Over the decades, Waukegan has had its share of colorful aldermen. Currently, 2nd Ward Ald. Jose Guzman is in the unenviable position of leading the pack.
He might even pass Larry TenPas, if his tenure lasts as long as the former 6th Ward alderman who died last week at age 89. TenPas is the city’s longest-serving alderman. He had a good heart and had the city’s interests always in his sights.
Yet, TenPas also was known for his wacky antics outside of the City Council chambers. Such as when the former wrestler at the University of Illinois and former longtime coach of the Waukegan High School wrestling team grappled with two teens at a Gurnee Mills movie theater in July 1994 in a dispute over the pair’s snarky remarks during a film’s showing.
The veteran alderman allegedly put his forearm to the throat of one of the youths, and twice grabbed the neck of the other during the shouting match inside the cinema, according to reports at the time. Or, when he chest-bumped a North Chicago man in 1993 during a Waukegan political rally for then-Gov. Jim Edgar.
Or when TenPas was fined $120 by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources in connection with a 2015 incident on the city’s North Side when he beat an alleged rabid raccoon to death with a tire iron. As a driver’s ed teacher at Waukegan High, TenPas was known to round up school truants while instructing student drivers on city streets, and grab cigarettes from underage student smokers.
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Waukegan officials overlooked some of those moments last week in praising TenPas on social media. A city statement expressing sympathy on Facebook noted he “will be missed.”
Mayor Ann Taylor chipped in, also on Facebook: “Former Alderman Larry TenPas was a beloved Alderman for many years but was also a well-known wrestler, teacher, and coach. He was a devoted husband and father to his three children. May he be reunited in heaven with his beloved wife. God speed Larry!”
Ironically, TenPas was a member of the city’s Electoral Board, which voted to boot then-candidate Guzman off the 2019 primary ballot after his nominating petitions failed to meet state election code. TenPas, though, never played fast and loose with his statutory duties.
Which is what freshman Ald. Guzman tried to do after being cited by city inspectors for what has been termed an “exorbitant” amount of trash in front of a home he owns in the 7th Ward on Waukegan’s North Side. Last month, he offered a proposal to his City Council colleagues to grant amnesty to residents who were cited for leaving garbage on city parkways while the city switched waste haulers last fall.
The City Council unanimously rejected his plea. Some chided him for using his aldermanic post to try to evade possible fines.
Since then, Guzman appeared before an administrative hearing officer. According to Steve Sadin’s front-page News-Sun story on Jan. 19, the hearing officer fined the alderman $250 after hearing evidence during a compliance session.
Hearing Officer Joan Vasquez said Guzman has 35 days to appeal her ruling to Lake County Circuit Court or pay the fine. Guzman said the reason the garbage piled up was that he couldn’t get a set price to have it picked up. He told Sadin he may appeal the fine.
One of the neighbors said the trash heap was on the parkway in excess of six months, and Guzman had done nothing to clean it up until the city issued the citation. City inspectors testified at the hearing Guzman had multiple warnings mailed and posted on the house on Alexander Court, ordering him to have the waste removed.
Guzman also has come up with an odd idea to tax cannabis sativa products made with industrial hemp and sold within Waukegan’s city limits. Mayor Taylor and some council members want to ban the products.
But Guzman argued at a Committee-of-the-Whole session last week that with a separate tax on the products, the city could, “regulate it on the age and then put an extra license for it.” In a News-Sun story by Sadin, he went on to say, “We can grab it that way, (charging) $500 to $1,000 to sell it to adults 18 or 21 and over.”
While Guzman was thinking outside the box, a city attorney said he was concerned about regulating such products for fees for revenue. Incidentally, the state and city already tax the legal marijuana dispensaries in Waukegan.
Council members will take up the issue early next month, but my guess is they’ll move to ban the products and will ignore Guzman’s taxing proposal. Just like they ignored his request of amnesty for his own garbage fines.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor.
X @sellenews