Joliet Township Meeting

Pressure building on the Joliet Township to withdraw their $8.6 million grant from the state of Illinois to help asylum seekers. A statement from the Will County Chair Judy Ogalla has been released.

As the Chair of the Will County Board, I support Mayor D’Arcy’s request to have the Joliet Township withdraw their asylum grant application. I am very concerned that the County’s Health Department, the Sheriff’s Department, as well as many other county departments can efficiently and monetarily support thousands of asylum seekers. In my opinion, it was extremely irresponsible for the Joliet Township to apply for this grant without notifying the City of Joliet and Will County. I know that there have been other open and on-going conversations with the Joliet Township Supervisor on other subjects; there is no reason this topic was not discussed.

I did not have a conversation with the Joliet Township Supervisor, and much like the Mayor of Joliet, I was unaware that Joliet Township applied for this grant.

This is an ongoing situation and should be discussed Countywide, with the Will County Board included, before any decisions are made that affect the residents of Will County. The Will County Board is responsible first, to their constituents, and as such, needs to have a seat at the table when these decisions are being made.

Meanwhile this month’s regularly scheduled meeting of the Joliet Township has been moved to larger venue following reports that Joliet Township Supervisor Angel Contreras would be getting $8.6 million grant to help asylum seekers. Public comment is slated to begin after the approval of the minutes. The meeting will happen Tuesday, October 10th and will begin at 5 p.m. at 201 W. Jefferson Street at Bicentennial Park.