>>> welcome, folks. It's 6:00 we will begin our
meeting at city
council chambers, galesburg, and
I ask the clerk to call the
roll, please.
>> council member mangieri.
>> here. >> council member cheesman.
>> here.
>> council member hunigan.
>>
here.
>> council member saul. >>
here.
>> council member white.
>>
here. I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the united states of america
and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
>> please remain standing.
thank
you.
>>> will
the after and chief meet me at the front.
>>
well, tonight is a
very special night. It's not every
night we get to
retire someone, someone as distinguished as our
friend there. Let me read the
proclamation, and then I'll let the
chief say
a few words. Proclamation reads
as follows.
whereas the police
department
formally
recognized, k-9 zeus, he
entered active duty in november
2019 embarking on a
six-year tenure,
with bravery,
unwavering loyalty, and a
partnership with officer taylor. And
the duo of officer
taylor and k-9 zeus had
a benchmark of excellence from
their indicator to the daily commitment to
the safety of the citizens of galesburg.
whereas k-9 zeus proved himself as
a critical asset
most notably in a high-profile
stabbing investigation where his skills
were instrumental in the pursuitpursuit
of justice, and it led to
criminal and
achievements contributeded to officer
taylor being named the officer of
the
year. Whereas zeus has maintained
the highest standard
of operational liability,
consistently certifying in narcotics
detection,
evidence recovery and handler protection
throughout
his decorated service, therefore there
it be resolveded that
I, mayor schwartzman,
doing hereby express
profound gratitude to
k-9 zeus for his selfless
service. As he transitions to a
fearless protector to
a home life, we honor
his excellence. Dated this 2nd
day of february, 2026.
I present this to officer taylor and zeus.
[ applause ]
thank you so much.
one last thing. I
just looked. You might think an 8-year-
old is too young
to retire. For a large dog, eight
years
is equivalent to 64, so for that I
think it's
well deserved.
thank you.
chief.
>> thank you. Yeah, there's
a special bond between a k-9 and handler that
most of
us will never know. Jake has been
committed
to the k-9 program since he started
it, and
zeus and jake have served this community
well, protecting the
community, and I can't think
--thank you enough, and we will continue on with
the
program.
>> what about his present?
>> oh,
yeah, and on behalf of the
city of galesburg, we would like
to present dog treats. Zeus,
go eat treats and take a nap. [ applause ]
>>> okay.
our next item is opening comments.
we have a
special guest who will give an opening
comment and I'll turn it over to ms. Sheets.
>> I'm
with trajectorytrajectory partners,
and we have a
community solar project in galesburg, so
I
would like to present a check for
a donation and read a little
proclamation from our owner, john
carson. Mayor schwartzman,
fellow city council members, trajectory
energy partners signed a benefit commitment
letter with the city of galesburg
dated november
27th, 2022, related to the south
side community solar project. In the
letter, trajectory committed to a
further set of
community-specific benefits that the
project willwill to
galesburg if the project is selected
for the program administered by the
power agency. Needs benefits
shall include 10,000 for community
parks on the
south side of galesburg. Since that
time, we are pleased to share that
the solar project has been
selected as a community-driven
community solar project, and under --
and it's
under construction and we expect to begin operations this year.
in recognition of
the forward movement of the project and
the continued partnership with the
city of galesburg, we are pleased
to make this
donation to you today. We look forward
to bringing the south side
community solar project and all of
its benefits to
the galesburg community. Just for
facts,
and so you know where south side
community solar is located, we have about
15 acres between
locust and
lumbared streets, and our
estimated electric bill savings to
local residents, in particular
to south side residents is a total
of $162,000 a year for subscribers.
the 50% discount dedicated to
south side residents should equate
to
$450 per household per
year. South side solar is also expected
to
provide approximately $300,000 total
in local
tax revenue over the life of the project.
so with
that, I would be
pleased to present a $10,000 check
from trajectory energies to the
city of galesburg.
>> thank you. [ applause ]
>> our park and rec director is coming down.
he'll be gladly accepting this and putting it to good work.
