Is City Council Worth It To You?

Recently Chicago Heights City Council changed their meetings from from the first and third Mondays of each month to the first Monday and third Friday.

The biggest move was that the Friday meeting is not going to be held in the evening but in the morning at 9:00 a.m. It was changed in hopes to increase attendance, in particular for senors who may be reluctant to attend a late night meeting. The Monday meetings, however, are still held at 7:00 p.m.

City Council meetings are important to community members. Community members can get a first hand look at how their Alderman and Mayor conduct business. Citizens can find out if their Alderman is simply going through the motions and voting yes on everything that comes across their desk or if they are challenging resolutions and acknowledging concerns that impact the community.

Council meetings can give us an idea on which direction the city is going in terms of economic development and community building. 

A City Council meeting consists of several aspects: communications, public participation, report of the chief of staff, report of the corporation counsel, and the approval of minutes, bills and resolutions. 

Community members have a great opportunity to address the Mayor and Council as a whole. Citizens can either publicly thank the administration for a job well done or bring up issues that the city may not be addressing properly. This can also be an opportunity to inform the Council that you do not agree with some of the recent actions taken by the city; such as a vote that passed a resolution in where all the concerns may not have been addressed or there was intentional oversight by members of the Council. 

So one must ask himself "Is the City Council working for me?". The only way to really find out is to attend the meetings. Each member of the community should set a goal to attend at least one City Council meeting a month. The meetings are generally only an hour long.  It is not worth waiting until the next election cycle to find out what your Alderman and the Mayor seek to accomplish.  Attending a City Council meeting is a small sacrifice to encourage and promote progress in our city.