We have the whole meeting for the Elgin City Council.

To order for November 5th, 2025.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council members Alfaro.

Present.

Dixon.

Present.

Good.

Here.

Martinez?

Here.

Ortiz.

Here.

Powell.

Here.

Stefan.

Here.

Thorne.

Here.

Mayor Captain.

Here.

Approval of the minutes of the previous meeting of October 23rd, 2025.

So for approval.

Second second for approval.

Any corrections or additions.

Hearing none, Cork, please call the roll.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Good?

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, the motions approved nine zero.

Uh, this brings us to portion for public comment.

We have a number of people that signed up.

Uh, we have uh Carol, Carol Bailey twice.

Uh I'm gonna limit you to three minutes.

Uh, we have ten people that sign up, so I'm gonna limit it limit you to three minutes.

The first three minutes for her to get up with her.

I have a friend who lives on Moseley.

She told me a horror story about the abduction of one of her neighbors.

Ice is a product of a Republican government.

The ice agents threw her neighbor on the ground and dragged him away.

He was just trying to go to work, but he was guilty of being a brown skinned human.

People are afraid to take their children to school.

While shopping at a grocery store, you may end up being dragged away by ice in Chicago today.

They broke into a preschool and dragged away the teachers in front of the children and left the children there alone.

Our churches have taken steps to keep people at our soup kettle and food pantries safer.

Our city is a target for ice.

These so-called agents have no warrants, they do not respect due process, no attempt to identify themselves, just cruel and sometimes vicious treatment of people.

We must make city buildings and property safer for our friends and neighbors.

I would strongly urge you to limit ice activity on city property in Elgin.

It is crucial we safeguard our community members.

Thank you for your time.

Be safe.

I have another one.

Uh oh.

One moment.

The first time I lived in Elgin was 51 years ago.

I'm a single parent.

I had completed high school.

I worked two jobs, yet I could barely make ends meet.

I was ashamed to ask for help.

I eventually got a small amount of help with food stamps.

I was not and am not a slacker or lazy.

I'm just a regular person.

Since then, I have completed two degrees in automotive engineering and technology.

I have traveled the world as a diagnostic specialist for major automotive companies.

I retired to Elge to be near my local family.

I no longer need SNAP or food assistance, however, many people do.

It is inconceivable to me that the Republicans are using food assistance as a weapon to punish people.

Even before the debacle that is now our government, I donated to food for Greater Elgin.

I volunteered there.

I did what I could to help.

I encourage everyone here tonight and watching this meeting on Zoom to do the same thing.

Have embassy here for your friends and neighbors, donate to food banks, volunteer to help our friends and neighbors.

Find the time.

What we do in response to this food emergency shows who we are as a community.

Let's take care of each other.

Thank you for your time.

And again, be safe.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor and Council members.

My name is Ebenezer Amun Raj.

I'm the owner of the Glass Market Smoke Shop here in Elgin.

I'm here tonight not just as a business owner, but as a neighbor, someone who entracts every day with families, workers, and young people who make up the heart of the city.

In recent months, I've witnessed a growing fear across our community.

Immigration enforcement activity has shaken families and created a chilling effect that reaches far beyond those directly impacted.

Parents are afraid to take their kids to school.

Employees hesitate to show up for work.

Customers avoid local businesses out of fear.

This isn't just an immigration issue.

It's a human and economic one.

When residents live in fear, our entire city suffers.

Businesses lose customers, schools lose engagement, and the sense of safety that binds the community begins to unravel.

We demand hope, safety, and protection, not just for some, but for all.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mary Holott.

Mary Holat.

Greetings to our Elgin City Council and the wonderful people assembled here tonight to support our community.

I arrived in Elgin in 1964 to attend Judson College.

I'm a graduate of Judson.

I am a Native American.

I'm a Suzanne Marie Chippois from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

And I am upset with the way brown people and black people are being treated.

ICE is wrong.

ICE is doing many horrible things.

I I beg of you to support an ordinance that says Algin denies access to ICE in our public places.

Our friends, people less with much less than I have, people with more than I have.

People are being treated indiscriminately.

And we cannot allow this to go by without standing for them as a community, as neighbors, and as friends.

Please, please pass some ordinance that says Algin stands with its citizens.

We have many here who've been mistreated, who will continue to be mistreated.

Black and brown people are being rounded up on the reservations.

They're getting brown people.

They don't care where they're from either.

They don't care where you come from.

They're just getting you.

They don't care if you've got an education, they don't care if you make a million dollars.

It doesn't matter.

They're being indiscriminate, they're being unlawful, and it is absolutely detestable.

Thank you for your attention.

Thank you.

Dan Tully.

Dan Tully.

Dan.

Good evening, Mr.

Mayor and City Council.

My name is Dan Tully.

As an attorney, I helped Venezuelan migrants apply for temporary protected status and work permits.

And now in my work in the Elgin community, I'm hearing whispers and concerns from people that say there's a lot of similarities between what's going on now and 1930s Germany.

And you know, there are certainly similarities.

We have government agents, oftentimes anonymous, pursuing minority groups, kidnapping them, taking them off the streets, using unlawful tactics, and getting away with it.

And so there are similarities, but there's there's also one big difference.

And that difference is that we're all aware of what's going on.

We see every single day in our newsfeeds news and news stories about just how cruel ice can be, just how unlawful ice can be.

And so in that context, we oftentimes wonder what can we do about it.

You know, some of us, many of us go to protests and protest it.

Others go to Broadview and try to cast a light directly on a nice facility.

Others go so far as to even break the law by putting their hands on ice vehicles to try to slow the pace of ICE operations.

This council tonight has the opportunity to do something even more significant and even more legal to slow the pace of ICE operations.

I would rise to encourage this council to pass an ordinance to limit ICE activity, or at the very least, pass the proposed resolution that you'll consider tonight.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Hello.

My name is Cristo Espinoza.

I am here once again to urge you, the city council member members to do what is within your power to limit CBP and NICE's abilities to harm Elgin.

Today, agenda item G is set to propose the approval of a resolution prohibiting ICE, sorry, prohibiting city-owned properties from being used as a staging area, processing location, operations base, or other support for civil immigration enforcement.

I am grateful that you have decided to take action.

But I am disappointed that the action you are taking is insufficient.

A resolution is simply not enough.

I would ask that you vote on an ordinance today instead.

A resolution is a formal expression of a decision, opinion, or policy made by a city council.

Resolutions are typically for matters that are temporary or non-legislative.

An ordinance, on the other hand, is a law or regulation established by a city government and enforced by a local law enforcement.

A resolution is not the right tone for our city council to city official to take at this moment.

An ordinance is.

The establishment of ice-free zones in Elgin must be law and not just a formal expression.

I hope the city council feels the urgency on this matter.

Two weeks ago, the room was full of people who came to attend the know your rights training, as well as to support this topic.

No other topic weighs more on the minds of Elginites than this topic.

The topic of the topic of what is our city government willing to do to protect our community, both non-citizens and citizens alike from mass thugs who are emboldened by the corrupt and constitution violating Trump regime.

We have seen Ice Free Zone ordinances get enacted in neighboring cities and villages such as Chicago and Carpentersville.

We deserve the same here in Elgin.

Please meet the moment.

These are exceptional times.

We need to make exceptions with how we can well with how we take care of business here.

To the crowd, can I get a show of hands?

Who here is who is here regarding an ordinance to establish ice-free zones?

Yeah.

Okay.

It has immediate impacts.

To further delay discussion on this topic would demonstrate that you don't perceive the gravity of the threat we face.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council.

I'm here tonight to speak about item G, regulating the use of city owned property for civil immigration enforcement.

I read the resolution.

I see several times in the document that this resolution is the response to council members' direction last meeting for legal counsel to provide meaningful and enforceable regulations to protect the community from civil immigration activities on city-owned property.

Thank you to Christo for uh educating us a little bit on the difference between resolutions and ordinances.

My understanding, while incomplete, would be that a resolution has less legal standing and thus is a less powerful measure than an ordinance.

So, like Christo, who spoke before me, uh I will also be listening tonight for why the city is presenting a resolution instead of an ordinance.

I'm sure that will be addressed.

We know that these supposed officers of the law violate civil rights and break laws, let alone resolutions daily.

We know they'll break an ordinance too, but knowing that very despicable truth leads me to think we should be pursuing the action that has the best chance of forcing accountability, even if it is after the fact.

Infuriatingly, the damage to human lives is done by then.

Parents are being taken from their children, families destabilized by the removal of a breadwinner, children traumatized, but I would still ask the council to pursue the action that will most effectively uphold safety and justice, both in the moment and even if that justice is delayed and has to be sought by court order or the new accountability commission after the fact.

I want to end by speaking less to the council and more to my fellow community members, in particular ones who are not inclined to agree with anything I may have said tonight.

Don't know if you're in the room.

But if you're listening, one.

Something I do not think we are reminded or even know enough is that immigration law is civil law, not criminal law.

You may believe that someone has broken a law by coming into this country without proper documentation, but to equate that with being a criminal is simply incorrect by definition.

Simply incorrect by definition in the very legal system that some seem so intent on championing.

Two, if you are a white person, I would like to remind you that you too have an immigration story in your family.

You may or may not know it.

You may believe you are somehow different than the families being made to live in fear daily in our country today, but you are not.

We are not, and we should all be ashamed of what is happening around us.

Thank you.

We have a resolution, but as was previously mentioned, that doesn't go far enough.

ICE actions in Elgin have been unprecedented and unconscionable.

In such unprecedented actions, we've seen an unprecedented community response.

Do we see that in this room?

I've been a lead mark I've been a lead marshal with the protests on Kimball Street that many of you have been at.

We've seen an unprecedented response with thousands of elginites.

And we have heard the support, and each one of those represents many more who support us.

An economist YuGov poll said that 8% of Americans support the No Kings protest because we live in these unprecedented times.

And so we have thousands of Alginites coming out, they represent thousands more.

These are our constituents, so we might be few or many, but we represent many more like yourselves.

We have this resolution.

Is it meaningful?

It's a start.

But what I heard, what I saw from the resolution from the agenda, was that it's two to three weeks to print the signs, six to eight weeks to post the signs.

That's too long.

Right.

We have had the No Kings protest because in with an unprecedented legal illegal violation of law, violation of the rule of law, we need an unprecedented legal response.

Right?

And we've had the hands-off protests because we're saying, as a community, all of us, hands off our neighbors.

Thank you.

Lisa Weimhoff.

Lisa Weimhoff.

Good evening, Mayor and City Council.

I've lived here for over ten years, and I've always felt safe.

Safe enough to start my family and raise my children here.

I love my neighborhood and I love my neighbors.

But these are unprecedented times, and that safety is no longer felt.

Parents at the school that my children attend are no longer safe to watch their children to school, or to even go to the store to buy basic food.

I'm doing the best to protect my neighbors.

One of them being a single mother with a child with a disability.

They haven't left their home in weeks out of fear.

Because ICE is not operating under the law.

They are kidnapping kidnapping my neighbors without warrants.

I'm only one person, and this count this country is founded on immigrants.

It's time to support the immigrants and their children in our city.

This is a human rights issue, and it's my hope that my city will be on the right side of history.

Thank you.

The last person is Kevin Egg.

Stephen Esh.

I don't know.

I don't know.

Good evening, Mayor.

Good evening, City Council, and everybody out here.

I'm going to talk about something completely utterly different.

I'm sorry, I agree with everything you're talking about, but something other.

What that is, I would like all of you to go to your phone and ask this question.

Does Northeastern Illinois have a water problem?

That includes the Fox River and all the other three rivers besides that in northeastern Illinois.

My family has lived here for almost five generations.

This was taken in 1898.

This is on Old Sutton Road in South Barrington.

They owned a farm down there.

Okay.

And he would have dug it, let's say 175 feet to 200 feet down.

He would have hit the St.

Peter Aquifer.

At that time, water would literally come out of almost out of the ground.

Today, there's none.

It's gone.

We've used it up.

So that's why if you go over there to 59 and 72, which is the atrium little shopping center, they're switching over to Chicago water.

Just like the old Sears complex already is switched over to Chicago water.

Okay.

Joliet in the southwestern suburbs of Chicagoland two years ago, signed up to get Chicago water.

The cost of the pipe alone to go to Chicago from Chicago to Joliet at that time was one billion dollars.

Today the cost of that pipe is 1.44 to 1.5 billion dollars.

Elgin is about the same distance from that Chicago pipe to Joliet as Chicago to Elgin.

So if we don't get any water out of that river anymore, because I hate to say this, but people like to name shame and blame us for getting it out of it.

Do any of you have 1.5 billion dollars for water?

Any of you?

I don't.

And I don't think any of us want to pay that much.

So there is an opportunity though for us.

Right now, Kane County is using 12.

Oh well, I'm taking that back, 14.5 million gallons out of the water right now, out of the ground.

That's everybody besides Elgin and Aurora.

Elgin and Aurora, we get our water out of the river.

That's 58% of Kane County get that water out of the river.

That means 42% are taking more water out of the water, out of the ground than we have.

By the tune of 14.5 million gallons per day.

We don't have time to sit and wait to see what that river is gonna be.

There is an opportunity for us to change that dam.

There's a dam down in Yorkville, Illinois.

The DNR does not want to take that down, but the friends of the Fox and other people say take them all down because it's good for the fish and buybells.

This is true.

But then nobody will have water here unless you want to pay that amount of water money.

Start wrapping your comments up.

So that's where I'm at.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, Mr.

Manager.

Thank you, Mayor.

The first item is a subagreement with the Association for Individual Development relating to hotel-based housing reimbursement.

City partnered with the Association for Individual Development, commonly referred to as AID under the state of Illinois Unsheltered Pilot Program.

It provides hotel-based housing and case management for individuals relocated from the 10th city encampment.

The city initially received 418,000 in state fiscal year 25 funding for hotel reimbursement and an additional $65,000 from the Kane County Health Department grant, first year of the program's operation.

AID has since been awarded $1 million for state fiscal year 26 funding, with 700 of that $1 million being allocated for the city's continued hotel reimbursement.

This new sub award agreement allows the city to seek reimbursement for those expenses that will be incurred.

Once all state reimbursement funds are expended, the city's previously allocated $425,000 can be used to maintain operations unless additional state or other sources of funding are secured.

