All aldermen were on their best behavior (for a change) Tuesday night when
the Springfield City Council met for what looked like a brief agenda. Ward 5
Alderman Joe Bartolomucci, whose questions about a lawsuit settlement loan have
had Mayor Tim Davlin roasting over a spit ever since the last council meeting,
sat through this one like the cat had got his tongue. Ward 3 Alderman Frank
Kunz, so outspoken we dubbed him “frankest” of the Three Franks, which is saying
a lot, stayed frankly silent. Cruising through the agenda, the council voted
with almost total unanimity; only two aldermen cast “no” votes on any item,
and for reasons they didn’t even bother to explain.
But these meetings never end with the alderman joining hands and singing Kumbaya. As any regular observer of our beloved council knows, making it through the agenda peacefully just means everybody has a chance to kick up a controversy about something else. Tuesday night, that something else was the citizen police review board.
Ward 1 Alderman Frank Edwards inadvertently started the spat by simply asking for an update on the ordinance proposing the board. It’s right where they left it a few months ago — with most of the easy questions resolved, and down to the nitty-gritty: Ward 2 Alderman Frank McNeil, who has been proposing this board since the days Abe Lincoln was a fledgling private practice attorney, has to reach some agreement on the issue of subpoena power with the Policemen’s Benevolent and Protective Agency Unit No. 5.
The squabble ensued when Edwards’ question apparently jogged the memory of Ward 10 Alderman Bruce Strom, who suddenly remembered that the council subcommittee charged with making recommendations about the police review board had never delivered a report to the council.
“In principle, I’m in favor of it, but I want to make sure it’s done properly,” Strom said. “I don’t think I can do a fair job unless somebody gives me some information.”
Exactly what kind of information became the stumbling block. The official minutes of the subcommittee’s meetings? That would be inadequate. Then how about tapes of those meetings? That would be too much.
The sad truth about the series of public hearings the subcommittee held last fall: attendance was low, the level of discourse wasn’t much higher, and the union wasn’t included in half the meetings, which limited the usefulness of the exercise. Those factors might explain why no one was inspired to produce a report. But at Tuesday night’s council meeting, the bickering over such a report became almost as tedious as the meetings themselves.
“I’m sorry I brought it up,” Edwards said finally.
However, the discussion may jolt the ordinance out of committee, where it has sat stagnating for several months — ever since the resignation of Letitia Dewith-Anderson, according to one source involved in the negotiations. Dewith-Anderson was Mayor Tim Davlin’s chief of staff, but was demoted to executive assistant and later resigned, citing a lack of meaningful duties.
One hopeful sign is a proposal submitted by the PBPA. Police union president
Bob Markovic says his group has submitted a “shell ordinance” designed to have
details worked out by the union and police administration. Police Chief Don
Kliment has already publicly endorsed the notion of a citizen review board.
This article appears in May 6-12, 2004.
