The Council voted 7-7 on the massive Shodeen apartments project at 1 N. Washington, with Mayor Schielke breaking the tie again to approve the project.

On another topic, there was very interesting conversation at Council. Also on the agenda had been a waste hauling contract. It appeared a cut-and-dried vote from last week’s COW, with a contract being awarded to the lowest proposal. HOWEVER, some aldermen changed votes and awarded the garbage hauling contract to Advanced Disposal, BECAUSE OF THE HEAVY LOBBYING EFFORT BY ADVANCED DISPOSAL AND CITIZENS PUSHED TO LOBBY BY ADVANCED, despite that Lakeshore Recycling had a lower priced proposal. They said they heard overwhelmingly that citizens wanted to keep Advanced Disposal, never mind the cost.

One alderman pointed out it will be hypocritical to say citizen voices matter here, but will not matter when the Shodeen project comes up next.

Alderman Stark said that lobbying works when it’s what she already thinks. So because she already favored Advanced, people emailing her in support mattered, but those against Shodeen’s project don’t matter, because she doesn’t already agree with them. Her honesty is appreciated.