City Workers Settle While City Hall Rewards Itself
FREEPORT, IL – October 6, 2025
Tonight, the Freeport City Council is set to ratify a long-delayed labor contract with AFSCME Local 3367, bringing to an end over five months of uncertainty, silence, and strategic stalling — and confirming what Joshua Atkinson has been warning the community about since last winter.
After months of avoidance, broken promises, and political maneuvering, the City Council will be asked to approve a deal shaped by fear and fatigue, not fairness. And while city laborers and dispatchers have been forced to choose between survival and justice, City Hall’s top brass — including City Manager Rob Boyer, Mayor Jodi Miller, and council members themselves — have managed to secure generous raises, many voted on and approved by the very officials who benefit. Even tonight, Darin Stykel (Fehr Graham) who is contracted to head our public works department will not only be asking for a contract renewal but an extra $100,000 in taxpayer dollars for 2025.
The Playbook Unfolds Exactly as Predicted
Atkinson, who challenged Miller’s administration earlier this year, forecasted this exact scenario:
“They’ll delay until after the April election to avoid the truth, then drag negotiations through summer until workers are cornered by winter and the holidays. Fear and public indifference will do the rest,” he said in February.
And now, that prophecy has come to pass. The 2025–2028 AFSCME agreement — scheduled for a vote tonight under Resolution R-2025-124 — arrives not as a victory for workers, but as an admission of how power in Freeport is exercised: through delay, deception, and manipulation.
Negotiations that should have been started last winter were deliberately pushed beyond election season. When spring came, so did silence. City workers, dispatchers, and public works crews waited for promises made by Manager Boyer, that never came. As summer passed and construction season wound down, the pressure grew unbearable. With winter approaching and the holidays looming, they faced an impossible choice — accept less than they’re owed or risk going into December without jobs or paychecks.
“This is exactly the outcome the administration wanted,” Atkinson said Monday. “They stalled, misled, and manipulated until the workers had no leverage left. The road work has already been done. Now they’ll call it a success story — but it’s a story written in corruption.”
Broken Promises and Misused Taxes
At the heart of this controversy lies the Miller 1% sales tax increase, passed last year under the promise of funding future infrastructure improvements. But as Atkinson repeatedly warned, those funds were instead diverted to cover past debt — forcing the administration to only do part of the approved 2025 Street improvement program. Sure they may have done the same streets but what they are not telling you is, that they only did half distance. We suppose we’ll all know next spring how many other corners Miller, Boyer and Fehr Graham cut.
City Manager Rob Boyer, who assured union members the tax go towards pay raises, now faces growing criticism for his role in the deception. Yet rather than accountability for making promises he doesn’t have the authority to keep, Boyer received a pay raise, joining a list of senior officials who’ve boosted their own salaries while frontline workers struggle.
The message is unmistakable: while Freeport’s essential employees are told to tighten their belts, City Hall’s leadership tightens its grip on taxpayers’ wallets.
Hostile Conditions and Retaliation
Compounding the injustice, union members have publicly confirmed that police dispatchers have endured months of harassment and retaliation from senior police officials. These frontline workers — already caught in a prolonged contract limbo — report being subjected to intimidation and mistreatment simply for raising concerns or standing up for fair treatment.
The climate, described by several employees as “toxic” and “retaliatory,” has gone unaddressed by the administration, which has instead focused its energy on protecting its inner circle and preferred contractors.
Raises at the Top, Breadcrumbs at the Bottom
Tonight’s vote comes on the heels of record-breaking raises for the police union, with the fire department next in line for increases. Facing those precedents, Freeport’s Public Works employees are being told there’s “no room” in the budget for their fair share.
The optics are staggering:
City Hall insiders rewarding themselves with new raises
Fehr Graham continuing to receive lucrative contracts
Workers who keep the city functioning being offered crumbs under threat of a hard winter and scarce Christmas
“This isn’t governance — it’s exploitation,” Atkinson said. “They’ve played this game for years. Delay the truth, reward your friends, and hope residents look away when the bill comes due.”
A Familiar Excuse: “It All Worked Out”
With tonight’s vote, the administration will declare the contract a success, spinning it as evidence that “it all worked out.” But the reality is far less comforting. The deal was forced, not forged; the trust was broken, not built; and the leadership remains unaccountable.
Mayor Miller will likely escape embarrassment — just as Atkinson warned — claiming resolution as proof of competence. But Freeport’s workers and taxpayers know better. This wasn’t negotiation. It was a hostage situation wrapped in a handshake.
Freeport’s Crossroads
As the city council takes its vote, the broader question remains: who does City Hall truly serve? The pattern is unmistakable — consultants over communities, contracts over workers, power over principle.
Tonight’s ratification will bring closure, but not justice. It will end the negotiation, but not the resentment. And for many across Freeport, it will confirm what Atkinson said from the start:
“This administration doesn’t represent the people. It represents itself.”
🕔 Meeting begins at 6:00 PM
📍 City Council Chambers, 314 W. Stephenson St.
🎤 Public comment limited to 3 minutes
Freeport deserves a city government that leads with honesty, not manipulation; accountability, not arrogance. Fighting4Freeport will continue to follow the money, amplify the truth, and demand transparency for the workers and residents who make this city run.
