The Joliet City Council on Tuesday approved the contract that will allow firefighters who are classified as supervisors to live outside of the Joliet city limits.
Recently, the council unanimously approved a contract with the International Association of Firefighters Local 44 that allows rank-and-file Joliet firefighters to live up to a 50-mile radius from the intersection of Jefferson Street and Essington Road. Firefighters, as well as their supervisors in Local 2369 union, will also receive a 3.25 percent annual pay increase for the next four years.
The old contract stipulated that firefighters had to live in the City of Joliet boundaries. But it was the administration that wanted the requirement removed during current negotiations. It is possible the residency requirement might be loosened when the city negotiates with other unions, like public works.
City officials have said expanding residency is part of efforts to attract applicants not only from Joliet, but neighboring communities, as well.
Councilwoman-at-large Jan Quillman agreed with Mayor Terry D’Arcy that removing the residency requirement is not necessarily permanent.
“The problem I have is we are shorthanded in some divisions,” he said. “Our young people don’t have a place to live. People have had a hard time finding housing in Joliet. This will help us hire people in the next four years.”
Suzanne Ibarra, Councilwoman District 5, said she has also found that “there is a lack of open housing or open apartments in Joliet.”
A representative for State Senator Rachel Ventura, 43rd District, who represents Joliet residents attended Tuesday’s meeting to speak on behalf of the senator who wants the residency requirement to remain in place. Ventura believes “it connects firefighters to the community.”
The new contracts with fire supervisors and rank-and-file firefighters are retroactive to Jan. 1 and provides the 3.25 percent pay hike this year along with the same annual increase through 2028.
In other city council news
Joliet will once again have a Jack in the Box restaurant after the council approved a new drive-through restaurant at 2307 Jefferson St., the site of a now-closed Arby’s. Once it is remodeled and site improvements are made, the Jack in the Box location will join the other restaurant at 2101 Route 59, which just opened Monday. The first Jack in the Box was in downtown Joliet in the 1970’s where the previous Chicken and Spice restaurant was located. The location is now the JJC parking.
The California-based restaurant chain is planning to open other restaurants in the Chicagoland area, including in Naperville and New Lenox. This marks a larger effort by Jack in the Box to expand its presence in the Midwest and return to the Chicago area after a 40-year absence.
