Joliet moves ahead with free downtown parking after Hug, Beatty battle

The city this week announced new parking rules in downtown Joliet, providing some insight into the spark that ignited a face-off between the city manager and a council member on Tuesday.

Downtown visitors now get a break on parking in the city-owned Ottawa Street parking deck.

Downtown businesses and the Joliet Public Library can validate parking stubs from the deck, an innovation announced as the city closed the library and city parking lots along Chicago Street for construction of the future city square.

It’s one more step toward free parking downtown, a direction in which the city is moving.

And, it was done without a vote by the City Council, a move questioned by Councilman Larry Hug at the Tuesday meeting.

Hug may be the most outspoken member of the council and is prone to challenge what he sees as city staff actions that require consent from the council before moving forward.

On Tuesday, Hug questioned City Manager Beth Beatty’s authority to waive parking fees in the city deck before she launched into accusations claiming Hug was a bully and “disrespectful of women.”

“I’m not going to let you bully me,” Beatty said in what was a unique moment in which a city manager confronted one of the elected officials who has a vote on hiring her.

Her comments likely reflect Beatty’s confidence that she enjoys the support of the majority of the City Council.

Beatty is the first female city manager in Joliet.

“I do not bully anybody,” Hug said to Beatty on Tuesday. “I tell people where I stand.”

Hug in an interview the day after the council meeting questioned why Beatty accused him of being a bully over the parking validation question.

“If you don’t agree with her, you’re bullying,” Hug said.

But Tuesday was not the first time that Hug stood alone in questioning city staff actions that he saw as usurping council power or that he took a position that led to him being called a bully.

Councilman Pat Mudron publicly labeled Hug a “bully” after he challenged city funding for the Rialto Square Theatre in 2015.

Hug’s outspoken nature has led to trouble before. In 2016, a barroom argument led to a Hug being punched in a bar in an incident that led to a disorderly conduct charge against the man who punched him.

Hug dismissed Beatty’s accusations of bullying, saying he has no opportunity to bully her because the two do not talk.

That was another issue that arose Tuesday, when Hug said Beatty does not return his emails and texts. Beatty said she prefers phone conversations and said Hug does not return phone calls.

Beatty did not respond to a request for an interview asking her to elaborate on her accusations against Hug but instead sent a statement by email through the city’s communication’s director.

“This administration will not tolerate harassment of any kind,” Beatty said in the email. “Respect and professionalism must be maintained at all levels, including on the council floor.”

She did not respond to Herald-News questions asking Beatty to specify how Hug has acted as a bully or been disrespectful to women.

In the city’s emailed response to the Herald-News request for an interview, spokeswoman Rosemaria DiBenedetto also provided a city ordinance, which appears to back up Beatty’s position that she can waive parking fees in the city deck without council approval.

The city issued a news release on Wednesday announcing the new waiver for parking in the Ottawa Street deck.

Downtown visitors now can get validation from the Joliet Public Library and downtown businesses that waive the $1 an hour charge for the Ottawa Street deck.