Publicly, Naperville City Councilman Josh McBroom has said over and over that he didn’t receive any interest in his migrant housing sign-up sheet proposal.
Behind the scenes, though, he — and the city — did, according to public records acquired by the Naperville Sun through a Freedom of Information Act request.
On Jan. 22, six days after McBroom initially made his suggestion to the Naperville City Council, someone with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Naperville congregation sent an email addressed to the City Council’s general address, an account that all council members receive, records show.
The email read: “…I work with a local congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints here in Naperville. I read an article today about the potential to house some of the asylum seekers that are being trafficked here from Texas. I know there are a number of people who would like to help in our and neighboring congregations and would love more details if they are available.”
McBroom responded the same day, writing: “… thanks for the email. If you watch the tape of my comments from (the) council meeting that would help. Skip to new business section,” and provided a link to the Jan. 16 council meeting where he first broached the idea. McBroom did not elaborate further.
The Sun contacted the person who wrote the email. They opted not to comment on their inquiry to McBroom and asked they not be named, but confirmed their interest was genuine.
And, in fact, that person was one of three people who sent an email to the council to express interest in the possibility of housing migrants, records show.
McBroom said he recalled the exchange he had with the church member. He maintained the inquiry did not constitute interest in his sign-up sheet proposal.
“I mean, people can say, ‘Hey, I want to help. I want more information,’ but I didn’t get anyone who actually told me that that’s a good idea, I want to do that,” he said.
He added that because he did not receive an immediate follow-up to his response from the writer, he took it to mean they were no longer interested.
“I mean, they must have been entertaining a different idea, and they’re asking for more information,” he said. “Here’s the information. Watch my comments. And I don’t get any follow-up from that? I would say that’s no interest in what I was proposing.”
Following their initial message exchange, the church member sent another email on Jan. 27, two days after a manager’s memorandum announced that city staff would no longer be looking into McBroom’s idea because it would be duplicative of other migrant services being done elsewhere across the state.
The follow-up message also came a day after McBroom said to the Sun in an interview, “I made this proposal and not a single person in our entire town contacted me and said, ‘Hey Josh, is the list ready? Where’s the list? Can I sign up … and house a migrant?’” and “I guess we don’t have any demand in the town for it.”
In the church member’s Jan. 27 email, they referenced the quote — published on Jan. 26 — and voiced confusion. They said: “I specifically asked for more information and I’m sure there are others. If there is no longer a need I understand but I don’t want it misconstrued that our community is not ready and willing to help.”
McBroom responded: “…this being a housing crisis right now, it is clear to me that we do not have any residents who are willing to open their homes to house migrants.”
He elaborated Wednesday, “I don’t know how it could be more clear. I was not asking churches to take in a sign-up and say, hey, we’ll fill our church with migrants. … We have a housing crisis, I’m gauging interest on who would be willing to open their homes to house migrants.”
On Jan. 25, a separate person reached out via the council email and said: “Please pass the message to Josh McBroom that I will house migrants. I live in St. Charles and if you send me the sign up sheet I will sign it. Please tell Josh that Naperville doesn’t speak for the Chicago suburbs and plenty of people will house them. Let’s talk and we’ll get this started.”
Rachel Pruneda with the mayor’s office replied and thanked the person for contacting the council. She assured them that “Councilman McBroom does receive emails that are sent to council@naperville.il.us and is monitoring them.”
On Jan. 26, a person who said they were a former resident of Naperville and graduate of North Central College, emailed the council and offered to donate money to a council-recommended nonprofit or church that would use the funds to help any migrant families who end up residing in Naperville or any DuPage County community.
Asked about both inquiries, McBroom said he couldn’t recall either.
“I mean, I got so many emails,” he said.
But speaking to offers of financial assistance, McBroom said, “If people want to do that, that’s great. I don’t think it solves a housing crisis, but it’s something.”
McBroom stressed Wednesday that his proposal was sincere, despite community members at a recent council meeting lambasting the first-term councilman for entertaining what they believe was an insincere, self-serving and politically motivated stunt.
A Jan. 22 email would seem to contradict McBroom’s position when he describes the housing list proposal as being made “tongue in cheek.”
