Board Agrees To Join The Illinois State Police Violent Crime Intelligence Task Force
The Town of Cicero trustees during their bi-weekly board meeting on Tuesday, August 9th, 2022. April Alonso for Cicero Independiente.
By Efraín Soriano
Town of Cicero Board members and President Larry Dominick assembled on August 9, 2022 to authorize several ordinances and resolutions.
The approved agenda items featured the promotion to Lieutenant and Engineer of two Cicero Fire Department (CFD) employees, the purchase of a new CFD fire engine, an intergovernmental agreement with the Illinois State Police (ISP) to join the new Violent Crime Intelligence Task Force and much more.
You may find that a few agenda items covered in this recap include events that have already occurred. A Freedom of Information Act request was made on August 8 for documents related to the agenda items, but the town requested an extension until August 22.
A video recording of the board meeting can be found down below. You can also find all the documents used for this recap here.
Here is a summary of the approved agenda items:
Permits
The board began by quickly approving block party permits for the following locations:
1500 Block of Lombard Avenue on August 20
1900 Block of 61st Avenue on August 20
2100 Block of Lombard Avenue on August 20
5000 Block of 25th Place on September 4
5212 Block of 23rd Street on August 27
6000 Block of 28th Street on August 27
St. Mary of Czestochowa Parish submitted a permit to hold their annual fundraising event on Saturday, August 27 from 4 - 10 p.m. and Sunday, August 28 from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. The event will take place on 30th Street from 49th Avenue to 48th Court and will feature horses, food, music, bingo games and raffles.
The next 8-10 minutes of the board meeting featured a long discussion between Dominick, town project manager Craig Pesek and Oscar Roman about a mural to be painted on the side wall of 5123 West Cermak Road.
Oscar Roman shows the mural design planned at his business to Town officials during the board meeting (April Alonso / Cicero Independiente).
Pesek attested that the mural had begun without approval or permits the night before and the Building department went out and stopped the process. He also stated that the mural was “an advertisement disguised as a mural” for the business located at this property, which is a direct violation of town ordinances preventing ads from being painted directly on a building.
Roman, who is the regional sales director for Ultra Mobile, the business operating at this property, stated that the mural was meant to attract customers into the store but also provide a “positive appeal to the Latino culture,” here in Cicero. He then suggested removing the Ultra Mobile logo from the proposed mural to be within the guidelines.
The board denied the request as presented because it was still in violation of town ordinances, and suggested that the property owner and Roman reapply and work with the town staff to come up with something that is appropriate.
Violent Crime Intelligence Task Force
The next item approved by the board was an intergovernmental agreement between the Town of Cicero and the Illinois State Police (ISP) to join forces through the Violent Crime Intelligence Task Force. As part of the Task Force, Cicero is required to enforce Firearm Owners Identification Card Act (FOID) violations, and share information and data regarding violent crimes with the ISP during joint investigations.
The Town of Cicero will be responsible for their own expenses, equipment and personnel to operate their division of the task force. The agreement makes Cicero eligible to receive funding through the FOID Enforcement Fund Grant but no amount has been awarded at this time.
The agreement also states that all member agencies are able to share all equipment and personnel with other participating agencies.
Town Spending
Three agenda items were approved that authorized quotes provided to the town:
$17,475 quote to replace a broken traffic signal device on 31st Street and Laramie Avenue
$641,650.37 quote to purchase a new fire engine from Sutphen Corporation
$75,000 service agreement with Benford Brown & Associates, LLC to perform a required financial audit for 2020
Promotions
Cicero Fire Department Engineer Brian Mladek To The Rank Of Lieutenant.
Cicero Fire Department Firefighter Benjamin Zibutis To The Rank Of Engineer.
Citizen Comments
Following the CFD promotions, the board opened the floor for any comments from the public. Cicero resident Gerardo Nava came up to the podium and addressed the board with concerns over the lack of clarity and transparency on the agenda.
Cicero community resident, Gerardo Nava, speaks during citizen comments, on the practice of transparency, at the town board meeting on Tuesday morning, August 9th, 2022 (April Alonso /Cicero Independiente).
“Three ordinances were authorized without too much clarification regarding what agreements the Town of Cicero is applying for,” Nava said. “It would be appreciated if the residents of the Town of Cicero could know what their taxpayer dollars are being used for.”
Town Clerk Maria Punzo-Arias quickly responded to Nava and provided clarity on one agenda item regarding the purchase of a traffic signal device.
Nava proceeded to inquire further about the intergovernmental agreement with the ISP but Arias passed the question along to the Town Attorney Michael Del Galdo.
“It is an intergovernmental agreement with the Illinois State Police. We’d be happy to provide you a copy after the board meeting here,” Del Galdo said.
Find a video of the full board meeting below.
Efrain Soriano is a local freelance photographer and a contributing reporter for Cicero Independiente.
Want to read more stories like this? Consider making a donation to support our work. Your money goes directly towards paying journalists of color to report on local news.
SUBSCRIBE
Bringing you news from the 60804
We respect your privacy and will only use your information to send you our latest posts.