By Jason Crane
At the Aurora city government City Council meeting Tuesday, through the Zoom video conferencing platform, the City Council approved the purchase and installation of a body-worn camera system for the Aurora Police Department (APD).
The approval is another step in a lengthy process due to budget considerations for purchasing the cameras, data storage, and redacting footage, which is another costly and time-consuming element of implementing body camera systems.
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) mandates that public records (with some exceptions) must be made available to the public upon request.
City government documents show, in accordance with privacy measures, particularly for minors or victims of domestic abuse, there are general provisions for archiving, retrieving, and redacting footage before the recordings can be made public following a proper FOIA request. To protect the privacy of citizens, faces are blurred out and audio is removed as well. FOIA requests for these recordings can inundate law enforcement with the expensive and time-consuming task of redaction.
The unanimously-approved resolution allows Aurora’s chief financial officer to enter into a contract not to exceed the amount of $2,150,920.00 to Axon Enterprises, Inc. or the not to exceed amount of $2,064,375.00 to Motorola (A.K.A. WatchGuard) for the provision of a body-worn camera system for the Aurora Police Department.
Martin Lyons, the City’s chief financial officer/city treasurer said the City has narrowed the number from five vendors to two and City staff members plan to go through a pilot program for approximately 30 to 45 days to determine which of the two vendors will be best able to provide the cameras and to implement the system to show how everything works.
Lyons said, “Our goal here is to get authorization to move forward so we can have a fully-operational system by June 2021 or before.”
One of the major considerations/factors that delayed the implementation of the purchase of body cameras was the status and completion of the Hexagon/E911 and accompanying records system at the Aurora Police Department. This implementation was finalized recently. Any such body camera system will need to integrate with this system and as such, purchasing a system prior to the completion of the Hexagon project could have resulted in major integration problems that in turn could result in decreased functionality or increased costs or both.
• Approved 9-3 was an ordinance raising compensation for the mayor starting in 2022.
By law, the Council has to set the compensation many years in advance.
Ward 5 alderman Carl Franco motioned to amend and eliminate a raise for 2021. The amendment passed 9-3.
Effective June 1, 2021, the salary for the newly-elected mayor should increase by 0%, and then by 3% in the next two succeeding years before finally increasing by 5% for the remaining year in the term as follows:
From June 1, 2021, through May 31, 2022 – $159,061 (0%)
From June 1, 2022, through May 31, 2023 – $163,833.00 (3%)
From June 1, 2023, through May 31, 2024 – $168,747.00 (3%)
From June 1, 2024, and continuing thereafter – $177,185.00 (5%);
Additionally, when accepting a vehicle allowance in lieu of a dedicated City-owned or leased vehicle, the mayor’s vehicle allowance will be fixed at $534 per month.
Mayoral compensation increase passed 9-3, with Ward 1 alderman Emmanuel Llamas voting yes, Ward 2 alderman Juany Garza voting yes, Ward 3 alderman Ted Mesiacos voting no, Ward 4 alderman Bill Donnell voting no, Ward 5 alderman Carl Franco voting yes, Ward 6 alderman Mike Saville voting yes, Ward 7 alderman Scheketa Hart-Burns voting yes, Ward 8 alderman Patty Smith voting yes, Ward 9 alderman Ed Bugg voting yes, Ward 10 alderman Judd Lofchie voting no, alderman-at-large Sherman Jenkins voting yes, and alderman-at-large Robert O’Connor voting yes.
• Approved 8-4 was an ordinance setting the compensation of the aldermen elected in and after 2023 in accordance with the Illinois Municipal Code and the Local Government Officer Compensation Act.
At its special meeting October 8, and again on October 15, the Finance Committee recommended increasing the salaries of the aldermen on a 3%-3%-3%-5% structure, effective with the inauguration of aldermen in 2023 as follows:
From June 1, 2023, through May 31, 2024 – $22,971.00 (3%)
From June 1, 2024, through May, 31, 2025 – $23,660.00 (3%)
From June 1, 2025, though May 31, 2026 – $24,370.00 (3%)
From June 1, 2026, and continuing thereafter – $25,588.00 (5%)
Also, effective June 1, 2023, the $75 stipend aldermen receive for attending official meetings of the City Council and its committees will increase to $90.
• Aldermanic compensation increase passed, 8-4, with Ward 1 alderman Emmanuel Llamas voting yes, Ward 2 alderman Juany Garza voting yes, Ward 3 alderman Ted Mesiacos voting no, Ward 4 alderman Bill Donnell voting no, Ward 5 alderman Carl Franco voting yes, Ward 6 alderman Mike Saville voting yes, Ward 7 alderman Scheketa Hart-Burns voting no, Ward 8 alderman Patty Smith voting yes, Ward 9 alderman Ed Bugg voting yes, Ward 10 alderman Judd Lofchie voting no, alderman-at-large Sherman Jenkins voting yes, and alderman-at-large Robert O’Connor voting yes.
Ward 4 alderman Bill Donnell said, “I recently had a conversation with our CFO Marty Lyons and as we all know, our budget’s going to be tight this year. It looks like it could be tight for the next couple years due to the COVID pandemic.
“These are tough times for many people. Just last week I talked to an individual who was in trouble paying his utility bills, hopefully we got that solved. I also talked to an individual fighting hard to keep his restaurant in business.
“In light of tough times, it doesn’t seem to me to be the right time to be recommending raises for alderman, so I will be voting no.”
Ward 3 alderman Ted Mesiacos and Ward 10 alderman Judd Lofchie agreed with Donnell.
Ward 9 alderman Ed Bugg said, “It’s a very difficult situation. By law, we have to set our compensation many years in the future. In projecting, we have to try and look at 2023 through 2026. It’s very difficult to try and see where we’re going to be five years from now.
“I believe our cut off date is November 12 to make projections for 2023, 2024, and so forth.”
• A Public hearing regarding the creation of the proposed Fox Valley Mall Area Tax Increment Finance District is set to be approved at the October 27 full City Council meeting had no speakers.
The following agenda items were approved:
• Approved was a resolution authorizing the execution of a sales tax reimbursement agreement with Lindsay Windows Illinois, LLC.
The Sales Tax Reimbursement Agreement defines a 35%/65% sales tax sharing agreement between COA and Lindsay Windows, the contract purchaser of the property commonly known as the former Cub Foods, at 505 South Constitution Avenue, just south of Galena, and ome-half mile east of Orchard.
Lindsay Windows’s sales tax sharing benefit will be for five years or to a maximum of $150,000.
• Approved was an ordinance granting revisions to the special use permit for a social service agencies, charitable organizations, health-related facilities, and similar uses when not operated for pecuniary profit use on the property at 680 S. River Street.
The petitioner, Hesed House is requesting approval of a special use revision for a social service agencies, charitable organizations, health related facilities, and similar uses when not operated for pecuniary profit use on the property located at 680 S. River Street which includes a revision to allow the property to be used for an emergency shelter accommodating overnight guests.