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City council passes anti-racism resolution without changes requested by mayor, NAACP

Brenden Moore
bmoore@sj-r.com
Ward 2 Ald. Shawn Gregory gets a fist bump from Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder as cars line up for the Solidarity Vehicle Procession hosted by Black Lives Matter Springfield in the parking lot across from the Bank of Springfield Center, Sunday, May 31, 2020, in Springfield, Ill. Over 2000 people joined in the procession of cars that was in response to the deaths of Breonna Taylor, Dreasjon Reed and George Floyd, all killed by law enforcement officers.

The Springfield City Council approved an “anti-racism, anti-violence and anti-hatred” resolution Tuesday, but not before a spat that put Mayor Jim Langfelder and Springfield NAACP President Teresa Haley at odds with a majority of the council.

The resolution was on the consent agenda, where relatively uncontroversial ordinances and resolutions are combined into a single omnibus vote. This made sense as the resolution was sponsored by Langfelder and nine of 10 council members.

But a last-minute amendment proposed by Langfelder — at the request of the NAACP — broke that relative unity.

Langfelder’s amendment would have added sections explaining the 1908 Springfield Race Riot, which was viewed as instrumental in the formation of the NAACP. It also included some word choice and verbiage changes.

The resolution as-is invokes the words of President Abraham Lincoln and makes reference to recent manifestations of hate, such as the 2017 attack in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, but does not mention the race riot or NAACP.

Haley, who said she first heard of the resolution through news reports last week, shared her concerns with Langfelder last weekend. They worked on amended language and eventually settled on what was proposed Wednesday night.

But council members physically in attendance received Langfelder’s proposed change just minutes before the meeting began. Three members participating remotely via Zoom did not receive a copy at all.

With no time to review the new language, the council voted down a motion to discuss and subsequently passed the resolution as-is.

Ward 2 Ald. Shawn Gregory said the ordinance was "created to include others who are traditionally not in this fight, in this struggle for our community ..." and that he would like for them "not to be overshadowed by the NAACP."

In a follow-up Facebook post Thursday morning, Gregory said the NAACP felt “left out,” but that there were reasons for that.

Gregory criticized the group for their opposition to the legalization of recreational marijuana, their perceived silence in the face of racially-motivated incidents in the Springfield Police Department and their lack of presence at several of the protests earlier this summer.

“The NAACP missed all of this and thus you missed being part of this resolution,” Gregory wrote.

The now-passed resolution calls for cultural competence and anti-racism training for all city staff, commissioners and contractors and the inclusion of such objectives into all staff evaluations.

The city’s Department of Human Resources will also prepare for adoption of expectations and penalties regarding acts of racism in the workplace.

And the city will “proactively invest in Wards 2 and 3” and develop strategies and practices to combat poverty, the resolution said. There is also language that says the city will “review and revise procurement guidelines to ensure that minority business goals have minimum requirements.”

The resolution also recognizes May 31 as BLM Solidarity Day. That was the day thousands of cars lined the streets of downtown Springfield in a peaceful procession protesting police brutality and systemic racism.

Many council members said their vote to not consider Langfelder’s amendment was less about the substance and more about the process, saying they could not vote for something they had not read or just received.

Their lack of willingness to even discuss the amendment left Langfelder “bothered.”

“You know, it's not rocket science,” Langfelder said. “I think it's a way to escape the conversation and I don't think they're living up to the office that they hold. I think you should allow the people to speak.”

“We're a government of the people, by the people, for the people, and that's what it's all about,” Langfelder added. “So unfortunately, tonight, we did not illustrate that to the fullest extent possible.”

Haley, addressing the council, said that comments from Gregory and Ward 3 Ald. Doris Turner were “divisive” and that they were displaying a “crab mentality” with the resolution.

“There's no unity in the community when people aren't willing to work together,” Haley said. “We're not trying to outshine anyone. We're trying to uphold the NAACP and our beliefs and improve race relationships, not only in Springfield, not only in the state of Illinois, but throughout this entire country.”

Turner said she took “great offense” to Haley’s “crab mentality” remark and considered it a “a personal assault” and “extremely inappropriate for a person of your stature in your position to make in this forum.”

She also noted that the resolution has been publicly available to read since July 17 and was discussed by council members the past two weeks.

“That's not the way the business is conducted,” Turner said, speaking of last-minute amendments. “There's a timeline to everything.”

Responding, Haley claimed to “speak for the majority of the black community” in Springfield, who she said was unaware of the proposed resolution.

“I just believe that there should have been town hall zoom meetings or something, because this impacts the whole entire Springfield community,” Haley said. “And that was not done.”