Through the first sub-award agreement, 39 individuals received housing and supporting services through AIDS program outcomes include transitions into permanent supportive housing, employment placements, engagement in mental health and therapy services, and overall improvements in health and safety.

This agreement continues the city's role in the state's pilot program while AID works to transition participants towards permanent housing solutions.

Second has been moved to second floor approval.

Any discussion?

Mr.

Ortiz.

So the city hasn't spent any of the money allocated yet because that'll come from grants of the state, correct?

That is correct, Councilmember.

That original 425,000 case the allocation has not yet been spent.

That's all the half things.

Anything else?

Mr.

Steph.

Yeah, I have a question I forgot to ask in my emails.

Umce we just saw this morning that um Wayside Center is buying a building on the west side on 31 north of downtown or under contract, it may or may not happen, and they're talking about transitional housing.

How does that work with the emergency housing we're doing?

Does it?

Is it different?

What can we tell the public about how that is going to work with or not work with what we're doing?

It works in the sense that it will be providing housing for persons experiencing homelessness, but Wayside manages its own operations without any city assistance, other than the zoning approval that it sought that you were referring to, it's an independent operation that doesn't um that doesn't work with any state or federal grant funding.

What it does do in the longer picture is if the city continues its work towards getting a permanent location for emergency housing services, that in conjunction with Wayside and PADS operation moves the city closer to what is often referred to is functional zero when it comes to homelessness because you typically add up all of the available beds on any given night, and if there are sufficient beds to meet the recognized population, shows that the city and its social service providers and other agencies doing the job.

Great.

Thank you.

Anything else?

Court, please call the role.

Well, I'm sorry of the manager.

Um how many spaces are there?

Spaces available right now at the hotel for like if we if there are additional people who might find themselves in a situation where they're um uh homeless.

Are we accepting additional people into the program at the hotel right now?

We are not, and that's primarily because of limitations that come with AID and it's at capacity with case management.

So there is not presently the ability to provide those wraparound services for any other individuals at the Lexington Hotel at this time.

That's what I thought, but thank you for confirming that.

Okay.

Anything else?

Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, motions approved nine zero.

Item B is an agreement renewal with access one for the city's voice telephone services.

The city's landline service arrangement with access one in place since 2012, currently has an expired contract to ensure uninterrupted service while the city evaluates a potential unified communications as a service replacement.

U pass, you probably know what that is.

Staff negotiated an 18-month extension that includes reduced monthly rates and a one-time two thousand dollar credit if the extension is executed in November.

The short-term renewal preserves favorable pricing and aligns with the city's plan to revisit a full UCAS transition during the 2027 budget cycle.

Move for approval.

Second.

Move and second for approval.

Any discussion.

Hearing none, Clerk, please call the rule.

Councilmember Zalfaro.

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Marking this?

Yes.

Orties?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, the motion is approved nine zero.

Item C D and E all involve change orders to lead service line programs conducted in the 2024 program.

In two instances, there are minor increases, and one instance a small decrease or reduction in cost.

The first is item C, and that's contract A, change order number one and final, and that relates to uh bid number 24-016.

Just for information, this increases the total cost of the original contract by 91,000.

That original contract was originally 4.5 million dollars.

Move for approval.

Second, move to second for approval.

Any discussion.

Hearing none, Cork, please call the rule.

Council Member Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

Motions approved nine zero.

Item D is change order number two and final for bid number 24-017.

That is contract B.

In this instance, there is a reduction in the amount of 124,000 for a contract that was just originally under $8 million.

Move for approval.

Second.

Second.

Move and second floor approval.

Any discussion?

Nobody wants to give the money back.

Clerk please call the rule.

Council Members Alfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good?

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

Motion's approved nine zero.

Item E is change order number two and final for bid number 24-018.

This is contract C.

In this instance, there's a small increase of 22 or just short of 23,000 dollars for a contract that was in the original amount of 1.5 million dollars.

Move for approval.

Second.

Move the second floor approval.

Any discussion?

Mr.

Snapchat.

Just just to follow up on your comment, Mayor.

Um for those that are keeping track, maybe aren't as nerdy as I am and do that, but uh the total result, the result of these three changes is a net savings of ten thousand one hundred and sixty-nine dollars and twenty-three cents.

So I just wanted to make that comment.

Ms.

Selfarrow.

So I have a question on this one.

So the original contract was 120 service lines that were supposed to be done.

Um, but what was done was 89 service lines.

So why did the price go up if they were supposed to do 120 at that price?

So it it typically involves conditions that are occurred in the field where there's original estimates on what the costs are when you open up the ground and find out what the condition of those services are.

It may require more materials or additional labor to accomplish the intended project.

Okay.

That makes sense.

Thank you.

Anything else?

Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Yes, the motion is approved nine zero.

Item F is an agreement with Harold Beckin' Sons for filter valves and control stations purchases for the water department.

The water department has hundreds of valves throughout the both legal Nelson Riverside and the airlight water treatment plants.

These valves serve a multitude of purposes, including involving the flow of water or chemicals throughout the treatment process.

This agreement includes the replacement of four critical valve actuators and the purchase of eight control stations.

Move for approval.

Second.

Move and second for approval.

Any discussion.

Hearing none, clerk, please call a roll.

Council Member Zalfaro.

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Dorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

Motions approved 9-0.

Item G uh involves regulating the use of city-owned properties for civil immigration enforcement activities.

This proposed resolution prohibiting city-owned properties from being used as a staging area, processing location, operations base, or other support for civil immigration enforcement, is informed by recent state level actions and has been drafted consistent with the city council's directive to provide meaningful and enforceable regulations that will protect the community from civil immigration enforcement activities on city-owned property.

City employees or agents who become aware of the attempted or actual use of a city-owned property for the civil immigration enforcement are required to immediately report to their supervisor, who then shall immediately report to the city manager or designee.

The proposed resolution contemplates the city responding to reports of incidents involving individuals claiming to be federal agents, no differently than it responds to any other incident report.

A police department supervisor will respond to any reported incidents involving federal agents under the provisions of this resolution.

Upon arrival, the police department supervisor will conduct an initial assessment and determine whether there's a basis to find that the city-owned property is being used in violation of the resolution.

Responding police department supervisor will then document the investigation in a report.

The proposed resolution requires the city manager to review incidents reports and to take appropriate action, which may also include reporting and coordinating with the recently formed Illinois Accountability Commission.

If it is determined that federal agents have used or are using city property in violation of the resolution, the city will investigate the violations and if necessary, seek a court order requiring the federal agents to vacate the property or to prohibit further entry onto the property.

If another unit of local government within the city's corporate limits adopts a resolution substantially in the form of Elgin's resolution, such as a school district pursuant to the directives in the recently approved House Bill 1312 and has posted signage on those properties, the city will respond to and investigate reports of incidents on those properties consistent with the provisions of this resolution with respect no differently than city owned properties.

In the event it is determined that such properties of a local government have been also been in use in violate in violation of that unit of local government's resolution.

The city will cooperate with that unit of local government in seeking a court order or pursuing other actions to enforce the same.

There's an additional provision in this ordinance that contemplates the city to design and print standardized signage that private property owners or leaseholders may display to delineate non-public areas of the property in which the landowner or leaseholder wishes to restrict activities related to civil immigration enforcement.

The city under the resolution will make these signs available free of charge to private home landowners and leaseholders who voluntarily decide to designate their property as such.

This evening in attendance is Elgin police chief Anna Lally, and also in attendance is Kane County State's attorney Jamie Mosser, who is making herself too available to answer any questions.

At the end of the dias Elgin Corporation Council Christopher Beck, who has spent many hours preparing this resolution.

Move for approval.

Second second.

It's been moved and second for approval.

Any discussion.

Ms.

Powell.

Thank you.

Um I want to start off by thanking all the folks that came out today.

Um everyone has busy lives, but I heard a term tonight by several folks that got up and spoke.

And that term was unprecedented.

And I can't think of a better word to explain and describe what we're going through.

Not only in Elgin, but across our country right now.

This is unprecedented.

I wish we could do more.

I wish that we could be even more effective.

Um I I believe this is a start.

Um actually I take that back.

This is a continuation of what the city of Elgin has done in response to the unprecedented actions that we are seeing in Elgin right now.

Um I have a couple of questions for corporation council and whoever else may want to answer them.

Uh there was a question raised by a resident about the difference between an ordinance and the resolution and why you chose to craft a resolution versus an ordinance.

Could you explain that today for us, Chris?

Mr.

Beck.

Uh thank you, Councilmember Powell.

And I agree this is unprecedented, both in kind of the common parlance is also uh from legal perspective, a lot of this is unprecedented.

There's not a lot of case law, there's not a lot of direction where we have local governments trying to regulate the federal government in this manner.

But there are examples, and there's a very clear principle in constitutional law under the supremacy clause called intergovernmental immunity.

And what that basically means is that units of local government as well as the state can't directly regulate the federal government, and they can't pass laws that discriminate against the federal government.

So in looking at those principles, as well as what nearly every other community that has looked at this, and I'm sure has looked at these issues, has done, and by that I mean Evanston passed a resolution, Wheeling passed a resolution, uh Lake County passed a resolution, uh City of Chicago, North Chicago, Cook County, and Will County all uh entered executive orders.

Uh I think recognize uh some of the difficulties not just adopting regulations but then enforcing any kind of regulations against uh the federal government besides just legal matter that also uh place our officers in a very difficult situation if they were ever trying to enforce it.

And uh the speaker that uh spoke about the differences between resolutions and ordinances were absolutely correct.

Ordinances uh have force of law and are written to be enforced by local law enforcement, and that's something in looking at that's not an action that I would recommend that we have our local law enforcement go out to places where uh it's believed federal government is congregating, possibly in violation of an ordinance, and trying to enforce the ordinance.

I I think that um could not only lead to the confrontation, possibly officers getting arrested, I could actually violate the law because like I said, these are unprecedented.

We don't know if this ordinance is constitutional if they are interfering with federal activities, that could violate federal law, and they could actually be uh guilty of crimes themselves.

So for all those reasons, I didn't think an ordinance was important enough.

I took to heart what the council said and tried to get something that would uh reflect the will of the council, and I think this resolution does that.

If it was an ordinance, I would recommend enforcing it the same way.

In terms of I would not recommend the police department going out to try to issue citations that we would still document violations that we would gather that report to the city manager, and then if the facts forward it file some kind of action and probably federal court to try to enjoy that.

So you know, I I know that it seems like important difference, but in terms of the practical effect, I think it would be enforced in the same way, and I I really have concerns about the legality of uh an ordinance against the federal government.

So that is why I came forward with a resolution.

Thank you for the explanation.

Um I believe we do have ordinary, and I think you kind of touched on this in your response.

We do have ordinances that are actually enforced or um by the city manager, correct?

So we if if we did choose to make this an ordinance, it could still be enforced by the city manager and not the police department, correct.

I think if you look at, for example uh Carpenterville, Carpentersville's ordinance specified the manner in how that ordinance would be enforced.

They're the one the community that didn't ordinance.

Aurora is kind of plaguing an ordinance, which again doesn't provide for any direct enforcement, it provides for reporting to the city manager and documenting it and working with the accountability commission.

So that's something that could be done.

Um if you want to have an ordinance, just being quiet the ordinance typically is a violation of an ordinance.

The reason why it's an ordinance is because violations are meant to be enforced, but we could specify the manner of enforcement and an ordinance if that's desire of the council.

But I think that does make the ordinance more susceptible to a constitutional challenge because again, direct regulations of the federal government are unconstitutional.

I mean, the law is clear, even though not in this to our context.

There's cases involving federal civil immigration enforcement that have struck down executive orders laws that seek to regulate the federal government.

So what you're saying is even if we kept it as a resolution, it could be struck down as well.

Either way, we would have to go to court that they could challenge the resolution if we started uh if we sought to enforce the the resolution through a court order.

I mean, that would be litigated in court.

Any of these issues would ultimately have to be litigated, I think.

So there's a portion of the resolution uh that speaks to um city employees not cooperating with um federal immigration agents.

Is there enforcement action?

I didn't see any disciplinary action written into the resolution to deal with employees that may be found to um violate this.

Was that an oversight or am I missing something?

This was that was not an oversight, it was meant to this reflects kind of the requirements of the trust act where we don't cooperate with the trust act provides that local law enforcement employees don't cooperate with uh federal civil immigration enforcement.

So, you know, again it was not something that I consider.

This was not meant to be um this is meant to set forth obligations, but not meant to be a code of conduct for which employees could be disciplined, at least that's not something I considered if they I guess if they violated that, that's something that they could be subject to discipline for, but it's not expressly set forth.

And uh well, I guess that's that's part of my question for either you or city manager.

Is there something in our code of conduct or our uh personnel manual that would give the city manager the ability to discipline um employees that are found to be in violation of the trust acting I I believe so I guess I I haven't been able to locate the provision in the ordinance where you were saying that there was an express prohibition on city employees cooperating?

So but that but that's okay.

I it's I I think Mr.

Beck answered that question.

This isn't code of conduct.

Like any other policy or procedure that's in place within the city, there's the ability to um impose discipline if there's a violation of that.

So that's something that I'm sure that we could work out behind the scenes with the human resources department if the council adopt this resolution or ordinance.

I think the employee manual actually makes it a violation for any violations of law.

So I think if it would be covered under that.

Okay.

Um that's in that's important to me.

Um, especially in light of what recently happened with um uh an LGIM police officer.

Um I guess I'm I'm interested in hearing what the rest of my colleagues have to say.

Uh councilman Stefan and I um initially brought this forward.

Um, with the support of several folks here on the council that you know were interested in this uh based on what we've seen in other communities and other jurisdictions, and also hearing from the community.

Um I'm torn about whether or not it would make sense to do this as an ordinance.

I know that's what we're hearing from folks, but I also am aware and cognizant of what I'm hearing from our corporation council in terms of what is going to um well it it it sounds like either one could be challenged potentially, um, whether it's a resolution, uh an executive order, um, an ordinance.

Um that's the the challenge I'm having right now.

So I'll hold the rest of my thoughts and let the rest of my colleagues speak.

Okay.

Mr.

