCC”) and provided personnel to organize and dispatch the Emergency Services within Cicero.
Now, the newly created department, Town of Cicero’s Emergency Communications Department, shall be recognized as the new management system for emergency responses, such as dispatch for police, fire and emergency medical services in the town and surrounding communities.
The amendment details the new positions and their specific duties for personnel, such as Director, Deputy Director, Operations Managers, Public Safety Telecommunicators and other full-time and part-time roles.
Alongside, the town approved of appointing certain individuals to file in some of these positions.
Deputy Director: Brandon Hurd
Administrative Assistant: Steve Ruggiero
Operations Managers: Afton Swistek and Francesca Kubica
This news comes after Dolores Temes was appointed last month as Interim Director for this newly established responses team.
This transition comes after a November 23 board meeting that stated the town was terminating its contract with NORCOMM for no explicit reason. The contract with NORCOMM ends on November 24 of this year.
Settlement Agreements
A settlement agreement was reached for the case, Tuff Car Company, Inc. v. Town of Cicero, after a nearly seven-year battle following a breach of contract claims and allegations of inconsistent payments.
Back in 2005, Tuff Car entered a towing contract with the Town to provide towing services, use 1924 South Laramie as a towing lot and provide exclusive towing and other services for Town-owned vehicles. The original lease expired in 2008, yet the town and Tuff Car agreed to continue a month-to-month tenancy. In 2015, the Town decided to terminate its relationship with the company after they learned Tuff Car submitted several false leases to the Illinois Commerce Commission.
Tuff Car filed a lawsuit against the town claiming the towing contract automatically renewed and they were contractually bound until May 31, 2017, along with seeking over $2 million in damages from the town’s vehicles since 2005. The town filed a counterclaim allegedly claiming the company did not consistently pay towing fees or lease payments for the property and asked for the property to be turned over in the town’s possession.
After years of back-and-forth, the two parties came to an agreement where the Tuff Car will receive no monetary payments from the town for their claims; and instead, the Town will receive $100,000.
Additionally, the town reached a settlement agreement for the case, Christoper Avila-Merlin v. Town of Cicero, where Avila-Merlin sought worker’s compensation for a left knee injury.
Avila-Merlin, a tow truck driver, slipped and fell on the job and sustained a left knee injury. He underwent arthroscopic surgery for a meniscus tear on June 19, 2020.
Avila-Merlin continued to complain of pain in his left knee even after MRI exams showed he had no additional damages. He decided to resign from his position with the Town of Cicero on July 25, 2021, after alleging he was unable to return to work because of long-term pain.
The two parties reached an agreement of $21, 149.01 and Avila-Merlin received $16,827.17 after attorney and medical expenses were paid off.
Tax Reductions
Two ordinances relating to the town’s bond obligations were approved. We included the documents in the full PDF. If you know more about this topic please reach out to us at info@ciceroindependiente.com.
Approval of Land Use Ordinances
Board members approved of granting a zoning map amendment and a construction variance for two separate properties.
Gloria Pilar Benjaro and Fabio Griselda received a zoning change so that they can operate a daycare center at 2410 S. Central. The property was originally zoned at M-1 and was changed to R-3.
Ruben Ruelas and Sylvia Lopez received a variance to build a full window dormer on the second floor of their property located at 3407 South 59th Court.
Authorizing Signatories with Hinsdale Bank
The board approved of adding Larry Dominick and David Gonzales, Budget Director for the Town of Cicero, as signatories to the Town’s account with Hinsdale Bank & Trust.
Public Comment from Larry Dominick
Larry Dominick concluded the board meeting by announcing Blanca Vargas will be replacing the late Larry Banks as a Town Board Trustee on March 22.
Blanca expressed her gratitude for this new transition in her career, thanking Dominick for letting her dream to become a trustee come true after 20 years.
“You’ve been doing a lot, you’ve been at every food drive and you’re just all over,” said Dominick. “I wish I had your energy.”
Vargas responded to Dominick, “My heart is here and will always be in our town.”
Moments before the meeting ended, Dominick made another comment regarding the mask mandate being uplifted last month.
“Call Dr. Fauci and tell him most of us aren’t wearing our masks,” said Dominick. “Go to school and get an education.”
These comments directed towards Dr. Fauci have been continuously made throughout town board meetings, one being made at a January 11 meeting and another at a February 22 meeting.
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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