Latest news with #WaukeganCityCouncil
Chicago Tribune
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Waukegan parade organizer accuses alderman of intimidation; ‘This behavior is … inappropriate and very unethical'
Organizers of Waukegan's annual parade celebrating the independence of several Latin American countries and Hispanic Heritage Month are expressing disapproval with Ald. Victor Felix, 4th Ward, for trying to pry them away from the event. Elizabeth Marrero, a director of not-for-profit organization Juntos — the organizer of the Viva la Independencia parade in September — said Felix asked the group to withdraw its special-use permit granted by the city on Jan. 14. The group began working on it in December. 'Felix stated that the parade had been promised to other individuals and warned us that if we do not withdraw, they will find loopholes to revoke the permit,' Marrero said. 'No public official should use their position to intimidate or manipulate (a) community group.' Marrero made Felix's remarks to her and a colleague public during audience time at the Waukegan City Council meeting Monday at City Hall, asking for an investigation into the alderman's behavior. After she finished her remarks, Marrero walked to the center of the dais and handed a copy of her speech to Mayor Sam Cunningham. When the meeting was over, Cunningham gave the paper to Corporation Counsel Joseph Miller, III. 'I'm giving it to our corporation counsel,' Cunningham said. 'We're making it an official document. Our goal is to have a successful parade.' Near the end of the meeting, during a time reserved for council members to speak, Felix said he is committed to the city's event process and following the related rules and procedures. He did not specifically deny any of Marrero's allegations. 'If my actions were perceived as anything other than supportive, I sincerely apologize,' Felix said. 'I'm here to work alongside our community partners, not against them. I stand with those trying to bring positive and inclusive events to our city. I'm willing to support any parade that brings our city together in the right way.' When asked specifically after the meeting if he had asked Juntos to withdraw its parade application, he said, 'No comment.' He gave the same answer when asked if any of Marrero's statements were inaccurate. During her conversation with Felix, Marrero said at the meeting that she felt he was trying to intimidate her and her colleague. He told them that if they appealed the withdrawal of the permit, the council would vote against her. 'Felix stated that by Juntos withdrawing from coordinating the parade will be the best possible scenario for the city of Waukegan to avoid any drama,' Marrero said. 'We also learned this alderman has been questioning city staff about ways to find loopholes to revoke the permit.' After the meeting, Marrero said she received a text from Felix on April 25 asking to meet in person. He insisted it happen quickly. She and her colleague met with Felix on April 27. Already working to organize the parade since December, Juntos was not about to leave the scene. He added pressure. 'This behavior is intimidating, inappropriate and very unethical,' Marrero said. David Motley, the city's communications director, said the city received only one application for the annual parade, and it was already approved. Jesus Uribe, another Juntos member, said through an interpreter during the meeting that the organization donates any excess money generated from the parade back into the community. It is already seeking donations and sponsorships. 'With the money we raised in (last year's) parade, we will be giving three (college) scholarships,' Uribe said. 'Whatever is raised from the next parade will be given to people who have cancer.'
Chicago Tribune
20-03-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Dozens appear before Waukegan council in appeal to reopen sports bar
A showing of support from more than 40 one-time employees, friends and others at a Waukegan City Council meeting may not be enough to enable Edwin Lagunas to reopen La Catina, a sports bar he owned and operated on Washington Street for more than two years. Though he operated La Cantina with the knowledge of city officials, based on guidance he said he was given, he had an issue that prevented him from obtaining a liquor license in the state of Illinois — a DUI on his record — despite having cured other concerns with the establishment. Lagunas, his attorney, former employees and others, made their case for the reopening of La Cantina during the time set aside for public comment at the City Council meeting Monday at City Hall. La Cantina is located immediately east of Toluca's Restaurant, a longtime Waukegan eatery owned by his father. They are separate businesses. Marcus Martinz, an attorney with Waukegan corporation counsel Elrod Friedman, said they are separate operations with distinct licenses. Martinez said in an email Wednesday, Taqueria Toluca II, Inc. operates the business known as Toluca at 1419 Washington, and La Cantina is their business name of Toluca's Restaurant and Cantina Inc., at 1415 Washington. During his three-minute speech to the council, Lagunas explained how he was guided to open La Cantina by city officials during the summer of 2022, he followed their advice and opened La Cantina in September of that year. 'I was given the green light to open my business with some conditions — no liquor license and an expansion of the restaurant — which is why I named it Toluca's Restaurant and Cantina,' Lagunas said. 'I had to put a wall preventing access from the bar to the banquet hall, which I did.' As patrons and former employees told the council about the community formed at La Cantina, they made it sound like a gathering place for people who enjoyed talking, drinking, eating some food and watching sports. Lagunas said Wednesday there are eight screens there. While at La Cantina on Dec. 13, Lagunas said the city posted a notice requiring him to close. He complied, and then tried to learn what was behind the notice. It took two weeks before he got a response and began his effort to reopen, he said. 'I passed the inspection done by the fire marshal, and we opened,' Lagunas said. 'I was told I was running a bar with no permit or license. So, two years running a bar in Waukegan and nobody knew.' Starting the process to reopen, Lagunas said he applied for both a business and liquor license. Martinez said the Waukegan liquor commissioner denied the request for a liquor license on March 18. Martinez said in his email Illinois law does provide a number of reasons a person cannot be issued a liquor license, and a DUI conviction is one. Lagunas admitted at the meeting he had one. He said he was disappointed he was not told it was a problem before his hearing before the commissioner. 'I'm upset the background check was done a month ago, and I'm just being told about it,' Lagunas said. 'If the communication was there, I could have switched the application to my wife's name or my dad's name.' When he was given guidance to open La Cantina more than two years ago, Lagunas said he was also told not to use the name of his former business — La Bombo. It was a bar operated at the same location as La Cantina. It was closed by the city in August of 2019, because of filed police reports.
