Urbana, Illinois Mayor Diane Marlin became visibly upset at a recent Council meeting after Council members did not unanimously approve her list of a dozen City officials. The list was presented for a Council vote on June 6th and included two year appointments to positions such as City Administrator, City Attorney, Human Rights and Equity Officer, Finance Director, and Fire Chief.
After Marlin read her list of appointees aloud, Council member Grace Wilken asked that the Council vote on the appointments individually, Marlin said, “No…We typically don’t do that”. This was a strange claim since separating multiples appointments into multiple votes is actually quite common. In fact, Marlin herself separated the votes the last time she put forth multiple appointees on March 28th, 2022.
Wilken pushed forward and quickly got a second on her motion from Jaya Kolisetty. The Council then took a vote on splitting up the appointees list. The vote passed, but with Council members Maryalice Wu, James Quisenberry, and Shirese Hursey opposing the motion.
All twelve appointees were ultimately approved, but Mayor Marlin was extremely upset that some of the Council members dared vote no to some of her picks.
The following appointments fetched some no votes:
- Carol Mitten as City Administrator: 1 No vote
- Carla Boyd as Human Rights and Equity Officer: 1 No vote
- David Wesner as City Attorney: 3 No votes
- Andrea Ruedi as Special Advisor for Integrated Strategy Development: 2 No votes
Marlin said that the appointment process for high level City officials “is not a hiring or firing process at City Council: that is not your job.” This claim by the Mayor is difficult to understand since the City Council is very clearly tasked with voting on the appointment of City officials, and the outcomes of those votes would very clearly have the effect of beginning, resuming, or terminating an individual’s employment in a given position.
Marlin then lambasted some Council members for not informing her beforehand of their intent to vote no. She said that any indication that the Council might not approve an appointment causes “uncertainty and damaging morale”.
Mayor Marlin said that “people who apply for jobs in Urbana watch our meetings…this is actually very damaging. Even though ultimately everything was approved, that ‘no’ vote sent a message to every single employee in Urbana, again.”
Marlin did not cite any statute or ordinance that would remove agency from elected City officials or prevent them from voting as they see best.