Cicero Board Approves Referendum Questions About Write-in Candidates for November Elections
The Town of Cicero Board of Trustees meet Tuesday morning, June 28th, 2022 at town hall in Cicero, Ill. April Alonso for Cicero Independiente
By Efraín Soriano
The Town of Cicero board meeting held on June 28 featured the approval of various permits for upcoming events open to the community such as a Back to School block party and the annual Queenship Festival on 24th Street, invoices regarding the Cinco de Mayo Festival, three (3) referendum questions to be added to the general election ballot in November, and much more.
You can find all the documents used for this recap here. Cicero Independiente submitted a request for the documents on June 28 and received them on July 5, 2022.
All items on the agenda were approved.
Here is a summary of the approved agenda items:
Referendums for the November elections
In February of 2021, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Maureen O. Hannon found that the election system approved in 2004 by the Town Of Cicero did not provide a means for people to run for local elections as write-in candidates. The board therefore approved a resolution to add a binding referendum question for residents of Cicero to decide whether the town should create a write-in candidacy procedure.
The referendum will appear as a binding question on the November 8, 2022 General Election ballot. Meaning, if itMeaning if it is approved, the Town will be responsible for implementing the approved system outlined on page 122 of the documents above.
The question that will appear on voters’ ballots is:
SHALL BALLOTS CAST FOR WRITE-IN CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT, CLERK, SUPERVISOR, ASSESSOR, COLLECTOR, AND TRUSTEES OF THE TOWN OF CICERO BE COUNTED AT THE TOWN’S NONPARTISAN PRIMARY ELECTIONS SUBJECT TO THE SPECIFICATIONS DETAILED HEREIN?
The specifications can be found in the full agenda document linked above. Another question that will appear on the November 8, 2022 General Election ballot has to do with firearms. It will ask voters if the Cook County State Attorney should be required to press and prosecute charges where firearms are used or discharged during the commission of an alleged crime.
The question is:
Shall the Cook County State’s Attorney be required to press and prosecute charges where firearms are used or discharged during the commission of an alleged crime, including felonies and misdemeanors?
The board also approved an advisory referendum question regarding hours of operation for liquor establishments to appear on the November 8, 2022 General Election ballot.
Currently the hours of operation for liquor establishments disallow the sale of liquor from Monday-Saturday after 2:00 am and Sunday after 3:00 am. The new hours of operation proposed on the advisory question would disallow the sale of liquor Monday-Friday after 1:00 am and after 2:00 am on Saturday and Sunday. These new proposed hours would only affect businesses holding a liquor license whose sales of alcohol account for more than 50% of their gross receipts. The advisory question does not require the Town to act on the results, this is only to receive input from voters.
Permit Applications
After hearing the referral of the Police Department, the Board started off with the approval without objection of two block party permits for the 3600 block of 55th Avenue and the 3700 block of 61st Court.
The Erie Neighborhood House received approval to set up a table in the Town of Cicero building on Cermak. Erie Neighborhood House is a nonprofit organization that specializes in providing support for undocumented and low-income communities such as ESL classes, legal services, and early childhood programming. They will be operating Monday-Thursday from 9:00 am-11:00 am and 4:00 pm-6:00 pm.
The organizations Inner City Impact and Youth Crossroads submitted a permit application to host a Back to School block party and community resource fair on Monday, August 8, 2022 from 3:00-7:00 pm. The board quickly moved to approve this permit. The Back to School Bash will see sponsors giving out book bags and various other school supplies to those who attend. The event will take place in and around the Salvation Army parking lots on 23rd Place and Laramie which means that 23rd Place from 51st Ave to Laramie Avenue will be closed that day from 10:00am-8:00pm.
The board then moved on to revisit a permit request by Mary Queen of Heaven for their annual Queenship festival which was tabled at the previous June 14 board meeting. You can read a recap of the comments by the board on June 14 here. This time around the parish submitted all necessary documents and permits with their application.
President Larry Dominick continued to have concerns regarding the festival’s requested closure of 53rd Avenue and 24th Place, and music until 11:00 pm on Friday and Saturday night. Dominick proceeded to ask Superintendent of Police Jerry Chlada for the opinion of the police department.
“If the board approves [the permit], we’ll take care of it,” responded Chlada.
The board moved to approve the request by Mary Queen of Heaven, and the 15th annual Queenship Festival is set to take place from Wednesday, August 10 to Sunday, August 14 as originally planned.
The board also approved a permit to allow the Salvation Army to conduct their annual Red Kettle Campaign in public sidewalks and intersections, and any private properties whose owner grants permission. This campaign runs from November 1 to December 24, 2022.
Town payments
Next on the agenda was an invoice from Klandestino Entertainment Inc. for the services they provided during this year's Cinco de Mayo festival. The total approved amount was $6,250.00 for coordinating the entertainment on the second stage at the festival.
Along with the invoice, the board entered into an agreement with Klandestino Entertainment to provide similar services during the Cicero Fest on the weekend of July 4th, the Houby Fest on October 7-9, and the Mexican Independence Day festival on September 15-18. The agreement notes that none of these events shall exceed $9,000 total for services provided by Klandestino.
The board then moved on to approve another invoice regarding the Cinco de Mayo festival earlier this year. This invoice was from ADB Entertainment for a total of $33,990.00. The services provided by ADB Entertainment included the distribution of power for the whole festival, the setup of various tents and water barrels, and a large video screen.
The final approved agenda item was for a quote provided by EHMS Mechanical Services in the amount of $21,860.00. This quote included all parts and labor needed to replace the air conditioning compressor in the Town’s council chambers where all board meetings take place.
Citizen Comments
Only one resident, Jose, came up to the podium during this portion of the board meeting.
“My concern is that now you see a lot of cars with tinted windows, tinted windshields, and cars with a number scratched off the license plate,” said Jose.
No response was given directly by the board. However, superintendent of police Jerry Chlada did approach Jose after the meeting.
The Town of Cicero board meeting came to a close after 17 minutes total.
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.