DG Residents Clap Back

The Village Council gets an earful about that heated May 20 meeting

Downers Grove residents held the Village Council to account Tuesday night for its contentious May 20 meeting that saw Mayor Bob Barnett’s choice for mayor pro tem—Commissioner Martin Tully—denied amid acrimonious charges and countercharges.

It was a comeuppance only citizens informed by the public record and armed with facts could deliver. And deliver it they did, making it clear that a business-as-usual approach doesn’t meet their expectations, particularly in light of the April 1 election results.

Not only did neither of the mayor’s endorsed candidates win that election, but their combined votes also fell short, said resident Mary Blanchard. “Your constituents voted against you in this election,” she told the mayor, adding that the commissioners who voted against his mayor pro temp appointment “have a right to be concerned.” The two new commissioners, Tammy Sarver and Rob Roe, joined Leslie Sadowski-Fugitt and Chris Gilmartin in voting against that appointment.

Barnett implied on May 20 that “commissioners don’t have a mind of their own” and are being led by “someone who is seeking the next round of office,” Blanchard said, adding “Mayor, I don’t know what you’re on about here.”

As to Tully’s comment that council members “are not elected to serve just those who helped us get elected,” but to also represent “those who voted against us and those who did not vote or could not vote,” Blanchard had one word. “Insulting.”

She also reminded the mayor of the October 3, 2017, Village Council meeting in which he—following a heated exchange with then-Mayor Tully—voted against Tully’s slate of appointments because he considered the appointment process to be flawed and in need of more transparency and better communication.

These are some of the same reasons commissioners Sadowski-Fugitt and Chris Gilmartin gave for voting against the Tully appointment as pro tem.

“The public won’t tolerate the implication that things in our village won’t move forward because the two of you refuse to work with others on the council,” Blanchard said. “We have expectations, and those need to be met. We’ll be here to make sure there is transparency and forward momentum.”

Resident Kylie Spahn echoed Sadowski-Fugitt’s May 20 comments about the council’s “old guard way of governing” and good old boys’ club, which she said have been entrenched in Downers Grove since the council-management form of government was adopted more than 60 years ago, dialing back mayoral authority.

“On April 1, the voters of Downers Grove made it clear that we want transparency, change and leadership that will strengthen our community,” she said. “Not business as usual with backdoor dealings. Not succession governing.

“As a citizen and resident of Downers Grove, I fully support the commissioners on the council and their move to reject the mayor’s attempted power grab,” Spahn said.

Resident Ed Pawlak also expressed his disappointment in the “needlessly divisive and politicized process to nominate a mayor pro tem.”

Selma Moberg told the council she was there “to talk about the 5/20 meeting and what a disgrace it was,” singling out Sadowski-Fugitt and Gilmartin for their “whiny bitching” and accusing Sadowski-Fugitt of mayoral ambitions. (Note: While it’s widely suggested that two or three present or former commissioners might be interested in that job come 2027, I’ve never heard Sadowski-Fugitt’s name included among them.)

Were commissioners chastened by their constituents’ remarks? Well, the temperature of the meeting was definitely lower than it was on May 20. In an earlier post, I likened that meeting to a family therapy session where old grievances, simmering frustrations and unresolved anger burst to the surface. In the weeks since, I’ve dug a little deeper into the reasons why the pro tem vote felt so redolent of conflicts past.

It's been obvious for some time that fissures were forming. There was the April 2024 vote to remove Bill Nienburg from the Library Board of Trustees, another 4-3 decision, on which Barnett and Tully (along with Commissioner Danny Glover) were on the losing side.

Following the April 1 municipal election, Barnett and Tully saw their political capital diminish further, as residents pointed out last night. Glover, a dependably conservative vote, and Commissioner Greg Hose, Barnett’s previous mayor pro tem, stepped down and were replaced by Sarver and Roe. Gilmartin, who wasn’t endorsed by Barnett or Tully, was elected to a second term.

