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Joliet council OKs police contract in divided vote

5-3 vote does not include Mayor D’Arcy, who has son in the union

By Bob Okon
The Joliet Police Station on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019, in Joliet, Ill.

The Joliet police station is at 150 W. Washington St. (Eric Ginnard - eginnard@shawmedia.com/The Herald-News, Eric Ginnard)

Joliet police supervisors will get a new contract, although some City Council members said they wanted more time to find out what’s in it.

The council voted 5-3 on Tuesday to approve a three-year contract giving raises of 2.5%, 2% and 3.25%. The contract also adds a new step-pay increase for supervisors with 18 years of experience.

The contract was approved only after an attempt to table the vote failed in a 4-4 tie and council members went into a half-hour closed session to get briefed on the agreement.

Council members said the closed session marked the first time they heard directly from staff about the contract, even though a tentative agreement on the deal apparently was reached three months ago.

“We never heard about any of this until it was sent out Thursday,” council member Joe Clement said.

Mayor Terry D’Arcy addresses the public saying he did not approve, agree to or sign a grant agreement to help asylum seekers at the Joliet City Council Meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023 in Joliet.

Mayor Terry D’Arcy has a son in the police union and did not vote on the contract. (Gary Middendorf/Gary Middendorf)

The contract was included with the council agenda posted on the city website Thursday, which some council members said was the first they learned about the negotiations.

Mayor Terry D’Arcy, whose son Chris is a sergeant and in the supervisors’ union, did not vote on the contract.

Voting against the agreement were Clement, Jan Quillman and Larry Hug. Voting for it were Sherri Reardon, Cesar Cardenas, Cesar Guerrero, Suzanna Ibarra and Pat Mudron.

“These are our heroes,” Ibarra said after the vote. “They are the bosses of our heroes on the street. I’m happy with the decision that we made for them.”

Those voting against the contract, however, said they were not happy that the contract was negotiated without any consultation with the council.

“I don’t like the way this went down,” Quillman said. “It was negotiated by an incompetent city manager.”

Council at Large Jan Hallums Quillman sits in on a hearing on the validity of nominating petitions of two City Council candidates at the Joliet City Electoral Board meeting on January 4th.

Joliet City Council member Jan Quillman (Gary Middendorf – gmiddendorf@shawmedia/Gary Middendorf)

Quillman has repeatedly been outspoken in her criticism of interim city manager Rod Tonelli, who was hired in June and will leave the post when new city manager Beth Beatty arrives Monday.

But Quillman was not alone in expressing frustration that Tonelli did not inform the council about the negotiations.

Hug said Tonelli signed off on a tentative agreement on the contract Sept. 9 without ever informing the council that negotiations were ongoing.

Noting that the city typically tries to keep pay increases at the same level among unions, Hug said, “I don’t see that here.”

Hug also said he believed the contract may have received more support if the council had agreed to table the vote so members could have more time to review the almost 70-page document.

Guerrero joined Hug, Quillman and Clement in voting to table a vote on the contract until Jan. 2. But the motion to table a vote failed because it ended in a tie.