Blanca Vargas Sworn In, More than $100,000 Approved for Festivals at March 22 Board Meeting
Blanca Vargas was sworn in as voting member of the board at the March 22 Town of Cicero Board meeting in Cicero, IL. (Photo from the Town of Cicero Facebook Page)
By Michael Izquierdo
The Cicero Town Board gathered on March 22 for their biweekly meeting to discuss and approve several agenda items.
The board meeting’s agenda included multiple amendments to their Code of Ordinances, entering agreements to receive entertainment and technological services, authorizing settlement agreements for Daniel Midell v. Town of Cicero, Angel Ramirez v. Town of Cicero and other important matters, including the swearing in of the new Town Trustee, Blanca Vargas.
Unlike regular board meetings, town of Cicero’s senior services bussed-in senior citizens from the area. The board room was packed and many stayed after the meeting concluded to enjoy complimentary cake and coffee to celebrate Blanca Vargas. In a break from regular proceedings, Vargas spoke to the audience in Spanish. More on that below.
To view the documents for the meeting click here. Please note that these documents are not generally available on the Town website. Cicero Independiente files regular Freedom of Information Act requests to get copies of all the proposed ordinances and resolutions. These are sent to Cicero Independiente by email after the board has voted on them.
Board Meeting
The board meeting officially began at 10:15 a.m. Here is a summary of the approved agenda items:
Amendments to Code of Ordinances
The Town made three amendments to their Code of Ordinances to establish the new Healthcare Management Department, grant a stop sign and a designated loading zone.
The Health Management Department was created to oversee and manage third-party billing and other finances for the Town’s Health Department. Alongside, a Healthcare Management Department Administrator role was created with their position consisting of providing input on the finances of the health department, developing reimbursement policies, managing marketing efforts of the health clinic, tracking billing information and more. This position will be appointed by the town president. The ordinance language does not explicitly name any qualifications needed for the role.
Cicero Superintendent of Police, Jerry Chlada Jr., submitted a recommendation to place a stop sign on the southeast corner of 56th Court and 34th Street to reduce all the traffic and improve the safety of pedestrians. This amendment serves to ensure all northbound traffic on 56th Court comes to a complete stop at 34th Street.
The board approved the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s request to have a designated loading zone located on 14th Street on the south side of the street for a 45 feet distance, just west of Austin Boulevard. The church operates a Food Pantry at 1400 South Austin Boulevard and claims that community members who drive have to park a street or blocks away and this creates a hardship because they have to walk back and forth to their car to drop off groceries from the pantry.
In a letter to the town, the organization mentioned the pantry serves 500 households each month, and operates on the following weekdays:
Monday: 9:30 a.m. - 11 a.m. ; 12:30 - 4 p.m.
Tuesday: 9:30 a.m. - 11 a.m. ; 12:30 - 2 p.m.
Thursday: 2 - 6 p.m.
The Cicero Police Department conducted a traffic survey on January 5 and found a total of 14 crashes to have been reported in 2021 around the food pantry’s location. Four of these accidents occurred during pantry hours. These accidents included,
Failure to reduce speed: 3
Following too closely: 5
Failing to yield: 2
Improper lane usage: 4
Advisory Referendum Questions
Cicero residents will have the chance to cast their votes on issues related to public policy at the 2022 General Primary Election on Tuesday, June 28.
The Town approved authorizing three questions to be placed on the ballot come this summer. These questions are asked to the public for informational purposes only. They include,
Shall the Cook County Assessor’s office replace the mass appraisal process and instead base property taxes off of the actual value of the property?
Shall the minimum criminal penalty for vehicular carjacking be increased from four years to ten years?
Shall electronic monitoring be prohibited for persons accused of violent crimes or illegally possessing a firearm, where said persons would instead remain incarcerated until the date of trial, unless the person was able to post the court-ordered bond?
The polls for the election will open at 6 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m. on June 28, unless announced otherwise.
