Why did Galesburg agree to pay its city manager nearly $75,000 to leave his job?
Gerald Smith departs Galesburg under a cloud of secretly recorded conversations and questions about why the City Council ultimately approved a separation agreement rather than firing him.
The reasons as to why Smith is out after just seven months on the job are complicated, according to City Council members. Rather than just one wrong move, they say Smith’s exit is a saga that started before he even stepped foot in Galesburg with his history at previous jobs, and continued through June 12 when the Council voted to accept the separation agreement that he initiated.
Eavesdropping in City Hall?
The incident that some aldermen believe sealed Smith’s fate was an investigation that found the city manager was recording private meetings without the consent of other participants.
Smith admitted to secretly recording meetings but was ultimately not charged with a crime.
According to a letter dated June 6 from Knox County States Attorney Jeremy Karlin to acting city attorneys Leslie Day and Paul Mangieri, and acquired by WGIL through a Freedom of Information Act request, Karlin said he was made aware of the recordings and requested the assistance of the Illinois State Police to conduct a thorough investigation.
Karlin said Smith fully cooperated with the investigation and acknowledged the he had made the recordings without the consent of the participants. Smith told investigators that he recorded the meetings due to a medical condition which made it difficult for him to take accurate notes.
Karlin ruled: “Following a comprehensive analysis of the evidence and receiving an independent review by the Illinois Appellate Prosecutor’s Office, I have made the decision not to prosecute Mr. Smith for alleged violations of the Illinois Eavesdropping Statute. There is no evidence that he had any malicious, illegal or political intent in making these recordings. Mr. Smith’s full cooperation throughout the investigation reinforces this finding. The fact that he appears to have recorded every meeting, rather than selectively choosing specific ones, also supports this conclusion.”
Despite the given medical reasons, Second Ward Alderman Wayne Dennis said it’s difficult to look past the incident.
“It’s simple — when you record someone, you have to ask their permission. From what I understand, he was recording all conversations with everyone, and you just can’t do that.”
Bradley Hix, Ward 1 alderman, said just because Smith was not charged with a crime does not excuse his actions.
“Why didn’t he seek permission from those he was recording?” Hix said. “If he would have asked me if he could record a conversation for accuracy, I would have said yes, of course. I wouldn’t have even had to know why. If that was something that would have helped him do his job better, I would have said yes.
“Just because the state’s attorney has decided not to prosecute does not mean it was permissible or not wrong.”
Through Galesburg Mayor Peter Schwartzman, WGIL has reached out to Smith to afford him the opportunity to be interviewed or offer a statement about his departure. To date, Smith has not accepted the offer to comment.
Seeking an exit
On May 26, Smith submitted notice of temporary leave effective May 30 and appointed Community Development Director Steve Gugliotta to serve as the Acting City Manager during his absence. At the time, Schwartzman said since “legal matters” were involved, he could not comment on the reason for Smith’s temporary leave.
Smith last worked at City Hall on May 22.
Schwartzman confirmed to WGIL on June 10 that the city’s legal counsel and Smith were negotiating a separation agreement, initiated by Smith. On June 12, the City Council met in executive session and then emerged into open session where it approved a separation agreement by a 5-0 vote. Hix, Dennis, Third Ward Alderman Evan Miller, Fifth Ward Council Member Heather Acerra and Seventh Ward Alderman Steve Cheesman voted yes for agreement. Fourth Ward Alderman Dwight White abstained, while Sixth Ward Council Member Sarah Davis did not attend the meeting.
Mangieri revealed Smith signed the severance agreement with compensation in exchange for Smith releasing all claims against the city. Mangieri said the settlement amount that Smith will receive is $74,795, equivalent to 20 weeks of annual salary.
In the the severance of employment and compensatory settlement agreement provided to WGIL by Mangieri, it also shows Smith has to repay the $10,000 relocation payment he received for moving expenses when he started his job in Galesburg last November.
Knox County property transfers previously published on wgil.com show Smith purchased a house in Galesburg on Jan. 3.
The agreement says Smith’s employment with the city of Galesburg was terminated as of June 12, 2023.
“There are just a lot of things that came up during his time here, and that’s why we made the decision,” Dennis said. “The way I understand it, he came to us with a separation agreement.
“Our attorney said this was the best thing we could do, and you have to believe in your attorney. So that’s the main reason I voted to accept the settlement.”