Turner said she found Haley’s remark about speaking for the Springfield Black community as “very interesting” and that they would continue the conversation later in a less public setting.

When asked why he did not bring the NAACP into the conversation earlier, Langfelder acknowledged that “hindsight is 2020.”

Last month, the council voted to hold in committee a separate resolution that would have reaffirmed 10 shared principles agreed to by the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police and the Illinois NAACP in 2018.

The principles, designed to promote trust between communities of color and police officers, were viewed by members of the council as hollow, as they were vague and had no enforcement mechanisms.

Unit 33

In other news, the council approved under emergency passage a $284,290 contract with General Electric to investigate a short in the rotor of Dallman Unit 33.

The unit has been offline since November 2019, when a battery system failure caused it to trip. The unit then coasted down with no lube oil pumps running, which led to “catastrophic” damage to the turbine’s bearings and seals, which caused a small fire.

The short was discovered when attempting to restart the unit last month.

CWLP officials said the expense was necessary in order to make an informed decision on whether or not to go through with repairs, which could cost into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Earlier this year, the utility began the process of retiring units 31, 32 and 33 in favor of purchasing additional power from other sources, such as natural gas and renewables.

The former two are expected to come offline by the end of this year with the latter expected to retire no later than September 2023.

But if it is found that the risk outweighs the reward of repairing Unit 33, the utility could keep running Units 31 and 32 longer than initially planned.

Donelan says airport chairman deserves ’pat on the back’

Ward 9 Ald. Jim Donelan said that Springfield Airport Authority Chairman Frank Vala and other board members “have done a great job on keeping the airport in the forefront” amid challenging times.

“(There's) a lot of good things going on out there,“ Donelan said. ”And I think especially in these economic times that we've had these last few years and in particular with COVID-19, the airport has stayed as strong as they can.“

“And mayor, I'd be happy to work with you on anything to help make the airport stronger,” Donelan continued, addressing Langfelder. “But, I think they deserve a pat on the back because I think they've done a lot of good things. Anybody who goes out there can see the economic activity that's going on.”

Donelan’s words of affirmation come as Langfelder seeks Vala’s removal as chairman.

Langfelder wants to replace Vala, the chairman since 2006, with former Mayor Mike Houston, who currently chairs the board’s finance committee.

The mayor said last month that the airport is “an economic driver that has been somewhat stagnant,” in recent years, suggesting that it has lagged behind its regional competitors and that its full potential has not been fulfilled.

But Donelan, a Democrat, talked up the significant amount of infrastructure improvements currently taking place at the airport and the potential for future economic development at the site.

The airport lies completely within Donelan’s ward.

Still, Langfelder stuck by his belief that a change is needed at the top.

“I believe we can do better,” Langfelder said. “I think we really need to take a hard look. We can't be complacent. Like I said, the construction projects are good. But it really all comes down to flights and our connectivity.”

Vala remains board chairman as a vote last month ended in a 3-3 tie, with one Langfelder appointee abstaining.

The board next meets on August 18.

Censure

The council also passed a procedural change that will allow council members to censure one of their own.

Though it would not carry a fine or suspension of rights as an elected official, it would serve as a symbolic way for council members to express their “disapproval of conduct that has violated laws or policies.”

Currently, there is no language in city code allowing such an action.

The ordinance comes a few weeks after Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin was scolded by his colleagues for his comments on the makeup of the city’s boards and commissions.

First read

Here’s a first look at some items the city council will consider in committee next week and likely be put forward for final action in two weeks:

* The council will consider a $303,289 contract with Sangamon County for the performance of animal control services through February 2021.

The city has farmed out its animal control unit to the county for 20 years. But renewal won’t come without debate.

Several aldermen have made no bones about their dissatisfaction with the service that’s been provided.

Wednesday night, Ward 6 Ald. Kristin DiCenso noted that the contract on the table is “significantly higher” than past agreements. And she said the county has provided “substandard service.”

Council members went back and forth with Sangamon County Administrator Brian McFadden when discussing the contract earlier this year.

The council sought an amendment to last year’s agreement that would require animal control to respond to all after-hours calls for humane investigations by the Springfield Police Department.

The county said yes, but insisted an additional $75 charge for each of those after hours calls, a service it provided to Springfield for years free of charge. Council members balked at the proposal.

* There are several ordinances dealing with the purchase of property and moving expenses related to the Springfield Rail Improvements Project.

* Council members will consider an intergovernmental agreement between the city and District 186 that will allow city staff to assist in the operation, staffing, programming, updating and scheduling of Channel 22, the district’s public access cable channel.

Contact Brenden Moore: 788-1526, bmoore@sj-r.com, twitter.com/brendenmoore13.