Good.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um so normally I like to like try to do a walkthrough on anything, but to piggyback on these comments, I guess to start at the point of the courtroom, um, when we're talking about the differences between ordinances, resolutions, executive orders, um, to the attorneys in the room.

Is there a demonstrated success rate one way or the other of depending on how things are crafted, uh, whether as I've gone through this research, and what's outlined is that um we're not in a good position if we're legislating against federal entities, whereas um if we're directing it more at state and local, um, there's a designation.

So if the goal is to ultimately see this through and end up in a legal battle, is there a difference one way or the other in how these cases play out?

So I I should clarify, and this is something I kind of touched on at the last meeting, but what this resolution does and what all these resolutions do is the way they are justified as not regulating the federal government is they're based on uh what's called the anti-commandeering doctrine.

So that's kind of an exception under the Tenth Amendment, whereas you can't directly regulate the federal government, but at the same time, the federal government can't commandeer city personnel, city resources, city property to perform federal functions, in this case civil immigration.

So these resolutions say that the federal government cannot use city property to set up staging areas, um operation spaces or detention facilities on city property, and basically they're saying the federal government cannot commandeer city property.

Um so that's what all these resolutions or if it an ordinance do, they're based on that principle.

So in either case, when we're talking about a court action, um we're going to have to argue that yes, they were common, we're not regulating the federal government, they're commandeering our property and they're not allowed to do that.

And the dispute would be whether they were common during, for example, just accessing the property is not commandeering the property.

So none of these resolutions that anyone has adopted could stop the federal government from coming onto city property just as the public can, and this ordinance wouldn't do that either.

Um it's really about taking these properties to to use it for a particular purpose.

Like we're gonna gather at the parking lot and we're gonna meet and we're gonna coordinate and speak before we go out at the beginning of the day.

If they start doing that over and over, we would have to, you know, file some action if they you know, if we're documenting this and you know, somehow we make connections, they wouldn't leave the property.

This contemplates filing some court of court action, and a judge would ultimately have to decide as they have in other cases.

Okay, is the city directly regulating the federal government or discriminating against the federal government in violation of the intergovernmental immunity doctrine, or is federal government commandeering city property and the city's resolution or ordinance is a proper response and the federal government is not allowed to do that.

So that's the issue that would be decided by the court ultimately.

And that's true for resolution, ordinance, any form in which it comes to ordinary.

That's yeah, they both would operate the same way that all of these ordinances, the one ordinance and the resolutions executive order, all use the same language about that.

So that's that would be the issue that would be uh decided by a court ultimately.

Okay.

Um so then you know, to back it up to how this plays out, or at least to try and get this out into the public forum.

Um if this passes and goes forward um and there's visible uh presence of ice and there is an interaction, um, you know, we're seeing here what's laid out is more it's a documentation of what's happening, it's a report, um, if that escalates, you know, there's potential court order that's going to be pursued.

Um but what we've seen recently um is again the unprecedented behavior that's just happening across the board, um, but we're seeing individuals that are being detained, there's non-compliance from the federal agents, and up until the point where they're being restrained and then being uh delivered, it's just assault.

Um this just happened in Evanston, I believe.

They had somebody on the ground and they were punching them in the back of the head while they're detained.

So you know, we're here tonight to have this conversation, and we're um having to confront this reality that if we do respond, um, what is it that we're doing to record?

Um we have a mechanism within the eight the police department right now, uh, which is our axon ecosystem that captures footage for forensics.

Um what does that look like if there's a responding officer or city worker and um that's observed.

Did I feel I'm sorry, yeah.

I I know it's it's any anybody who has got more expertise on this than I do.

Um because I feel like it at this point, you know, what's transpired in the two weeks since the last time we all met, you know, so much has happened.

So I feel like any um scenario is at this point seemingly inevitable.

Um before she finally speaks, I'm sorry.

Could I yeah, just add one thing that I think is important in terms of why I think I recommended a resolution versus an ordinance because I can appreciate everybody that's here tonight, anybody that watches this is going to maybe understand the limitations of an ordinance, but what's an ordinance that's passed?

Anyone that doesn't watch this is going to think the city has adopted an ordinance.

This is something that can be enforced.

They're going to call the police department and they're going to seek to have this enforced.

And when the police department is not out there writing tickets, they're going to say, why aren't you enforcing this ordinance?

So there's an expectation created in the community that the police department will be able to more do more than it's actually able to under federal law.

So that's something important I want to address before.

I appreciate you making that uh impressing that on everybody once again.

Um and so, yeah, I I I typically don't like to venture into hypotheticals, but I feel like it's almost inevitable, even if it's in the language as a resolution is written, um, that that could be a potential situation that a city employee is that we that they're in and that they would experience and witness something like that.

And so um I'm just curious how that would work out from a body cam perspective or intervening if there's um something they're observing that's outside the lines of protocol.

Chief Lally.

Yeah, so um uh good evening, everyone.

Um as I mentioned uh at the last council meeting, so uh this resolution states uh what would happen.

A police supervisor would respond to the location, so we get a call for service, a police supervisor would respond.

They would attempt to see what is happening, and I can't give you the specifics of that because each incident is different.

Um in some of the incidents, it might be very visible what's happening because people have identified themselves through their vests that say I s uh or or whatever it is.

Um that being said, the officers will make that determination when they get on scene in terms of what documentation needs to take place.

Um there's the potential that yes, if they're there, they could have their body camera on if they're engaging in the law enforcement related activity if they're making contact with people.

But again, as I stated two weeks ago, we cannot interfere in lawful immigration uh practice.

And again, you know, it puts as the corporation counsel said, going there to document to see what's going on, we do that already.

People do call and say, hey, there's people with masks, there's people with vests.

We go out, we do a preliminary investigation to see what's going on to ensure that people are not impersonating a police officer.

We have done that already.

There's times where we've shown up and we know clearly that it's a immigration enforcement type of activity, and we leave.

We've also responded when there's a traffic crash that has involved immigration officers and just the public.

We go, we take a police report as we should.

So the way that this is written, um, we would go out, we would attempt to make whatever documentation efforts that we could, inclusive of any uh you know, cameras, uh, you know, uh anything that we could at the time.

Being mindful of the trust act, being mindful that we have to be uh within certain parameters, and I can't give you every hypothetical.

Uh I think that's not proper because the other thing too is that we have to make make it very certain and clear what exactly happens tonight because the public will expect something that they may not be getting, and we have to be very careful with that.

So in general, that would that would this is what would happen, and I can't give you any other specifics.

Um, but that's all I can say.

Well, I do appreciate it.

I know you're helping us navigate this really complex situation.

Um, you know, I know we're also seeing, I mean, even the FBI has uh issued memos um to agencies because they are masked and they're now experiencing increased instances of people who are are not agents and are going into neighborhoods and um false representing.

So um I just happening Americans and I want to be very clear with that because I've said it several times at council meetings and I will say it and repeat it.

We already respond to those types of calls for service and have responded.

The LGM police department will act in a lawful and proper manner to investigate any type of crime or criminal activity.

Again, elegant officers will not violate the law.

I will not give elegant officers a directive to violate the law.

Um that is not what we sign up for when we take our oath of office.

We will protect our community lawfully, properly, um, and ensure that the questions are answered, that we're being transparent about what we're doing.

Um but we do investigate, have investigated, and we'll continue to do that.

But the practical application of a police officer, and I and actually being on the street and actually having to do these things, um, it's very different when you're talking in theory and what happens in practicality.

So I'm trying to give a very practical, this is what would happen, this is what we do, these are the things that we have to be careful of, these are the unintended consequences.

Again, recognizing the gravity of the circumstances that are happening.

Thank you.

Uh and I know well, I I've already taken up a lot of time, so I apologize to my colleagues.

Um, but just to the community.

Um, you know, we we have multiple levels of government here tonight.

Um we have seen the state's response and trying to set up infrastructure for us to work together as a municipality with the community um to try and keep track of what's happening and figure things out in real time.

Um so I just want to say thank you to the other uh bodies of government that are here and everybody who's involved in this.

Um, you know, I don't know exactly what's gonna come out of this evening, but I hope you do feel that uh your your message is received loud and clear, and that um we're I think I could speak for a lot of my colleagues where we want to be here with you through this and and put as much teeth into this as possible.

But as we've just heard a lot of nuance between resolution ordinance, how it plays out in court, etc.

So um with that side, just yeah, thank you for showing up again this evening and now uh the mic over.

Okay, anything else down here?

Mr.

Step.

I'll go if nobody else on this side is.

Um I am definitely gonna support this as a first as another step, not a first step, um, but not certainly not the last step.

Um I've I had the same questions about why we're getting presented with a resolution and not an ordinance.

I think those questions have been asked.

Um I'm gonna keep pushing for more than this, even as I hope we pass this tonight.

Um just so everybody knows, in the last hour or so we received an email that was sent through our clerk from the library board of trustees, and they are in full support of this.

They have actually in that law in that letter outlined a lot of the same arguments you have brought up in your um three minute uh statements to us at the beginning of the meeting.

So um I want to point out something that you know a couple things that I am going to try to build on as we continue to try to deal with this moving target that just keeps metastasizing.

But um one of the things in this resolution that I am hopeful for, and I've already sent it back to the person that sent us the library's letter and support is this has a provision where if other local governments within our city want to do the same thing or a similar thing, we will have the police go and investigate and help and actually and also provide signage.

That's another big part of this resolution is we're gonna get some signs out to delineate.

Um I'm hopeful that the library, if they're supporting us, they're going to do something similar to this as well.

Um as I said, it's a moving target within the last two weeks since we actually brought this up and discussed it and asked for some um something from corporate counsel we can respond to and possibly move on.

Governor Pritzker signed an executive order uh creating the Illinois Accountability Commission.

And then I think it was Friday, but I didn't hear about it till the weekend.

There are uh the legislature has created safe zones around schools, hospitals, and courthouses, a thousand foot safe zones.

Um I see our state's attorney here.

Maybe I can talk to her about that because maybe she has more information on that.

Again, because we're getting these things uh literally in real time.

Um but let me go let me go to some up to my final comment and and you know I'm I'm hoping that we can get these out, the signs and everything out as soon as possible.

I know they're talking about six weeks.

Um you know there are people in this community that can't wait six weeks to to try to have a reasonable um life.

So um let him speak, please.

But the what what I what I have talked to some people about and I've been handed all kinds of materials to read and I've tried to um is I I want to push further and and investigate further, and that's one of the words that was used is investigate, also document and also witness how we can have our police do that, not enforce.

That's and that's one reason I'm I am not pushing hard for an ordinance because I don't want our police to be put into a position where they are out actually confronting ICE agents and possibly getting into some kind of confrontation and possible violence.

But there are ways to document, there are ways to witness, there are ways to investigate what has been going on, and and all of our officers are given body cameras, for instance.

We've gotten grants and we've spent millions of dollars, and we were one of the we were I think the first police agency in the state of Illinois, large one to go get body cameras.

Why can't we use those?

Why can't we turn those on and document?

Why can't we turn those on and document now that we have this commission where there is some place to take that information and try to push further?

So that's what I am, you know.

That's the new development that's happened in the last two weeks.

That's where I am kind of looking and directing my energy is how do we make what we do here, what our police do on our behalf, able to document some of this nightmarish stuff that's going on and send it now.

We have a commission that we can send to send it to, and hopefully they can do something about it, but at least there's a way to pass it on and have some consequences for that.

So that's where I'm at.

I am definitely in support, but willing to and going to be pushing further.

So those are my comments.

Okay, Ms.

Alfaro.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um this is no secret to some of my colleagues and to staff.

I do want an ordinance, so I'll start there.

And the reason why I think of an ordinance is because if the resolution and the ordinance can be challenged, we'll let the ordinance be challenged.

I think there is different ways of enforcement.

We do have ordinances that you know you can't start a business in a brick and mortar without an occupancy occupancy permit, um, depending on what it is, et cetera.

And that goes to code and et cetera.

So there's different levels of enforcement, right?

And so I do want to thank our our staff who worked tirelessly in out in hours.

I was emailing corporate counsel on Saturday early evening, and he was responding to me about this.

And so thank you to staff who took all the time to put this because if you look, I know some people are not happy that this is a resolution that was proposed, but this is one of the best resolutions.

If you look at other communities, it doesn't go as far as this resolution.

So thank you to staff for giving us as best as they could um with this information.

So some key things into this uh document.

I do have questions.

So I know we have in here that the police department supervisor would go um and investigate what is happening.

Unfortunately, things are happening in um quickly.

Um maybe they're not supervisors not available at that time, and then they get there a little later after ICE has left.

And so I wanted to talk about like how can people, if people see it, how can they take pictures and video and send it to city council or to the city manager, so that way we can look into it later, right?

So if there is a pattern, as we talked about in the resolution, we can go into a court order.

But the only way we could do the court order is if we could show that pattern.

So in the event that a police department supervisor doesn't get there in time, could we accept photos or videos from the public to document that ICE was there?

Could we I know what my response would be, but I think I should refer to the corporation council.

So I mean, certainly, I mean, we could take any kind of evidence.

I mean, okay, in terms of admissible evidence, and okay, you know, there's different layers of evidence, but if we're per, you know, swearing out a complaint and we want some reasonable basis.

I mean, if we have documentation, if we have videos, I mean, and anything like that, okay.

Um, we could use okay, cool, thank you.

Um, do you appreciate that the signs will be in English and Spanish and there'll be a QR code for other languages?

So I appreciate that thoughtfulness of language access to the signs.

Um, there was a comment during public comment that I also have that question.

Like the signs are taking quite some time, and the earliest the poly uh get here will be January if this is passed.

Um, and so given that six to eight weeks, and so at minimum, can we put up paper signs in the facilities?

I know we can't put paper signs in the parking lots because of rain and other things, but could we at least put paper signs on our facilities in the meantime until we get actual signage?

Yeah, certainly.

Okay, cool.

Just want to make sure.

Okay, so we can at least do that.

All right.

Um I really appreciate that we're gonna be able to provide signs to the private sector to our businesses.

Um, so thank you for that because I think that is a good way of of working together as a community.

I do have a question on page 50, it talks about definitions of civil immigration enforcement, and it talks about civil immigration inform enforcement means any investigation, arrest, detention, or surveillance conducted for the purpose of enforcing federal civil immigration laws.

