ROCKFORD, IL — A proposal entering the City Council approval process seeks to strip Mayor Tom McNamara of the authority to appoint chairpersons of standing city committees.
The measure, brought forward by Ald. Tamir Bell, D-13, comes about a week after McNamara made his selections for committee assignments and chairpersons for the next 12 months starting June 8.
Bell said the measure “is not meant to diminish the role of the mayor” but meant to improve transparency and strengthen collaboration by allowing the committees to elect their own chairs and vice chairs. McNamara would continue to appoint the members of each committee under the proposal.
Bell had served as vice chair of the Code & Regulation Committee for a year. Starting June 8, Bell will remain a member of the committee, but will no longer serve as vice chair.
Ald. Jonathan Logemann, D-2, will serve as chairman, replacing Ald. Mark Bonne, D-14, and Ald. Aprel Prunty, D-6, replaces Bell as vice chair.
“Why do you think he is bringing this up now? He may not have gotten everything he wanted,” McNamara said during a phone interview. “Ald. Bell got his No. 1 committee choice and got his No. 1 board choice. He wanted chair of Code and Regulation, and he did not get get it — Ald. Logemann got that.”
When asked if he was making the proposal because he didn’t get what he wanted, Bell responded that he believes City Council “should select its chairman and vice chairman.”
McNamara said that each year he asks aldermen to submit their top choices for committee and board assignments and to request if they want to chair or vice chair a committee. He said he bases his decision on experience, performance and his best judgment.
Although it can be difficult, this year all aldermen got their top selection of committee assignment, McNamara said.
“As mayor you are the only person elected citywide,” McNamara said. “The vast majority of residents — and in my case 78% of them — have said they trust you and want your values, integrity and thought process to be leading the city. And I think that extends to who is leading these committees.”
Ald. Janessa Neal, formerly Wilkins, will serve as chairwoman of Planning & Development. Ald. Kevin Frost, R-4, will remain chair of Finance & Personnel. Frost will also take chairmanship over Legislative Lobbying, a position that must shift between a Republican and a Democrat each year. Ald. Chad Tuneberg, R-3, will lead the Labor Negotiations Committee.
Ald. Bonne, who is recovering from complications of open heart surgery, said via text message that he feels the current system for selecting committees and chairs makes the most sense.
“We have too many important issues pending to be worried about titles right now,” Bonne said. “I doubt the proposal will pass, but if it did, I would anticipate gridlock and chaos as we tried to select from each other who’s going to be committee chair.”
Jeff Kolkey writes about government, economic development and other issues for the Rockford Register Star. He can be reached via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com and on X @jeffkolkey.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford alderman challenges mayor’s power to appoint chairpersons
Reporting by Jeff Kolkey, Rockford Register Star / Rockford Register Star
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By Jeff Kolkey, Rockford Register Star | USA TODAY Network
