Tuesday, February 5, 2013
The city council approved replacing a department head with a consulting firm and operating two other departments with the help of a private company.
The Chicago Heights Economic Development Department is operating under the consultation of the company JPH Inc. for the time being, after the city council voted 5-1 in favor the move at their Monday meeting. The firm will fill the role of economic development director, once held by Joe Kudra, who took the city's early retirement incentive. Mayor David Gonzalez said the city has not determined whether the move toward contracting out the economic development department head's duties will be temporary or permanent. "We haven't made the determination whether to bring it back in-house or to continue increasing the companies that can help us with economic development," Gonzalez said. "Right now, what we need is somebody just to cover the …
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
A Patch investigation reveals that a controversial political maneuver cost Prairie State College Wendell Mosby over $1,200 in travel reimbursements.
Documents released by Prairie State College reveal just how hard Trustee Wendell Mosby was hit when the board stripped him of his travel reimbursement privileges earlier this month. The board made the move after Mosby walked out of the Oct. 30 meeting just before it came time to vote on a nepotism policy he disagreed with. The walk-out removed the quorum—preventing the board from making a decision on the policy. Read: Prairie State Board Censures Trustee After Strategic Walk-Out Patch requested an itemized list of each travel expense reimbursement given to each sitting Prairie State College trustee between Jan. 1, 2011 and Dec. 13, 2012. A "travel expense" is defined as transportation costs of in- or out-of-state trips, along with lodging…
Sunday, December 23, 2012
A major topic of discussion during the Chicago Heights City Council was the Heights library and how much tax money it should get.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Mayor David Gonzalez recently criticized the library for consistently requesting more tax money than it was using, but the institutions yearly report tells a different story.
Article updated at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012 to include documents provided by the mayor of Chicago Heights. Conflicting documents about the Chicago Heights Public Library's tax revenue give some insight into how the institution is spending, or not spending, tax dollars. The library's spending, or lack thereof, was a hot topic at the Monday city council meeting, after the 2012 tax levy had the institution losing more than $170,000 in funding. When asked about the decrease, Mayor David Gonzalez said the library had been levying for more than $1 million every year and spending significantly less. Read: Is the Heights Library Stockpiling Too Much Tax Money? While Gonzalez criticized the library for over-levying and underspending, …
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
The library's million-dollar stockpile was a major point of contention at Monday night's 2012 tax levy public hearing.
Mayor David Gonzalez entertained the idea of giving the Chicago Heights Public Library zero dollars in the 2012 tax levy after he revealed the institution has been underspending enough to build nearly $1.2 million in its bank account. By comparison, Treasurer Jim Dee’s presentation revealing a more than $170,000 funding cut to the library almost seems generous. At an even $1 million the library's levy was one of the few items on the list to decrease from 2011. Fourth Ward Ald. Joshua Deabel questioned the decrease. "We're actually proposing this year to be less than it has been over the past two years," Deabel said. "I find that disconcerting, considering that's the one thing the community direly needs ... I'd hate to see the public …
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Gonzalez slowed down the Monday city council meeting to express his annoyance with the amount of time it's taking to contract a company for the program.
Chicago Heights tree removal is facing another delay after the city council rejected all bids from companies hoping to handle the project, and Mayor David Gonzalez is none too happy about it. Despite several years without a major tree removal and trimming program, the council rejected the bids under the advisement of the consultant company Robinson Engineering, who said the bids all exceeded the $100,000 allocated from motor fuel tax money. "One of the contractors submitted the apparent low bid, like $97,000," said Joe Nordman, Project Manager at Robinson Engineering. "After we reviewed it, there was a rather significant mathematical error and it took a line item from $12,000 to 126,000, which jumped it way up." Gonzalez stopped Nordman to…
Monday, October 1, 2012
The Chicago Heights City Council meets Monday, Oct. 1, with several items on the agenda.
Mayor David Gonzalez and the Chicago Heights City Council will meet Monday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. There will be time allotted for public participation and comments. Click on the PDF above to see the full agenda for the city council meeting. The meeting will be taking place at the Chicago Heights City Hall building, inside the council chambers. Like Chicago Heights Patch on Facebook for updates. Sign up to have our newsletter delivered to your inbox.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Park District Supt. Frank Perez has invited Heights residents to see the completed park after a summer-long construction project.
Just three months ago, Heights residents and public officials looked on as Supt. Frank Perez donned a hard hat and spoke about the Park District's newest addition, Alex Lopez Park. Over the summer, residents may have seen giant piles of dirt in the Park District Recreation Center and Chicago Heights Public Library's shared parking lot. Additional fencing was also put up, limiting the amount of parking available in the lot. Residents expressed concerns about the safety of putting a park with playground equipment near one of the busiest intersection in Chicago Heights, Lincoln Highway and Chicago Road. Perez's much-talked-about solution was a fence, meant to deter and inhibit children from getting to the street. Now, the park will have its …
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
The City of Chicago Heights will spend just shy of $1 million to increase its community policing efforts with the addition of recent war veterans.
Some United States war veterans will get to become Chicago Heights police officers soon, thanks to a federal grant aimed at increasing the number of community police across the country. The 2012 Community Oriented Policing Services Grant, offered by the U.S. Department of Justice, is awarding the City of Chicago Heights $500,000 to expand its community policing. But the grant has an important stipulation: It must be used to hire veterans that served in the military during and after 2001. The City will match the grant amount with another $408,000 to put toward hiring four additional veterans, according to Mayor David Gonzalez. Both amounts must be spent over the next three years. Gonzalez commended President Barack Obama's administration …
Monday, August 20, 2012
The Chicago Heights City Council meets Monday, Aug. 20, with several items on the agenda.
Mayor David Gonzalez and the Chicago Heights City Council will meet Monday, Aug. 20, at 7 p.m. There will be time allotted for public participation and comments. Click on the PDF above to see the full agenda for the city council meeting. The meeting will be taking place at the Chicago Heights City Hall building, inside the council chambers. Like Chicago Heights Patch on Facebook for updates. Sign up to have our newsletter delivered to your inbox.
jason amos
12:35 pm on Friday, February 8, 2013
Ill hold you to that. Have a great weekend more ›