Unfortunately, um they're not following laws, right?

And so could we in there um after federal immigration laws put in or immigration agenda from the federal government or something similar to indicate that it goes beyond just the laws because they're not following laws, they're doing what they want.

They're doing what they want.

It's lawless.

So can we put some kind of language in there?

Either immigration agenda from the federal government or something similar.

To indicate it's beyond just that.

I mean, if you want to amend that to say for the purported purpose of enforcing federal civil immigration laws, I mean well, I can we can do something along the lines you said, but I mean it's a definition if we want to expand it to include including possible enforcing, yeah, including illegal actions.

I mean, I think that's encompassed by that, but we could say I think for the purported purpose of enforcing federal civil immigration laws is what I would recommend.

But we could work on that if you don't like that language.

Or maybe something at the very end, then if we're leaving that definition, it's like this also includes um activities from uh immigration activities, maybe we can leave it a little bit more general and that kind of stuff because they're going beyond just the laws, right?

They're literally kidnapping people off the street.

So, like, could we just add something in there to that?

If you want to add that as a statement, I don't know that it is necessary for the enforceability of it, but I mean, certainly if you want some kind of statement along those lines and the council supports that.

I mean, we can propose an amendment along those lines or something.

Yeah, or just under that, because I think this just says that they're to me it implies that they're doing stuff that is um legitimate, which they're not.

So, like, could we just add something there?

Um talked about that.

Oh, also I would like to propose that once if this is approved, an ordinance or a resolution, if this uh city can't put out a public statement about this to help educate the community on the enforcement piece, right?

Because I think a lot of us have concerns about the inform enforcement piece and making sure the public is fully aware how enforcement will be done, and so if we could um put out a public comment in English and Spanish.

Also, if this resolution or ordinance, whichever one we end up passing, can also be translated in Spanish.

And that's what I got for now.

Mr.

Thorne.

Thank you, Mayor.

I wondered if I could uh call on our state's attorney.

I know she was hoping for that.

I wondered if you could just render either your opinion or information regarding legal ramifications of interaction and enforcement consequences.

Sure, absolutely.

So we're also dealing with this on the countywide level because we have been asked to review this for our own county property.

So I have been reviewing not only Elgin's res our or resolution, but also different jurisdictions that have put something in place, including Cook County, and have looked at what Kane has proposed.

And so what we're looking at all of this is through a few things.

So the first one is the Illinois Trust Act, and I just want to make sure that it's understood that the Illinois Trust Act prevents local law enforcement from having anything to do with federal immigration enforcement.

So that specifically says that local law enforcement cannot detain, continue detain, investigate anything to do with the immigration status or even inquire about a person's immigration status.

Sir, you want to you can move out of my way.

Move out of my way because that's what is happening.

Jason Lynch!

We see that movie I've made my why are you removing me?

Why are you removing me?

Because I'm voicing what is happening.

I've been waiting for a conference.

She's waiting for two weeks.

In the last meeting, I pointed out what is happening.

I've got a two-week program.

Every time I call, I get switched to a different person.

I get switched to a different commander, a different attorney.

But again, like you just tried to violate the freedoms act.

Why is he still on leave with pay?

So please step away from me.

Step away from me.

Step away from you shouldn't come up to me and try to intimidate me.

Or don't see what is happening.

Because our people have gotten shot in the past gone.

Our people are getting changed out of the top.

So are you gonna come up to me and think it's okay to try to intimidate me?

And a council meeting.

That is boys.

Yeah.

What he did was incorrect with that.

Was it incorrect what he just did, Chief Lady?

Where we're supposed to go to the community.

All right then.

We said after this because this is important to my community.

Because our people are out there from Moria, minority our street, to mention everyone's thing.

And I'm sorry, but I can't be like, oh please, help us.

Because if we don't get them help now, this is gonna get so much work.

So much work!

Yes!

Second approach!

You should have left the call of third.

The places that he posted on his messages are the places that I have hard.

So come on now.

We're gonna see the at a public hearing.

Because this is what it is.

A public hearing.

The citizens of Algen are tired.

If you're in 2025, we have to ask you to protect us instead of seeing what is happening on the street.

But because they're not just getting people with warriors, they're not just getting criminal.

These are our neighbors.

These are our aunts, these are our uncles, these are our cousins, and they're going after them at our death of our jobs.

So if they're at work, that means they're not criminals.

If they're going at them at schools, that means they're not criminals.

This administration has party so many bad body.

Why do we not go after them?

That is a criminals.

Sir, can we please continue?

Don't worry.

Thank you.

So if you like to get away from me.

All right, try to come to get away from me.

Let's all just take a moment.

I know there's a lot of emotion going on in our community.

But let's continue.

Let's take a please shut down.

Sir, let's we understand there's a lot of emotion, but let's please try to continue to see if we can't get this passed, right?

Because at minimum we need to get this passed.

So let's please continue and candidate off the state's attorney.

Ms.

Moser, please go ahead.

Thank you.

In addition, the Illinois Trust Act requires that unless presented with a valid criminal warrant, and I need to point this out because it's different when a federal criminal warrant is point is presented to law enforcement, they cannot participate, support, or assist in any capacity.

I have been called upon by this police department along with other police departments to actually review body camera.

And I can tell you that the Elgin police officers, absent one exception that has been talked about tonight, has been doing exactly what they were supposed to do under the Illinois Trust Act.

The Attorney General's office is the one responsible for investigating this.

So should anyone find that there's a violation of trust act, it can be presented to the AG's office.

I have already referred something, not from the Elgin Police Department, but to the Attorney General's office for review for violation.

In addition to that, the Illum the all local law enforcement has to follow every law, and that includes following the laws of Illinois, but also fellow following federal laws, which means they, the police here, cannot obstruct any type of a lawful investigation or enforcement that is being done.

And again, though that is the training that has been provided to our law enforcement here in Kane County.

What has also recently happened is the Illinois legislature has proposed Senate Bill 1312, which did pass in the early morning hours on Halloween.

This has not been signed into law as of yet, but we do expect it is going to.

This actually creates an avenue for any person to bring a civil action against any individual who, while conducting civil immigration enforcement, knowingly engages in a conduct that violates the Illinois or the U.S.

Constitution.

This would not, though, include law enforcement officers who are power and duties are consistent with the Illinois law of what they're supposed to do.

Now keep in mind, local law enforcement, such as the Elgin Police Department cannot enforce civil immigration because it is not allowed under their duties and under Illinois law as well as federal law.

There are several factors that courts have to consider if these lawsuits are filed.

One of the things that it did create, as uh councilman Stefan had mentioned earlier, is there is now a thousand-foot radius around courthouses, hospitals, daycares, and schools.

Uh more specifically for the courthouse one, which is one that we've been looking at, and right now this council is sitting in the courthouse that we use during the day, is that if a person is going to court, attending court or in court, expected to be a witness in that proceeding or a court companion which is defined, those individuals cannot be arrested while they're going to, at, or from court within that thousand foot radius.

If that is violated within that thousand foot radius, the remedy then becomes this civil lawsuit through a state court.

Now I have to advise everybody that I don't know how this will play out, who has standing to do so.

I think your corporate counsel is absolutely correct that some of these things have to be looked at in terms of the supremacy clause.

I do believe that was done with this resolution that is being put forth now because we do have to take into consideration that what we do in any level, including the state level with this, we have to watch out how this could have repercussions down the road if the federal government attempts to intervene and find things unconstitutional or violating the supremacy clause.

So the only last thing that I wanted to let you know is that I do believe that this resolution can be very effective here.

I think the way that it's written, it does not violate the supremacy clause.

I think it's doing everything that you guys possibly can do, given the fact that we cannot regulate the federal government.

And under the Illinois state body camera worn statute, it does specifically state that all local law enforcement has to have their body cameras activated when they're in law enforcement related encounters, which has a very long definition that I will not read.

It did.

Yes.

Thank you, Jamie.

Mr.

Glenn.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um so I I guess um this is a matter of like housekeeping a little bit on uh we've got items that you had mentioned, uh Councilmember Alfaro.

Um so I guess with what you just overviewed, um I guess I'm trying to get clarity on the suggestion of the ordinance versus resolution, resolution versus ordinance is what are we actually talking about?

The difference.

So the difference between the resolution and the ordinances, how it's ultimately enforced.

I think that we have problems in any type of ordinance if we're trying to regulate the federal government for something that they lawfully could do, assuming of course they're following the law.

That's the issue that we have is that we cannot enforce or take over for what they are allowed to do.

So, for example, in DuPage County, they just put out signage that says civil immigration enforcement cannot happen on county property.

I legally think that's not enforceable.

I think exactly what you're doing now by saying that you cannot commandeer our property by setting up or having this being a staging area for any of this is exactly what we can do, because by law, they cannot commandeer our property, just like we cannot tell them what they can or cannot do when it is a law that it's a law federally.

I hope that answered that question.

I think so.

It's it's giving me because the realization I'm having is again if we're trying to build the case basically that we don't want to pass anything that is going to be stricken down because there is basis for that.

There is case law saying that you tried to regulate an entity that was not in your purview.

It's going to be tossed.

Um so it sounds like the dynamic that we're talking about today is in any scenario we could end up in court.

Correct.

In some scenarios we could lose, in some scenarios we could prevail.

Correct.

And if there's something that overreaches and we fail, then there could be issues for the city in terms of that.

And so again, I think what you're doing right now is everything we possibly can given this conflict between federal and state law.

Yeah.

And I I know we touched on a lot of this, I think, at the last meeting in terms of what the communication is to the community.

Um as we seen in the last two weeks, things have changed and transpired uh officially at the state level, um, and then what we've seen all over our media, social media, et cetera.

Um so again, tonight we have to be really clear about what we're talking about.

What is the expectation?

Um, you know, we we can't determine what everybody's gonna take away from this meeting, but we can work to clarify what this does, what's in scope of this, what's out of scope of this, and what the distinction is between crafting something that we know is potentially which is not the resolution that's in front of us.

I think the resolution that's in front of us, whether it is resolution or ordinance, take that word and use it how you will, what we're attempting to do here would fare better when it gets to the potential courtroom.

Correct.

And then we all have to do our part of trying to get clarity here of what we can do as a council as a municipal body versus what we can do as a community.

Because we're definitely blurring these lines hard.

I I hate that we have to even have these.

I I would it's I would much rather not have to work within the confines of some of the things that we have to work with in, but tonight that's the conversation at least I'm engaging in.

So I appreciate the clarity.

I think you answered my questions for right now.

I might have more budget.

Well, you know how to reach me, so thank you.

Right.

Mr.

Thorne, you're saying are you done?

Yes.

Okay.

Mr.

Good.

Uh Mr.

Dixon, I'm sorry.

Thank you.

Uh no questions for for you, States Attorney.

Great.

Anybody else?

I will stay until this is done.

Okay.

All right, thank you.

Um, I I first want to uh thank the community for coming out once again and showing up and and making sure that you bring your signs this time, making sure that your voices are heard to the gentleman in the back.

You know, I feel that anger, I feel your pain.

You're not wrong for how you feel and how you're expressing yourself.

I just want you to know that.

And the adjustment clinic, and I've waited a problem for two weeks now.

And then I've been told that she's busy, she's busy, and she has enough time to go on a radio show every Friday morning to let the community know.

Come on.

We have an event or not.

Yes, we probably not.

I I I hear you, and I'm sure that Chief Lally will speak with you tonight.

And and we'll make sure that she has that conversation with you.

Thank you.

That's what she needs to do.

Yeah, we got you.

Thank you.

She's trying to be transparent, she's gonna be to our community, then do it.

I I hear you.

You're gonna have that conversation tonight.

I just wanted to thank you for you know being willing to speak out and just to speak to the audience for a minute.

Um I want to say thank you to corporate counsel for uh Chris Beck for drafting this because he was working really hard for the last two weeks over the weekend.

Um Deanna and I met with them last week and had the conversation you know about this in the ordinance versus a uh resolution.

I too am in favor of an ordinance and not a resolution.

You know, I either way they can come after us.

Either way, we may or may not lose if this goes to court.

So if it's going to cause an issue in my mind, why don't we just go all the way because they are they aren't going to stop.

They aren't going to stop.

They aren't going to follow uh there ain't they aren't following the law.

Um and when you're when you're dealing with when you're dealing with a government like this that is out of out of order, which is unprecedented, you cannot behave in a way that's makes them think that it's okay.

That what they're doing is acceptable, and that we're not going to treat a bully like what they really are.

And so when you're dealing with a bully, you hit a bully in the mouth.

You don't try to you don't try to reason and rationalize with a bully.

You gotta fight back.

And so and so an ordinance or a resolution is part of a larger network of resistance.

It's not just L GIN, it's not just the communities here that are adopting these resolutions and these ordinances.

It's about the communities around the country who are fighting back, and it's a larger web of resistance that we must tap into and be a part of because we are not alone.

A couple of things I a couple of things I I want to ask and and also make points about.

Um I'll start with the signage.

Um great to that we're gonna have signage and it's also gonna be for private business owners too as well.

Um I would propose that we actually break up our order of signs so that we we identify our most immediate needs, so locations where they are known to actually uh congregate and to meet up to do their planning and so forth, identify those locations, what those case locations are, which we already know.

Get signage there, which are gonna be a much fewer, get signage there now immediately, while we also place a second batch order for all to cover all of the location.

So, in addition to councilwoman, uh to the councilwoman suggesting that we do the paper signs, we can get the other signs out in locations that are being used that we know and that have been identified while also making a second order uh to cover all of the locations so that we're not waiting two months or three months or however long you know that it takes.

I'll make them over three.

I own a sign shot.

We're gonna hold we're gonna hold you to that.

So that would be one of my suggestions to uh to the council.

Um sure the memo it's the memo states that we're targeting high priority areas first.

That's already the plan.

That oh that's already okay.

Maybe I missed over that.

Oh, that's okay.

All right, that's great.

Um the other portion of this is um retaliation um or whistleblower protection.

So we want the city employees to feel comfortable doing it.

Some employees may not feel comfortable, and I don't know if that was you know not covered um for for one reason or another, but can we add that protection for our city employees that if they are going to be reporting these incidents, that they don't have to fear any type of retaliation at all of retaliation from making making reports.

But who would be retaliant like would retaliation from ICE?