>>> we're still on public comment.
if anybody is here for public comment, step
forward
and state your name --
>> your honor, sorry.
>> yes?
>> can the council approve the minutes?
>> sorry. >> no worries. >> getting
ahead of myself.
thank you for correcting me.
>> thank you.
>> so we do
have the minutes from january 20th,
2026, so I
need a motion and second for that.
>> so moved.
>> thank
you, mr.
chair. I will ask the
clerk to call the roll on the january
20th, 2026 meeting.
>> mangieri, yes, hunigan, yes,
white, yes, acerra, yes, saul,
yes, cheesman, yes, and a six-yes
vote, your honor.
>> we will go back
to public comment.
if anybody is here for
public comment, please step forward.
please state your name and you have three minutes
to address the board.
>> good evening, I'm mindy knapp,
and I am representing
the western humanitarian center. Every
day
people are in need of a warm shelter in
the cold
weather and we see people on the streets and
the
warming center here at the police
station,
and the real judgment is whether they
do or do not
do to put themselves out there, and
the real judgment
is on us as a society of what we
haven't done to assure people at least
have a warm shelter,
an option of a shelter in times like these.
we have a rescue shelter, and yeah, it's
40 people and 40 people, 80, and we
have a warming
center, yeah, the capacity is 20, and
we have
a police station if
it's temporarytemporary or it's a warming
center, kind
of confused on that. We are out
growing these by numbers, okay?
we are not --20 people coming into
the police station at
night, 10, 11,
20, it's hard to --you
can probably justify to
this, chief, how to have somebody out there to make
sure everything
is being taken care of. Yeah, they are coming
in
and it's a temporary warming center.
if it is, you
know, to be able to come in because you
can't go to the other two options
and you don't want to be outside,
who wants to
be outside, okay? Some people in organizations
are telling me that people actually
choose to want to be outside. That,
to me,
I find that hard to believe, and I even
asked the ones I still see in town that
have not
been asked to get somewhere to be
warm, and
I'm repeatedly telling them the places
they can go to and
get warm.
anyway, this is serious. You know,
the police station
is dealing with a lot of
people, with too much in there and
what to do
of cleaning it up and the safety of
people with mental problems and everything,
and they have
rules, you can't eat in here, and
you can't eat in here
and can't use the bathroom,
and you can't use the can,
but you can sit in the chair and
there's only four, and we have to work
together as
a society. It's cold times and people
have the right to be in
somewhere, warm, okay? And they have
a right to eat, and they have
a right to rest if
that's the only options --homeless
people are not what you
think they are. They are survivors
of what
life has drugged them through
hell. They are survivors and
barely surviving and we need to take
that into consideration as a
society in galesburg and help people
in the cold time we
are having. In the summer, it's going to
be hot, so let's
start thinking of what to do. Thank you.
>> thank you.
anyone else here for public comment
this evening?
please step forward.
>> I am also here to speak about the
homeless problem
we have in our town.
>> can you state your
name, please.
>> I was getting ready to do that.
my name
is laura porter, and I'm
a nonprofit of the illinoisillinois
of elections, and
I'm here because galesburg have
large structurals sitting empty,
and the old public libraries and the
old eagles building, haha, and
the cottage
house and hawthorne court,
and several rec buildings
that were once
schools, those buildings are completely
vacant and are sitting and
doing nothing and I'm sure they are
sound enough we can
do something with them. My organization
is prepared
to take responsibility for one of
these properties and turn it into
a
community asset. Transitional housing
youth services and
a resource hub. This does not
require city operating funds. It requires
the city
to open up a process allowing
nonprocess to apply for the low
cost transfer or long-term
lease. This saves taxpayer money and
provides stability for the people
who need
it most. I'm collecting
signatures from the residents and
I'm asking the council
to take the first step tonight by
allowing non-profits like
mine
to bring forward
these proposals.
>> thank you. >> thank you.