While most council votes are close, if not unanimous, hotly contested issues and philosophical differences can occasionally trigger dissent. On a dais where few speak of personal issues, Sadowski-Fugitt has been open about her experiences, using them as a way to relate to the distress felt by others. This includes the Downers Grove Public Library staff, which has been under regular attack, and the LGBTQ residents she is committed to ensuring feel safe and welcomed in this community.

Over the years, I’ve watched other “liberal” commissioners push the envelope and get publicly skewered for it. Commissioner William Waldack was lampooned for bringing an apple to the dais to illustrate why he couldn’t support Mayor Ron Sandack’s “core services” approach to governing. That was back when the council was split between conservative camps, with liberals playing a token role at best.

Sadowski-Fugitt is a worthy successor to the more liberal-minded commissioners of the past, but she isn’t playing the fool. And she isn’t backing down. I was reminded of her attempt, at the December 3, 2024, council meeting, to advocate for a more cooperative and compassionate approach. As commissioners considered an advisory referendum to gauge public interest in an elected library board, Sadowski-Fugitt reminded them of the people who would be most affected by the hastily submitted measure.

She pointed out that library staff and board members had been constantly criticized and even harassed since a planned 2022 drag queen bingo event (later dropped in response to credible threats) and the subsequent conflict over Trustee Bill Nienburg.

She also played an expletive-laced voice message she received after voting in favor of Nienburg’s removal—which the mayor quickly shut down. She reminded commissioners that she had emailed the message to each of them, and thanked those who responded. “But I would really like to hear, Commissioner Tully and Mayor Barnett, how you feel about the people of your community being treated this way. Because I haven’t heard anything from either of you yet,” she said.

So, when a commissioner talks of an old boys’ network and a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” culture, maybe she really is simply asking to be seen and heard and considered as much as the next guy. That acknowledgment clearly wasn’t afforded the council’s senior member when she had to wait until the evening before the May 20 meeting to hear about the mayor’s pro tem appointment.

I think it’s important to note that calling out unconstructive behavior isn’t the same as dispensing with “a working relationship based on collaboration, consensus and collegiality” or opting for “an adversarial relationship,” as Tully accused Sadowski-Fugitt and Gilmartin of doing on May 20.

Similarly unconstructive was his statement about commissioners serving all of Downers Grove and not just those who elected them. One would hope that would go without saying. For what it’s worth, I’ve voted at least once for every member of the current Village Council but certainly have no expectation that every vote will go my way, much less unanimously.

However, it is my expectation that the Village Council will model cooperation and respect, especially in these hotly partisan times. I don’t want the ugliness I see every day on the national stage to infiltrate local government. And I will continue to vote accordingly.

As for Tuesday’s meeting, I heard no mention of the pro tem position or how the mayor intends to proceed. So, let me play the role of family therapist for a moment. It’s past time for council members to work out, or at least smooth over, their differences, perhaps in a governance meeting such as Tully suggested Tuesday night.

It’s also time for all commissioners to acknowledge that the Downers Grove of 2025 isn’t the Downers Grove of 2010 or 2015. Expectations have changed, at least among the majority of residents who vote for council members, at least for now.

I’m pretty sure both Barnett and Tully have the political sense and experience to understand what that means. Both have two years left on their current terms, and Barnett will be term-limited out as mayor in 2027 after 18 years on the council.

At last night’s meeting, Kylie Spahn offered a positive note. “We are seeing a rise in community engagement that unites us rather than dividing us,” she said, pointing out the many ways residents are involving themselves in the civic life of Downers Grove, and the interest the Guiding DG plans have engendered.

“It’s an exciting time to live in Downers Grove and we really do love where we live,” she said. “I ask the council to seek ways to increase resident participation at the community level, listen to concerns and input from residents, and to make data driven decisions yet have the flexibility to change.”

Let’s see if our leaders take heed.