Mayor Chris Clark orders police to remove entire audience from chambers at City Council meeting

Clarification, 07/23/2024: This story was updated to reflect corrected financial figures provided by the city treasurer during public comment.

The audience at a recent City Council meeting was ordered to leave City Hall after Mayor Chris Clark deemed it disruptive.

Harvey police officers even threatened citations and arrests. The problem? Clapping.

It all happened last Monday after Pastor Johnathan Johnson of Holy Bible Missionary Baptist Church ripped up the church’s business license during public comment. In 2023, Harvey clarified its municipal code to explicitly state churches must obtain a business license, long required of non-profit entities. Johnson previously criticized the ordinance at a meeting last month, when two alderpersons staged a walkout.

The clapping occurred once before during an earlier comment, and the mayor issued a warning. But following Johnson’s comments, Clark slammed his gavel, condemning the audience. He waved at Harvey Police Chief Cameron Biddings, saying, “You know what to do.” 

That’s when police ordered attendees to clear Council chambers. The mayor then announced a recess.

But attendees were ultimately forced to leave City Hall altogether and most were not allowed back into the building. The move coincides with increased police presence at Council meetings and growing allegations Clark is leveraging police forces to silence critics.

City Council decorum

Since June, Clark has read aloud a written statement explicitly prohibited clapping, cheering, hissing, shouting, and other forms of what he referred to as “disruptive conduct” from attendees.

But most of the outbursts and alarming behavior besmirching Council meetings in recent months have been from city and police officials.

Alderwoman Telanee Smith (3rd) once laughed at a resident who demanded financial transparency during public comment. 

In January, Alderman Tyrone Rogers (6th) screamed during his aldermanic comment after a viral TikTok video showed a tenant boarded inside their own apartment.

Last month, a police officer forcibly grabbed a resident’s neck while they were removed from a meeting. Harvey Police Chief Cameron Biddings then ordered an auxiliary officer to “leave them in there,” blocking residents from filming the arrest, likely a First Amendment rights violation.

On Monday, Smith issued a thinly veiled threat to a pastor who criticized her. “I got you,” she said. Smith and Alderwoman Colby Chapman (2nd) would be seen yelling and arguing with one another as attendees cleared Council chambers.

After the facility was cleared, a police officer came outside to announce that those who signed up for public comment could re-enter City Hall. That included former mayoral ally Ryan Sinwelski, who the mayor had arrested at a chaotic meeting June 13.

But by the time they were informed, Sinwelski and another speaker were unable to re-enter. The mayor had already adjourned the meeting, Chapman told the HWH as she exited City Hall.

Treasurer speaks out

Public comment has become increasingly precarious in recent months. 

On Monday, resident Glynis James-Watson framed the city’s rules banning clapping and other behavior as infringement of freedom of speech. Harvey Public Library Board secretary Chapelle Hooks accused the mayor of using various false identities and changing political parties. Clark requested the documents she read be provided to him—which she did—so he could prepare a response to the allegations.

But one speaker surprised many: City Treasurer Aisha Pickett. Pickett has said the finance department doesn’t give her appropriate information to produce monthly treasurer’s reports. She signed up as a speaker since she’s only able to offer comments if she’s on the agenda, she said.

The mayor had requested that her treasurer’s report go through his office first for review, but “[The] treasurer’s report is not required to be reviewed by the Mayor or the administration,” Pickett said. “Although our offices are interdependent, they are independent.” 

At a July 2 press conference highlighting a new tax initiative, Clark said that the city prioritized the financial expertise of Comptroller Louis Williams since he’s a certified public accountant, stressing that wasn’t “a knock on the treasurer.”

Before the Council voted on legislation that evening, the mayor himself read aloud cash balances as of April 30, totaling $11.8 million. That finance report detailed the city’s finances over the past 12 months and was prepared by Williams, who was stuck at an airport and absent.

Pickett shared different financial figures, specifically, nearly $4 million in deposits and $4.5 million in disbursements. Harvey has over $24,000 in the Illinois Metropolitan Investment Fund, she said.

The differential accounts and figures provided by two leading city officials will likely spur additional scrutiny into how the finance department and treasurer’s office are—or aren’t— communicating.

“Please note that these numbers are not conclusive as I’m inquired to believe that I’m missing account statements and also have not received the comptroller’s report for months ending May 2024 to compare or verify,” Pickett said.

Allegations of retaliation grow

After his comments last month, police showed up at Johnson’s church unexpectedly, even interrupting a funeral, Johnson later told the HWH. 

“They are breaching our constitutional rights to assemble as a religious organization, and that [Mayor’s] unconstitutional way of governing the city is gonna quickly come to a halt,” Johnson said.

Business leaders and residents have similarly accused the mayor of weaponizing police against them.

Carlita Poole-Tingle, a vocal resident of 153rd St. and Myrtle Ave., the site of a forthcoming water detention pond that will displace residents, accused the mayor of sending city inspectors to cite her property. She brought the ticket to a Council meeting last month as proof.

Business owner Shahnawaz Hasan, owner of food manufacturer American Kitchen Delights on Dixie Highway, alleges the mayor and police chief had officers write frivolous traffic tickets to his employees in 2020. 

Hasan, who criticized the mayor last year during public comment, has three ongoing lawsuits against the city.

The food plant is next door to Harvey Police Department headquarters.