>> anybody
else here for public comment? Okay, we'll move on.
thank you.
we have reached
the consent
agenda 2026-03. All matters listed on
the consent agenda are considered
routine by the city council and
will be enacted by one motion.
there are six items on the consent
agenda tonight. 26-
2022 is an
mft resurfacing project,
and we have
a 26-
3003, a parking lot seal
coat, and
26-4006, a update zoning map,
and
26-4007, flood insurance
renewal, and lastly, 26-
8002, approval and warrants
drawn in payment of same. Need a motion
to move
on this.
thank you, ms.
mangieri.
>> a second. >>
what parking lot is
being sealed?
>> yeah, the other half
of parking lot d, which is the parking
lot
that is over just to the east
of seminary
street, would be north of packing house.
we did half the lot last year and
the other half this year --
>> oh, okay.
>> so this
is finishing up the project and then
we will move on
to the next one.
>> thank you. >> seeing no other comments,
I ask for a vote
on
26-3003.
>>
mangieri, yes,
hunigan, yes --a six-vote yes,
your honor.
>> thank you. We have
passages and resolutions
of ordinances, and
26-1001, it's
a parking ordinance for
parking during school hours. It's
final reading and I
need a motion and second.
>> so moved.
>> thank
you, mr. Saul.
thanks, ms. Mangieri.
>>
staff recommends approval of an ordinance
for parking on fifer street to yates
streets during
school hours. The traffic advisory
committee reviewed concerns regarding
congestion during peak school times and
it
allows parking on both sides currently
and reduces
traffic flow to one lane when
fully parked. The study
showed a majority
support, and limiting parking on
the east side would improve safety for
students and parents. The
ordinance would prohibit parking on the east side
of willard street between 8:00 a.m.
and 4:30
on school days, and the gas tax fun
staff
is recommending approval.
>> thank you.
any questions about this
item? Seeing none, I ask
for a vote on 26-1001.
>>
mangieri,
yes, hundred igan,
yes, white, yes, saul, yes, and
a six-vote yes, your honor.
>> and then 26-
2003, it's a resolution, the build
grant as it around. Need a motion and
a second.
>> so moved.
>> thank you, ms.
acerra.
>> rather than go through all of this that
is in
the packet of material, this is the
exact
same project and the exact same amounts and
the exact
same match contributing,
it's just another grant fund possibility.
we already has a build grant out
of the logistics parks, and I
equated it on the radio this morning
to going fishing
and putting out a second line, but
it's no different than
the action you took at a meeting or
so ago. It's just another opportunity
for us
to potentially leverage funds to correct
and improve the south street underpass.
happy
to answer any additional questions.
>> thank you, mr.
hanson. Mr. Hunigan?
>> how much are
we asking for?
>>
it's just
3. 6 million, and
there's a match on this one as well to partner
and
take 10%, so our match is
10%, for about 365,000.
>> so the
railroad is putting up the money,
most of the money?
>>
the railroad is putting up 10%, plus they
are also underwriting the entire cost of
the engineering and application.
>> great.
>> thank you. Anybody else? Mr. White?
>> I know part of this is closing
off mulberry
street crossing. Will they
ever return that to a two-way street
so you can turn
left to go on west chambers, I think,
when this is done or is that
the plans?
>> again, this is
just the initial request. All of that
has to
be engineered and studied. It's in
the preliminary request, but that's part of what we
have to
study, demonstrate and get feedback
on as
far as any further work that's done in
that area.
>> all right. Thank you.
>> thank you. Mr. Saul? >> could
you get your crystal ball out and tell
us what
are the chances of us getting it this time?
>> yeah, great question. Last
year's grant application, our application made
it all the way through all of the
phases, they
just ran out of money. We were
encouraged to apply again, and we
have made
a few updates, including adding
the environmental, which is a plus
in our favor because it moves
the project along. The crystal ball
is, you know, if I had a crystal ball
about what goes on
in washington, d.c., I would be in
a different
job, but the reality is, I think we
have a strong application. It scored
very well last
time and we have been encouraged to
reapply and
hopefully we'll be successful in the
funding with either sfp or
build grant funds.
>> another
thing, have the prices changed any?