Alderman: Smith would have been fired
Monday marked the second time in less than 30 days that the City Council was scheduled to discuss Smith’s employment status. Four City Council members — Hix, Dennis, Acerra and Miller — called a special meeting for May 15 to discuss the “employment or possible removal” of City Manager Gerald Smith.
Without discussion, however, the agenda item to discuss Smith’s employment was removed from the May 15 agenda shortly before the meeting.
Hix was asked this week if it was inevitable that Smith would be leaving his post, either via a separation agreement or dismissal.
“Yes,” Hix said. “If there wasn’t a separation agreement, pending legal advice, we would have had to part ways.
“Considering the alternative to have to prolong this and to incur legal expenses, this is probably the best way to settle a bad situation. Was the settlement fair? I don’t know. Either way, it was going to be tough.
“A legal battle that could have been costly just didn’t seem like a good idea. When your attorney suggests this is the best solution, I think you have to listen to him.”
‘Red flags’ from the start
Smith was approved as Galesburg’s eighth city manager by a 4-3 vote on Sept. 26, 2022. The total salary and benefit package offered to Smith was about $171,000. Dennis, Hix and then Seventh Ward alderman Larry Cox voted against the contract.
Smith, Galesburg’s first Black city manager, started at City Hall on Nov. 7.
Dennis, Cox and Hix say they spotted “red flags” during the interview process.
“I’m sorry this happened to him,” Dennis said. “I like Gerald, I really do. But I was one of the three who voted against hiring him in the first place. He had gone from job to job and I wasn’t impressed with his resume.”
Cox publicly raised concerns about Smith’s starting salary when it came time to approve his contract, but like Dennis, also had issues with his past work history — most noticeably at his previous job.
Before coming to Galesburg, Smith served as city manager in Creedmoor, North Carolina, (population 4,800) from March 2021 to May 27, 2022. According to minutes from the May 27, 2022, special session of the Creedmoor Board of Commissioners, the commissioners there voted 4-1 to accept a buyout agreement of Smith’s contract on that same date. The Butner-Creedmoor News of Creedmoor, North Carolina, reports the city of Creedmoor would pay $95,412.33 to buy out Smith’s contract.
It further noted Smith informed the board in the summer of 2021 that he would be pursuing other employment in the Midwest because of a family issue. Smith confirmed in his cover letter to the city of Galesburg that he had left Creedmoor in an effort to relocate back to the Midwest region of the country due to an health issue in his family.
“I was concerned with a couple things,” Cox said. “One is that he had short tenures at places. He had reasonable excuses for some of those, but the last place he worked, raised a red flag for me and some others. I just didn’t think he was a good fit.”
Hix said, “When you looked at his resume, his time spent at jobs and his time in between jobs, my main concern was his work history. I know everyone wants to progress in their career, but there was a lot of jumping around, and that was a red flag to me.”
OMA violations and partisan politics
Alderman point to other issues they had with Smith during his time in Galesburg.
The Illinois Attorney General’s office ruled in May the Galesburg City Council violated the Open Meetings Act at two December 2022 meetings when it spent closed-door sessions discussing matters “not within the scope of the exceptions” cited for the closing of the meetings.
Among the items the AG’s office found in violation of the Open Meetings Act were the discussion of creating an assistant city manager position and discussion of salary issues pertaining to employment positions rather than specific employees.
Although Hix and Cox alleged violations directly against Galesburg Mayor Peter Schwartzman and City Manager Gerald Smith in their complaints, the OMA provides that Requests for Review may be filed against public bodies, not individual public officials.
Some alderman also question Smith’s judgement in using a city email account to offer political advice to Schwartzman. The email, which is available via a FOIA request, was reprinted in a “Galesburg Forward” campaign brochure accusing Smith and Schwartzman of partisan politics. The campaign brochure promoted Hix, Evan Miller, Acerra and Larry Cox in April’s election.
Cox said he believes the email is a violation of the International City/County Management Association, of which Smith is a member.
“A city manager is supposed to run the city, and should not get into politics at all,” Dennis said. “Apparently he didn’t see it that way.”
Hix concurred with Dennis.
“The Code of Ethics of the ICMA say specifically that city managers are not supposed to engage in political activity,” Hix said. “They are supposed to lead the city in a non-partisan way. And to make it worse, he did so using city email.”
ICMA members pledge to uphold the Code of Ethics.