Chicago Tribune
04-03-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Waukegan revises deal for renovation of downtown buildings; ‘We're not giving a blank check'
Within a month of the Waukegan City Council initiating an agreement with the Waukegan Community Development Partnership for the renovation of two downtown buildings, the terms of the transaction changed with one council member concerned the city was taking too much of a risk. Planning to renovate the two vacant downtown buildings into mixed-use projects with commercial space on the ground floor and apartments on the upper stories, the partnership asked the city for financial incentives based on future value. When the council approved $1.725 million in incentives for the partnership on Feb.3, the money was to come back to the city through a downtown Tax Increment Financing District (TIF). Now, it is seeking the initial $900,000 from money generated by a different municipal fund. Ald. Thomas Hayes, 9th Ward, is concerned the changes to the deal will create a situation where the city would be responsible for a shortfall of potentially $100,000 from the TIF, while Ald. Victor Felix, 4th Ward, believes the designated TIF or a different one will be sufficient. The City Council voted 6-3 Monday at City Hall to modify the initial deal satisfying the partnership's request after its financial analyst determined the designated TIF may not be able to reimburse the entire amount. Spending just over $3.7 million to refurbish the former YMCA at the northwest corner of County and Clayton streets, the building will have apartments on the upper floors and 6,700 square feet of commercial space. About two blocks away, the partnership is starting to spend more than $1.6 million renovating 38 North Genesee St., which once housed a restaurant, into a multiuse structure with six residences on the top floors and 3,000 square feet at the ground level for retail or office use. Lowell Jaffe, the lead developer with the partnership, said after the meeting the group needs financial assistance from the city to help it strengthen the downtown real estate market so the entire area can improve. The incentives represent 32.5% of the project's cost. 'The only way to make this work is to build the population of downtown and increase economic activity,' Jaffe said. 'Unless the city is willing to improve downtown, you won't see meaningful growth.' When the deal was first approved in February, the city agreed to give the partnership an incentive of $900,000 to start, and another $825,000 as the buildings generated rent and added tax revenue from the TIF. Stewart Weiss, an attorney with corporation counsel Elrod Friedman, said at the meeting though the TIF has the $900,000, the partnership's financial consultant is concerned there will not be enough generated in the TIF during its remaining 14-year life to cover the full $1.725 million. 'What they asked for is if there is any amount of the $825,000 that has not been paid for that the city would make good on that amount,' Weiss said. 'We believe it would not be more than $100,000, but we don't know that for sure.' Removing the $900,000 from funds coming from the TIF, Weiss said it needed to be paid from a different city fund. On Feb. 3, some council members suggested it come from monies generated from gaming and cannabis sales and taxes. Felix suggested on Monday. Hayes said creating a situation where the city might be required to pay the partnership because revenue from the development was insufficient was a risk he was unwilling to take. He is comfortable taking the $900,000 from money generated from gaming and cannabis. 'If their development doesn't go as well as they hope, as well as they're promising it's going to go, then we have to go find the money elsewhere and pay it to them,' Hayes said. 'Therefore, we're on the hook for that money. That sounds like a bad deal.' Felix said if there is insufficient money in the TIF to satisfy the $825,000 due the developers over the next 14 years, money can come from neighboring TIF districts — two exist — so there is no risk to the city. He accused Hayes of trying to sabotage the transaction. 'That's not true,' Felix said referring to Hayes' concerns. 'It's all going to be there in (the TIF), we're there. We're not giving a blank check. It has to be paid back and we have contiguous TIFs we can use so they can get the funding they need. You're trying to shut the deal down.' Before the discussion, Sam Yingling, another member of the partnership, said the $900,000 will be placed in a construction escrow and will not be disbursed until the contracted work is complete. Shortly after the Feb. 3 meeting, Jaffe said the buildings on County and Genesee were the initial part of the first phase of a $315 million project, with 700 residences, 70,000 square feet of commercial space and a park. Yingling said the $1.725 million request is part of $52 million sought from the city.