>>
not drastically from just last fall
or
last spring when we studied this.
the thing that
changed is adding all the environmental
assessments is part of the grant,
and last year's grant was
1. 7 or 1.8 but did not include
any environmental work, which is required either
way,
so including it up front helps our
application, and
obviously increases the cost but the
grant picks
up 80% of the costs as well, but it
would put
us further along for the actual construction if
we
were able to get the funds.
>> mr.
cheesman.
>> mr.
when you talked about it running out,
does this help our cause?
>> I think this
is another round of grant
funds, and the program, it was a
hayes program and before that it was a
tiger,
if I'm not mistaken. This particular
pot of funds is
an annual thing, and there's a
program with the fra that is a pretty
common reinvestment in rail crossings
and rail-
related conflicts with vehicles
and
pedestrians. You know, there's again,
a large pot
of funds available
andand obviously believe
our engineers
believe it's in our community's
best interest to apply.
>> thank you, all.
no other questions,
I ask for a vote on 26-2003.
>> mangieri, yes,
hunigan, yes, white, yes, acerra,
yes,
saul, yes, cheesman, yes.
a six-vote yes, your honor.
>> thank you.
we have nothingnothing bids
this meeting, and we
will movemove to the manager's report,
anything to add?
>> unless there's questions, I have nothing
to add.
>> thank you for the report
you
sent. We will move on. We have five
items under
miscellaneous business, and we have first
the retirement of
k-9 officer zeus, need a motion and
a second.
>> thank you, mr.
saul and mr. Cheesman. Any statements from
the council about mr. Zeus?
I will call
for a vote on 26-4009.
>>
mangieri, yes, hundred begun, yes,
white,
yes, acerra, yes, saul,
yes, cheesman, yes, a six-vote
yes, your honor.
>> now that he's
officially retired,
chief, is there another specialist coming in soon.
>> yes,
we're planning on, I believe,
march 1st or 2nd is the next
academy for the k-9 officers.
>> thank you
for that.
>> 26-4010 is a
minor plat of the
davis & sons storage division. Need a
motion
to consider.
>> so moved. >> thank
you, mr. White.
>> second. >> thank you, ms.
acerra.
>> staff is recommending approval
of the minor plat
for the
store ageage following a public hearing
on
january 13th, 2026.
it's located at 671
knox road 1400 north is
an existing
storage unitunit complex zone, and
it
was divide the lots retaining retaining
the mini storage buildings under the
current ownership and
a acre-lot to be sold.
the commission unanimously
recommended
approval
with a sidewalk.
>> thank you. Anybody from
the council? Mr. Hunigan?
>> I'm not quite sure where this place
is.
can you give me --point
me toward where this --
can
anybody?
>>
yep, it's --obviously
south of town just
where county 10 and grand avenue meet.
it's just to the north of that
parallel to actually the logistics park.
>> the logistics park, okay. >>
but it's on the west side rather than the east side.
>> there
we go. That's what I needed.
>> thank
you, across
the street from --
>> there we go.
now I know.
>> I just want to understand, I see
the yellow here that's blocked out,
which is
the storage sheds, but I don't know
what the subdividing --
what other part of this picture are
they --belongs to them that they are
dividing so they can sell it.
>> I
think on
the picture on page 70, there's actually
a
line that extends
up to that big trapezoid type of
shape, and there's the secondary --
isn't that the second part?
>> if you are looking at the aerial,
there's
a entrance on the south side of that property.
>> yes. >> that's going to
be a lot upon itself with a single building.
that's
the lot that will be sold off. Everything
else with the longer
buildings, the mini storage buildings
will be what
the owner retains.
>> okay. Just wondering.
>> okay.
seeing nothing else, I
will ask for
the council to vote and the
clerk to call the roll.
>>
mangieri, yes, hunigan, yes,
white, yes, au
acerra, yes,
saul, yes, and
white, yes.
>> we need a motion
and a second.
>> staff
recommends approval of the minor plat
for the subdivision
as recommended by the planning and
zoning commission following a public
hearing held on january 13th, 2026,
the
property located at 123 through
129 knox highway 31 currently consists
of
two residences with additional vacant
acreage and a pond and the
proposal would reconfigure the property into
two lots.
the approximately 49. 2 acre
northern lot would be retained
by the current owner while the 6.
