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Joliet council votes 8-0 against PR contract

But Mac Strategies Group already has contract that could keep it on board for 3 months

By Bob Okon
City Manager Jim Capparelli listens to council discussion on Tuesday, May 18, 2021, at Joliet City Hall in Joliet, Ill. The Joliet City Council discussed an amendment to allow for liquor consumption and video gambling at gas stations.

City Manager James Capparelli (Geoff Stellfox - gstellfox@shawmedia.com)

The Joliet City Council on Tuesday turned down a contract with a public relations firm, which already has a contract that could keep it on board for three more months.

The council’s 8-0 vote against the contract with Mac Strategies Group marked the fourth time in little more than a year that the council has turned down City Manager James Capparelli’s attempts to hire someone to take charge of city hall communications.

But Capparelli confirmed when questioned by Councilwoman Sherri Reardon that he already has entered into a contract with Mac Strategies Group.

That contract could give Mac Strategies Group another 90 days of work for Joliet at a cost of $12,000 a month after the council vote, City Attorney Sabrina Spano told the council.

“That’s what the contract says is that we would have to give them 90 days notices, and we’d still be on the hook for the $12,000 a month for the 90 days,” Spano said.

Interim City Attorney Sabrina Spano, seen here at a Joliet City Council meeting on Monday, reportedly has opted out as a candidate for interim city manager.

Joliet City Attorney Sabrina Spano

The proposed contract also would have paid the monthly rate of $12,000.

Spano said she has not had any conversations with Mac Strategies Group but would try to negotiate different terms of termination to avoid a 90-days provision in the firm’s current contract after the council vote against the proposed contract.

Capparelli told Reardon that he hired Mac Strategies Group sometime in January or February but has been careful not to allow the firm to bill the city beyond a $25,000 threshold at which he would need to get council approval for its services.

“We have not exceeded the $25,000. I made sure of that,” Capparelli said.

It was not clear whether Mac Strategies Group would be able to exceed the $25,000 if it chose to enforce the 90-days clause.

Capparelli hired Mac Strategies Group after the council three times in 2021 turned down his attempts to add a communications job. When the council in December rejected adding the job to the 2022 budget, there was some discussion but never a vote on possibly hiring an outside firm to do the work.

The vote Tuesday marked the first time Capparelli brought the proposal to hire an outside firm to the council.

When it came time to vote on the proposal Tuesday, no council member made a motion to approve the contract. A motion then was made to deny it, which received the unanimous vote.

Councilman Joe Clement, however, said he “still thinks we need a PR person working out of city hall.”

And, Capparelli suggested he would try again.

Saying that he believed that council members agreed “that the city needs a professional communications person,” Capparelli added, “We will work to endeavor to make sure that happens.”