Four Galesburg council members called for a special meeting to potentially fire City Manager Gerald Smith and appoint independent legislative counsel, but neither agenda item came to a vote on Monday.
The special meeting was called by council members Bradley Hix, Wayne Dennis, Evan Miller, and Heather Acerra.
The agenda for the meeting dropped late Friday afternoon, taking other council members and Mayor Peter Schwartzman by surprise.
“No reason for taking either action was ever communicated to me,” Schwartzman said in a statement, calling potential actions “unjustified, uninformed, vindictive, callous, and reckless.”
Schwartzman said he believes Smith has served the city well in his six months on the job, during which time the city’s public works director retired and the city has been dealing with two federal discrimination complaints.
Agenda amendment
At the start of the special meeting Monday, Schwartzman asked who drafted the agenda.
“Has anyone in this room seen this agenda? Or has this just materialized out of thin air,” Schwartzman said.
Acerra said she drafted the agenda, which called for a closed session discussing city manager Gerald Smith’s employment and performance, followed by discussion and potential action in open session.
However, the agenda item for potential action on Smith’s employment was removed from the agenda on a motion by Acerra followed by a 6-0 vote, with Council Member Dwight White abstaining.
Smith’s employment could be reconsidered at any future council meeting if such an agenda item is requested by three or more council members.
It was already on the agenda for the closed session of the regular meeting Monday to discuss Smith’s six-month performance review.
Hired on split vote
Smith is Galesburg’s first Black city manager.
Former City Manager Todd Thompson left in May 2022 for a position with the city of Rock Island.
GovHR administered a national search for the new city manager. There were 32 applicants, including two internal candidates, for the position.
Smith was one of three finalists and was offered the position after the city’s top candidate withdrew.
His appointment was approved by the council on a 4-3 vote in September, with Hix, Dennis, and former Council Member Larry Cox voting against his appointment, saying they had concerns about compensation.
But city emails obtained by TSPR through a Freedom of Information Act request show there was opposition to Smith as early in the search as July.
“Gerald Smith says in the information we were provided he was seeking ACM (assistant city manager) and DCM (deputy city manager) positions,” wrote Cox in an email sent at 9:14 p.m. July 13. “Sounds like he should not have applied for our position.”
Hix replied at 9:29 p.m. with “Yes, I agree.”
Dennis’ reply came a few days later.
“Your (sic) both right on,” he wrote.
‘Jim Crow 2.0’
Nearly 40 people spoke during the public comments section of Monday's special meeting, including black residents who said the push to fire Smith appears to be racially motivated.
Retired Galesburg nurse Elvria Hunigan said there’s a consensus in the Galesburg Black community that Smith is highly qualified.
“I am in my seventh decade of life so that makes me old enough that I have lived through the Jim Crow era. This smacks of Jim Crow 2.0,” Hunigan said.
Longtime Galesburg resident Rodney Bunch questioned why new council members would be considering dismissal of the city manager.
Two of the council members who asked for the special meeting – Miller and Acerra – were sworn in for their first terms on May 1. Hix was sworn in for a second term.
“I don’t feel like the new members should have an opportunity to say anything about this man or vote against him or try to get him released from his position, because you’ve not been here. You haven’t even worked with the man,” Bunch said.
Race-baiting and animus
Acerra said in a statement that it’s the legal right of the four council members to call a special meeting and they are not obligated to discuss things beforehand with the mayor.
She said April’s election, in which three incumbents were ousted by newcomers, was a “mandate for change” and she accused Smith and Schwartzman of partisan politics.
“The mayor and the city manager have been acting in a shamefully partisan political way. They were caught using official city resources for partisan politics. They have a partisan agenda and the council is not bound by it,” Acerra said.
Acerra also accused Schwartzman of “race-baiting.”
Another public commenter during the special meeting was Konrad Hamilton, a professor of history at Knox College who has lived in Galesburg for 30 years.
He said rumors are circulating on social media and elsewhere in the community about the situation.
“A number of people are saying this has nothing to do actually with Mr. Smith’s performance, but is instead based upon the ideology of a few council members and perhaps personal animus against our mayor,” Hamilton said. “I sincerely hope that what I’ve heard is incorrect."
He said if it is true he’d like council members to state their reasons publicly and not take a “dishonorable path of trying to deprive a public servant of his livelihood in an attempt to score political points.”
Legal counsel
Following the departure of City Attorney Brad Nolden in September, shortly before the new city manager was announced, the city hired law firm Barash and Everett to provide executive legal counsel.
The agreement was on a month-to-month, interim basis until the city could retain permanent in-house counsel.
Barash and Everett gave notice of termination on May 2.
On the agenda for Monday’s special meeting was an ordinance to appoint independent legislative counsel.
But the ordinance was not given to the mayor and council until the start of the meeting, and the agenda item did not come to a vote.
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