Board of Aldermen 02-23-2021 Page 19
President Wilshire
OK Alderman Jette?
Alderman Jette
Thank you Madam Chairman. | don’t know who you are talking about Mayor but | think | have perfect
attendance at the Board of Aldermen Meetings and all of the Committee Meetings. And I’m on the Budget
Review Committee and I’ve been to every Budget Review Committee Meeting. This project may have been
discussed by you and the people in your administration for months. But it hasn’t come before our Committee
until very recently, a couple of weeks ago. And during that meeting that we had | raised these questions, |
asked these questions at that meeting. | also spoke to Director Cummings with specific questions. A week ago
| pointed out what | thought was, you know, deficiencies in this contract and he agreed that | raised some good
points and that he would get back to me. So he got back to me about 2:30 this afternoon. This is your
administration, Mayor. So about 2:30 this afternoon he got back to me and he told me that my concerns were
unfounded, that he had spoken to the Legal Department and they felt there was sufficient safeguards in the
agreement.
| called Attorney Bolton and told him my concerns. Attorney Bolton said that he wasn’t familiar with everything
that | was raising and that he would look into it. That was just tonight, just a few hours ago so he hasn’t had
much time to look into it. But part of this project, part of the problem that we dealt with was the parking
problem. And part of the compromise was coming up with this parking facility underneath the building. And
your own arithmetic includes 49 or 50 parking spaces under the building. So | ask you, where in the
Resolution, where in the proposed agreement it specifies how many parking spaces are going to be included? |
have looked at it extensively, there isn’t any number provided.
Now at the last Budget Review Committee Meeting, the developer was there, Mr. Flotz. He said that plans
were being worked on and would be completed shortly. So that meeting was a few weeks ago. | have been
asking for those plans, | asked Director Cummings for them. Tonight we find out from the Attorney for the
developer that those plans, in fact, for the parking garage have been completed and they were provided to
your administration but they haven't been distributed to the Committee or to the Board of Aldermen.
So | am not trying to stop this project. | just think that for you to accuse us of not having done our homework, |
think is unfounded. | think it is your administration that hasn’t done its homework. | don’t think it is fair for you
to ask us Aldermen to vote on something that all of these holes in it. And the developer's attorney tonight said
they have got the plans, in fact, they submitted them. Why weren't they given to us? | don’t know. He is telling
us that there’s 49 spaces in that plan. We are taking his word for it. I'd like to see it, I’d like to see the plan, I’d
like to see the 49 spaces. These other things, | just think your criticism in unfair to me and to Alderwoman Lu
and | don’t appreciate them. So | just don’t understand why we can’t have the details that we are asking for and
why we are being asked to vote on something without those details be provided. And for that reason | am
asking that this matter be tabled and referred back to the Budget Review Committee so that these details can
be provided. The Budget Review Committee can have a special meeting, we can get on this right away.
There’s no reason why we have to take a long time looking at this, but once those details are provided, then
we can satisfy our obligation to our constituents and vote on this knowing what we are getting into. And we
can do it at the next Board of Aldermen Meeting. | don’t think that that’s unreasonable to ask the developer. |
think the developer would agree with us that these details are important and should be provided. It sounds like
he has already provided them but they just haven't been distributed to us.
Mayor Donchess
Well Alderman Jette | wasn’t referring to you specifically but | think your criticism is unfair. | mean the idea that
this was just proposed, look back to when this was proposed, what? At least a year ago, at least. And it’s
been pending that entire time. | was at the last Committee Meeting, | don’t remember these questions being
raised, maybe they were. But | remember going over and over and over and over the whole parking situation