No, no, well, no, not from ICE, but in in internal, internally, just no ahead.

Sure, we yeah, there would be no ret.

I mean, any time whether it's this resolution or any other violation of law, I mean we expect employees to report when they see something that's in violation of the city's standards practices or regulations, and if we retaliated against someone for that, I mean I think we would be in exposed to some of the things that we're gonna do.

It's already baked in, yes.

We would expect them to report to us.

Yeah, okay.

Um when it comes to the the incidents um being reported out.

Um when it comes to incidents being reported, um we have uh it's going to the city manager ultimately and then over to the IAC, but um I would like to see those reports before they're sent over to the IAC or um maybe on a quarterly basis, they're sent to the city council so that we can get a rundown of them.

Would that be possible?

Sure.

We could do that, yeah.

Okay, all right, thank you.

Um I have a question, another question for you, corporate counsel.

Um I know that you know, prior to this uh to this resolution, um we we cannot ban we we did a resolution, another resolution on on mask um and suggesting you know to the state legislator that they uh do something when it comes to masks, but with this uh resolution being in place or maybe with an ordinance being in place, can we regulate that on our property with that in place, or can we still not um do any regulation as it comes to identifying uh identification of ICE agents?

My opinion is that if we tried to regulate that, that would be in violation of the supremacy clause.

Okay, we would not be able to do that.

Okay, all right.

And my next question is as we list the locations that they cannot use for staging areas, um locations, operation base or any uh things of that sort.

Um while we are naming city owned and control property, um, do we need to um do we need to drill it down to include what I'm just gonna call buffer zone?

So do we need to articulate to the curve or to the ingress, ingress, egress, um, or is just city owned property, should that just cover it blank blanketly I I think this sufficiently describes the property we're talking about.

I mean it I I don't think there's gonna be any real dispute whether it's city owned property or not.

Um I think this is consistent with what other communities done.

I'm not I'm not very concerned about that definition.

Okay.

All right.

Okay.

And also too, I I think that this is a this issue, this problem is a moving target, so to speak.

It's gonna continue to evolve over the next three months, six months, a year.

Um I would like for this to come back, um, let's say in a year for a review, revision, um, as a city council agenda item.

So that so that we can amend it and change as things continue to evolve.

Yeah.

A year, yeah.

I'm going to concrete change every day.

I got you.

I gave a whole I gave a whole time frame.

Three months, six months, nine months, twelve months, whenever we want to bring you back to make revisions as necessary is my point.

Yeah.

We dictate okay.

All right, and that's all I got for now.

Okay.

Ms.

Martinez.

Thank you, Mayor.

I don't have any questions, but I just have comments.

You know, it's been said many times that this is unprecedented.

It is watching this is on TV, watching what's happening is traumatizing.

It's frustrating.

Even as you have heard today, what we can do, what we can't do, what can be done, what can't be done.

Things are still happening.

They're violating our rights.

You know, uh, whether it's the neighbor, the worker, the U.S.

citizen that I know of that was detained for three days, but excuse me.

That was detained for three days and then finally released.

Right.

The most frustrating thing is that while we're trying to decide what what we're doing, or we're explaining what we can do and what we are gonna do.

Things have already been done.

The the neighbor, the worker, the U.S.

citizen is already gone, has already gone through this.

So I get it that it's very frustrating that um the harm is done and you can't undo it.

You know, and um unprecedented because we've never seen this happen.

Why the federal government is doing this, obvious, but I just want to say that we I know it's hard to understand, but we have to be patient.

We have to do things right.

Um I I just can't believe that it's not being right at the federal level.

Thank you.

Okay.

Uh Mr.

Ortiz, I don't believe you've had a chance yet.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh, everything I was gonna ask has been answered, that's why I waited to the end.

Um appreciate everybody coming out with their signs, supporting, voicing their opinion.

That's how government works and how government should work.

As I said last week, like this item makes me made me really nervous, not knowing what it looks like now knowing what it looks like.

I'm a little bit more at ease because I don't know if anybody else in this diocese has it or is willing to say it, but half my family is still undocumented.

My aunts, cousins, uncles, they are living with so much anxiety, probably more than I had when I was my mentioned last time then when I was in Afghanistan.

So this thing, or what's going on with the with the moron living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The man was on 60 minutes talking more crap about what he's gonna do.

And we have three more years of of his of this stuff, and uh as the three attorneys here, mr.

The corporation counsel, Mr.

Stefan, and Miss Mossers said, that the best chance of holding up this in court, whether we get sued or for it being an ordinance or resolution, I believe the best way that we can defend this in court is being a resolution.

Because if it goes to court, we win, we keep it.

If it goes to court as an ordinance and we lose, guess what?

All the signs are coming down, everything's going away.

So why put something as an ordinance, then lose in court, and everything goes goes away, everything we worked for goes away.

We don't want that.

So our state's attorney, our corporation council, and then Mr.

Stefan alluded to that.

This is probably the best the best option.

So if we do get sued, we do go to court, we we have the best chance of surviving the gavel or the jury at the end of the day saying that OG's in the right, they can do this.

And I don't want to go through this whole process over again and lose days or lose weeks.

So I'm supporting how Mr.

Beck wrote it.

I appreciate his work.

Uh it's a lot of work, so I think it's like four or five pages long, including the memo.

And this has the most impactful and meaningful thing we could do compared to every other resolution, the one ordinance in their in our area and executive orders.

So I appreciate staff, uh, Mr.

Beck's office, and uh Ms.

Powell and Steph and uh bringing this up last week because it made me really nervous when they brought it up because we know what we're gonna do or how we can do it.

But Mr.

Beck did a really good job of how this can how this all came together.

So I'm a supportive of it.

I'm gonna support it being a resolution, just so if it does go to court, we have a fighting chance to how Mr.

Dixon said punch their ass back and tell them we're keeping our signs up.

So thank you.

Okay I have a chance to speak for Ms.

Powell um serious issue and uh I think that uh um we're trying to handle it the best way we can public input is certainly important I think that uh some of the issues that whether we're talking ordinance resolution those things have I think have uh uh been talked a lot about um a week ago I had the uh uh was very fortunate to have a face-to-face meeting with Senator Durbin came out to visit uh uh Central de Información he visited me and we had a half hour conversation the conversation that we had and the things that we're doing in Elgin has made it to the floor of the U.S.

Senate so people are watching and I looked in Senator Durbin's face and I look at my own face every morning it's not a good deed a good day but I look at my face but I looked at Senator Durbin's face and I saw mine a man that's frustrated by what's happening around him and he is as powerless as we are believe it or not and we talked about how this is going to go back to a Mr.

Ortiz's point that Senator Durbin said we're gonna be in this for the long haul because this ain't going away he's trying to do things one of the most powerful men in the U.S.

Senate is frustrated by what's happening and I think we have to look at this as the long haul.

I would agree that the uh I think a resolution is the best thing.

I think we can uh an ordinance is uh maybe short term gratification and that may be something that will bring back the uh courts to us and will stop what we're doing.

Maybe it's best to go and move forward with a resolution and it uh solves the same thing uh the state's attorney has told us the enforcement looks the same the uh code looks the same it's just a matter of the of uh uh what we can do at the end of the day we can't arrest anybody we know that we already know that we're not going to be able to arrest somebody from ice and I'm not gonna put a uh I'm not gonna uh tell a city employee uh that we want them to go out and violate the law so we're gonna follow the law I think the resolution is the best uh the best uh that we can do right now the one that we got is most comprehensive I've been trying to keep up with the conversations going on in the communities that are around us they're all having the conversation and many of them wait to see what happens here and I think that what we're doing here is what we do all the time we are meticulous what we do is something that we can defend in court the best we can do and I think that's the approach that works for Elgin many many times I think it'll work this time as well Ms.

Powell yes thank you Mayor Captain um State's Attorney Mossar brought up a point an important point and in speaking with other jurisdictions that have adopted um legislation around um keeping uh federal agents off of um city county uh property she brought up our body cameras that our police officers have can we include something in here to ensure that when the supervisors or whatever officers are responding to these calls um that their body cameras are actually on for documentation purposes because everyone I've uh all the different agencies that I've I've spoken with concur around the whole documentation process especially um with the new commission that has been put into place at the state level I think you should ask uh Chief Lally what our policy has been for five years we were one of the first communities to put uh cameras on people and ask and does that policy apply and how would that apply here is it uh I understand I just want to make sure that when we are responding that body cameras are on so that we can use that for documentation purposes.

So the Aldo police department has had body warn cameras for eight years now we were early adopters there's policies in place we actually worked with the state's attorney on our policy we actually worked with state legislation um by law they have to have their body warm cameras on when they were when they're engaging in any law enforcement related encounter activity.

So the calls that we have been getting to uh where people are saying you know immigration is there we think something's going on their body cameras are on so it's it's practice it's not something that's out of the norm.

Even the chief of police has a body warm camera on it.

Thank you for the clarification.

Um, and and it it goes along with my line of questioning right now.

Our unfortunately, our best line of defense right now is to document what we're seeing and challenge it in court.

And I just want to make sure that as we are documenting, whether it's um our police department or private citizens, that we are getting the documentation that we need to uh bring justice to folks in our community.

Um, as I sit here and I look out in the audience, I see people that served on our um citizens task force on policing, and I think about all the conversations that we've had, and the things that we've done in this community to improve policing, and we wouldn't tolerate our local officers behaving the way federal officers are behaving in this town.

There's there's no way that we would tolerate that.

There's no way I know that Chief Lally would tolerate that.

The abuse, the disrespect, the media, the aggression, the the violence, the total disregard for people's um civil rights, we would not tolerate that, and it floors me that our federal government thinks that this is okay.

It's not okay.

And again, I just have to thank everyone for coming out because I know everyone has families and jobs, and and there are plenty of other things that I'm sure people could be doing, but this is important.

This is important, and and to the gentleman in back who was extremely passionate.

I I'm I'm just gonna get off subject just a little bit because it's been brought up twice, and I and I I think it it deserves to be addressed.

We fired Jason Lentz the first time, and he was brought back.

We had to he was forced back by a arbitrator.

Police officers have binding arbitration in the state of Illinois.

He was for we the city of Elgin was forced to give him his job back with back pay.

So if so, if anyone has a problem with that, then you take that up with your state legislators.

So I I want to make it clear that the city of Belgian did the right thing the first time, and we're going to do the right thing again.

And I hope that when it goes to arbitration, if it gets to that point, that they actually do the right thing.

So I understand why you're mad, because I'm pissed.

We worked way too hard here in Elgin to have that happen here.

It's unacceptable.

So I you deserved an answer to your question, and everybody else here probably didn't know that or wanted to know that.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Okay.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh I know some of my council members have been more vocal where they stand, um, and others haven't.

And I have a feeling that council member Dixon and I are a little outnumbered on this ordinance.

Um, and so I want to make sure something passes.

Um, and so in the difference of an ordinance and a resolution, once an ordinance is passed, it cannot be changed unless it comes back to city council and if it's officially changed.

Resolutions work a little different.

So if we are passing a resolution, can we put in here that the resolution stays valid until it's changed by city council, where any changes to this resolution must be changed by city council.

So if you'd like to put some kind of effective data, I mean it's in full force and effect from its passage, and if you want to specifically outline that it'll remain in effect until further action is taken by the city council, that could be that's perfect language.

Just to make sure that people are full aware that this will have to stay valid until we decide it no longer is is needed.

Okay, one final point of clarification for me.

Um state law will take precedence over uh uh this resolution.

The state law has been passed, but it hasn't been signed yet as to uh safe zones around hospitals, schools, etc.

Correct, Mr.

Beck.

And if state law passes, that will take precedence over a local law.

I mean that's a complicated question, but there's really no conflict between the state law and local law, so they can this the state law will not impact this resolution.

Okay.

Okay.

Oh, there's not a motion.

There's there has been a with a motion.

Okay, well, can I amend the motion?

Uh I would like to amend the motion then to ensure a couple of things.

One council member Dixon's report to City Council every six months.

Um is in there.

Um, that we know under section three B.

There's a sub bullet that just says something that regards like additional immigration activities.

Um three uh the but we just talked about that this is valid until further notice until city council makes changes to it.

Four, that in addition to that, we will make a public city council or city council or the city will make a public statement to provide some education.

What does enforcement look like?

And this resolution will be translated in Spanish.

Second.

Uh the resolution, the proposed resolution.

Uh clerk please call the roll on the amendment.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good?

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

Motion to amend is approved nine zero.

Now we have a motion.

We have a motion on the ordinance.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Or the question.

The resolution.

And the resolution, I'm sorry.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

The motion's approved nine zero.

Okay, I'll this time I'll entertain a motion to adjourn.

The committee of the whole, and we'll reconvene with the uh regular city council meeting at seven PM.

So move.

So move and second to adjourn.

Clerk please call the roll.

Council members alfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Campton.

Yes, we are adjourned.

For the Elgin City Council for November fifth, twenty twenty-five to order.

Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Council members of our own.

Martinez.

Here, Ortiz.

Stefan.

Thorne.

Here.

Approval of the minute of the previous meeting of October twenty second.

Hearing none.

Sorry.

Sorry, I just have one minor correction.

When it indicates the presenters for the Elgin immigrant alliance.

It had um it listed Diana Ortega, but it was several members.

So can we revise Diana or Diana Ortega and say the Elgin Area Immigrant Alliance representatives provided an abbreviated version?

Just replace her name with the Elgin Area Immigrant Alliance representatives to be representative of all the people that provided parts of the presentation.

That's the only change.

So move.

Second.

Second.

Move and seconded.

Clerk, please call a roll.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

Motion's approved 90.

Now motion to uh approve the minutes.

I'll move to approve as amended.

Second.

Move and second.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Excuse me.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon.

Yes.

Good?

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, the motion is approved nine.

So we have a few people that signed up.

Under communications.

Some of them may have left.

I can't quite make this one out.

Sat Sop Tom.

Moa.

Hello.

Good evening.

My name is Satan Sing Mago.

And you have the benefit of me signing up in the wrong public comments section, unfortunately.

But uh anyways, uh so what I want to talk about is what is moral and is not necessarily what is legal.

Um what we are seeing with ice on our streets is the exact same thing that it's not unprecedented, it's slave catchers.

This is our history.