3 acres southern lot would
be created to sale for
the owner's son, and there
was a unanimous
recommendation for approval. Pedestrian
traffic is
minimal and a neighboring
property owner supported
the
waver at
the public hearing. Happy to answer
any additional questions.
>> thank you. Any questions about
this item. Seeing none, I call for
a vote on 26-4011.
>>
mangieri, yes, hunigan, yes,
white, yes, acerra, yes,
saul, yes, cheesman, yes.
a six-vote yes, sir.
>>
and
then 26-4012, change order for additional
repairs to the fixed bus route
1701.
>> staff recommends approval
for additional repairs to
fix bus route bus 1701.
the hybrid bus began to
experience diagnostic
issues, and after repairs were completed
and
approved further testing identified
further
damage that was not detected sooner,
and interstate power system and updated
quote that
includes the additional parts estimated
at $22,372.
70 with no additional
labor cost.
for those on
councilcouncil newer
to council,
as part of the I dot agreement,
there's a process we have to go through.
so
your action is required in order for
us
to proceedproceed with repairs but they
are
ultimately covered through funding at the
state level, so
that's why this is before you and
why we're utilizing that
particular vendor, who I this is in
springfield
in this case.
>> thank you. Any questions on this item?
seeing none, I'll call for a
vote on 26-4012.
>>
mangieri, yes, hunigan, yes, white,
yes, acerra, yes, saul, yes,
cheesman, yes, a six-vote yes, your honor.
>> thank you. Next item, last item in
the section is 26-6001,6001,
appointment
memo, ward 3 council member. We need a motion
and
a second.
>> so moved.
>> thank you, ms. Acerra.
>> second. >> thank
you, mr. Hunigan.
>> I'm
happy to read, but if there's
anything you want to share with the
public
I think that would be appropriate.
>> I submitted
a letter of support for this gentleman, mr.
chuck reynolds, he's
a long-standing resident of ward 3
including him being
born there. He has
decades of employment with the clinic,
and
currently works for
rfms and has been involved in
a lot of volunteer work in galesburg
over his lifetime and
he's a graduate
of galesburg high school and I
would encourage the council to support my nomination.
anyone have any questions,
comments? Seeing none, I'll ask
for a vote
on 26-6001.
>> mangieri,
yes, hunigan, yes, white, yes, acerra,
yes,
saul, yes, cheesman, yes.
a six-vote yes, your honor.
>>
thank you. Wonderful. I am sure mr.
reynolds and his
family will be happy and that seat should
be occupied at
the next council meeting. You know,
it
was six of you, and
if it was 3-
3, the last few meetings I could have
voted, but you did
not give me the opportunity, so --
but, anyway, I don't generally get
to
vote, and the public knows
this, the mayor doesn't vote unless
there's a tie and
you can't have a tie with seven members.
thank you for
that and thank you for your support.
I know some of you
reached out to this gentleman and he
was
very thankful to talk with you and I
know he's looking forward
to joining our council. I have
already had an inquiry about people
wanting to know his email so they
can get in touch with him.
when do you think his city email
and running?
>> staff will begin working on
this tomorrow.
my guess is that process is pretty
fast, but I know our know
are going to reach out to him and try and
get him in this
week and get him through some of the
required
security protocols so that we can
get
him access to the system, the email
system, and
then obviously whatever his
preferred method of
communicating and availability is, as
you all
do. Depending on
his
availability.
>>
I need to motormotor as citizen of
the town board.
all those in favor say aye. Anybody
opposed.
we are sitting as a town board, and we
have
one item under the town business.
surprise,
surprise, 26-9002 are the bills.
need a motion for the bills.
>> so moved.
>> thank you, ms.
mangieri.
>> any questions about the
bills?
>> I call for roll on the
26-9002.
>> mangieri,
yes, hundred igan,
yes, white,
yes, saul, yes,
a six-man yes, your honor.
