‘Don’t you ever ask a question like that again’
Calumet City mayor bristles during confrontation over library reopening
Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones seemed unhappy Monday when I asked when he would reopen the town’s public library.
“Don’t you ever ask a question like that again,” Jones told me.
He seemed irritated that I embarrassed him in front of his politically powerful guest, U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly of Matteson. Kelly took the reins from former House Speaker Michael Madigan this year and became the first woman of color to chair the Democratic Party of Illinois.
Kelly’s people invited me to Calumet City’s City Hall on Monday to listen to speeches and watch the presentation of a giant check representing $201,832 in federal funds for the city’s Fire Department.
I politely listened to remarks about how the taxpayer money would help Calumet City provide public safety services to residents. Jones thanked Kelly for “bringing home the bacon” and for her “nice contribution,” as if the money was a campaign donation instead of an allocation of public funds.
After officials spoke in front of cameras, I was invited to ask questions directly of Kelly and Jones. I asked Kelly her reaction to the closure of the Calumet City Public Library. Kelly said she didn’t realize it was closed.
Then I asked the mayor when he would reopen the library. Jones abruptly shut down the library Oct. 8, when he sent muscle from the city’s Public Works Department to escort people from the building as part of an alleged corruption investigation.
“We’re here for this occasion so I would say after this we can have a conversation, so don’t sully what’s going on in Calumet City,” Jones said in front of
Kelly.
Moments later, away from Kelly, Jones told me I should not have asked him about the library in front of the congresswoman.
“If you want to ask me anything off the record you can, but don’t do that,” Jones said.
Jones seemed to misunderstand how a free press works in a democracy. When public officials invite journalists to cover an event, they should be prepared to field questions on any topic. How they respond is up to them, but it’s certainly fair for the press to ask questions within the bounds of professional decorum.
Politicians have plenty of chances to control their messages. Paid political advertising and an abundance of social media opportunities can lull some officials into thinking they can control messaging all the time, but that’s simply not the case.
I accepted an invitation from Jones to sit in his City Hall office and listen to his reasons for closing the library. I sat in the same office in April and listened as Michelle Markiewicz Qualkinbush reflected on her 44 years of public service in Calumet City, including serving as mayor for the last 18 years.
Jones defeated her in the February Democratic primary and he has been shaking up city government since taking office in May.
For city attorney, Jones appointed the powerful
Michael J. Kasper, who was general counsel to Madigan and the state Democratic Party when he defeated citizen-led efforts to hold statewide referendums on term limits and the process for drawing legislative district maps.
For corporate counsel, Jones appointed ShawnTe Raines, wife of Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch.
Jones said he shut down the library because of financial malfeasance.
“The library was poorly mismanaged,” he said.
He accused library employees of stealing petty cash and equipment from the library. Computers lent to patrons were unaccounted for, he said. The library was $786,000 over budget, had ghosts on the payroll and falsified data about the number of patrons served in order to get state grants, he said.
“The secretary of state is doing a full investigation of this, of all the malfeasance that was going on at the library,” Jones said.
Dave Druker, spokesman for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, who also serves as state librarian, said that Jones contacted the state library to clarify the state statue pertaining to local library control and authority.
The biggest concern was that the library wasn’t serving children, Jones said. Before the pandemic, regular library hours were 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Limited hours before the Oct. 8 shutdown were 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays except 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays, and closed on weekends.
“My goal is to make sure we have a library that’s working for the kids, that’s not closed on Saturdays and Sundays,” Jones said. “I want to be there to assist them and help them but I wasn’t going to take control of a library that had all this malfeasance going on.”
The previous library board sought to fill vacant positions, former board member George Grenchik told me. That would have enabled the library to extend hours, but Jones imposed a hiring freeze, he said.
I stopped by the library Monday on my way to City Hall. I watched people as they parked and walked to the front door, then turned around when they discovered the doors were locked.
Jones told me his goal was to reopen the library Oct. 25. The library board is set to meet at 6 p.m. Thursday to discuss a reopening plan, a Halloween party for children and hiring a consultant and website developer.
The allegations by Jones of financial malfeasance sounded eerily similar to a forensic audit that examined spending by the Chicago Heights Public Library. The Chicago Heights audit also examined staffing, petty cash use and equipment spending. The audit claimed misuse of funds, but the accusations seemed to lack substance.
Jones said Calumet City’s library had poor accounting practices and needed to justify its $2.8 million annual budget. There were uncashed checks on the premises and $10,000 worth of newsletters from April that had not been mailed, he said.
“All of this adds up to a lot of waste that was going on at the library,” he said.
The library’s $2.8 million budget represents 3% of the city’s $89.5 million appropriations ordinance for 2021-22.
The appropriations ordinance details all kinds of spending, $9.9 million for the Police Department, $5.7 million for the Fire Department and $10.2 million in water and sewer expenses. Most costs are related to personnel to cover salaries, benefits and pensions.
Appropriations include $626,692 for the mayor’s office and another $428,302 for the city council. The mayor’s appropriation includes a $630 clothing allowance.
Jones would like Calumet City voters to believe a narrative that he shut down the public library because of corruption.
Calumet City citizens are welcome to peruse the appropriations ordinance and other financial documents and ask the mayor and council members what they are doing to root out potential waste and corruption in departments that account for the other 97% of Calumet City’s annual spending.