By Jason Crane
After a lengthy discussion, the Aurora City Council approved, by a vote of 7 – 5 a Resolution to appoint Michele Niermann as assistant corporation counsel III to assist the City’s corporation counsel Yordana Wysocki.
Niermann was approved to be hired to help part time with employment law and labor law for the future negotiations of three labor contracts.
Concerns from members of the Council include additional hiring at this time with the City’s budget deficit and the job not being posted on the City’s website.
Those who voted against the Resolution were: 1st Ward alderman Daniel Barreiro, 2nd Ward alderwoman Juany Garza, 4th Ward alderman Jonathan Núñez, 8th Ward alderwoman Patty Smith, and 10th Ward alderwoman Shweta Baid.
The City Council approved the following agenda items:
•Approval was given to a Resolution authorizing the appointments of Ricardo Herrera, Amy Flores, Aasvi Chokshi, Alex Feinberg, Ava DeWig, and Alex Tello to the Aurora Youth Council.
•Approval was given to a Resolution authorizing the appointments of LaTanya Reme and Mary Fultz to the African American Heritage Advisory Board.
•Approval was given to a Resolution appointing alderman Ted Mesiacos, alderman Carl Franco and alderman-at-large Will White to the Aquatics Advisory Council.
•Approval was given to a Resolution authorizing the execution of documents to renew the line of credit (LOC) in the amount of $10 million with Old Second National Bank for a one-year term expiring on June 30, 2026.
The City Council authorized the renewal of the line of credit (LOC) with Old Second National Bank on August 26, 2025. At the time the renewal was authorized by Council, Old Second National Bank had not provided the City with an agreement for Council’s review. Upon review of the documents requiring signature, it was determined that there were documents authorizing specific actions by the mayor that require approval by the City Council.
Approval of this resolution will allow the required documents to be executed to renew this ongoing line of credit through Old Second National Bank, which is necessary for the City’s continued project financing when bond financing is not immediately practical.
•Approval was given to a Resolution authorizing the director of the Purchasing Department to execute a service agreement with the Boys and Girls Club of North Central Illinois to administer the city of Aurora’s after-school and summer programs in an amount not to exceed $583,000.00 for 2025-2026 school year & summer, for a one-year term with two one-year options, for the Youth Services division.
City government of Aurora documents show since 2010, the City has utilized a third-party administrator (TPA) for summer and after-school, development programs. For the 2025-2026 school year, the City chose to conduct a request for proposals for a new partner to administer these programs. The request for proposal process was conducted and a total of 5 vendors submitted their applications. After a thorough review and scoring process, the city of Aurora’s Youth Services division has selected the Boys & Girls Club of North Central Illinois to serve as a third-party administrator for the upcoming 2025-2026 school year and summer.
Since 2022, the Boys and Girls Club has proven to be able to provide the comprehensive services the City needs to run these programs, based on their services for West Aurora SD 129 and in surrounding communities, as well as their expansion into East Aurora SD 131.
Since 2022, the Boys and Girls Club has been working to establish strong partnerships with local school Districts, as well as many youth-based organizations. These relationships serve the Boys and Girls Club well with respect to managing these programs.
The cost of the proposed services is $583,000.00 for the remainder of 2025 and into the spring and summer of 2026 of these programs, and $507,000.00 each for the option of 2 additional 1-year extensions.
The proposed agreement is similar to our 2025 summer program, but also adding funding for after-school programs. The 2025-2026 proposal includes 20 after-school programs, 4 educational summer camps, 1 theatre camp, and a 4-site Downtown Aurora summer camp, which includes programming, staffing, and field trips. The locations of these sites have been determined in conjunction with the school districts. The Boys and Girls Club continues to provide quality service, conduct surveys with parents and stakeholders, and make necessary changes to their programs based on responses from the community and in consultation with the City.
For additional enrichment programs, supplies/curriculum, trips, staff, longer/full-day camps, and students, we will continue to pursue more funding to provide for our third-party contracts to sustain our after-school and summer programs. Site visits will be made to all program sites. Boys and Girls Club will provide a report at the end of the season.
This service was formally bid and consistent with prior years’ budgets, including $226,000 in remaining funds for the 2025 fiscal year.