The April 12th meeting of the Ranoul Village Board almost turned into a physical conflict when Mayor Charles Smith called for a member of the public to be removed by three police officers.
Rantoul resident Wendell Golston was addressing the Village Board during the public input period of the meeting – after he had spoken for about four and a half minutes, Mayor Smith said his time was up.
Golston told the Mayor that at the prior week’s meeting, many individuals were allowed to speak for much longer, and that the same standard should apply to his commentary. After some back and forth between Golston and Smith, the Mayor offered one additional minute for him to finish up.
Golston appeared to be taking his minute in silence, perhaps as a demonstration that all members of the public should be allotted the same rights no matter the content of their speech. However, Mayor Smith appeared bothered by this demonstration and called for police officers to remove Mr. Golston after just fifteen seconds.
Mayor Smith: “Alright, Tony, would you remove him please?”
Rantoul police Chief Tony Brown, Sergeant Jerry King, and Officer Jose Aceves all began approaching Golston at the same time. When Golston explained that he was taking his minute, Chief Brown turned around and took his seat, but officers King and Aceves remained posted immediately behind Golston, as though prepared to take action.
Ultimately, the incident ended without physical conflict as Mr. Golston took his seat in the audience section. Immediately after, Officer Jose Aceves was sworn in by the Mayor as a new police officer for the Village of Rantoul.
Video of the altercation can be seen below (the full April 12th meeting recording can be viewed here).
Check CU reviewed the prior Rantoul Board meeting recording from April 5th and found that Mr. Golston’s claims were correct: a large portion of the speakers were allowed more than three minutes, with one speaker going for seven and a half minutes.
The Illinois Open Meetings act grants any person the right to speak at public meetings:
5 ILCS 120 Section 2.06(g) Any person shall be permitted an opportunity to address public officials under the rules established and recorded by the public body.
The Act is clear: public input rules need to be both established and recorded, and it needs to be done by a vote of the public body – the rules cannot be invented by any single individual or staff member.
The three minute time limit is mentioned in Rantoul’s meeting agendas, but Check CU could not locate any record showing that the Village of Rantoul Board had ever voted on public input rules for their meetings. Even if there does exist a record of such a vote, the Mayor and the Board would still struggle to demonstrate that the rules are established, because the time limit is only selectively enforced and individuals are frequently permitted additional time.
The six Village Board members who sat silently to the left and right of Mayor Smith appeared to condone the Mayor’s call for the removal of Mr. Golston – none of the Board members attempted to call a point of order to force a discussion on the matter.
Mayor Smith has demonstrated contempt, over and over, for regular people and minorities. He needs to resign. And the village board members need to issue an explanation as to why they sat by and did nothing, or resign as well.
Thank you for posting this. This has been an ongoing privilege the mayor claims he has. Public participation was changed by the mayor several years ago to silence the public and limit the content of their speech. I am pleased and supportive of Mr. Golston for challenging the mayor’s discriminatory and illegal practice.
A public apology is warranted to Mr. Golston and the public for his horrendous behavior. In addition, public participation rules need to be revised back to the original rules; especially the opportunity for public participation at the end of meetings.