Calumet Metropolis Council meets exterior, votes to drop lawsuit in opposition to clerk amid tensions with mayor
On a freezing Wednesday night time, Calumet Metropolis council members gathered on the steps of Metropolis Corridor for a short however controversial assembly after they had been locked out of the constructing.
CALUMET CITY, Sick. – On a freezing Wednesday night time, Calumet Metropolis council members gathered on the steps of Metropolis Corridor for a short however controversial assembly after they had been locked out of the constructing.
The council claims Mayor Thaddeus Jones closed Metropolis Corridor earlier within the day to forestall them from convening.
The assembly, lasting simply two minutes, was known as to handle a lawsuit filed by the town in opposition to Metropolis Clerk Nyota Figgs. Council members shortly voted to dismiss the go well with, regardless of Mayor Jones asserting that solely he has the authority to make such selections.
Metropolis Corridor was abruptly shut down round midday on Wednesday, with the mayor citing plumbing points. The council, nevertheless, wasn’t satisfied, pointing to warning tape and barricades that blocked their entry as proof of the mayor’s interference.
“The mayor has not allowed that movement to be on the agenda, in order that’s why we’re right here tonight, that’s why we’re locked out of Metropolis Corridor, and that’s why we’re having this assembly on the entrance steps,” mentioned Alderman James Patton, who spearheaded the assembly.
The lawsuit dates again to 2021, shortly after Mayor Jones, who can be a state consultant, ordered an audit of Metropolis Corridor. He alleges that Figgs destroyed two truckloads of metropolis data with out authorization, prompting the authorized motion. Figgs, who took roll name on the out of doors assembly, expressed reduction after the council’s vote.
“It’s been 4 years of bullying, being locked out of the workplace, simply my duties taken away, demeaning textual content messages being despatched out about me,” Figgs mentioned.
Mayor Jones launched an announcement calling the council’s actions a political stunt.
“The town council doesn’t have the authority to dismiss a lawsuit. Beneath ordinance quantity 2-492, solely the mayor can direct authorized work. It is a political ploy by a failed candidate and a metropolis clerk who destroyed metropolis data,” he mentioned.
Regardless of the dispute, council members hope the lawsuit is now dropped. As for Metropolis Corridor, a discover posted on the door said it will reopen on Friday.