Chicago Tribune
20-02-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Family says Waukegan not enforcing new ambulance regulations; ‘That's why my son is no longer here'
The unanimous passage of a law by all members of the Illinois General Assembly present for the vote is a rarity, and the Stallworth Act protecting people on the streets signed by Gov. JB Pritzker in 2023 was one of them. Named in memory of Donald 'DJ' Stallworth III — who was struck by an ambulance on a call while riding his motorcycle in downtown Waukegan and died from his injuries — the law requires ambulances to slow at an intersection, and use its sirens and lights while going through. Now members of Stallworth's family are concerned ambulance drivers are not being properly trained as the law requires, and police departments are not enforcing it. Waukegan is ground zero because ambulances approach from numerous towns to get to Vista Medical Center East. 'How dare you not enforce the law that has been set in place to not only continue my son's legacy, but to keep other families from experiencing the tragedy we experienced,' Stallworth's mother, Satrese, said. 'What good is the law if you're not enforcing it?' Satrese Stallworth. accompanied by dozens of family members and friends, asked the Waukegan City Council and other officials to enforce the law during a regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday at City Hall. Along with requiring sirens and lights when an ambulance goes through an intersection, the law requires a reduction of speed from 40 to 25 mph. Stallworth said from what she is seeing around town, none of that is happening. 'Nobody's doing the training, evidently, because people are driving these ambulances and they don't know the law,' she said. 'They're going through intersections without the sirens on, and without lights on. That's why my son is no longer here.' Antoinette Dedrick, Stallworth's older sister, said she has seen ambulances not following the law. They may reduce speed and use lights, but no sirens. People need to hear, as well as see, when an ambulance is approaching. 'We chased down the ambulance to let them know there is a law in place that required all EMTs to have sirens and lights on since January 2024,' Dedrick said. 'The police were there to let them know. We need Waukegan to do their part.' Taking the message beyond Waukegan, Stallworth said she plans to do what she can to ensure enforcement throughout Lake County and other places, too. Ambulances from surrounding towns, as well as private carriers, transport patients to the hospital in Waukegan. Waukegan Fire Marshall Todd Zupec said in an email Wednesday that aside from Stallworth, the department has received no complaints about noncompliance with the new law. Training began as soon as the law took effect. 'When the law passed, we assigned all personnel to read and acknowledge the new act through our training portal,' Zupec said in the email. 'That assignment was issued and completed in January 2024. It was sent out again this year for review.' Zupec said all ambulance drivers are certified as field service operators by the Illinois State Fire Marshal's Office. They are also certified for traffic incident management by the Illinois Department of Transportation. A driving competency course is given annually. Waukegan Deputy Police Chief Scott Chastain said the department does not routinely follow ambulances while on patrol. If one is observed going too fast through an interaction or not utilizing sirens or lights, they do not make an immediate traffic stop. 'We will not pull an ambulance over because it could be detrimental to the patient inside,' Chastain said. 'If an ambulance approaches, we pull over like everyone else. We will follow it.' Should there be a violation, Chastain said a citation could be written. There will also be a report made to the appropriate municipality or private ambulance company. Fire departments generally have their own policies to follow, he said.
CBS News
20-02-2025
- CBS News
3 years after son was struck and killed, Waukegan, Illinois family says ambulance safety law isn't followed
A family from Waukegan, Illinois does not want the same tragedy they have faced to happen to anyone else — three years after their son was hit and killed by an ambulance that went through a stop sign with no emergency lights or siren on. They helped spark a new traffic law in Illinois, but now they are concerned that the law is not being followed or enforced. Satrese Stallworth has fought tooth and nail to get the justice she feels her son, Donald "DJ" Stallworth III, deserves. But three years later, she said she is not seeing the results. "I started working on getting that law passed so no one else would have to go through that," said Satrese Stallworth. The fatal incident happened at the intersection of Lake and Genesee streets in Waukegan on May 16, 2022. DJ Stallworth's family said he was crossing on his motorcycle when a Waukegan Fire Department ambulance went through a stop sign with no siren on during a transport. The 23-year-old was killed. "We got this law changed to save a family from going through what we're going through," said Satrese Stallwroth. DJ Stallworth's family worked with lawmakers in Springfield to pass SB1251, the Donald (DJ) Stallworth III Act. It requires EMTs to go through extensive training and to use lights and sirens when transporting a patient. "Nobody is doing the training, evidently," said Antoinette Stallworth. At a Tuesday night Waukegan City Council meeting, an attorney and members of the Stallworth family spoke in front of officials to say a year after the law went into effect, it is not being followed. "I have watched Waukegan Fire Department go through intersections without having sirens on," said DJ Stallworth's sister, Antoinette Dedrick. "It's a total disrespect." "That is such a slap to the face to the family," added Satrese Stallworth. In an email, the City of Waukegan says its EMTs are trained under SB1251. But the Stallworths say they are not seeing it implemented back home, and possibly in other cities in Illinois. "Waukegan should have it perfected!" Satrese Stallworth said at the Waukegan City Council meeting. The Stallworths say they have a scholarship fund in DJ's name, and are working to get a monument at a local park. They also already settled a lawsuit with the city.