Tenet No. 7 of the ICMA Code of Ethics reads: Refrain from all political activities which undermine public confidence in professional administrators. Refrain from participation in the election of members of the employing legislative body.
Mayor: Smith made mistakes
Schwartzman said Smith faced adversity during his entire, albeit short tenure in Galesburg.
“It’s a lot to digest,” Schwartzman said after Monday’s meeting. “We brought this gentleman in seventh months ago to be our city manager, and it was a tumultuous period. All seven months.
“Mr. Smith, I believe made a few mistakes. Were they egregious? I don’t think they were. Do I think there are grounds for his removal? I would say no. But I can understand council members who might think otherwise, based on the latest evidence.”
LISTEN: ‘It’s a dark day.’ Mayor reacts to exit of city manager, says Galesburg needs to heal
When asked what that evidence was, Schwartzman said, “I prefer not to speak to it. A month ago, I would not respect that opinion at all.”
He added, “I think we reached a reasonable settlement. I know how it looks to the community who supported him. It’s hard — it’s real hard. All the evidence was not presented to them, and they have no other reason to believe why he agreed to this settlement.”
Alderman: ‘They wanted to get rid him from Day 1’
Fourth Ward Alderman Dwight White fought back tears during the meeting as some members of the gallery spoke in support of Smith.
“I’m going to be honest with you, two aldermen who are still sitting here, from Day 1 wanted to get rid of Mr. Gerald Smith,” White said. “They wanted to get rid of him from Day 1. This is just the culmination of that process. They stalled and stalled and stalled until they got their favorable city council in.
“I walked into Mr. Smith’s office recently and said ‘I’m sorry I got you into this mess.’ And I really am.”
White questions if some Council opposition to Smith was due to him being Black.
“Three Council members said they didn’t want (Smith), although he went through the whole hiring process,” White said. “Did they not want him because he was African American? The person who did our search vetted him and said he had the qualifications. It makes you scratch your head
“As an African American, I know what it’s like to be in hostile work environments. And he was in a hostile work environment. My heart goes out to him.”
Asked how the city moves forward, White said, “There are five alderman who are going to pick the next city manager. I guarantee you, he’s not going to be African American. That’s a promise. I have one vote, and it’s not even going to matter.
“I’m disappointed in my city, I really am. We’re a better city than this.”
Alderman: ‘It wasn’t about race.’
Dennis said he adamantly denies the racism accusations alleged by White and several members of the public who spoke Monday.
“I know there are people in town who are upset that he’s gone, but there’s absolutely no way he’s gone because we are racist,” Dennis said. “Believe me, there is nothing to that.”
Hix said, “This is all about performance. It’s shameful to hide poor performance behind racism.
“My decisions about Mr. Smith had absolutely nothing to do about race. His performance and his actions are what caused this to happen. Period.”
Seventh Ward Alderman Steve Cheesman joined the Council in May and was one of the five to approve the separation agreement with Smith. He said he sees the reasons for Smith’s ultimate departure from Galesburg as “a cumulative effect” of issues.
“I feel terrible this has happened to all parties involved,” Cheesman said. “There’s obviously been a lot of misinformation and miscommunication. Things could have been done better by all parties in this.
“It’s an unfortunate thing for our city. But the most important thing now is how can we pick up the pieces and move forward. We need to start getting some things done to help the city.”
Mayor: The city will persevere
Schwartzman said it’s been a difficult period for Smith.
“I wish this didn’t have to happen, but I can see why it did. This didn’t start last week, or last month — this started about the minute he walked in the door. The momentum just built until the point that we are at now.
“I understand why Mr. Smith chose to leave. There was too much hostility here. He had a lot of support — that was demonstrated (by the public) at a previous meeting. But people’s patience and energy run out, and I think his own internal and family energy ran out.”
The mayor said it will take everyone pulling together, including the council, himself and the community, to move Galesburg forward.
“I think the city will persevere,” Schwartzman said. “It will be difficult and will require renewed trust being built over time. You can burn a house down in five minutes, but you can’t build a house in five minutes. There are elements of the house burning and the house is basically down in some respects. So how can we rebuild the house in a more inclusive way?
“Are we going to have a meeting in peace where we can look at the positive directions we can go? We have to redouble our efforts to make this a community people want to come to. That’s something we all have to share. That includes all seven councilors and myself, along with community leaders.
“Hopefully this is the low point. If it is, I think we can and will survive.”
