Tears, Joy Mark Event for New City Council

Emotional goodbyes and excited beginnings marked Monday night's Joliet City Council meeting as outgoing Councilman Don Fisher said farewell, new Councilman Jim McFarland took his seat and the birth of a new resident -- Mayor Thomas Giarrante's great-granddaughter -- was announced.

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The special meeting, held to swear in the winners of the April 9 at-large council election, was heavy on pomp and circumstance as a Joliet Police Honor Guard led the packed council meeting room in The Pledge of Allegiance followed by a performance by bagpiper Robert Hall.

Supporters of Fisher and re-elected at-large candidates Jan Quillman and Mike Turk were in attendance, but the vast majority of the crowd was there for McFarland, who was sworn in by family friend, Will County Associate Judge Matthew Bertani.

Many of McFarland's supporters were holding signs that voiced messages against the building of an immigrant detention center in Joliet, a hot-button topic that won McFarland many votes after he announced his opposition earlier this year.

Although he didn't address that topic specifically, he did make reference to Louise Ray, the late founder of the Forest Park Community Center on the city's East Side, and the late Art Schultz, a five-term Joliet mayor who strove to help Joliet lose its image as a prison town.

"Though both are no longer with us, our combined efforts as a council to confront the challenges we currently face honor these leaders of the past and pave the way for those who lead us into the future," McFarland said.

"I know that together, we can accomplish the important tasks that lay ahead and I look forward to working with my fellow council members to achieve the goal of a strong and vibrant Joliet."

Quillman and Turk, whose 26 years on the council make him the member with the longest tenure, were sworn in by City Clerk Christa Desiderio.

Both acknowledged the support of family and friends who helped them attain re-election, with a choked-up Quillman acknowledging the support of her husband, who did door-to-door campaigning by himself on days when she had to work.

"Thank God for that because we know a lot of the votes (she received) came from those subdivisions he walked," said Quillman, making a reference to the tight race in which only about 200 votes separated the three incumbents.

Turk called the support he received -- both financial and in the form of people campaigning on his behalf -- "humbling." He also joked that he had served long enough that a niece who wasn't born when he was first elected was now old enough to cast a ballot for him this time around.

Fisher, the city's longtime director of planning and economic development and a two-year council member, was presented with a proclamation from Mayor Giarrante acknowledging his contributions to Joliet.

Fisher urged the council to carry on the work that's already been started and to have ambitious dreams.

"The better you do, the better we do as a city," he said. "Keep thinking big. I'm going to steal this from one of the great planners (Daniel Burnham): Make no small plans."

He also suggested members find a way to honor former Councilman Joe Shetina, who was in the audience Monday night. Shetina served for 36 years, leaving office in 2011.

"I thought of how much time I put in in just two years," he said. "Joe did it for 36 years. Just think about that."

Finally, the 8.3-pound baby girl was born at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox is Giarrante's second great-grandchild. He learned of the birth via text, and announced the news to audience at the close of the meeting.