What we stand for

Wego for the People is a coalition of neighbors who love West Chicago and want to make it the best version of itself that it can be. We believe City Hall has veered away from its mission to serve the people and is instead focused on its own welfare and preservation as a corporate entity. We want to reverse this trend and put the people of West Chicago back into the driver’s seat of city government.

WeGo for the People exists to make West Chicago government work for the people of West Chicago

Our Mission

Our Approach

WeGo for the People seeks to change City Hall by instilling four core qualities into its corporate culture:

While each of these four core qualities are virtues which our city officials profess to uphold, often their actions tell a different story. WeGo for the People has proposed eight specific measures by which our elected leaders and city staff can demonstrate a commitment to each attribute:

Our Vision

Our vision is to be the preferred partner for our community, known for our integrity, reliability, and dedication to making a meaningful impact.

Core Qualities

Transparency

Proposed Transparency Measures

Livestream all city council and committee meetings and provide publicly accessible recordings.
Require that the city council hold a town hall meeting once per quarter where the mayor and city council members must respond to residents’ questions and comments.

What is transparency?
WeGo for the People believes that West Chicago’s city government has a basic responsibility to let the public see the decisions being made and the process by which they are made. The community has a right to know what is happening irregardless of how it impacts City Halls public image. Transparency should not be confused with mere compliance with state laws. It is not unreasonable to think that City Hall should want the community to be informed and involved in the governance of our home town. We expect our local government to be proactive in making information accessible to its constituents and actively helpful in responding to information requests.

Examples of the need for Transparency

Recent actions by West Chicago City Hall demonstrate a desire to work in obscurity and to conceal information which might be damaging to their public image. Examples of this trend include:

The 2022 elimination of the City Clerk as an elected position without a referendum or any public input Did You Know? West Chicago Alters Governance, Raises Questions
The unwillingness to disclose any details which would explain why the water billing fiasco was allowed to happen between 2011-2018 Software Problem Leaves Residents In The Dark On Water Bills Four Years Later Water Billing Still a Problem In West Chicago
The unwillingness the city has shown in 2024 to provide public information about attempts to remediate radioactive waste at the city owned 119 West Washington complex Brownfields clean up grant application
The reticence to make city council and committee meetings available by streaming until forced by public pressure in June of 2024. First Stream of a West Chicago City council meeting. Committee meetings are still not streamed.
The city’s failure to take action or inform the public about lead pipes in the water grid until they were forced to by The EPA Lead and Copper Rule revisions which had a 2024 deadline. Jan 15, 2021 EPA LCRR compliance fact sheet Other communities have been proactively replacing lead pipes for years. West Chicago City Hall seems content to do the minimum necessary to stay in compliance. Here’s an example from neighboring Geneva of a replacement program that has run since 2020 Geneva lead pipe replacement Wheaton Replacement program
The city’s reticence to seek public input about a second Waste transfer station until forced to by public outcry West Chicago Residents Push Back Against Another Waste Facility Notices and hearings did not provide Spanish speakers with opportunity to give their input.
Numerous occurrences of the city withholding information from FOIA requests from community members and journalists between 2022-2024.

Update: as of June 17, 2024 we had our first victory. City Council has partially adopted this measure by streaming City Council Meetings on Youtube. We still call on City Leaders to stream all committee meetings and to provide a permanent archive of these recordings.

Integrity

Install an ombudsman accountable to the city council
organize a resident led commission to evaluate code enforcement, inspection services, the violation complaint system, and administrative adjudication procedures for unfair or discriminatory policies or practices.
Task the ombudsman to investigate why significant water billing mistakes were made between 2013 and 2016 and release a public report.

Accountability