The city of Galesburg is in the process of negotiating a separation agreement with City Manager Gerald Smith, who has been on the job for just over seven months.
This comes after four council members previously called a special meeting to potentially fire Smith last month — and his cell phone and iPad were confiscated by Illinois State Police as part of an eavesdropping investigation.
Mayor Peter Schwartzman said the separation agreement has been in the works since early this month after Smith asked to part ways with the city.
An attorney for Smith and the city’s legal counsel, Barash and Everett, are working on the agreement.
“I can say that going back to the beginning of the month, Mr. Smith’s attorney presented a draft proposal of the separation agreement. The council has not discussed that in a formal way. We were going to do that last Monday. That was the time for us to begin negotiation,” Schwartzman said.
The council was slated to convene into a closed session to discuss personnel at its last regular meeting on June 5.
But that meeting ran over the allotted four hours in part due to public comment on the city’s Pride Month resolution, so council was required to reconvene.
A special meeting is planned for 5:30 p.m. today at city hall, including the rescheduled closed session meeting to discuss personnel.
Potential removal
Smith is the city’s first Black city manager. He was hired in September after a national search and began working for the city on Nov. 7.
A month ago, four council members called a special meeting for May 15 with an agenda item for “discussion and potential action related to the appointment, employment or removal of the City Manager.” That was the first full meeting of the council after newly elected members were seated.
That agenda item was dropped following council discussions with legal representatives prior to the meeting.
Smith has been on personal administrative leave since May 30 and last worked at city hall on May 22. Director of Community Development Steve Gugliotta is serving as acting city manager.
Also on the agenda for tonight’s meeting is an item in open session for “discussion and potential action related to the appointment, employment or removal of the City Manager.”
Schwartzman said that was added to the agenda after the special meeting was already called for the rescheduled closed session.
The agenda item will allow the council to take action at tonight’s meeting and was requested by city administration and legal counsel.
Schwartzman said he believes things could go three ways.
First, the council could come out of closed session after discussing the terms of the separation agreement with nothing to vote on.
The council could also vote to terminate the city’s relationship with Smith regardless of the status of the separation agreement.
Or, the council could approve that agreement.
Schwartzman said he’s not heard much input from individual council members on the proposed separation agreement, and what’s been presented to council at this point is more of a first draft that hasn’t yet been discussed by the council as a whole.
“It’s going to take a bit of time to work. I would be surprised if a final decision is made this evening. My position is that we don’t make a rash decision. This is the first time some of the councilors will have seen the proposal,” Schwartzman said.
Eavesdropping, partisanship, and OMA
Schwartzman said Smith’s cell phone and iPad were taken by state police as part of investigation into whether he violated the state’s eavesdropping statutes.
But he said Knox County State’s Attorney Jeremy Karlin reviewed the evidence and determined there is no justification for charges to be filed against Smith, per a letter filed June 6.
As previously reported by TSPR, a representative from Ancel Glink P.C. requested all audio files from Smith’s city-owned devices on May 12, three days before the first special meeting called to potentially fire Smith.
Ancel Glink was appointed independent legislative counsel for the city council on June 5.
Schwartzman said Smith has been under stress because of that ongoing investigation and other situations.
Council members have publicly accused Smith of using city resources for partisan purposes.
That involves a December email exchange between Smith and Schwartzman, where Schwartzman asked if it would be appropriate to print flyers using city equipment.
TSPR has reviewed the email exchange via Freedom of Information Act requests.
Smith responded and said it would not be appropriate. Then, he sent a second email offering unsolicited political advice to Schwartzman.
“You need to acknowledge that while you were successful in toppling the enriched system of conservative government as a result of your election, you are still fighting against an established institution that will throw every tactic against you and your agenda,” Smith wrote. “Remember, their objective is to paint you as an out of control, ultra liberal gadfly.”
Schwartzman did not respond to those emails.
That email exchange was then partially reprinted in a campaign brochure accusing Smith and Schwartzman of partisanship. The campaign brochure promoted Bradley Hix, Evan Miller, Heather Acerra, and former Council Member Larry Cox in April’s election.
Fingers have also been pointed at Smith for two Open Meetings Act violations against the city that were filed by Hix and Cox.
The Public Access Counselor of the Attorney General’s Office found the two closed session meetings violated the act, but did not issue a binding opinion. Per PAC’s recommendation, the city has released the minutes from those meetings.
Schwartzman said there was an “unreasonable” amount of scrutiny on Smith in his first six months on the job, including FOIAs of his emails by a sitting council member.
He also noted the “tenor” of the way some council members have spoken to Smith during meetings.
“Mr. Smith wasn’t given the benefit of the doubt and he certainly wasn’t respected,” Schwartzman said.
‘Asking for the moon’
There were 32 applicants for the city manager position. Smith was among seven candidates who were interviewed multiple times and among three finalists.
City emails obtained through FOIA requests show some council members were opposed to Smith as early as July of last year during the search, which was conducted by GovHR.
Emails also show some council members were not happy with the terms of the counter-proposal Smith submitted when he was offered the job after the top candidate withdrew.
For instance, Hix expressed his disapproval about the counter-proposal to GovHR and then forwarded that to Council Member Wayne Dennis’ city and work email addresses. Dennis responded to Hix’s city email address from his work email address.
“He (sic) coming in second place and he’s asking for the moon,” Dennis wrote on Sept. 14. “I thank (sic) we should get back to the drawing board and look at other people.”
Smith was hired later that month on a 4-3 vote, with those opposed publicly expressing concerns about compensation but not about Smith’s qualifications.
“If that’s your only reason for not voting yes, it does presume that you still support them in that position,” Schwartzman said.
Schwartzman said he doesn’t believe there’s been a lot of transparency in certain council members’ objections to Smith and actions.
“It has the appearance of a shadow government, a non-transparent council that has only been in office for about six weeks,” he said. “All of this suggests to me we should be treading lightly and we should try to be as transparent as possible.”
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