Former Harvey planning commission member arrested at City Council meeting

After warnings to cease talking too audibly while recording a Special City Council meeting for social media, Mayor Chris Clark had a former ally arrested by several officers.

A police executive forcibly grabbed the back of Sinwelski’s neck, before other officers tried to trip him into submission. They later dragged Sinwelski out of the Council chambers. 

“Don’t let them do this to me, guys,” Sinwelski pleaded. Harvey auxiliary officers prevented attendees from following Sinwelski out of Council chambers, holding and physically blocking the doors.

The special meeting was called after the regular meeting on June 10 adjourned early, with two alderpersons staging a walkout that broke quorum after disagreements to table an intergovernmental agreement with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District for a water detention pond on 153rd St. and Myrtle Ave. 

At that meeting, the Council hadn’t yet voted on any agenda items. Most of Monday’s ordinances—except the agreement with the District—were on the agenda for Thursday’s special meeting. The city added another item regarding owed payments on judgements.

The arrest

The Council was preparing to vote on a resolution authorizing a Class 8 tax incentive, offering reduced property tax rates on commercial properties, for a forthcoming automotive repair and technology training facility on Dixie Highway, next to McDonald’s. The estimated $6 million redevelopment agreement is expected to produce 30 private sector jobs.

Sinwelski began talking loudly as he recorded the meeting on his cellphone.

“Please just come to order. There’s nothing wrong with you recording,” Clark said. When Sinwelski failed to quiet, the mayor told officers to remove him, calling the meeting to a recess.

Harvey Deputy Police Chief Derrick Charles slapped the back of Sinwelski’s neck while grabbing him, to a chorus of gasping and uproar. “Putting ‘yo hand on his neck for what?” Ald. Chapman yelled.

Charles joined Harvey PD in 2022. Before, he served as part-time officer at South Suburban College Police Department. In 2021, the Country Club Hills Police Department fired Charles for lying about his whereabouts while on mobile patrol. He was also found responsible after a man arrested for criminal trespass escaped the station through an open door in the booking room.

Sinwelski yelled for others to grab his phone, which officers had taken from him. Outside, an officer placed Sinwelski’s phone in his personal bag. Harvey Police Officer Donisha Calmes, who joined the force in 2021 from neighboring Dixmoor, escorted Sinwelski to a waiting police vehicle, shielding her face from cameras.

Charles later asked Sinwelski if he was “okay.” Officers talked about charging Sinwelski with “disorderly [conduct].”

History of a relationship gone sour

Sinwelski previously served on the city’s planning and zoning commission until last summer. The volunteer body is by mayoral appointment. Sinwelski often used his social media to defend Clark against critics. He eventually joined a chorus of residents calling for financial transparency.

Sinwelski, a realtor who advocates for preservation of buildings and architecture, began openly contesting the city’s decision to demolish buildings on Broadway Ave. and much of the iconic Ascension-St. Susanna Catholic Church campus, which Harvey owns.

Earlier this year, Cook County cited Harvey for demolishing properties on Broadway Ave. without permits, halting the process. Months later, having secured permits, the city demolished the buildings. 

And Harvey aims to transform part of the Ascension-St. Susanna property into a civic center and park. The project compliments a water detention pond on Myrtle Ave. that aims to reduce local flooding. Sinwelski and others, however, have contested it as longtime residents will be moved to make way. A man overdosed inside the church in December 2023.

‘Retaliate against us’

During public comment, Carlita Poole-Tingle, whose being displaced from her Myrtle Ave. home for the stormwater project, suggested Clark wanted to reprimand Sinwelski months ago. “You’re probably disappointed” that one of Clark’s “superiors requested that you meet with us,” she said, “because you want to build your own park district since you lack control over the rental park district.”

Poole-Tingle was referencing a letter from Congresswoman Robin Kelly (IL-2). In April, Kelly sent a letter to Clark urging him to meet with Poole-Tingle’s family. “The Poole’s would like to arrange a meeting with you and/or your city planners to express their concerns,” Kelly wrote, “and to inquire whether there might be alternative locations available for a pond that could provide flooding abatement for the neighborhood while sparing their homes.”

Clark, who locals say lied to WBEZ Chicago when he said he personally visited Myrtle Ave. residents on the block to discuss the project, agreed to a meeting in May. Sinwelski attended as a supporter. Poole-Tingle told the HWH Clark suggested he would have police remove Sinwelski after discussions about Ascension-St. Susanna’s demolition turned tense. 

In public comment, she also revealed her home had been cited for failing to display her address on her garage.

Harvey’s municipal code requires homes to display their address number on their garages, visible from the alley. Generally, Harvey inspectors don’t enforce that law.

Clark’s home is in violation of that law, too, Poole-Tingle said. She showed a picture taken of his garage. Poole-Tingle suggested Clark had inspectors cite her family’s home in retaliation for speaking out against the pond, which will displace her family and kids. “You’ve always wanted to retaliate against us; hence, you’ve had your way. Everything you’ve done will soon end. It’s over,” Poole-Tingle said.

Clark laughed and smiled as she spoke.

Less than communicative police officers

According to Sinwelski, Harvey Police Officer Kevin Ramsey said he could not be released or “make a phone call or talk or see anybody” until Sinwelski signed a pre-trial release form. “I said, ‘I don’t believe that’s true, so I wrote ‘under duress,’” Sinwelski went on. 

“Officer Calmes did not respond to any of my questions when I was waiting to be released from the holding cell,” he said. “[The police officials] stated that they were going to take me to the Phoenix Police Department to be booked.” Sinwelski doesn’t have a criminal record and was “still in shock and irate about the situation.” He had scratches and bruises on his wrist where handcuffs were.

Approved items

Harvey will enter an agreement with servicer HERA to develop an online registry for the city’s vacant and foreclosed properties. HERA will also monitor mortgage defaults and send property owners notices to register their property’s in HERA’s database.

Metra and Pace are slated to overhaul the 154th St. train station and downtown Pace bus depot. The Council approved an intergovernmental authorizing its construction. The initiative has been in the design phase as rehabilitation of the 147th St. Metra station nears completion.

That comes as the city also accepted a $55,000 grant to bring bike lanes for the “155th St. Complete Street Plan” and larger transit-oriented development vision for downtown. The grant will also support crosswalk repaving.

The next regular Council meeting is Monday, June 24.