Cracks In Support For Elmhurst Mayor's Powers

Elmhurst IL

09 September, 2021

7:43 AM

Description

ELMHURST, IL — For more than a year, then-Ward 3 Alderman Michael Bram nearly always voted against granting the mayor emergency powers during the pandemic. None of his colleagues joined him. On Tuesday, two aldermen dissented from giving the mayor expanded authority, four months after Bram left the council. The mayor went for a time this summer without the powers, letting them expire. But the mayor's office held the authority for more than a year. Before the vote, Ward 6 Alderman Mike Honquest made his opposition known. "I'm going to vote against this not because I have concerns about Mayor (Scott) Levin's leadership or in particular this ordinance, but in general, I'm at a point where I think we need to stop doing emergency power acts and mandates," Honquest said. "As an elected official, I think I speak for others — we're going to have to learn to live with COVID as we go forward." The council voted 9-2 for the powers, with Ward 3 Alderwoman Dannee Polomsky joining Honquest in opposition. Aldermen Noel Talluto, Mark Mulliner and Jacob Hill were absent. During council meetings, Bram would tell his colleagues the city already had procedures in place to speed up approval of actions in emergencies. "The mayor himself has not utilized the executive order since October of last year. So we are moving close to six months without utilization of the executive order," Bram said at a February meeting. In the first weeks of the pandemic in 2020, then-Mayor Steve Morley used his emergency powers in a few ways. He suspended delinquent charges and discontinuation of utility services. And he extended the payment of vehicle license fees for city stickers. Like other towns, Morley allowed for off-premises consumption of originally packaged beer, wine and liquor related to certain restaurant liquor licenses. Additionally, Morley suspended the issuance of solicitor permits and those that already existed. In the April mayoral election, Bram finished second of three candidates, with Levin prevailing and Mulliner coming in third. Bram's council term expired in May. Honquest and Polomsky endorsed Mulliner and Levin, respectively.