Mayor Chris Clark absent from first City Council meeting after two-month hiatus amid fiscal disaster

Following a two-month meeting hiatus amid the city’s fiscal crisis, Harvey City Council resumed sessions on Jan. 12 — without Mayor Chris Clark in attendance. 

Harvey has furloughed roughly 41 percent of municipal employees. That followed a layoff of 10 percent of workers. City services are operating on reduced hours, as a result. It’s resulted in egregiously long lines to pay water bills, agitated critique over public safety, and renewed calls for Clark to resign. The city did not hold a council meeting in November or December 2025.

A state bill introduced last year by Harvey native and Illinois State Rep. Will Davis (D-10) endeavors $30 million be distributed to the city as grant dollars to help manage finances. It hasn’t moved from the Rules committee, however; it’s highly unlikely that state assistance is coming, at all.

Ald. Dominique Randle-El (5th) served as meeting chair despite Ald. Shirley Drewenski (1st) being appointed mayor pro temp, which allows her to lead meetings when the mayor is absent. Randle-El told the HWH that he does not know the reason for Clark’s absence.

“The only call that I got is that [Clark] wasn’t able to attend,”  Randle-El said. “I didn’t ask any questions.” 

During public comment, resident Ryan Sinwelski accused Clark of going into hiding and “begging the state to bail him out” of the city’s financial troubles. Randle-El defended the mayor in response, asserting his absence did not indicate evasion.

“[Clark’s] not running. He’s not hiding. He’s not afraid. He’s human,” Randle-El said. “I’m not going to allow those types of things to be said as if these things are going on. It’s not true.”

The mayor’s office did not respond to requests for comment regarding Clark’s absence.

Budget breakdown and audit report

The council approved budget and tax levy ordinances for the 2025-26 fiscal year. Comptroller Louis Williams characterized the budget as “painful,” citing a $3.7 million deficit potentially resolvable through renegotiated firefighter pension obligations, to which the city owes nearly a decade of missed payments. 

Currently, the Illinois State Comptroller garnishes 35 percent of Harvey’s revenue, guaranteeing pension payments.

Williams said that while renegotiations would give the city four more years to pay the firefighters, it would reduce the burden of the current budget. “If we could get that payout to [police and firefighters] under $2 million a year, it basically would put about $3 million more in the city’s coffers and get us close to a budget breakeven,” Williams said.

Kyle Kasperek, an accountant from John Kasperek Co., presented a delayed 2021-22 audit issuing “disclaimer” opinions on major funds for lack of sufficient data. The revenues, though, exceeded expenses by approximately $2 million during the fiscal year, lowering the cumulative governmental fund balance deficit to $33.5 million. Operating revenues exceeded expenses by approximately $860,000, improving the cumulative net position to just over $6 million compared to the previous fiscal year.

Harvey is behind on state-mandated audits for the past three fiscal years, according to state records. The Illinois State Comptroller cracked down on the city, forcing Harvey’s compliance by hiring an auditor.

Did Harvey raise taxes?

Ald. Colby Chapman (2nd) suggested tabling the tax levy vote after City Treasurer Aisha Pickett discovered that the version city officials incorrectly posted the 2024 tax levy document in the prior year as the 2025-26 fiscal year. See the mistake here. 

In the prior tax year, Harvey did not raise property taxes, adopting a zero percent increase. But because the city did not release the levy documents, it is currently unknown whether the city raised taxes on property owners.

However, Randle-El said the council can still vote since the date was listed correctly on the meeting agenda. “Legally, the agenda is posted correctly. Therefore, we can take action,” he said.

“We want to do everything in full excellence. We may have [the date] correct here, but we don’t have it correct for the general public to review it,” Chapman replied. 

Some residents like Glynis James-Watson criticized the belated adoption of the tax levy and raised questions about city operations. “We are not being addressed properly, we’re not given the due notices, the due respect that we deserve,” James-Watson said. “Despite what was said at the previous meeting, 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.”