Galesburg City Council will vote on a resolution Tuesday night to support the LGTBQ+ community, recognizing its "ongoing struggle for dignity and equality." The resolution acknowledges the "many challenges that individuals in the LGBTQ+ community face, including discrimination, marginalization, and threats of violence." The proposed resolution comes after Mayor Peter Schwartzman said city staff and legal counsel were investigating alleged "homophobic/transphobic" social media posts by a Galesburg alderman. Schwartzman tells WGIL that "discussions with our legal counsel led to the current resolution." The mayor said legal counsel decided that specifying "proper conduct on social media" was deemed to be an inappropriate action. Schwartzman tells WGIL, "The tweets/retweets (whomever their author) are offensive but there is nothing that disallows elected officers from making offensive comments. However, the resolution that will be cons
Mayor Peter Schwartzman says that he estimates that Galesburg residents have saved $2.6 million or $209 per residence on energy costs in just the last 6 months. This is because of the City's energy aggregation program, which allows the city to aggregate the electric load of residential and qualifying businesses into one larger load. Bids are then solicited for electricity supply and related services for this bigger group, thereby saving residents money. Schwartzman as a Council member in 2011 supported the idea of energy aggregation. In the first 11 years of the program, it saved residents a collective $1 million. But since prices are locked in for a contracted period, Galesburg residents have largely been shielded from rising energy costs seen since last Summer. Schwartzman says by conservative estimates residents have saved $2.6 million over the last 6 months and will save an additional $2.6 million over the next 6 months. Data provided by DaCott Energy Services says Galesburg r
Galesburg City Council on Monday night passed a .25 percent increase to the home rule sales tax. The final vote went along an expected route; 4-3 with Kevin Wallace, Dwight White, Jaclyn Smith-Esters, and Sarah Davis voting in favor. Bradley Hix, Larry Cox, and Wayne Dennis were opposed. Aldermen and Mayor Peter Schwartzman had commented that the issue brought out more engagement from the public than any issue they've dealt with on the council. There was almost an hour of public comment before the vote, with many expressing support for the increase but the council also was presented with a petition of 1,400 signatures opposed. The council first took a vote on asking citizens in a referendum a non-binding question in the April consolidated election. Hix and Cox were the only two to vote against the referendum. Hix noted that 88 percent of the Galesburg Area Chamber of Commerce members asked in a recent poll were against the increase. Cox commented he wouldn't be surprised if c