>> all those in favor of resuming the city council say
aye.
>> aye. >> we have resumed as
a city
council. We are now at closing
comments. Anybody wishing to leadoff this
evening?
okay, ms.
mangieri, please do.
>> I just wanted
to welcome our
newest council member. Unfortunately
I didn't get to work
with evan miller while he was there
as much as I could have,
but I am looking forward to working with
the new councilcouncil member. I did
get a chance
to speak with him and I feel good
about us collaborating more together,
so I hope that he feels as
welcomed as I did when I joined, so.
>> thank
you very
much.
>> mr. Hunigan. >> I want
to, again, recognize and honor the
galesburg resident rodney bunch for
being
inducted into the galesburg
high school hall of fame class of
2025. I have known mr. Bunch for the
entire
time I have lived in galesburg. That's 50 years.
he and his late wife, betty, have
been friends, not only to me but my
wife
and my four children. He was a member
of
an undefeated football team while
at ghs. He was a teacher for
21 years and is one of the
founders and longest serving members
of
a mentoring program at the high school
called the streaks dad that started
in 2013. The goal of the streaks dad's
program is
to provide positive role models for students.
he's
been a volunteer in this program for over
ten
years, and is
often at the high school five days
a week.
while some students require a hi-five
or a
simple conversation, several
other students need one-on-one to
tackle
the tougher issues. One
student said his father has been absent
from his
life for nearly a year,
quote, I have a one-
parent household. My mom has been
raising me. My dad
has been in and out of my life. He
also said that he
just had a birthday but his father
didn't call him. However,
this emptiness he feels at times is
filled by
the support he receives from his
street dad like rodney
bunch.
dwight white from
our council
is
also a street dad.
yesterday at my church we served
breakfast to our sunday schoolchildren as
well
as adults before we begin sunday
school each week. Yesterday a
homeless individualindividual steve,
perhaps in his
50s, was standing at our church
entrance cold,
hungry, tired and out of
options asking for any kind
of assistance. Steve was wearing
a thin jacket. He
had no hat, no gloves, and
his jeans were worn, torn and rather dirty.
he told me
that he had been permanently
expelled from the rescue
mission, wouldn't give the reason why.
he
also said he had been suspended for
ten
days from sitting in the
police station to keep warm. Wouldn't give the
reason why.
in coming weeks it's
going to become colder rather than
warmer. This man obviously needs more
than just
a meal. The pastor of my church
and I, want
somebody including the members of
the city council to tell us what
we can do when the needy people like
steve
show up at our doors?
how do we help people in our community
who do
not have a
stable, safe and adequate safe
to live? Those are my comments.
>>
thank you. Mr. White?
>> last week was
my shortest,
almost like
jesus wept.
I didn't mean that just for people
that like me, but
for people that don't like me, and
I didn't mean that for people that
think the same way
I think, I meant that for people
that think differently than me and
live
in a different part of town that I
do, and different color and race and
ethnicity, and I meant that to that
blessed for anybody and everybody
I see. I
know I'm at a quagmire, because I
look and
see what's going on in this world,
in this
nation, and I never believed
it was
so ugly. People that call
themselves christians
are saying that
gentleman that should have been shot.
I was there at
a meeting in iowa city, and because
me and another lady
was talking about it,
another patient got angry with us and reported
us to the administration because we
were
talking politics. We were just
saying how sad we felt for the va
guy
being murdered. I couldn't believe
how ugly that woman was doing that.
