There was a bark of laughter from the crowd Monday night when it was announced Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark would not attend the first City Council meeting of the new year.
“I wish the mayor was here tonight,” 4th Ward Ald. Tracy Key said. “I don’t know the situation, but he’s got a lot of explaining to do.”
Fifth Ward Ald. Dominique Randle-El, who chaired the meeting, defended Clark from criticism, saying for all the audience knew the mayor could be dealing with sickness or a loss in his family.
“He’s not running, he’s not hiding, he’s not afraid,” Randle-El said. “He’s human.”
Monday’s meeting was only the second City Council meeting in Harvey since the city declared a state of financial distress and a partial government shutdown last October. In that time, the city has instituted mass layoffs
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, including at the Police and Fire Departments, to address the emergency.A spokesperson for the city previously said the decision not to hold meetings while the city was in a state of financial emergency was the fiscally responsible move, but critics of Clark saw it as a way of avoiding public scrutiny.
Key drew attention to the several holidays that had come and gone since the last meeting.
“Since we haven’t had a meeting in almost two months, which is unprecedented, I hope everybody had a nice Thanksgiving, a nice Christmas and a prosperous New Year coming ahead,” Key said.
The council meeting was preceded by a committee of the whole meeting. Both were largely spent on the topic of Harvey’s fraught finances.
The City Council voted to approve a budget and a tax levy ordinance. Both were listed on the agenda as being for the fiscal year beginning May 1, 2025 and ending April 30, 2026, a time period which has mostly elapsed.
Resident Glynis James-Watson questioned the timing, noting Illinois law requires municipalities to adopt budgets before or in the first quarter of a fiscal year.
“The fiscal year that they just voted for was last year,” James-Watson said. “They’re a year behind, almost. And so, where was all of this talk a year ago? Where was all this discussion a year ago? How have you been operating without a budget for this whole time? Or what budget have you been operating on?”
James-Watson said she felt the administration was disrespecting the citizens by not providing proper notice of proposed action items such as the budget and tax levy ordinances.
“We’re not being given the due notices, the due respect we deserve,” James-Watson said. “There were no notices, or if there were they came out very late, as far as the budget, the tax levy, the ordinance, any of those things that were actionable tonight.”
Randle-El, 1st Ward Ald. Shirley Drewenski, 3rd Ward Ald. Telanee Smith and 6th Ward Ald. Tyrone Rogers all voted in favor of both ordinances. Key and 2nd Ward Ald. Colby Chapman, both frequent critics of Clark, voted against approving the appropriations ordinance. Neither voted on the levy ordinance due to a procedural dispute with Randle-El.
Copies of the ordinances were not available from the city clerk’s office Monday night.
Kyle Kasperek, of the accounting firm John Kasperek Co., presented his firm’s audit of the city’s 2021-2022 fiscal year at the committee meeting. Harvey is multiple years behind on its annual audits.
The firm issued “disclaimer” opinions on Harvey’s general fund, water fund, business-type activities and governmental activities for the time period, meaning it did not have sufficient information to give opinions on those sections of the city’s finances.
A disclaimer opinion is one step above an adverse opinion, which would mean the firm found active problems or contradictions with sections of the city’s finances. The audit did not contain any adverse opinions.
Kasperek highlighted that the city did have its revenues exceed expenses by $2 million in the year in question, an improvement from the year before.
“I know the financial picture, you look at the debt scheme, it may not look as ideal,” Kasperek said. “There’s a lot of upsides still to look at.”
Kasperek said the plan is for John Kasperek Co. to continue conducting audits until Harvey’s annual financial reports are caught up. The firm previously conducted an audit for the city’s 2020-2021 fiscal year.
“We’re just doing our best to get this city caught up and looking ahead to the future,” Kasperek said.
City Comptroller Louis Williams spoke on the city’s financial state and the budget ordinance.
“It’s a painful budget,” Williams said.
Williams said the budget included a $3.7 million deficit, but said if the city was able to renegotiate repayment terms with the firefighters’ pension fund, that deficit would be eliminated.
Among the several factors driving Harvey’s finances into crisis is the city’s obligation to repay nearly a decade’s worth of missed payments to the fire pension fund. Clark has also emphasized the importance of renegotiating terms with the firefighters’ pension as a solution to Harvey’s financial woes.
Rogers asked Williams if there was any prospect of bringing back employees who had been laid off last year.
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“Is there any way, in our fiscal year budget, to reflect if we’ll have enough revenue to bring these employees back to work?” Rogers asked. “Especially the Water Department.”
According to numbers provided by the city, three of the Water Department’s five employees were furloughed in October, leaving only two to staff the department.
Williams said he could not make any assurances.
Randle-El struck an optimistic tone for the coming year.
“We’re going to have an amazing 2026,” Randle-El said. “There are a ton of irons in the fire.”
Resident Jacqueline Wilson also praised Clark.
“He is doing a good job, and I can see it,” Wilson said. “Harvey’s not that bad, y’all.”