Happy Cyber Monday! Buy local please!

Ward 1 Alderman Dan Beebe describes the 2026 budget proposal that will receive a vote tonight, December 1, 2025. We catch up on what is happening to the grocery tax (!!), explain sewer and water rate increases and why West Chicago treats its own water, and hear the story of how Dan got onto the city council (he wasn’t appointed!).

We also discussed a couple of things I’m still grappling with:

* Why is the council so… quiet? We joke often about how long the meetings are now, but it’s because they used to be 10 minutes, with very little public comment. Now we see lots of public comments, but still less conversation among council members than I would expect. Is it possible that the council before April 1 was borderline rubber-stampy? Which leads into my next question:

* Do we rely more than necessary on consultants? I’ve been thinking about this a lot in the last few months, both in the context of the City and the Library (where I am a board member).

On the one hand, consultants provide institutional knowledge that you just don’t get from a group of 15 ever-changing volunteers. At the state and federal levels this is provided by staff and (gulp) lobbyists, who have been around for decades and may have deeper knowledge and time on an issue than either staff or electeds. Dan Beebe also explains to us in this episode that staff simply just don’t have time to do some of the tasks that we need done, like modernizing city code.

HOWEVER: Dan also told us that in his time with the city (on commissions and on the council), he has watched the city pay consultants to develop at least 3 plans to revitalize the downtown. Then there’s the 20 year old Strategic Vision that basically went untouched. In April, we overwhelmingly heard a direction from voters to work on our downtown—but here we are budgeting even more money for consultants to advise us how to do that.

As a resident, I’d love to not pour more money into consultants when we haven’t tried ideas from the last ones yet. And I’m not talking about real estate deals with bad timing. How about basic recommendations for improving downtown? How about trying out the idea in one of our consulting plans to allow residents to build separate mother-in-law suites in town? This would address our housing shortage while giving residents more chances to make ends meet in our challenging economy.

What do you think? Am I off base here? If you’re a member of the council or city staff, would you be willing to come on the show to explain to me why we need even more consultants? 💙

P.S. We sponsored a soccer team! Eusebian is a longstanding outreach program at New Life Bilingual Church in West Chicago.

Cover photo courtesy of the West Chicago Voice. Alderman Dan Beebe (far right) speaks with protestors in spring 2025 at city hall.

Alderman Al Hallett joins us for an open conversation about his childhood, his time in Vietnam, how he ended up in West Chicago and on the City Council, and what he plans to do in the next 2027 consolidated election.

Trigger warning: this episode mentions warfare, mass killings, and PTSD.

Concejala Alcantar-Garcia habla de cómo la aumentación de actividad de la migra ha afectado la comunidad de West Chicago, los derechos de personas que están detenidos por ICE, y los recursos comunitarios disponibles para los que tienen miedo de salir.

* Alrededor de 19 personas han sido detenido por agentes de ICE desde 15 de Septiembre

* Llame al 855-435-7693 para informar sobre avistamientos del ICE. Se trata de la línea de atención telefónica de apoyo a las familias establecida a través de la Coalición de Illinois por los Derechos de los Inmigrantes y Refugiados.

* La policía de West Chicago no pueden involucrarse en las actividades de ICE, para apoyarles o para pararles.

* Hay esfuerzos de hacer legislación en el nivel estatal y federal haciendo que agentes de ICE no puedan usar máscaras.

* Concejala Alcantar-Garcia está parte de conversaciones sobre la posibilidad de prevenir el uso de propiedades como el Ayuntamiento o la Estación de Policía local por agentes federales, para mantener estas ubicaciones seguro para residentes.

Things we learned from Matt—

• Kamila Cakes’ owner is a TikTok influencer!
• Reducing the barriers small business face in West Chicago
• Of the 118 city staff in West Chicago, how many work with businesses? (Fun fact: we have 51 police officers and 44 public works staff—that's 80% of the city employees)
• Reviving a downtown business alliance for West Chicago
• The financial reserves that West Chicago keeps on hand, always—and what that means for the yearly budget
• Does Matt know what happened to the 13-14M Kerr-McGee funds? (spoiler alert: nobody does)
• What makes Ward 7 so unique
• The grocery tax vs. sales tax debate
• The NEWLY forming Downtown Revitalization Commission—APPLY HERE.
• Why the long meetings in the Bovey Era are a sign of a good meeting.
• What we should be looking out for in the next few months

Plus, Laura briefly recaps the Sept. 2 council meeting—both the grocery tax and sales tax were tabled until the Sept. 15 meeting.

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During the August 4, 2025 West Chicago City Council meeting, a meeting where Mayor Bovey was absent, Ald. Alton Hallett—a Vietnam war veteran—publicly questioned Ald. Carreto-Muñoz on why she was standing during the Pledge of Allegiance rather than putting her hand on her heart. He questioned her on a number of things—including what the 13 red strips on the flag mean—prompting a quick reaction not from other members of the council, but from the public.

We play the audio from that interaction, and then talk to Denise about what was going through her head in that moment, what Ald. Hallett said to her after the meeting, and what it's like being one of the youngest members of the city council. She talks about her decision to run for office, and recaps the 'backyard chicken' ordinance (seomthing Ald. Hallett also voted for, despite vows in past meetings). We also cover the question of whether and which lawyers would be paid for their services to the city between May and August, 2025.

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Durante la reunión del Concejo Municipal de West Chicago del 4 de agosto de 2025, en la que el alcalde Bovey estuvo ausente, el concejal Alton Hallett, veterano de la guerra de Vietnam, cuestionó públicamente a la concejala Carreto-Muñoz por qué se limitó a permanecer de pie durante el Juramento a la Bandera y no se puso la mano sobre el corazón. La cuestionó sobre varios aspectos, incluyendo el significado de las 13 franjas rojas de la bandera, lo que provocó una rápida reacción, no de los demás concejales, sino del público.

Hablamos con Denise sobre lo que pasaba por su mente en ese momento, lo que le dijo el concejal Hallett después de la reunión y cómo es ser una de las concejalas más jóvenes. Habla sobre su decisión de postularse y recapitula la ordenanza sobre las gallinas de traspatio (algo por lo que la concejala Hallett también votó, a pesar de sus promesas en reuniones anteriores). También abordamos la cuestión de si se pagaría a los abogados por sus servicios a la ciudad entre mayo y agosto de 2025, y cuáles serían esos abogados.

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