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Something funny happened at City Council last week. OK, that’s hardly news. Something funny always happens at City
Council. This time, however, was unusual, because it involves
us — your friendly, locally owned newspaper: A city official was ordered to read Illinois Times.
As you probably know, we’re a free-circulation
newspaper, with no home delivery and a limited distribution area. That
means the 70,000-or-so folks who flip through our pages are the best kind
of readers — they seek us out; they’re curious about the world
(or where their favorite band is playing); they’re basically cool. There are, of course, people who don’t fit that
description. Two of them showed up at council last week. Here’s what happened: Freshman Ald. Kris Theilen wanted the mayor to talk
about a recent cover story that examined the short career of rookie cop
Tara Borders [see Dusty Rhodes, “Opt out,” Nov. 1]. Borders, a black woman, was a highly regarded recruit
who joined the SPD in the aftermath of the Renatta Frazier controversy. She
told Illinois Times why she abruptly resigned. Staff writer Amanda Robert covered the meeting for
us, and I’m relying on her account for details. Here’s an
excerpt of the discussion:
Theilen: With last Thursday’s Illinois Times article, I
started getting some phone calls and some questions . . . Davlin: I never read Illinois
Times, so I don’t even have a clue what
you’re even talking about. Theilen: Maybe somebody else can paraphrase it
better, but there’s a report about a police officer who was a
minority who left Springfield . . . Davlin: I couldn’t say. I don’t have a
clue what it even talked about. Ald. Gail Simpson: There was an individual, an
African-American female, who was on the department, had passed all the
tests and was going through the final phase of her training, and she
abruptly resigned. Davlin: I’m familiar with that. Simpson: The account in the paper was there were
several incidents that happened, with regard to a weapon and another
incident with regard to evidence, that called into question the police
department.
Davlin: I don’t have a clue. I know the
individual you’re talking about. I know the letter that we received
when she left did nothing but praise the police department. You’d
swear that it was God she was working for in the letter that she gave to
us. That’s the only thing I know. Simpson: Did the chief want to speak to that article
at all — because he’s aware of it. Caldwell: I also do not read that magazine or that
newspaper . . . Ald. Frank Edwards: Maybe somebody should give you a
copy of the Illinois Times. Then we can discuss it next time. Davlin: How about this? You [talking to Chief
Caldwell] read the Illinois Times and if any aldermen want to talk to you privately,
they can call you. Simpson: I would really like the chief to read the
article . . . Caldwell: I have some personal reasons why I
don’t read that newspaper. So unless I’m being ordered to by my
boss, I probably won’t read it. Simpson: Well, he did. It’s hard not to chuckle. Imagine our chief — a badge-wearing,
gun-toting, motorcycle-riding law-enforcement veteran and the head of
homeland security for this mighty capital city — standing there, with
his big ol’ pouty face, saying he didn’t read the paper
“for personal reasons.”
He didn’t elaborate, but maybe he was referring
to the story we wrote about him that described his penchant for wearing
ladies’ lingerie and sneaking home at lunchtime to watch Gilligan’s Island reruns.
Just kidding. As for the mayor, the best he could muster was:
“I don’t have a clue.”
His mommy must be so proud. At this point I’m duty-bound to say something
pontifical, such as: “Isn’t it a shame that two of our top
public servants aren’t seriously interested in helping our police
department remedy its painfully lopsided, overwhelmingly white-male
demographic?”
But I’m not the pope; I’m just an editor
filling this space while better writers are away. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions. I’m just really glad we gained another reader.
(Hey Chief — the puzzle’s in the back.)
Contact Roland Klose at editor@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Nov 22-28, 2007.
