Joliet Mayor Bob O’Dekirk tells our sister station, 1340 AM WJOL, that it is a legitimate possibility that the city of Joliet could be broke by October or November. He tells WJOL “this isn’t a Joliet issue. Every city is going through this. Our revenues have dropped 70 to 80 percent. Our budget for the year is 280 million dollars. You take away 80% of that, we won’t be solvent. No would be.”

The Mayor also said that the Joliet City Council will hold a special meeting on Monday, April 13th to consider the annexation of more than 12-hundred acres for the NorthPoint development. Mayor O’Dekirk says this isn’t the way he wanted this meeting to happen but it has to move forward.

He did say that he was unsure if the council would vote on Monday because they are unsure how many people will want to speak and they want a chance for everyone to be heard but he noted that they had postponed this meeting twice and they don’t know when the state will allow a meeting with 300 or 400 people in attendance.

The Mayor also addressed reports that the city is in violation of the open meetings act by holding the meeting. The Mayor stated that the city has a letter from the Illinois Attorney General stating that the city can move forward with the meeting and has that the letter will be placed online at the city of Joliet website.

While public gatherings are restricted through April 30 and social distancing in place to combat COVID-19, those who wish to be heard may submit written comments or call in. But you must sign up to call in 24 hours prior to the public meeting. The press release regarding the guidelines are listed on our website at WJOL.com.

To hear the whole interview with Mayor Bob O’Dekirk click here.