Anatomy of the Meeting Packet

Reading is Fundamental

Advice for Prospective Candidates

It’s election season again, and I am not talking about the midterm election coming up in November, but rather the next Consolidated General Election coming up in April 2019.  The Consolidated General is the election for local municipal offices, and this time around there will be two of the Commissioner seats and the Mayor on the ballot for Zion, all for four year terms.

I believe that local government has more direct impact on our daily lives than anything that happens in Springfield or even D.C., and candidates should exhibit that sense of gravitas, especially at the city or township level.  

Now, I will not be on the ballot in April, as the terms for City Commissioners are staggered, with two of the seats going up for election every two years. To be honest, I am glad for the break after running in three consecutive elections; 2013, 2015, and finally 2017 when I won my current seat.  I had never ran for or held any elected office prior to putting my name on the ballot that first time, and since then I have learned even more about how local government functions, and hopefully that knowledge has helped me better fulfil my duties as Commissioner.

This is what I would share from my experiences as a candidate and as an elected official, just a bit of advice to the potential candidates for Mayor or Commissioner and to the voters as well.

Do Your Research.    

Long before I became a candidate, I set out to learn as much as possible about the City Council and how it functioned. Starting in 2011, I attended every meeting I could; that is two Council meetings and the Township meeting each month.  After the 2013 election, I accepted an appointment to the Board of the Lake County Public Water District, which gave me valuable experience working in a government entity; budgets, planning, and personnel. That meant I was now attending up to four meetings a month, but I considered it necessary as I was serious about running for office. I also read everything I could find about municipal government, and I still do.

So, for those of you thinking about running for office next April, I would advise you to buckle down and do your homework, especially get familiar with the Commissioner form of government which is unique in that the Commissioners have executive authority over the departments, and that is a level of responsibility above what you might expect in an aldermanic or board position. While you are at it, get familiar with the duties of Township Trustee which is the second hat you will wear as Commissioner and a role that is often overlooked.

It should go without saying that we the voters have to do our homework too, about the candidates and their qualifications. An informed voter is the best voter, and without a doubt the most important role in our representative democracy.

The Meeting Packet

One of my ongoing projects is to demystify the various aspects of elected office, and since we are talking about the importance of research it seems a good time to take a look at the meeting packet.  

Before every meeting the Agenda is posted so that the public is notified of what will be discussed or what actions might be taken by Council at that meeting.  The agenda is essentially the outline of the meeting process, and the packet is the detailed substance of the meeting.

Let’s take a look at the composition of the most recent meeting packet from September 18th.

Meeting Agenda - 2 pages.  As stated, the order of the meeting being held.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting - 3 pages. The minutes are the official record of the previous meeting, and have to be approved by the Council for publication.

Invoices - 7 pages.  These are the invoices that have to be approved for payment by the Council as part of the Consent Agenda.  This is a line item list of the expenditures for all departments. I spend a good deal of time reviewing these, especially Public Works, Waterworks and Sewage, and Public Service accounts.  Usually resulting in my sending Director Roberts an email query on Sunday afternoon if it’s not clear why a certain item was purchased.

Resolution - 2 pages.  In this case the Resolution of the City Council to continue to limit Real Property Taxes under the existing Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL) or the “Tax Cap Law”, if the referendum on Home Rule is approved at the November 6th election.

Ordinance on the Leasing of Property approximately 2,430 square feet situated on the 18th Street right of way adjacent to 1721 North Sheridan Road for the purpose of having paved access to parking, per Director Ianson - 23 pages.  Includes exhibits and legal documentation. Any action involving property will usually have a lot of legal documentation included.

Memo regarding disposal of Surplus Property by Chief Dumyahn - 1 page.  In this case two squad cars.

Ordinance authorizing the disposal of the above mentioned property - 4 pages.

Memo regarding disposal of Surplus Property by Chief Lewis - 1 page.  In this case an Ambulance.

Ordinance authorizing the disposal of the above mentioned property - 4 pages.

Budget Breakout for Other Funds Fiscal 2019,  May 1 2018 - April 30 2019. from City Administrator Knabel - 9 pages. For approval. These are the dedicated funds other than the General Fund, either from alternate revenue sources or established for debt service and fund transfers for accounting purposes. Examples: Street and Bridge Fund, IMRF Fund, FICA Fund, TIF #3 Fund, Water and Sewerage Fund, Waste Collection Fund, Bond Series 2012B Road Bonds, Hotel/Motel Tax Fund.

Memo regarding a text amendment to Section 102-91(a)(1) of the city code, Docket #18-Z-7, by Director Ianson - 1 page.  An amendment to list Renewable Natural Gas Processing Facilities as a permitted use west of Greenbay Road only.

Application for Text Amendment - 5 pages.

Planning and Zoning Commission Hearing Notice - 1 page.

Planning and Zoning Commission Unapproved Meeting Minutes for September 6, 2018 - 3 pages.

Ordinance Amending Zion Municipal Code, Chapter 102, Zoning Section 102-1 (a)(1) - Light Manufacturing District - 3 pages.

Memo regarding Plat of Subdivision/3555 Sheridan Rd., Docket #18-Z-9. This is regarding the Indoor Climate Control Storage Facility seeking a permit to operate in the old KMart building. As part of the Special Use Permit they are requesting a plat of survey to separate the building from the rest of the shopping plaza. The special use permit is contingent upon approval of the plat. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval, per Director Ianson - 1 page.

Subdivision and Land Development Application - 4 pages.

Planning and Zoning Commission Hearing Notice - 1 page.

Map of proposed subdivision - 1 page.

Memo regarding bids for the 2018 Sidewalk Replacement Program from Director Ray Roberts, Public Works.  The project is funded via $25,000 from the Street and Bridge Fund and $80,000 of Community Development Block Grant funding, (An illustration of the usual 80/20 split employed in grant funding). Recommends acceptance of the lowest responsible bid by Suburban Concrete, Mundelein in the amount of $87,725.00 - 1 page.

Bid Results - 1 page.

Memo recommending an increase in the Zion Police Department Special Duty Rate charged to businesses or citizens requesting officers to provide law enforcement services for specific/special events outside the course of routine police services. Recommends raising the rate from $50 to $60, per Chief Dumyahn - 1 page.

Memo requesting a waiver of the managers bond for the Raffle Application of the Zion-Benton Public Library, per City Clerk Sheryl Spooner. - 1 page.

Application For License to Conduct a Raffle - 3 pages.

Memorandum for Closed Session; from Ancel, Glink, Diamond, Bush DiCianni & Krafthefer, P.C., legal counsel. - 7 pages.

Overall, this meeting packet came to 90 pages, of course this will vary from meeting to meeting depending upon what is under consideration at that time.

Also, during the meeting, supplemental documents can be given to the Council relevant to a topic under discussion. At this meeting, there were a couple of items for reference related to the discussion regarding what actions the City would take if the referendum on Home Rule is approved in November.

The meeting packets are distributed by the City Clerk to the Mayor, Commissioners, and Department Heads on the Friday before the meeting. I receive a pdf document via email and the printed copy is placed in my mailbox at City Hall. My usual routine is download the packet to my laptop and do a first read on the train home, then a second detailed read over the weekend and email any queries I have to the relevant persons, and I give it a final scan on the day of the meeting for anything of note.

There you have it, the meeting packet. Most of it is pretty mundane, a lot of it is standard boilerplate documentation and legalise that is usually only interesting to the most dedicated policy wonks. But, it’s importance cannot be underemphasized, these are the nuts and bolts underpinning our government functions, and keeping them running.

I hope you found this look behind the scenes informative, and if you have any questions, please let me know.