The former Barber-Colman Co. complex on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, in south Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Aldermen may have a second chance to vote on whether a labor deal should be required in order push the massive Barber-Colman factory redevelopment project forward.

Such a deal, which City Council members narrowly approved on Monday in a 7-6 vote, threatens to halt the project completely, City Administrator Todd Cagnoni told aldermen Monday.

However, that decision can be reconsidered if an alderman from the prevailing side of the vote makes a motion to do so. Alderman Mark Bonne, who was instrumental in putting the labor requirement forward, said he’s going to do just that.

Related: Follow the money? City Council members on both sides of Barber-Colman vote have labor support

Bonne said that he plans to put forward the motion to reconsider on Monday so long as Alderwoman Janessa Wilkins, who was not able to attend this week’s meeting because of an unexpected family emergency, is in attendance. Bonne doesn’t plan to change his vote, but he thinks residents of Wilkins’ ward deserve to have their representative vote.

“In the interest of democracy, the people of the 7th Ward deserve to be represented in this vote through Alderman Wilkins,” Bonne said. “My support for the (project labor agreement) hasn’t changed. In fact, it may have even increased.”

The way a vote to reconsider works is that first council members decide whether or not they want to reconsider the issue. If a majority approve of reconsidering the issue, then a vote on requiring a project labor agreement will take place again.

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Wilkins vote could change the outcome if she votes against the project labor agreement and other aldermen maintain the same position they had Monday. That would result in a 7-7 tie, which by rule is broken by the mayor. Mayor Tom McNamara would break that tie by voting against the PLA, pushing the project forward.

“I’ll be honest, both sides of this difference think they have her vote,” Bonne said. “I do not know which way she was intending to vote had she been there.”

We spoke briefly with Wilkins this morning, but she was unavailable for an interview. We’ll provide an update when possible.

Proponents of J. Jeffers & Co.’s plans to revamp the vacant factory into a $420 million mix of apartments and businesses were pushing for someone to call for the vote to be reconsidered.

Rudy Valdez, the president of the south Rockford economic development advocacy group SWIFTT, said Wednesday before Bonne’s announcement that he thought the vote would be reconsidered.

“It’s too transformational to just say, ‘oh well, it’s done,'” Valdez said.

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Bonne said his opinion has changed in one respect: He no longer thinks this is the last opportunity to redevelop the 26-acre factory site.

Bonne, a historic preservationist who has fought for saving other buildings such as the former Catholic Diocese of Rockford chancery, said he questions whether demolition is needed now if the development falls through.

“The likelihood that we are going to have passenger rail in that immediate area has increased exponentially with the announcement by the governor just last week,” Bonne said. “I think making it much more likely that there are going to be other developers interested in this property if J. Jeffers does walk.”

Bonne also said he hopes labor leaders and J. Jeffers can still come back to the table hash out a project labor agreement.

How they voted on the PLA

Here’s how aldermen voted on the requirement of a Project Labor Agreement to be included in the redevelopment deal for Barber-Colman.

For PLA: Jonathan Logemann, Chad Tuneberg, Karen Hoffman, Mark Bonne, Kevin Frost, Frank Beach, Isidro Barrios

Against PLA: Aprel Prunty, Bill Rose, Jeff Bailey, Gabrielle Torina, Tim Durkee, Gina Meeks

Absent: Janessa Wilkins

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas