A Cook County judge is expected to appoint the members of the Calumet City Election Board after the city clerk, challenging the eligibility of Mayor Thaddeus Jones, objected to its composition.
Clerk Nyota Figgs objects to Jones’ bid for re-election, saying the mayor’s primary residence is not in the city and that a referendum passed in 2020 prohibits a Calumet City official from also being a state lawmaker. Jones has been a state representative since 2011.
A municipal electoral college normally consists of the mayor, the clerk and the longest-serving councilor. However, because both the mayor and the clerk are involved in the objection, the election board created for these objections consists of attorney Tom Jaconetty, as chairman, and the two longest-serving councilors, Ramonde Williams and Anthony Smith.
Figgs and her attorney, Burt Odelson of Odelson, Murphey, Frazier and McGrath, said both Williams and Smith are biased in their support of Jones because they have close political ties to the mayor. Williams, Smith and Jones are among those whose campaigns have received funding from the Calumet City Democrats United political party, according to documents on the Illinois State Board of Elections website.
“You can’t get a fair and impartial hearing because they’re raising money with him,” Odelson said Tuesday. “The two councilors will vote the way they need to vote – it’s as simple as that.”
Odelson said he believes Jones will be excluded from the ballot despite an unsuccessful challenge to his candidacy when he first ran for the mayor’s seat in 2021. Odelson said the referendum was passed to ban candidates from running for mayor if they also hold elected, paid office. created by the state constitution was not certified when Jones filed his petition for that election.
Jones’ attorney, Ed Mullen of Bucktown Law in Chicago, said the Illinois General Assembly passed a bill that would ban such a restriction on who can seek local office.
“When the state legislature passes a law, it replaces the referendum,” Mullen said.
But Odelson said the Legislature does not have the authority to overturn action taken in a direct vote, and that Jones prompted the change in state law.
“They can’t retroactively go back and undo the people’s votes,” Odelson said.
Figgs, who is also running for re-election, is facing a candidacy challenge from City Commissioner Alyssia Benford. Benford claims Figgs does not live in Calumet City, but at an address in North Chicago.
Figgs also objects to the makeup of the board of elections, and Cook County Judge Maureen Ward Kirby will rule next week. If she decides Williams and Smith cannot serve on the board, she will appoint new members, Odelson said.
The Board of Elections’ next meeting with a possible different board is scheduled for Dec. 6 at City Hall, 204 Pulaski Road, Calumet City.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
