City Council Packet 2008 06-10-08 (special CC) y ea cl; d
United City of Yorkville
800 Game Farm Road
MT ,eas Yorkville, Illinois 60560
® I® Telephone: 630-553-4350
Fax: 630-553-7575
AGENDA
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING
CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS
6:00 PM
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Call to Order:
Pledge of Allegiance:
Roll Call by Clerk: WARD I WARD II WARD III WARD IV
Wally Werderich Gary Golinski Marty Munns Joe Besco
Arden Joe Plocher Robyn Suteliff Rose Ann Spears
Establishment of Quorum:
City Council Requests:
1 . Interview of I " Ward Alderman Candidates Scott Gengler, Carlo Colosimo, and George Gilson
Adjournment:
;`gyp C/p� Reviewed By: Agenda Item Number
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Finance ❑
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Engineer ❑ Tracking Number
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Agenda Item Summary Memo
Title: Interview of I " Ward Alderman Candidates Scott Gengler, Carlo Colosimo, & George Gilson
Meeting and Date: Special City Council Meeting 6/10/08
Synopsis:
Council Action Previously Taken:
Date of Action: Action Taken:
Item Number:
Type of Vote Required:
Council Action Requested:
Submitted by: Alderman Werderich, Alderman Golinski, and Alderwoman Spears
Name Department
Agenda Item Notes:
Lisa Pickering
From: walldozer @aol.com
Sent: Monday, June 02, 2008 1 :38 PM
To: Lisa Pickering
Subject: 6/10 Special City Council Meeting
Lisa:
Please take this letter as notice to the Clerk that Alderman Golinski, Alderwoman Spears, and myself would like
to call a special meeting of the city council on June 10th at 6 pm in the city council chambers. The agenda of
the meeting will be as follows:
I . Interview of 1st Ward Alderman candidates, Scott Gengler, Carlo Colosimo, and George Gilson
2. Additional business
Please let me know if you have any questions, or if there are any problems. Additionally, it would be most
appreciated if staff could notify the other city council members who would like to be present. Thanks in
advance for your attention to this matter.
With best regards,
Wally Werderich
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LAW OFFICE
KATEILEEN FIELD ORR & A.ssOC%ATES
t8o NORTH MICHIGAN AVENUE
SUITE 1040
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60601
(31 a) 382-2113
KATHLEEN FIELD ORR FAX (312) 382-2127 P JOSEPH MONTANA
kfo ® kfoassoc com Pjm@kfoassoc com
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and City Council of the United City of Yorkville
FROM: Kathleen Field Orr, City Attorney
DATE: .June 5, 2008
RE: Call for a Special Meeting on .Tune 10, 2008, Requested by Alderpersons
Golinski, Spears, and Werderich
The purpose of this memorandum is to address the call for a Special Meeting on .June 10,
2008, requested by Alderpersons Golinski, Spears, and Werderich.
The first agenda item listed states that the alderpersons intend to interview I " Ward
Alderman candidates, Scott Gengler, Carlo Colosimo, and George Gilson. Section 1 -5-4 of the
United City of Yorkville City Code (the "City Code") states that "[w]henever a vacancy occurs
in any elective municipal office. . .,until the office is filled by election, the mayor shall appoint a
qualified person to the office, subject to the advice and consent of the city council." Section 3 , 1 -
10-50(e) of the Illinois Municipal Code (65 ILCS 511 -1 -1 , et seq. ) (the "Municipal Code")
further clarifies this point stating that a mayor must make an appointment of a qualified person to
fill a vacant aldermanic position within 60 days after the vacancy occurs, and the corporate
authorities must act upon the appointment within 30 days. If the appointment fails to receive the
advice and consent of the corporate authorities within 30 days, the mayor shall appoint a second
qualified person, and the corporate authorities must act upon that appointment within 30 days. If
the second appointment fails to receive the advice and consent of the corporate authorities, then
the mayor, without the advice and consent of the corporate authorities, may make a temporary
appointment from the two persons whose appointments failed to receive the advice and consent
of the corporate authorities. The person receiving the temporary appointment shall serve until an
appointment has received the advice and consent or until a person has been elected, whichever
occurs first.
Both the City Code and the Municipal Code make it clear that it is the Mayor' s right to
appoint a person to the vacant alderperson position. At the last regular meeting on May 27,
Mayor Burd appointed Scott Gengler to the vacant alderperson position; therefore, there are no
"candidates" for the office of alderperson of the I " Ward. The corporate authorities of the City
KATHLEEN FIELD ®RR & ASSOCIATES
now have 30 days to act upon that appointment. If this appointment does not receive the advice
and consent of the corporate authorities, as stated above, the Municipal Code prescribes the
procedures to be followed..
Next, the second agenda item is vague and does not meet the requirements of the Open
Meetings Act (5 ILCS 120/1 , el seq. ). Unlike regular meetings, special meetings require specific
notice. The notice must state the purposes for which the special meeting is called . No business
may be transacted at the special meeting except that for which it is called, as set out in the notice,
in part because the Open Meetings Act protects the rights of the press and the public to be
notified of the business of the municipality. Even if all members of the legislative body waive
notice of the particular matter to be discussed, the intervening rights of the public to this notice
cannot be waived, Ward v. Ci(y of Duquoin, 173 Ill App. 515 .
It will not suffice to place as the last item of business at a special meeting the phrase
"other business." This phrase gives the press and public no notice of the specific matter that will
be discussed. On the other hand, at a regular meeting, any matter may be brought up and
discussed but not acted on, regardless of whether the item or issue was specifically delineated in
the agenda. Rice v. Bd of Trustees of Adams County, 326 I11.App.3d 1120. In this case, the last
agenda item listed is "Additional Business," This is vague and does not provide sufficient notice
to the public.
`QED C/i
o United City of Yorkville
800 Game Farm Road
EST. 1036 Yorkville, Illinois, 60560
Telephone : 630 - 553 -4350
Fax : 630 - 553 - 7575
May 29, 2008
To Members of the Yorkville City Council:
On May 20, 2008 I, as the duly elected Mayor of the United City of Yorkville and exercising the authority
vested in me by the Yorkville City Code and the Illinois State Statutes, appointed Scott Gengler to fill the
vacancy created through the resignation of former Ward I Alderman .Jason Leslie. The Yorkville
Corporate Authorities have 30 days, or until June 19, 2008, to evaluate Mr. Gengler and make a decision
to approve or deny his appointment.
It has come to my attention that Alderman Wally Werderich, with the support of Aldermen Rose Spears
and Gary Golinski, have called for a special meeting to convene at 6 pan. on June 10, 2008 to "interview
candidates" for the open alderman position. I am disappointed and disturbed by this action because it
shows a complete disregard for the appointment process as proscribed by Yorkville City Code and the
Illinois State Statutes. I r an effort to clarify this situation, I am writing to notify you that there currently
are no candidates for this position . There is one appointee, Mr. Gengler. If you choose to disregard this
reality and move forward with this as the agenda for a special meeting, you as a group will not only be
embarrassing yourselves by exhibiting your lack of understanding of the process and your disregard for
fiscal responsibility, but also you will be showing a great disrespect for the appointee. I encourage you
all to familiarize yourselves with both Illinois State Statutes as they relate to municipalities (they are
online and easy to read) and with Mr. Gengler, who is a very worthwhile candidate and deserves your
consideration.
Sincerely,
min 6V
Valerie Burd
Mayor, United City of Yorkville