I'm hurting. I really am hurting.
our nation is hurting. When one person believes they
can take the life of another person
because they have a different view,
this country is made up
of all kinds of ethnicities.
this is not germany. We are
not germans, we're americans. We
are not swedish,
or africans, we are americans. To be
an
american, that means your ancestors
came from someplace else, and for
us to want to take
the people that are born and raised
here, or people trying to come here to
make a better life and
run them out,
it hurts. It's not
me they are doing
that to right now, but it still hurts.
when some of the
ancestors came
here, oregon was mexico.
the whole east --west coast was
mexico, but those people are being
told to go home,
go back to your country. Nevada,
texas, that was their home, their
country, their ancestors grew
up there. Please, step up.
when people do things or say things
or treat
people ugly, you just can't step back
and
say, well, they are not doing it
to me. I always used to tell
people, if my mother and I were walking
down
the street and see seen some guy and
he was
white or mexican and she just didn't
like him, I would have to stop
her from hitting him if she
said, he's a beede-eyed guy. I
would stop her because it's not right.
if
the guy is doing something
wrong, I have to stop him because it's
not right.
everybody, search your heart and spirit,
step
up and do what is right. It's
called humanity. It's called integrity.
please, please, please, look
for humanity and integrity. Thank you.
>>
thank you, mr. Hunigan --
I mean, mr.
white.
>> I definitely agree while
we should look
for humanity in one another, absolutely,
I
listen to a lot of
podcasts and I heard one
individual seen as
an conservative and having conversations
with
somebody typically thought of as left
of the aisle,
and it's amazing the
love that can come from sitting down
and talking instead of focusing on
what you
disagree on, and think about what you
can
agree on, and
there's certainly plenty. In our
news, the public safety, there was
an officer who was called to a gym
where
a young young was sneaking in without
a
membership, and rather than arrest
that individual or get
him in further trouble, he chose to
pay for
that individual's membership. I think
that's extraordinary,
and I do hope that individual
who
is the beneficiary
of that kindness,
appreciates that. I want
to thank our publicpublic for responding to
the large fire today, and emergency
folks were there and it's quite big, and
we have a
great public safety team, both teams
are
excellent here. Finally, I want to
put in a
plug for a professional development
event
that I'm responsible for along with the
illinois
state human resources society and
the oakbrook human
resources chapter. That's the statewide
student human
resources conference that will be
on march 28th, so
I know I have a couple months here.
if
anybody knows any students at all in the
state, doesn't matter if they are
at
a junior collegecollege a --you know,
a four-year college, that may be interested
in pursuing a career such as hr,
we hr, going to have a full day full
of
development sessions on how to
optimize your linkedin
profile and how to interview, and
I'm blessed because I
have so many volunteers across the
state that are professionals that come to
support the students and
their careers. If you know anybody
interested, please reach out and I'll
send more information.
thank you.
>> thank you.
mr. Saul.
>> thank you. Mine will be
short
and sweet. Congratulations to zeus
on his
retirement. They said you
can take a nap now. Since I retired
I can count on one hand the amount
of
naps I have had, so good luck. I
doubt he'll get very many naps, but
congratulations on
the other
thing that I have is
galesburg grew by one
person this weekend. I finished
moving my
mother-in-law to galesburg,
and
thank you, jesus for
that, and everybody that helps, and
I hope
everything goes well.
>> thank you.
>> mr. Cheesman. >>
again, I can't tell
you how much I appreciate the comments
from the
council, so worthwhile and meaningful.
I also want to congratulate mr.
reynolds and I look forward to working
with him.
he will be a great addition.
and I have known mr. Bunch for a long,
long time and taught and coached with
him and he's quite an
individual and means so much to our
town and
has done so
much for so many people.
also, I don't want to say happy --
I don't think
that's appropriate, but I want
to saysay learning from
and appreciative of black
history month, often times overcoming
so much like mr. White. I wish
we could just say they are all great
americans that done their part, and I don't
know they didn't
think of it as anything else but making
those
great contributions, but I want to
recognize them as well.
and we are making progress at the
mall little by little,
and there's lots more to be done
and we are on the trail. I went out
and
visited the warming center tonight
and did that last year as well,
and mayor schwartzman brought food
over there. I like to
see how things are going over there,
and
they brought out something there
and I want to talk about that,
and they are looking for
washcloths, dishrags, hygiene items for
men
and women, laundry soap and book
bags. I know they didn't get the food
they did before,
so food is appreciated.
