A group of south suburban residents filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court to shut down several work sites the group says is in violation of a 25-year-old village ordinance.
A group of south suburban residents filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court to shut down several work sites the group says is in violation of a 25-year-old village ordinance. According to the Rev. Anthony Williams, pastor of Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church in Robbins and the spokesman for the group, said there are several construction sites in Robbins, such as those funded through the federal stimulus plan, that violate the Robbins Residential Employment Code. The 1985 ordinance mandates that at least 50 percent of all jobs and contracts go to qualified Robbins residents. “What we have here is elected village officials breaking the law,” Williams told the Defender. Williams said he is not a plaintiff in the lawsuit because he does not live in Robbins. The suit names the Village of Robbins, Illinois Department of Transportation and K-Five Construction Corp. as defendants and seeks a permanent injunction prohibiting any more projects funded by federal stimulus money to continue until the defendants comply with the village’s ordinance. Robbins Mayor Irene Brodie did not return phone calls by Defender press time. Williams said the group is represented by attorney Deidre Baumann, whose Chicago law firm Baumann & Shuldiner is also representing 400 Black plaintiffs in a civil lawsuit against Perpetua Inc., former owners of Burr Oak Cemetery in south suburban Alsip. Longtime Robbins resident Paul Rayon, a former village trustee, said the current village administration has not been cooperative and even admitted that the ordinance is not being followed. “This is an administration that think Blacks in Robbins are uneducated and out of touch with reality,” Rayon said. “But what they didn’t know is that we are very educated and know when something is not right.” Michael Smith, another Robbins resident, said the issue is not so much about race as it is about equality. “What’s right is right. There are Blacks working at these sites but they do not live in Robbins and that is where the issue stands,” said Smith, a one-time Robbins police officer. The small town of just over 6,600 and notably one of the poorest in the state, has an unemployment rate of 30 percent, according to Williams. “Stimulus money is aimed at helping economically deprived municipalities but the money has not been working for African Americans,” the pastor said. “We are calling on Gov. Pat Quinn, who I have spoken to personally about this matter, to step in and do something. … Robbins needs jobs and more economic development, two things stimulus projects are suppose to help create.” Copyright 2010 Chicago Defender Photo Caption: The Rev. Anthony Williams, pastor of Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church in Robbins spoke at a July 27 news conference regarding a village ordinance guaranteeing jobs and contracts to residents not being honored. (Defender/Worsom Robinson)
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