CALUMET CITY LEADERS ASK STATE’S ATTORNEY, A.G. TO REMOVE MAYOR
A Calumet City Alderman and a retired member of the Calumet City Fire and Police Commission have asked Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul to remove newly elected Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones from office, as he is ineligible to hold multiple elected offices at the same time, according to city ordinances.
In a letter delivered to both state leaders on Friday, Calumet City Ald. JR Patton and former Fire and Police Commissioner Mary Cox point to an ordinance overwhelmingly approved by voters to prohibit anyone holding another elected office to run for – or serve as – Mayor. Jones serves as both Mayor and State Representative, which violates city law.
“There is no question that Thaddeus Jones received the most votes for Mayor from Calumet City voters in the 2021 election,” Cox said. “There is also no question that Calumet City voters made clear in the 2020 election that they do not want their mayor to hold any other elected office while serving as Mayor. Thaddeus Jones had the opportunity to step-down from his position as State Representative prior to being sworn in as Mayor but has instead chosen to thumb his nose at Calumet City voters, and I am asking State’s Attorney Foxx and Attorney General Raoul to take action to correct that and recognize the voice of we the residents.”
On Nov. 3, 2020, Calumet City voters overwhelmingly supported a referendum, 9,485-4,385, to prohibit anyone currently in elected office from seeking election as Mayor. Jones represents the 29th District, which includes a portion of Calumet City. Jones filed to run for Mayor on Nov. 16 and the results of that referendum were certified on Nov. 24.
After several election challenges, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that Jones was eligible to run for Mayor due to the date he filed his petitions being prior to the date of certification of the election results on the referendum but made no determination as to his eligibility to hold the office, nor did the Court rule the city ordinance was invalid. Jones was sworn in on May 1.
Since his swearing in on May 1, Jones has moved to unilaterally consolidate the powers of the city government under the mayor’s office by removing nearly all the duties of the City Clerk, hiring new employees without proper authorization from the city council, and putting unnecessary roadblocks between the city council and city departments causing delays in constituent services being completed. Most recently, the entire Fire and Police Commission of the city resigned after members reported being “bullied and threatened” by the mayor. Jones has also twice used his State Representative position in an attempt to un-do the will of city voters.
“Starting on the first day of his term, I have received dozens of calls from residents confused about how Thaddeus Jones was eligible to hold the Office of Mayor without having resigned his position as State Representative. Today’s filing was not just on behalf of myself or other elected officials and business leaders who did not want to publicly sign onto this letter out of fear of retaliation, but the 9,500 residents of Calumet City that voted to ensure that their mayor did not hold two simultaneous elected positions. This is also being done on behalf of the staggering number of residents who have contacted their respective Aldermen since Rep. Jones was elected to ask how he could hold both offices if the residents voted to explicitly ban this very practice of double-dipping on the taxpayer dime”, Patton said.
