If there’s one thing Galesburg City Council members and the mayor can agree on, it’s that they can’t agree on much.
A divided governmental body isn’t necessarily a rarity, or always a bad thing. But there’s a feeling among some Galesburg aldermen and Mayor Peter Schwartzman that the divide is becoming too wide at Galesburg City Hall.
Although there were some glimmers of working together at Monday’s City Council meeting, accusatorial rhetoric continued to flow, and fingers were pointed — literally.
“I’ve been on the Council for 14 years, and followed it for many years before that, and never in my life have I seen a more divided Council — EVER,” said Second Ward Alderman Wayne Dennis. “I just don’t know what to say.
“I think the constant division is slowing down city business.”
Seventh Ward Alderman Steve Cheesman has been on the Council for just two meetings, but sees the conflict. Cheesman ran on a platform of trying to unite the Council and urged his fellow council members to try narrow the divide at Monday’s meeting.
“There are some strained relationships that are centered around a lack of trust, as well some hurt feelings,” Cheesman said Thursday. “Those are some things we’re going to have to work through.
“I think all of us will try to put the best interest of the city at the forefront as we go forward. We have to work together and find common ground, and learn to compromise on the issues in front of us. We have to put things behind us, and start anew.”
“We cannot afford to continue down a beaten and broken path. We owe it to all of Galesburg to make peace.” — Galesburg Mayor Peter Schwartzman
Schwartzman made an impassioned plea to at least ignite the healing process during his closing comments Monday, offering to shake the hand of each council member for what he termed an olive branch for peace.
“My specific comments were not premeditated but obviously the recent friction between councilors, me and the city administration is on my mind all the time,” said the first-term mayor and before that, longtime Ward 5 alderman.
“As I alluded to in the meeting, in any relationship one runs into challenging times. However, if the parties want the relationship to be sustained, they must make peace sometime. We cannot afford to continue down a beaten and broken path. We owe it to all of Galesburg to make peace.”
Tempers flare, resulting in regret and apologies
Ironically, Schwartzman’s plea for peace just as Monday’s lengthy and tense council meetings were ready to wrap up was interrupted by a verbal exchange between an audience member and an alderman.
In front of a still crowded council chambers and broadcast live on local cable TV and streamed online on the city website, Ward 3 alderman Dwight White took offense to an obscene gesture directed to him by Michael Acerra — the husband of Fifth Ward council member Heather Acerra.
White left his seat, yelled “get him out of here” several times and demanded Acerra be barred from future meetings. White started to approach Acerra before being restrained by audience members and Police Chief Russ Idle.
Before the altercation, White had twice called out Acerra for rolling his eyes at him.
When contacted by WGIL, Acerra confirmed he made two different obscene gestures directed at White. Acerra said he offered an apology to White after the meeting, and later sent a written apology to Schwartzman.
“I deeply regretted that I had lost my composure and that I had lashed out and upset the proceedings and what I thought were terrific conciliatory comments by the mayor,” Acerra said. “Both gentlemen were very gracious and accepted my apology.”
White, too said he regrets his actions.
“I neglected to remember one of the things I want to fight for are his First Amendment rights,” White said. “Everybody has First Amendment rights to free speech, and (Acerra) has First Amendment rights.
“His gesture might have been offensive to me, but that falls within his First Amendment rights. So, I should honor that, whether I liked it, or not. And moving forward, I will DEFINITELY honor that.”
White confirmed Acerra apologized to him after the closed session Monday, adding “I told him, ‘hey, everything’s cool. Everything is fine. Don’t worry about it.”
Schwartzman said the altercation was an event that cannot be repeated, adding the audience must show respect to elected leaders even if they don’t agree with them on certain issues. The mayor also said council members should have better ways to address disrespect.
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Accusations of collusion and secret meetings
The April election resulted in three new council members — Evan Miller in Ward 3, Heather Acerra in Ward 5 and Cheesman in Ward 7 — and so far has resulted in an apparent shift of majority votes on the Council.
Accusations of collusion and secret meetings have be alleged by both Schwartzman and White.
White addressed the issue at Monday’s meeting, and again in a Thursday interview with WGIL.
“How many times did you hear them say WE?” White said. “WE did this or WE did that. I wasn’t included in the WE. If they’re going to leave people out of the conversation, how do you think those people are going to feel? It’s that simple. They didn’t consult me, or Sarah Davis.
“If they are putting together an agenda — and it’s just obvious that they are — how would you feel?”
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Votes often resulted in 4-3 outcomes with the previous Council, however White said there was never any kind of concerted effort by himself, Sarah Davis and former council members Jaclyn Smith-Esters or Kevin Wallace to vote the same way.
Schwartzman said, “I am tired of the bickering. I am tired of the activity of a shadow Council, where a select group of councilors are communicating amongst themselves and not with me or other councilors.
“I ran as mayor to move Galesburg to a better place. Petty squabbles and clogged or privileged communication channels will only hurt our city.”
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Cheesman denied there’s a collusion effort and said he believes the accusation is somewhat overblown.
“I can see where that’s coming from, but I also don’t believe there was an intent to ever shut folks out of the decision-making process,” Cheesman said. “A number of us are new, and there are going to be some missteps along the way. And we’ll learn from them.
“But I do truly believe, from talking to everyone, that there’s a sincere interest in working together and listening to each other. We’re just going through some rough patches right now.”
‘We just need to see if we can all come together’
The next time the Council will sit together is at Monday’s work session which could be another contentious meeting when changes to public participation rules will be a topic.
White, who said he’s going to do “more listening and less talking,” hopes the Council can start to come together.
“I’m going to look at the man in the mirror, and that’s me,” he said. “I can’t control anyone else, all I have control over is myself. So, I’m starting with me.
“But we do need to come about some peace. I can get along with anybody. I don’t have to be your best friend, but I can work with anybody.”
Asked if the Council can put aside some of its differences, Dennis said, “You know what? I don’t know. We just need to see if we can all come together, which I sure hope happens.”