Settlement Agreements
A settlement agreement was reached for the case, Daniel Midell v. Town of Cicero, where Midell sought worker’s compensation after sustaining an abdominal lump on the job.
Midell, a firefighter, was using a hydraulic tool to remove a deceased driver in a car accident on December 12, 2020 when he experienced pain in his abdomen. He was taken to the emergency room that night and later underwent surgery on January 8, 2021.
The two parties reached an agreement of $10,896.63 and Midell received $8,667.31 after attorney and medical expenses were paid off.
Additionally, the town reached a settlement agreement for the case, Angel Ramirez v. Town of Cicero, where Ramirez sought worker’s compensation for a low back strain, followed by a right wrist injury months later.
The details leading up to Ramirez’s injuries are unknown; however, the two parties reached an agreement of $18,552.50 and Ramirez received $14,615.71 after attorney and medical expenses were paid off.
Approval of Certain Agreements
The Town entered into two agreements with Entertainment Management Group (EMG) and one agreement with American Mobile Staging, Inc. to provide entertainment services for upcoming festivals and events this year, such as the 2022 Houby Fest, Cicero Fest, Mexican Independence Day and Cinco De Mayo.
The Entertainment Management Group services include negotiation of band contracts, on-site monitoring of sound, lighting, staging personnel, dressing room rentals and stage risers and more. The town will have to pay a deposit and final payment each to EMG for the Houby and Cicero Fest.
Houby Fest Total Payment: $28,100
Cicero Fest Final Payment: $28,500
American Mobile Staging, Inc. will provide services, such as lighting systems, super stage, block sound systems, drum sets, backdrops and more for each festival and event. These deposit and final payments come out to,
Cicero Fest 2022 Total Payment: $12,850
Cicero Mexican Independence Day Total Payment: $15,880
Houby Fest 2022 Total Payment: $9,800
Cinco De Mayo 2022 Total Payment: $15,580
Current Technologies renewed their contract with the Town to continue providing a surveillance camera system across town. The renewal licenses cost,
One year Care Plus for XProtect Corporate Base License: $461.42
One year Care Plus for XProtect Corporate Device License: $9,196.65
The Town renewed their contact with Google Workspace to receive Gmail services distributed through the third party company, CDW-G. The annual renewal came out to $35,400.
Lastly, the Cicero Fire Department entered an agreement with Loyola University’s Medical Center to receive access to Loyola’s EMS charting software to correctly document patient care information for all EMS-related calls.
The Fire Department will be charged at a rate of $1.20 per chart reported and will be invoiced by Loyola on an annual basis.
Approval of Certain Invoices
Clearview Plumbing & Sewer Inc. submitted an invoice to the Town to approve recent maintenance services. The company repaired the emergency water main and water line at 25th and Laramie and had to call a private contractor for assistance. The total cost for the services was $29,185.07.
Mutual Aid Box Alarm System Division XI (MADAS) provided the Town an invoice for their annual fees to continue providing mutual aid services, such as fire protection, firefighting, protection of life and property for emergency situations and more. The total cost amounted to $10,000.
Blanca Vargas Inauguration
Towards the end of the meeting, Blanca Vargas was inaugurated as one of the town’s new Board of Trustees following her extensive experience and work within the community.
Vargas is only the second Latina to join the board as a voting member. The first, according to the town, was Josephine Herrera. Maria Punzo Arias is also Latina and a current member of the board but she is a non-voting member. Vargas received lots of support from community members, many being senior citizens, who attended the board meeting to extend their congratulations during the citizen’s comments portion of the meeting.
Alongside, Vargas broke traditional appointment speeches and delivered some of her speech in Spanish.
“I will do my best of my ability to take care of our town and make sure that with all these laws and regulations to be taken care of in advance,” said Vargas.
In the past, Vargas has advocated for town board meetings to be held in the afternoon.
The next board meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 12 at 10 a.m. at the 4949 W. Cermak Road.
Michael Izquierdo is a local freelance journalist and a contributing reporter for Cicero Independiente.
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