Don’t judge Downers Grove council by mayor pro tem debate, mayor says

The Downers Grove Village Council’s Aug. 12 discussion about proposed changes to the way the mayor pro tem is chosen was somewhat contentious and led Mayor Bob Barnett to characterize the changes as politically motivated.

The one-hour debate featured some heated exchanges and strong differences of opinion, especially between Barnett and Commissioner Chris Gilmartin.

Gilmartin has put forth an ordinance the council would rely on to name a mayor pro tem if the the mayor’s first appointment is rejected.

Barnett said the proposal was partisan and put forth by commissioners who want to change the rules because they didn’t like his choice of Commissioner Martin Tully as mayor pro tem.

That appointment was rejected in May by a 4-3 vote, and Bartnett has not made another appointment for the role.

But he was quick to point out after the Aug. 12 pro tem discussion that the debate is not characteristic of the Village Council.

“Everybody that’s watching tonight is sitting there saying, ‘This is terrible government. I hate this. And I can assure you, seven people up here are saying the same thing,” Barnett said.

“It’s not hard to figure out who’s mad at who right now. We’ve made that painfully obvious to everyone,” Barnett said. “But please focus a little bit beyond the mayor pro tem subject. Your government does really good work as a group and has for as long as most of the people sitting in this room have been here.”

Barnett added that it’s impossible to avoid the combativeness that overwhelms the national political scene, but such a climate is rare in Downers Grove. he said.

“There will be some other subject, maybe it won’t be this council, maybe it will, I don’t know, but there will be some other subject where people will really get themselves sideways up here,” he said. “That’s part of being human and caring.

“Yeah, we got a subject that’s got us grumpy. But we did an enormous amount of really good work on our Guiding DG stuff and we’re doing a lot of good work every single day.”

“The truth is, we’re doing very good work, and we’re going to beat through this, and there will be some result, and it sounds like four of us are going to like it and three of us are going to hate it.”

Barnett has maintained throughout that Tully is most qualified for the role, as he previously served as mayor, preceded by several terms as a commissioner. During that time, he twice served as mayor pro tem.

Gilmartin’s proposal would require the mayor to make a second appointment within 21 days if the first mayor pro tem nominee is rejected. If the second nominee appointed is rejected, the position would go to the longest-serving council member.

The village’s current ordinance does not require the mayor to appoint a second nominee if the first one is rejected.

Tully also has spoken out against the proposed ordinance saying it brought unnecessary drama to the council, He added that current process for the pro tem appointment does not need to be changed.