I can also talk to you about my own family's history.

My dad was born in British uh Raj, India.

My mom was born in British East Africa.

So they're born without the rights of citizenship.

They're born on as colonial subjects.

So that was not right, that was not moral.

So what it took, it took people that would actually uh do something about it that would change that situation, even if it was difficult to do so.

And I'm currently running for state senate in the 33rd district, um, and to replace Donald DeWitt.

So when when I talked to you about this, when I was getting my petition signatures, I was going to Metro stations, and I had a lot of Latin American uh sisters that were at the station that were citizens that wanted me to succeed, but didn't want to put their address on my form because there's a chilling effect right now that is happening where they're for afraid for their own family members, and so this is really important, and so what I want to do when I get to Springfield is I think that first of all, why does Elgin police have to hold themselves to a higher standard than our federal officers?

And so there is a conflict here, but that conflict is only going to be resulted in eventually police officers are gonna have to arrest ICE agents that violate civil law, and I know that this uh this council does not want to approach that, and maybe we have to approach that in Springfield, but that's the reality.

So, what do ICE uh uh agents what do they have to have?

They have to have body cameras turned on at all times.

They cannot wear face masks, and I have a cold, I'm sorry, so it's ironic that I'm making that point, but uh they have to have their names and star badge numbers on their uniform, never being in plain clothes.

They they cannot have any blank warrants on their person.

I don't know if you guys have seen some of these videos, but they take out blank warrants.

Uh that's completely against the law.

So if our cops can't arrest them, that means they're above the law, and so there's a conflict here, and that's what you guys uh I hope that we understand this, and finally they have to follow due process, but before due process, all of those things that they're violating is before they even come on to the scene, and I think that that means that they're in they're not above the law of anybody else who's in Illinois, so why are we allowing that to be the case?

So uh this is what I'm gonna take to Springfield because I can I I respect that you guys can only do what you can do, but this is what is necessary, and what is legal is not what is moral.

So we have to align the two.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Brian Fliege.

Brian Fleegy, is she still here?

Okay, Caroline Hernandez.

Good afternoon, and uh, I guess no good evening.

Um my name is Caroline Hernandez, uh, first time being here, and I have begun to work with John Stephens, who is gonna be sponsoring an ordinance that I created and named the civil rights protection and police accountability ordinance.

I have copies of an executive summary of this, and as people have mentioned earlier this evening, they have talked about how there's very many moving parts to what's going on.

So this ordinance was completed, and then last week we had the passage on Halloween and and um the HB 1312 and other statutes, so I need to update this, but I have copies to hand to everyone so they can get an outline of exactly what um what I mean by civil rights protections and what the necessity of law enforcement accountability is for this city and what the consequences are going to be if um if these laws are not enforced, then they're not enforced by our um police department.

So let's give them to the court.

Thank you.

So basically, what I can tell you briefly is we all know that we're in a constitutional crisis, that throughout the our city and many cities throughout the state, people are having their civil rights violated.

There's no question to that.

We understand that.

The problem that I see is that here the local police department is choosing not to respond to um to ICE enforcement incidents.

They have made statements that are documented in there that were made and recorded by the Chicago Tribune and other agencies where Chief Lally, if she's still has said that the police department does not respond unless there is an incident adjacent.

That is against the law.

That is an abdication of duties and responsibilities from many uh forms of state law regulations for uh the accrediting agencies that address what the local police departments are obligated to do.

I know one of the things that can be seriously affected if the city does not get in line and correct this directive is that that's the Elgin police department will lose their I leap accreditation.

It and it can this can also constitute decertification of police officers for failing to uh respond to calls.

I've seen video on Facebook clearly with officers standing at incidents, not responding, being called at by local residents, and doing absolutely nothing.

What the law here that that I highlight, and that you really need to understand and have you know the city attorney, the city manager, the municipal council, what other attorneys you have looking at this is that this what's going on is basically constitutes police brutality.

After George Floyd, there were a significant number of statutes that were enacted in Illinois and throughout the United States to say never again.

People would not be brutalized by the police.

One of the first laws that our Illinois State State did included a group of laws such as the Illinois Safety Act, the Body Camera Act, the Emergency System Act.

Um there are just so the body camera act, all of those uh different types of laws that were enacted, also the duty to intervene, and such these laws all specified that officers that are in law enforcement have to respond to these incidents.

And if we're using the example now, with where we're looking we're considering the effect that this could have on immigration enforcement action in the city of Algin, what we need to understand is it is ridiculous to think that simply because it's an ICE enforcement ice informant ice enforcement agent that they are not covered by the Illinois statute that requires law enforcement officers to record civil rights violations, constitutional violations, uh police brutality violations, those types of actions, they have an obligation to do that.

They have an obligation to render medical assistance.

That's a statute.

They have an obligation to intervene.

Of course, everybody here is gonna say we do not want to put our law enforcement officers in danger.

Well, here's the thing.

When they show up, they're obligated to.

Don't beat that person, right?

Don't jump on them when they're already zip-tied and on the ground.

I mean, we have instances of extreme police brutality by ICE agents that is being documented throughout Chicago and its suburbs.

When that happens, I'm not asking the city council or even the police department to put themselves in physical risk.

It's just a matter of saying, my camera is on, I have fulfilled my duty when I arrived to identify as many people as possible, right?

But then they have proof of that.

That shows that if those ICE enforcement agents did not identify themselves, did not provide proof of who they are, where they are from, if they have a valid warrant, you now have it documented because they asked the appropriate questions.

I'm not asking them to put ICE agents in a headlock until they get the information, but the fact that we can document that proper procedure has been taken when they arrive at these scenes and they ask questions that they're obligated to do under Illinois state law, that's all we need, right?

That is all that is being compiled by uh the ill the ILAC that is in that commission.

We need to have that documentation that that because a police officers are there, I would like to think that ICE might think twice about putting somebody in the hospital, like Ricardo Aguayo Martinez, who was beat senseless, dislocated shoulder, he was in Gottlieb just two days ago, and that was in Melrose Park.

Family members were not allowed to see him, his own attorney couldn't even get in to see him.

We can have that happen here.

We probably have had that happen here, but a lot of things are not being documented the way they are supposed to.

And in those instances, had a police officer arrived, they could have said, hey, I have an obligation to call an ambulance for this person.

I have an obligation to ask who these people are, or at least find out the identification if at minimum of who it is they're even detained, because in many cases, we don't know.

There is to me, in my opinion, a lot of people that seemed relatively unconcerned about this, and I say that because you know, I'm on the boards, I'm on social media, and people seem to think, well, this is awful, people are being deported, but you know, what kind of liability are we going to have from these people that are being deported after their civil rights are violated?

And you know, let's not miscontrue what due process is and who that applies to, because that's any person who's here, and all these constitutional violations that are me being made gives them ground and standing for civil rights violations.

We start wrapping your comments up.

I'm sorry.

Okay.

I'll be happy to do so.

The reason why that should be important is that those people are very readily going to be able to file lawsuits directly from Mexico.

Now the HB 1312, those complaints we're talking about at a minimum $10,000 per person.

If we could imagine that at least 50 people have not been direct detained correctly from the city of Algin, how much money is that?

I hope we all know how to multiply.

And it's significantly much more than that.

The purpose of my ordinance that I'm gonna be proposing and working on is going to give you the teeth and the clear language of what the consequences are of allowing our police department not to do their jobs.

Because these laws have been in place, many of them since 2015 and 2017 and 2021, and we're continuing to enact these types of laws and have case law that supports the fact that this behavior is not allowed that people that police officers don't get to pick and choose what they can do.

So the last thing I'd like to say is I really think that you guys should take a look at this because I've also included what the liability is to city council members, to the city attorney, to the city of manager, to local police officers, to Chief Judge Lally.

I would really take a look at those sections because there are consequences.

Okay, thank you very much.

You are welcome.

Lisa Lara, I know she's not here unless she's hiding behind the post Leslie Leslie Gleiner.

Okay.

Communications that brings us to bids.

First item is bid number two five-054.

Led service line replacement contract F.

Mr.

Mayor, I recommend that we award this bid to Pipe Strong LLC in the amount of 224,336.

Second.

Moved and second for approval.

Any discussion.

Hearing none, Cork, please call a roll.

Council members alfaro.

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, the motion's approved 90.

Uh item a bid two is a uh purchase of a docking station for from Ultra Strobe Communications for renewal of purchase agreement for a bid 23-047.

Move toward the bid to ultra-strobe communications.

I and C for eight docking stations to the amount of $59,360.

Second.

Second.

Move and second for approval.

Any discussion.

Hearing none, Cork, please call a roll.

Council Members Alfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good?

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorns?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

Motion's approved 90.

Brings us to other business.

The first item is consideration of petition 07-25 1048 Dundee Avenue.

Conditional use for a planned development to establish an automobile detailing shop within an existing multi-tenant commercial building.

Mr.

Millot.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

This property is located on the west side of Dundee Avenue between Congden and Cooper Avenues.

Here is Dundee.

This is Congden, and this is Cooper.

This is Beef Villa, Wendy's, and signs by tomorrow.

The applicant requests approval of an automobile detailing shop within the existing multi-tenant building.

The 1100 square foot commercial tenant space is located at the back of the building once was previously vacant.

The building includes two other tenants, a tobacco store, and a personal loan services office.

The applicant is proposing mostly interior improvements to the building for the detailing services.

Those services including D cleaning, polishing, whack, washing and waxing of vehicles.

Facility would have only one employee operating from 9 a.m.

to 5 p.m.

Monday through Friday and 9 a.m.

to 2 p.m.

on Saturdays.

The facility has two service bays with overhead garage doors, but only one vehicle will be serviced at a time.

Services are provided by appointment only with each detailing service taking approximately three to four hours.

If the conditional use is granted, the applicant will apply for a building permit, install the necessary building improvements, including a sand oil grease interseparate separator prior to resuming operations.

On the X tier, the applicant would install a six-foot high masonry enclosure for the refuse collection area and refresh landscaping throughout the site.

The applicant is a present.

Should you have any questions?

Staff of the planning and zoning commission recommend approval subject to conditions outlined within your packet.

Move for approval.

Second.

It's been moved and second for approval, subject to conditions.

Uh any questions?

Mr.

Millad, Mr.

Stefan.

Maybe Mr.

Millot or the applicant, Mr.

Sri and EC.

Maybe Steve Solison.

There was a lot of discussion at the hearing.

Sorry, my mic's off.

There was a lot of discussion at the uh planning zoning commission about the oil and sand separator.

Yes, sir.

I think you just mentioned it in your summary.

Um is there an update on where that is?

Are they gonna that move to install it before they do anything?

Yes, sir.

Okay.

Yes, sir.

But it's it's in process, but it won't happen until they get they're waiting for tonight's action to give them guidance and then final approval before they would submit for building permit application.

But that will have to be on the application installed, inspected, and approved prior to operating.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Okay, anything else?

Um Faro.

Um I just had C question.

The first question is Is the business operating right now?

Because there was conflicting information and the materials like they were there are they are operating, and then it was like they're not operating in the transcripts from planning and zoning, so are they or are they not operating?

Apologies, they are not.

Okay, so they're not.

Okay, so then I don't have to have my other question.

Uh just my last question, and this is just like um I know they're putting the garbage and um like in a space, I don't know what it called it.

In closure.

And then closure, but uh I'm assuming they talk to the garbage collector to make sure that they'll be able to access the enclosure from how the way they're putting it and moving it.

I I can't uh I I I don't know who they did or didn't talk to, but uh I can tell you that garbage operators make accommodations like they're proposing all the time.

I don't see this to be a problem.

Right.

I have nothing else, thank you.

You're welcome.

Okay.

Anything else?

Mr.

Ortiz.

I don't have a comment by petition, I like it.

And then the question I was gonna I was thinking of, Mr.

Stefan asked.

I like that suit.

He must have got a raise and got that nice looking seat.

Well, thank you.

I I do far struck with the no response to that, sir.

But thank you.

You're very kind.

Second that.

Anything else?

Court, please call a roll.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, the motion is approved 9-0.

Item two is consideration of petition 29-25 for 1341 manor court.

Conditional use to establish an event space for game playing activities within an existing gaming retail store.

Mr.

Millad.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

The subject property is the Wing Park Shopping Center, located at the southeast corner of McLean Boulevard and Wing Street.

Here is McLean, and this is Wing.

On the east, we have Weston Avenue, and this is Eagle Drive on the south.

Here's O'Reilly the Auto Parts, Illinois Park School, Walgreens, and Calvary Lutheran Church.

Boars Hat Gaming requests approval to host gaming events within its retail store at 1341 Manor Court.

Boars Hat Gaming is a trading card game store located in a separate building behind the Wing Park shopping center.

The owners relocated to this new larger space from Tyler Creek to be able to host gaming events.

The applicant would provide tables and chairs for up to 100 persons and approximately 3,000 square feet of the 4400 square foot store.

The remainder of the store would include retail display racks, a small conference room, storage, and bathrooms.

The tables and chairs would allow customers to play impromptu games and or the applicant to host organized game playing events.

Space for game playing is considered essential in the retail trading card industry.

Move for approval subject.

Second.

Mr.

Good.

Thank you, Mayor.

I'm just curious.

What was previously here?

I'm sorry, I don't know.

I linked your last year.

Lickerland, and I think that's where the VFW also had asked to be in.

No, they were around the city.

They were on the front side.

Okay, I've been going by that.

I've never seen it.

Yes, but that was a long time ago.

Okay.

I was just curious.

Thank you.

I mean, whoever the applicants are.

Yeah, it's nice to see something going in the spot.

It sounds like it's gonna be fun.

It's been vacant a long time.

Thank you.

Okay.

Mr.

Stephon.

But I I just appreciate again reading the transcript that uh somebody on the commission asked about parking, and there's more than adequate parking here.

So I you didn't touch that, but I read it.

It's uh but of course you've got the street right there, and um having worked at Groomers when it was a groomers and having worked with uh son of Pastor Clark who lived right there on that street with him and his older brother and his two older sisters and his mom.

They all worked at Groomers when I was there.

It was uh always an issue with parking spilling over from the shopping center.

So I'm satisfied uh that that was touched, and they're very aware of that.

I don't expect it to be a problem, but I'm sure they're going to deal with it if it is.

