Board of Aldermen 3-24-2020 Page 15
Alderman Lopez
| had a question through the President to the Corporation Counsel.
President Wilshire
Could you speak closer to your microphone again Alderman Lopez. Thank you.
Alderman Lopez
If the Mayor were to... the Board to bring something in under suspension, would that violate it because he
doesn't really have a vote per se? So he could indicate that that’s his preference, even if that’s not what
we end up actually doing.
Attorney Bolton
The Mayor being a member of the Board has a constitutional right to contact any or all of us to suggest
what he would prefer.
President Wilshire
All set Alderman Lopez? Alderman Tencza?
Alderman Tencza
Thank you, Madam President. So it seems to me that people don’t want to take a vote on this tonight but
also are worried that we are not going to get a Committee Hearing in before the next Board of Aldermen
Meeting so | would, and maybe Attorney Bolton can correct me if I’m wrong here. But if we pass a motion
for a second reading tonight and then table this piece of Legislation until the next meeting, potentially we
could give notice to the public that we are taking it up next meeting without having to go through
Committee? Is that correct?
Attorney Bolton
That’s correct.
President Wilshire
OK so you have heard that, we can suspend the rules and then table it and take it up at the next Full Board
Meeting and that would eliminate the need for a Budget Meeting in-between where | think things are going
to be a little bit worse here in the City than they are now.
Alderman O’Brien
Thank you, Madam President. | understand the conversation and what is going on tonight, but at the same
time too | am very concerned, | don’t think anybody really here is an insurance professional or completely
understands what we need to do in this type of situation. And like the Mayor mentioned, so we have relied
on it sounds like a group that he has particularly assigned to go in to look at this and to come up with a
solution. And we will have a savings to the taxpayers, yet at the same time, pretty much still give our
employees, which | am somewhat familiar. | was a merit employee for 15 years in this City. And |
understand too what the Coronavirus that we’ve got here, we are going to have trouble with the meetings
and now we have discussed that the Chairman of that particular Committee may not be able to make the
meeting. So who do you refer it to? Well, you refer it to the experts and to me, if this is the expert opinion
that has been given to the Mayor on this is the vote that we should vote to, then | think we should weigh
pretty heavily with that expert opinion and so therefore | am going to vote to suspend the rules because |
