Judge rules against East Chicago council
A court fight between the East Chicago Common Council and Mayor Anthony Copeland over where the council should conduct its meetings during the pandemic came to an end Thursday when a Lake Superior Court judge settled it in favor of the mayor.
The council didn’t prove to the court that conducting council meetings at Heritage Hall Gymnasium was an “emergent issue” causing irreparable harm, Judge Bruce Parent said in his ruling. The council passed an ordinance in July that gave it the authority to designate where it could hold meetings and wanted to conduct them in the gym because it allows for better social distancing, Council Attorney John Bushemi told the Post-Tribune.
“This conversation is about the separation of powers,” Copeland said in a statement issued Thursday by City Attorney Carla Morgan. “The people have elected one mayor, not nine mayors. State law clearly defines the powers given to the Executive Branch, the Judicial Branch and the Legislative Branch. The ongoing attempts to supplant the power of the mayor wastes precious resources that should best be used to protect the city and its residents during this pandemic.”
Copeland added, “Zoom makes possible safe participation in public meetings. The Council itself recently agreed to return to making all of its meetings available via Zoom. I encourage the public to engage and participate in all public meetings held by East Chicago City Government safely through Zoom.”
The council, Bushemi said, started requesting to use Heritage Hall in May and June because it was larger and safer to accommodate the nine-member council, department heads and attendees. When the council tried to meet at Heritage Hall Sept. 14 and again Sept. 19, Bushemi said the administration locked them out. The next two meetings on Sept. 22 and 28 were held in East Chicago City Judge Sonya Morris’s courtroom in City Hall, but Bushemi said the courtroom has no Wi-Fi service; nor did the administration send its multimedia person to record the meeting for broadcast on the city’s TV channel.
“It’s a terrible wrong in local government and the people who’re hurt the most are East Chicago residents and council memb e r s,” Bu s h e mi said Wednesday. “(The council) has exclusive authority to designate where it meets. It’s not the mayor’s.” Morgan disagreed.
“The determination of what specific authority belongs to each separate branch of City government is subject to a statutory process, set forth in (state code), which is at the center of the currently pending litigation between the mayor and the Council,” she said in an email. “The Court’s most recent order does not necessarily resolve any of the broader issues involved in the litigation, and they remain pending at this time.” Morgan said earlier in the week that the city’s policy “strongly encourages safe engagement in private meetings” and that the council chambers is set up for Zoom meetings.
“Indeed, it is completely inconsistent with all reasonable health and CDC guidance to assemble or provoke large gatherings when the same, even with social distancing, carries inherent health risks for attendees,” she said in an email. Bushemi didn’t return a request for comment.