So I I am also happy that somebody's finally in this space.

It has sat vacant for quite a while.

So those are my comments.

Okay.

Ms.

Alfaro.

I was gonna say, as I was reading this, I was like, I want to go there.

Like I like it's amazing, and I really appreciate that.

They're building community and fostering relationships and um getting people off their gaming devices and actually coming in to play games together and have that human connection.

And so I thought it was a really good use of space.

So um congrats.

This is amazing.

Look forward to visiting sometime.

Okay.

Thank you.

Okay.

Anything else?

Mr.

Ortiz.

I agree with Ms.

Alfaro to that Uno game comes out.

Then once Uno comes out, it's war.

Okay, Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmember Salfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stephen?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, the motion is approved 9-0.

Item three is a consideration of petition 17-24 for 860 Summit Street.

A map amendment to plan development for the adaptive reuse of a portion of an existing office building into 34 residential units.

Mr.

Millot.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

860 Summit Street is located on the north side of Summit Street between Hiawatha and Waverly.

Here is Summit, and this is Waverling.

This is the Elgin Fresh Market, Duncan and Wingstop, PNC Bank, O'Reilly Auto Parts.

We're hoping this still becomes Bella Casa Development, and this is the Cobbler Crossing shopping center anchored by the Jewel Osco.

The property owner requests approval of the adaptive reuse of the existing office building at 860 Summit.

About 38,000 square feet of the 44,000 square foot building is vacant and would be converted into 34 market rate apartments located on the lower level and the first floor of the building.

The building at 860 Summit Street consists of four separate buildings contect connected by interior walkways.

The remainder of the buildings, or two, three, and four would be converted into apartments.

This is a view looking at the entrance to the building.

This is looking of generally from summit straight to the north.

O'Reilly would be in intervening there.

And the medical office building to the left.

This is a view looking at the parking court behind buildings one, two, three, and four.

And this is a view looking at the back of the building of building four.

The proposed apartments include 17 units on the lower level and 17 units on the upper level.

The unit mix is 22 studios, three one-bedroom units, and nine two-bedroom units.

All units exceed the minimum floor area requirements of the zoning ordinance.

The property would include 147 parking spaces, which far exceeds the zoning ordinance requirement of 97 parking spaces.

Most of the improvements are on the interior of the building.

All residential units will have modern finishes, central HVAC, and in-unit laundry.

The building will be fully sprinkled and include amenities such as a fitness room, community room, storage lockers, and an outdoor patio with a seating area and grilling equipment covered by two canopies.

The exterior of the building will remain largely unchanged except for new windows to comply with building and life safety codes and a new roof.

Dead and dying trees will be replaced.

The architect for the applicant slash property owner is present.

Should you have any questions?

Staff in the planning and zoning commission recommend approval subject to the conditions outlined within your packet.

Move for approval subject conditions.

Second.

Mr.

Ortiz.

I have a serious one this time.

The first one wasn't serious.

That one was from the heart, the first one.

Maybe the architect can answer what they expect to get for the but they're they're not subsidized, I guess would be the other way of saying it.

Yes.

Basically, this is a adaptive reuse.

So the cost per square foot is gonna be around 150 bucks a square foot, as opposed to 200 to 300 bucks a square foot to do a new construction.

So we are looking at the cost for the lowest units, at least 600 square feet, it'll say it's 150 square feet at 150.

So uh it'll be in the range of uh 100,000 to uh 200,000 the uh apartments.

I would uh would expect are you gonna sell them or rent those?

That's the cost.

If I could just uh in the materials market uh price for these apartments would be somewhere in that range between a hundred to like uh two hundred to three hundred for seven, I think the the question is what are the what does the property owner expect to rent these units for?

Oh the target in the materials at 1000 to 1600.

Okay, yeah, that that's for the rental.

I mean, this is uh rental units, is not uh for sale.

He's expecting to uh keep this building as the rental building.

Yeah, okay.

uh price for these apartments would be somewhere in that range between a hundred to like uh two hundred three hundred for six no two hundred i think the the question is what are the what does the property owner expect to rent these units for well the target in the materials at 1000 to 1600 okay yeah that that's for the rental i mean this is uh rental units is not uh for sale he's expecting to uh keep this building as a rental building yeah okay yeah that was a question we've how much we rent was gonna be amount okay all right that's it thanks sure miss alfarro um I do appreciate that in the materials it did say that the basements have windows because I was a little concerned about the lower level having apartments and and and units and so I do appreciate that the uh the the basements do have windows I do have a question not necessarily targeted this but it was in the materials they had talked about the Bella casa happening not happening all sorts of things so I was just money clarification what's the latest news on that sure uh so we're aware that the that a developer is having conversations with the butters and so we're hoping that those conversations prove fruitful and something continues to happen with that property mr step yeah I just to follow up on that I think for councilwoman alfaro's um edification because you weren't here there was a proposal that came in and it was approved so there is something approved that's pending that we just don't know what the developer is doing and you're waiting to hear so fingers crossed yeah it was a great it was a great development and uh the and they were close 151 units so uh hopefully someone picks it up but I had a question and I don't know five years of our life yeah you maybe for Mark or pro maybe the architect uh again in the in the discussion and at the planning zoning commission there's a lot about this second exit to the east um and whether there was that could remain and and whether there was an easement and I think there was there we are not aware of any easement but uh if an easement is provided that uh second uh egress is gonna be available okay because I I think the testimony was that a lot of the people that are anticipated to live there would use that rather than try to exit on summit street if uh councilman you may remember when we were working with bella casa there was a couple different iterations that came before you there one time there was a standalone recreation center then ultimately that was taken off the table and then that detention facility was expanded if that was the case that northern entrance would go away the southern one would still be available but there was a connection between the parking lots of Bella Casa to this property so in other words exit on to what's that street Waverley Waverly yeah not highway Waverly will still remain okay that was my question okay anything else clerk please call the roll council members alfaral yes Dixon yes good yes Martinez no Ortiz yes Powell yes Stefan yes Thorn yes mayor captain yes motion is approved eight one item four is a resolution authorizing of uh accessor collective bargaining agreement with uh police benevolent and a protective association unit number fifty four move for approval second movement second for approval any discussion mr ortiz sorry I'll go with questions if this one uh I don't know if uh corporation counselor or chief of alley uh the union agree to this I just want it on the record if yes or no they have and we do have a assigned agreement that has come to the legal department since this was put on the agenda so it has been signed by the union all right thank you anything else glad to have it done the clerk please call the roll councilmember Zalfaro yes Dixon yes good yes Martinez yes yes Powell yes Stefan yes Thorne yes mayor captain yes motions approved nine zero consent agenda move for approval second move and second for approval any discussion hearing none clerk please call a roll council members alfaro yes Dixon yes good yes Martinez yes Ortiz yes Powell yes Stefan yes Thorne yes mayor captain yes motion is approved nine zero miscellaneous business move for approval second move and second for approval any discussion hearing none court please call the roll council members alfaro yes Dixon yes good yes Martinez yes Ortiz yes Powell yes Stefan yes Thorn yes mayor captain yes the motion is approved nine zero announcements the next committee of the whole meeting will be Wednesday November nineteenth twenty twenty five at five p.m in the city council chambers I'll reiterate that in five p.m because of the budget discussions the next regular meeting of the Elgin City Council will be Wednesday November 19th 2025 at 7 p.m in the city council chambers I'd entertain a motion if I maybe so I'm sorry there's a special committee of the whole meeting scheduled for Wednesday november twelve at five p.m as well okay thank you I'm sorry that that didn't make it to the announcement it did make it to the sheet that is correct that's our next meeting will be uh committee of the whole meeting will be November twelfth at five p.m.

I'm sorry that that didn't make it to the announcement.

That is correct.

So our next meeting will be uh committee of the whole meeting will be November 12th at 5 p.m.

Thank you.

I'm sorry, Mayor.

Okay.

Entertain a motion to adjourn back to the committee of the whole.

So move and a second or court, please call the rule.

Council members of Harrow?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Yes, we are adjourned.

Uh motion to reconvene.

Some move.

Second.

Move and second.

Clerk please call a roll.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

We're back in business.

Mr.

Manager, I believe that is your show.

Yeah.

Item H is a preliminary presentation on the proposed 2026 budget and three-year financial plan in advance of the deliberations that are beginning on November 12th.

I'm not sure what the is the City Council's pleasure to go through a presentation this evening, this introduction.

It'll probably go about 20 minutes.

Or depending on what we could go ahead and just start the work on November 12th.

I can do whatever pleases the council given the matter this evening.

I think it's a nice time to do that, Mr.

Manager.

You have until 9 o'clock.

Wow.

All right.

Under the gun.

There it is.

All right.

Not a problem.

Okay.

So uh the 2026 proposed budget and three-year financial plan was posted to the city's website today.

Anybody can find it at LginIL.gov slash budget, and it appears on the screen in front of you.

This is the third year that the city has been using the ClearGov platform, and it's the third year in which the city continues to deal with glitches as ClearGov works to refine its product.

Gio Hungo, the management analyst in the city manager's office has been working all afternoon to resolve some issues behind the scenes.

We're not certain whether ClearGov will be able to resolve them by next Wednesday, but he's focusing on that to make sure that we can have that happen.

As I indicated to the mayor, this is the first of one, two, three, four meetings on budget deliberations.

We begin next Wednesday at five o'clock.

We have a five o'clock meeting on November 19th as well for budget deliberations.

On December 3rd, we start again at 5 o'clock and we'll have a truth in taxation hearing.

And on December 17th, it's expected that a balanced budget will be approved by the City Council.

So the 2026 budget and three-year financial plan continue the city's commitment to investing in services, infrastructure, capital improvement, and recreational and entertainment amenities that have defined Elgin's continuing growth and financial health.

The city's ability to continue supporting these substantial investments derives from a discipline resolved to support solid fiscal policies and practices, and the proposed 2026 budget and three-year financial plan presents the opportunity to continue doing the same.

Elgin has not increased its general property tax levy for more than a decade.

Following the revenue diversification initiatives implemented by the city council with the adoption of the 2012 budget, the city began consistently funding its daily core city operations with the same level general property tax levy.

We got a little bit of help with the start of this decade.

The city's financial strength also benefited from federal stimulus funding and inflation-driven revenue growth that enabled the city to reduce or delay issuing debt, realize better returns on public safety pension investments, that ultimately lowered the amount of annual contributions to those funds, and once again to hold the line on the general property tax levy.

Today, however, the city and many other municipalities are being confronted with an increasingly complex and shifting fiscal landscape.

Inflationary pressures on the city's capital projects, as we all know, are not abating, requiring the city to be drawing from its contingency funding at accelerated and increasing levels.

Public safety pension obligations, now consolidated, managed, and determined by the state are similar and increasing, and the community's continuing demand for high quality municipal services.

That's from the police, fire, public works, parks and recreation, community development, neighborhood services, and special events departments require a commitment to the city in retaining and attracting talent for those departments.

New collective bargaining agreements, one of which was just approved moments ago, and organizational salary and benefit revisions are being implemented to ensure the organization's roster of exceptional talent remains competitive with their industry peers, but as we all know, this comes with the cost.

The proposed 2026 budget and three-year financial plan addresses these challenges and positions the city for continuing in the following years with the exceptional fiscal stewardship that has defined this organization.

The city's general property tax levy is increasing to $32 million from what has become its historic level of $27.8 million.

This annual increase of just over $4 million ensures the city will be able to continue fulfilling its longstanding policy to retain a general fund reserve of 30% of annual expenditures while still supporting the core service operational expenses the city is required to meet.

As many of you know, the city each December not only balances its budget for the immediately following year, but also for the next two years following as well.

The general fund reserve functions as a savings account for the city of sorts, in which the city regularly draws down to cover annual expenses.

No differently than a household savings account, the general fund reserve must be regularly replenished to maintain its 30% level after using expenditures in the previous years.

The proposed 2026 budget and three-year financial plan draw from general fund revenues in the amount of $8.8 million in 2026, $20 million in 2027, and just under $30 million in 2028.

Ending the three-year plan, still in accord with the 30% of annual annual expenditures and reserve policy.

Again, for anybody who's been here on the dyes, we know we spend we draw down from those reserves, so we don't have to bring in new revenue on a regular basis, but we always work to make sure that the end of that three-year plan, we're at that 30% of operational expenses level.

Unfortunately, public safety pension levies are also being raised by a combined $3.3 million in 2026, and the plan contemplates incremental increases in the out years of 27 and 28.

There are, however, no other tax increases other than the general levy in the pension levy being presented in the proposed 2026 budget and three-year plan.

Most on the dias and in the public focus on the capital expenditures that the city is projecting to, or it's not projecting, is proposing to make not only in 2026 but in the out years.

If you look when you have the opportunity to look at the budget, you'll see that the five-year capital improvement plan the city is proposing contemplates over one half billion dollars in projects over the next five years.

Funding for all those projects does not come from the general fund, which we know receives a portion of its revenue from the property tax levy.

The river boat fund, the utility fund, capital improvement fund, golf fund, and central area TIFF fund each provide revenue for capital expenses within the scope of each of those funds purposes.

There are shifts that are happening that we need to address with the current budget that are reducing reliance on the river boat fund.

Capital expenditures that used to be funded with the Riverboat Fund are now being forced to be funded by the general fund.

The general fund this year is now absorbing $1.7 million in capital expenditures that were previously funded through the Riverboat.

And in 2026, $1.2 million in annual grocery tax revenue that used to go to the general fund is now being transferred to the utility fund to provide relief for water and sewer rate increases.

These two actions alone, totaling just about $3 million, are driving the $4 million general levy increase needed to sustain the operational expenses supported by the general fund.

Those um who have been on the dyes before, but for those who may not know, the riverboat revenues derived from the Grand Victoria's casinos gaming operations and lease payments.

Didn't realize we had people in the audience still, sorry.

Elder received a 5% tax on the Grand Victoria Casino's receipts plus a $1 per patron admission tax.

The city also receives an annual lease payment from the casino in the amount of about $1 million because the city owns the land on which the casino's pavilion and the parking areas are located.

Annual river boat revenues have stabilized to about $10 million annually over the past three or four years.

For 2026, the Riverboat Fund will be allocating $14.5 million for new and continuing projects.

