And Your Opinion Please

Craig
Sterrett
NewsTribune
news editor
We’ve been entertained and, at times, aghast, by city council
meetings in the past five to 10 years that have been, well, chaotic.
A few years ago, Spring Valley had a mayor who handled
council meetings quickly and crisply, and had administrative
experience from his years as a school superintendent. However,
there were times when things did not go his way, when he didn’t
like the answers or attitudes from elected council members,
when his my way or the highway demeanor would backfire.
I recall one meeting in particular when Jim Narczewski
walked out of the council meeting before it had ended. He usually
did a good job of handling the meetings, but that was not
his, or Spring Valley’s finest moment.
In the past two years, with freshman mayors in La Salle,
Oglesby, Spring Valley and Peru, council meetings in Peru and
Spring Valley have, at times, become free-for-alls, for differing
reasons.
A spectators group in Peru and opinionated alderman Rodney
Perez have turned the weekly meetings, the way I read the
stories, into bizarre-o-world in the city with the slogan, “The
Leader of the Valley.”
In Spring Valley, outright arguing and a few less-than-professional
exchanges between Mayor Cliff Banks and some of the
aldermen have made for interesting comments on reporters’ tape
recorders and have overshadowed the actual tasks or questions
at hand.
One could say it’s good, old-fashioned, grassroots government,
reminiscent of a town selectmen meeting in New England.
But frankly, it’s a little bit too quaint.
In my opinion, area cities, and Spring Valley for certain, need
to consider hiring city managers or at least city administrators.
Our cities have cobbled together ways to get jobs done, such as
budgeting, dealing with the public, greeting newcomers and prospective
businesses or developers, etc.
But if an elected mayor cannot, and probably should not, be
available all day any day due to having a day job, who’s going
to accurately and professionally answer questions if a developer
comes to town and wants answers immediately? Who’s going
to tell a potential industrial employer what benefits the city can
or cannot extend to them through a Tax Increment Financing
district?
How many problems arise that should be solved immediately
that currently require a vote at a city council meeting, and how
unwieldy do things become when a council can’t vote until an
item has been published on an agenda?
And, if city council meetings are turning into wild affairs,
what kind of an impression would that make on a developer or
an industrial firm?
Illinois Valley cities have a lot going for them and a lot to
offer. Our location and transportation systems are ideal and convenient.
We have a community college that can help train workers.
We have plentiful water, which is more than can be said
about many entire regions of the United States, and the communities
have ample sewer capacity.
All of our communities already have one major disadvantage.
They’re all in Illinois, which has the worst credit rating in the
nation and has a government/public pension system that’s bogging
it down.
If Illinois Valley communities have that strike against them,
they would do well to correct all their other weaknesses to the
best of their ability.
The city manager must enforce and adhere to ordinances,
hire and fire employees other than those required by law to be
appointed by the mayor or council, do all hiring based on merit
and fitness, exercise control of all departments and fill in if a
department head position is temporarily vacant, submit a budget
and prepare the annual tax levy, be responsible for collective
bargaining, issue all licenses and permits and make purchases as
necessary, although council permission is needed for purchases
or contracts in excess of $10,000.
It’s time to scrutinize not just city council affairs but the form
of city governments.
Craig Sterrett can be reached at (815) 220-6935 or ntlocal@