they are in need for those things and
grateful
for those things. There are openings out
there tonight and there are most nights,
and we want
to take care of those folks in that
situation, by the grace of god. And on
the
city water department who had to go
out
in sub zero
weather on sunday morning and repair
a water main on
seminary street, and going by there
a couple
times, they had tough conditions but
they did it and did
it well and I want to recognize them
as well. Speaking of something a lot
of folks
have mentioned, knox college hosted
the other
night two very, very well-known individuals that made a
life
of getting the message out concerning
when people
have differences of opinion in terms
of politics,
and how they can hear each other out,
how
they can respect each
other, how they have civil discourse
as they are talking,
and some things that are
nonnegotiables and that kind of thing,
and I think
everybody draws lots of positives from
that, and one of the things I certainly
drew from
that, and I
just
from listening and watching
and observing what we are all
seeing, and it doesn't take a rocket
scientist to know
that people have to be civil to
one another and not call each other
names, and work together when
there are differences, and seeing by the
same
token, things that are nonnegotiable
in terms of how
we treat each other. That's
a high priority in my life to treat
everybody with dignity and respect,
and I
know I don't walk in their shoes but
I'm not better than they are and they are and
better than anybody else, and
that's a lot on our minds right now,
to try and make a better america
and people doing their part to make
it a better america in
a civil way, so thank you for
that. Thank you.
>> thank you, mr.
cheesman.
I really do appreciate your
comments related to the two
speakers, mr.
george, or dr. George and dr. Cornell west.
yeah, they came to our community and
it was a special event
in my 28 years at knox college --
>> it was packed. >> yeah, it was
obviously a cold night and well attended
by the community
as well as students. You know, the
topic
couldn't be more relevant in our community
in
terms of being civil, listening
and being open-minded, not --
being open to realize, and one of the things
I remember
one of them said, you
know, we --we think a lot of things,
all of
us, and just --it's without a doubt --
some of those things are true and some
of those things are false.
the problem is we don't know which
are
true and which are false. If
we recognize that, each of us is
carrying around beliefs that some
are true and some are false,
and that humidity allows us to
be more respectful of others in our
dialogue and decision making. I appreciate that.
and I appreciate your willingness to
go to the warming shelter and
see what's going on
there.
>> they are grateful for food --
>>
it's a difficult task. I was meeting --
I met with the city manager, assistant
city
manager and several folks that run
that facility today for over two hours, talking about
ways to improve, talking about what
things
could look like two months from now,
six months there now and down the road.
I think the council, there will be opportunities for you
guys to contribute to the conversation
and to, you
know, where funding may go or
how organizations can contribute to that end.
we definitely need to do more. We
know the task
is ever greater by the day. Thank you to
everybody in the community who has
reached out
and who supported, you know, those who
are struggling in all
walks of life. You
know, I want to thank mr. --
officer taylor as well
well officer zeus. That's a
tag team. You're going to be
lost without your buddy, but I'm sure
you will find
another one to train and to be part
of your
unit, so I really do appreciate his
service. Thank you
for your leadership to make sure
that went well. His seven years of
service, practically,
was remarkable. Yes, we're going to
have
a new council member. I am very pleased
the council voted unanimously to bring this
person on.
I think that is something
that I
appreciate much as someone who is
in
a difficult position making these
appointments, and I
do my best but it's a lot of
responsibility and you never know
how it's going
to pan out until the vote is taken, so
thank you for that. I look forward to
that person, mr. Reynolds,
participating in our council and our
continued communications
on a lot of very important fronts.
2026, there are
a lot of things going on behind
the scenes. Some of them have
come forward already for votes, but some
things will
come forward in the near future. I
say pay attention and
be involved. I want to thank ms.
sheets and trajectory for your commitment
to galesburg, not only from a
entrepreneurial, from that
standpoint, but also for the service you provide and
the
savings you have brought to many,
many residents in galesburg.
the electric bills continue to go
up and we need all the
tools in our shed in order to help
people manage that. I
want to end on that very positive note.
thank you, again,
for the contribution for the south
side parks. That will
be a wonderful addition. With that,
I will ask for
an adjournment. Do we have a
motion and second? Thank you, mr.
saul. Mr.
white seconds. All those in
favor, say aye.