Of the $21 plus initiatives planned for 2026, capital investments comprise about $6.8 million.

Maintenance for city properties comes in at $5.7 million.

And public safety initiatives come out to about $1.5 million.

Streets is one of the most important and noticed capital improvements that the city conducts every year.

Annual collector and neighborhood street resurfacing totals $8.5 million in next year's proposed budget.

The revenue for these capital projects is derived from a combination of both river boat and motor fuel tax funds.

Important, another factor to note, is street resurfacing now comprises about one third of the annual river boat fund budget.

That is a primary driver of capital expenditures, unfortunately being shifted to the general fund for revenue.

Traffic signalization and pedestrian crossing improvements are planned in addition to about a half million dollars of funding for sidewalk repairs in the 2026 River Boat Fund budget.

The River Boat Fund budget will also be supporting a portion of the $9.3 million Wing Park Master Plan and inclusive playground improvements that are going to be occurring over the next two years.

Moving on to the utility fund, it's important to note that this fund derives its revenue from water and serve and sewer service charges and user fees, and that no general tax dollars and not from any tax dollars.

That means that all operating costs, including debt service, are paid without any assistance from the city's other funds.

This operational self-sufficiency categorizes the utility fund as what we refer to as an enterprise fund since it doesn't require revenue sources other than the service charges and user fees to maintain all its operations.

The utility fund supports the city's water and sewer infrastructure, including our true water treatment plants, the Louis L.

Nelson Riverside and the airline water treatment plant.

Water and sewer rates, as we know from last year, on our fortunately increasing.

2026 will be seeing a 9.75% increase in water rates and a 4% increase in sewer rates.

During the next three years of the utility fund's financial plan, annual water rate increases will continue at the 9 and 3 quarter percent annually, with sewer at the 4% as well until 2030, the final year of the financial plan.

The increase in water rates will drop to 8.3%, and the sewer rates will fall to 3.5% increase.

These increases are occurring for a number of factors, including debt service payments related to the additional general obligation debt being issued to finance lead service line replacement, combined sewer separation, upgrades to the aging water main and sewer infrastructure, and for the Leo Nelson Riverside Water Treatment Plant, water intake relocation.

Utility funds 2026 budget and financial plan also include a planned drawdown of reserves each year, while maintaining for this fund a cash balance at a level of 25% of annual expenditures.

Beginning in 2026, as I mentioned earlier, the utility fund will be receiving an annual transfer from the general fund in the amount of $1.2 million.

This transfer is estimated is the estimated amount of the city's local grocery sales tax, and is that has been set aside for lead service line replacements by the city council.

This transfer will continue until 2036 when all lead service lines have been replaced.

Utility fund water sales and sewer maintenance revenues are projected to be about 43 million in 2026.

That 1.2 million dollar infusion from the grocery tax, keep in mind this is an exception to the enterprise fund, but that subsidy helps keep the water rates at the projected at the project the water and sewer rates at the projected levels we established in 2025, despite the increasing capital cost that we've been incurring while we're trying to conduct all of these programs.

So it is a little bit of a subsidy that is intended to keep the water and sewer rates at the most manageable level possible.

The capital improvement fund derives its revenue from the city's home rules sales tax.

One half percent of the city's one and a half percent sales tax is earmarked for infrastructure and capital improvement projects.

Just over $21 million in projects is planned for 2026 using this revenue.

Engineering initiatives from the Capital Improvement Fund, including continuing work on the Fox River Bridge replacements, the National Street Reconstruction, neighborhood street flooding mitigation, and the Highland and Lyle Avenues roundabout.

Importantly, phase two engineering and design for the U.S.

Route 20 widening from Longcommon Parkway to Coombs Road will be continuing in 2026.

And although the significant capital this excuse me, this significant capital initiative is also using general fund revenue to help pay the bills.

That means a total of $6.6 million, due to the enhancements that are occurring at the Wing Park Golf Course, Clubhouse Expansion.

The new driving rates, golf simulators, and other new amenities are estimated to bring in about $600,000 and will help defray the costs for that capital improvement at the at the Wing Park Golf Course.

Budgeted expenditures in 2026 include additional operating costs associated with the new amenities at the Wing Park Golf Clubhouse, ongoing expenses that is offset by the corresponding revenue mentioned earlier in the amount in the estimated amount of $600,000.

The fifth primary funding source for the city is the Central Area TIFF Fund.

We all know the city in 2025 sought an extension of the central area TIFF for 12 years to fully realize what we call the benefit of the bargain of its intended 23-year term.

The seven years of declining or flat increment following the 2007 recession, combined with two years of economic stagnation following the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, erase about nine years of redevelopment from the central area's 23-year term.

The state of Illinois this year approved Elgin's request for the central area TIFF to continue into effect until the end of 2037.

The city's negotiations with affected tax bodies relating to the central area TIFF calls for the city sharing 10% of the increment over the next 12 years on a pro-rated basis with each of those taxing bodies.

Intergovernmental agreements with those taxing bodies, reflecting those terms will be completed during 2026.

The most significant planned initiative in the Central Area TIFF funds financial plan remains the Dundee Avenue Reconstruction Project, scheduled for completion in 2026 at an estimated cost of 12 million dollars.

Fortunately, through the work of Mike Pubins, the city received approval for federal surface transportation funding in the amount of $6.8 million that will help defray a significant portion of these costs.

With substantial river boat fund revenue now being allocated for annual street resurfacing projects, funding for capital improvement projects that do not require general fund revenue becomes a priority to avoid additional general levy property tax increases.

Accordingly, the central area TIFF Fund in 2026 is supporting a number of initiatives that are improving city properties.

This includes the Hemans Cultural Center, interior updates that will complete the modernization of the original structure's interior to complement the new North Edition.

The sustainably designed City Hall parking lot and downtown streetscape maintenance improvements are also planned for 2026, plus a redesign and reconstruction of Symphony Way, now that work on the Hemans edition has been completed.

Repairs to retaining walls in the parking lot north of the Fountain Square residence is also being budgeted, plus repainting of the Fulton Street Parking Deck, all using central area TIFF funds.

Primarily development opportunities for multi-story residential rehabilitation and construction remain in Elgin's downtown.

And if Mark Millot was here, he would provide you with more coy answers about work that he's progressing on for other areas in the in that vicinity.

But in addition to the downtown area, the concept for the North Grove Redevelopment Area, which is also located in the central area TIFF, contemplates a mix of 350 dwellings and a combination of two multi-story apartment buildings, along with detached single-family residences, duplex, quads, and live work spaces.

While center area TIFF funds cannot be used for new construction, infrastructure improvements related to those developments can help spur development.

The expanded Elgin Sports Complex will be opening in 2026.

This significant initiative will be increasing demand on parks and recreation department personnel, while new work progresses on the renovations to existing complex circle soccer fields, plus the Wing Park Master Plan and Inclusive Playgrounds multi-year construction project.

Nine full-time and 13 part-time new employee positions are included in the 2026 budget and three-year financial plan.

These include five full-time land management ground workers, including a supervisor, to maintain the grounds at the expanded sports complex and at the Jack Cook Regional Park on the city's far west side.

Also being added to help the parks and recreation department is a safety inspector and a maintenance technician who will help improve the maintenance of the city's 46 playgrounds.

Twelve part-time employees will be assigned to the sports complex as either activity supervisors or cashiers, and a fitness desk coordinator is being added to the front desk at the Edward Shock Center of Elgin.

Only six new additional full-time positions are being recommended in the proposed budget across the rest of the entire organization.

Four of those positions will serve in the public works department, and that includes a building maintenance operation worker, three automotive fleet mechanics, that also includes a lead.

An accounting technician for the finance and police departments is being added to ensure that payroll, vendor payments, and other financial obligations are accurately processed and on time.

And an operations manager for the Department of Cultural Arts and Special Events is also being added to support the long-term succession planning that will ensure the continuity of leadership across the department's three facilities the Heavens Cultural Center, Festival Park, and Wing Park Band Shell.

The proposed 2026 budget and three-year financial plan reflect the city's enduring fiscal strength and disciplined approach to governance.

Elgin remains well positioned to manage evolving financial challenges while continuing to invest in the services, infrastructure, and amenities that enhance the quality of life, support economic growth, and sustain the community's long-term vitality.

And that is the introduction to next Wednesday.

Perfect timing.

Any questions for the manager at this time?

A lot of pressure.

A lot of pressure on that.

I know that.

Mr.

Ortiz.

I just have one about the sunken lot, the retaining wall that we're gonna fix.

Some of the parking stalls are owned by the building across the street.

Are we responsible for all the maintenance?

So they're helping with some of the cost of that.

They have an easement for those, so we can take care of the cost for it.

I couldn't hear that.

And I didn't hear what you said.

I'm sorry.

Oh, sorry.

They have an easement for this the cost of maintaining that area is on us.

Okay.

Yes.

Thank you for it.

Ms.

Alfaro.

Uh so thank you for sharing the website.

I pulled it up and I was trying to follow follow along as you as you were speaking.

Um so just for clarity purposes, I know you mentioned that the property taxes have not gone up.

And so I was trying to look in here.

Is there a percentage of what is proposed?

I think uh the combined levy is about 13.3 percent.

And we'll go into those details.

You'll be hearing that.

I I know that this is the first time that you're participating in this council member, it's a good question, but there will be more granular level information with presentations from the chief financial officer and from um the city's department heads as it relates to their initiatives in the budget.

Okay, thank you.

Okay, anything else?

Okay, thank you, Mr.

Manager.

Thank you, Mayor Councilman.

And also from the council.

Ms.

Powell.

Yes, thank you, Mayor.

Um, I believe this is the first meeting we've had since Nightmare on Chicago Street.

I just want to say thanks to our our staff and uh all the volunteers and uh everyone that helped put that massive event on every year.

And um it was well done.

Um, always enjoy being there.

And uh I think I heard that it sold out.

I think that's accurate.

Said a sellout.

So um kudos to um everyone involved with that.

Uh that very popular event every year that uh is very enjoyable.

Thank you.

Okay, Mr.

Dixon.

Uh yeah, I also want to say um congratulations on having a wonderful event uh to our city staff that worked that event to our um Elgin Police Department to as well who worked that event and um and I also to uh want to give a condolences to um Sergeant Free who passed away on November 2nd.

Um condolences to us um to his family and to the greater uh Elgin Depart Elgin Police Department um who um who lost one of their very own Ms.

Alfaro Thank you, Mayor.

Um happy Native American Heritage Month.

I want to acknowledge that we're on native lands, so I wanted to uh um indicate that celebrate Native American Heritage not only this month but year-round.

Um I also want to provide my condolences to Sergeant Rich Freeze family and co-workers and the whole entire police department.

Um I also want to share that the Symphony had an amazing deal.

So thank you for them to provide more cultural activities and being inclusive.

I want to thank everyone that's been coming to the city council meetings.

I know most people already left, but if you're watching, thank you.

And for those that are here, thank you for being engaged and staying engaged and holding us accountable, appreciate that.

And lastly, I want to give a shout out to the fire department.

Uh I and Councilwoman uh Martinez attended the firefighters award ceremony, and it was very touching.

I think sometimes we forget the amount of work that those that serve in our police department and our fire department, the things that they go through.

Um, and so it was really nice to hear all the achievements that we've had people serve for many years, but also the amount of people they were able to save lives, etc.

So I just want to give a shout out also to the fire department.

Okay, anything else, Mr.

Ortiz.

Yeah, I just want to uh say uh thanks to Mark Thayer and his board and the organization of Elgin Symphony.

I was there.

I sat in the balcony all the way in the back to people watch.

And just to see people's reaction to when Carlos Diaz came on stage when the symphony was playing certain uh pieces or uh Balletful Clorio was dancing and the from oh we're down here kicking something.

Uh people's reaction was there, they seem like they were amazed by the production that was put on, especially when Mr.

Diaz was singing with the symphony.

It was it was a really great experience, and I'm pretty sure the place up in the balcony was filled, and then what I could see over the balcony was filled, so I'm almost positive they had a full house that day.

So the symphony did a really good job.

I appreciate them.

Mr.

I met with Mr.

Thayer like a year and a half two years ago, and he told me he was gonna start doing stuff like this, and the man kept his word and he got his board on board.

Uh guess two words could but I appreciate the symphony what they've been doing, and them keep and the director keeping his word of being inclusive and doing more with his with his orchestra.

Thanks.

Oh, one one Ms.

Powell up.

Sorry, uh I had one more announcement.

Um as as many folks know, um, SNAP benefits have been um affected by the government shutdown, and there are some resources uh for folks in our community that may be struggling with uh food insecurity right now.

Uh the Elgin Human Services resource guide is posted on the city's website and available on our social media pages uh that list uh different agencies uh food pantries and uh soup kitchens here in the area where people in need of food support uh can find some assistance.

I just wanted to make that announcement.

Thank you.

Uh one for me.

I uh mentioned that I met with uh Senator Durbin, and uh as part of that meeting I gave him the uh initiative that uh council member uh good and Ortiz brought to the council about DACA uh for the fire department, and uh uh he and I had attended something home about 10 years ago at Elgin Community College and uh talking about the DACA program and the opportunities to uh uh that it provided.

Um and it's uh really struck a chord with him as he winds his career down.

He's been working on this for two decades.

It started out as the dream act for him, and uh he uh uh uh went to the floor of the Senate on the 27th of October and highlighted things that are going on in Elgin and uh things uh concerned with ice primarily and the ice in the community, but he also was very thankful for the uh effort from the Elgin Police Department and now the fire department to take young people and put them into a position where they can be successful.

And his comment was that here are people that are immigrants to this community, and they're the community has enough faith in them that they put them in the great responsibility to protect us.

And I think that uh resonated well with uh uh people in the Senate and uh uh uh kudos back to the police department and the fire department for their efforts and bringing those young people and the pipeline of uh young people come into this community.

Mr.

Manager, anything from staff?

Nothing, Mayor, thank you.

Entertain a motion to adjourn.

So moved.

Second, move and second to adjourn.

Court, please call a roll.

Council members Alfaro, yes, Dixon?

Good, yes, Martinez, yes, Ortiz, yes, Powell, yes, Stefan, yes, Thorn?

Yes, Mayor Captain.

Yes, we are adjourned.