In response to an email written by someone who identified themselves as a longtime Naperville resident opposed to the potential migrant housing list, McBroom replied: “It was tongue in cheek … if you listened to the tape. We all know that none of the people in Naperville who voted for open border policy are going to open their homes up.”
Asked about the exchange, McBroom said he believes his proposal could be both tongue in cheek and sincere.
“I think it can be both. I think it can be a polite challenge to people who support this policy, and if that’s called tongue in cheek. I don’t know the definition of tongue in cheek. I don’t think it means that, hey, I was bluffing. I was giving people an opportunity to extol their virtue. And they could have done it.”
Apart from direct inquiries to McBroom or the council, Naperville’s Emergency Management Agency Coordinator Dan Nelson received an email from a Naperville resident named Esther Caldwell on the morning of Jan. 16, hours before McBroom first introduced his idea at the council meeting later that day.
In her note to Nelson, Caldwell said she is a retiree living in a 5-bedroom home in Naperville and was interested in lodging two to three migrant families.
She asked, “What would need to happen for my home to be temporary lodging?”
A day later, Nelson replied: “The City of Naperville is currently beginning the process of identifying its role within the system(s) of local government in regards to this issue. Any developments would be announced in the future.”
Reached this week, Caldwell said that hosting migrants in her home is an idea she had been thinking about since the fall. She had initially considered working with a community organization but when it didn’t seem like the best fit, she reached out to the city instead.
It wasn’t until she was listening to NPR last month, after McBroom’s proposal made national news, that she heard there were discussions happening at the city level similar to what she had been considering on her own, Caldwell said. Then she heard the idea was nixed.
On Jan. 27, Caldwell reached out to Nelson again, referencing McBroom’s proposal and expressing concern that he was “mocking the idea.”
“I trust that wasn’t the case,” she said.
She again reiterated her intention to house a migrant family currently living in a Chicago shelter and said, “I would like my city to support me helping this way. How can I pursue this?”
Caldwell emailed Nelson again on Jan. 30 “to better understand Naperville’s position on private citizens hosting migrants in their homes.”
“Both the Chicago Tribune and now the New York Times have articles about a Naperville … council member announcing there is no interest here!!” she said. “That’s not true, of course. Should I contact the papers to have my interest taken seriously?”
Nelson forwarded Caldwell’s email to Naperville City Manager Doug Krieger, who replied on Jan. 30:
“Thank you for reaching out again with respect to migrant housing. We truly appreciate your interest in the topic. As the City has identified existing resources, both public and private, that provide housing resources, any effort on our part would be duplicative and therefore was deemed necessary.”
Caldwell replied the same day, noting her frustration that she had received “no actionable information from the City on how a resident can house an immigrant family; as well as whether there are civil codes to follow and what city services a family residing in my home could expect.”
Per city code, boarding rooms can only be rented from owner-occupied structures with up to a maximum of two boarding rooms per single-family structure, or one boarding room for all other dwelling types.
Caldwell wrote that she also didn’t “understand on what basis one of the city council members speaks publicly and in an official role for the whole city in publishing that no residents here are interested. That needs to be retracted. Why did a legitimate effort to develop a list get scrapped?”
Caldwell went on Thursday, adding that she was “disappointed and shocked” by the situation.
“I thought that ‘nobody is interested’ was quite negative on this city and in general on the whole community,” she said. “That’s certainly not true. … I’m in Naperville and I’m interested.”
Caldwell said the city did not respond to her last email. She is still interested in housing migrants and is trying to figure out how to do so on her own, she said.
City staff could not be reached for comment.
McBroom said that “if we had demand, if we had 200 people in Naperville (who) said, ‘Hey, yes, this is actually what we have to do, I’m going to sign that list,’ we would have moved forward with the city.”
McBroom admitted he was “extremely skeptical” that anyone “would actually step up.”
“But I thought there was a chance,” he said. “There was a chance I could have been proved wrong. And I don’t think I was.”
McBroom did say that beyond challenging community members to live their virtue, he wanted to bring local residents’ attention to Chicago’s migrant crisis and how “it’s affecting our communities now.”
“This needs to be talked about, and it may very well affect our community and there’s going to be costs to it. So you make a choice. You decide, you know, here’s a sign-up sheet. Here’s a solution. You know, maybe you could house, you could help in that way. Or maybe you could vote better.”
