Calumet City will proceed with litigation against its elected clerk despite efforts by aldermen to dismiss the case, which they say represents retaliatory action from Mayor Thaddeus Jones.
During a special meeting Monday, council members James Patton, Monet Wilson, DeJuan Gardner and Michael Navarrete voted to override Jones’ veto of their Dec. 4 vote to dismiss the case. However, the override required five votes rather than a simple council majority, and they lacked support from DeAndre Tillman, Anthony Smith and Ramonde Williams.
Jones and City Clerk Nyota Figgs have been at at odds during Jones’ tenure, with Figgs recently objecting to Jones’ candidacy for reelection in 2025. The city’s electoral board earlier this month dismissed Figgs’ claim that Jones is not eligible to serve as mayor due to a city referendum passed in 2021 prohibiting a mayor from also serving as a state representative. Figgs appealed to Cook County circuit court.
Figgs dropped a residency challenge against Jones during a hearing Monday.
The case brought against Figgs claims the clerk illegally disposed of city records soon after Jones was elected mayor in 2021.
“Figgs surreptitiously and without approval from the mayor or city council disposed of and destroyed approximately two truckloads of the city’s records without any legal authority to do so whatsoever,” the lawsuit alleges.
Figgs’ attorney, Jim Kelley, said earlier this month that Figgs had approval to dispose of the documents and said Jones filed the lawsuit against Figgs without council approval, which is crucial despite the mayor’s position as the lead decision maker in the city’s legal matters. Figgs said Tuesday that she believes Jones filed the lawsuit as a response to a lawsuit she filed against him, and she claims city officials have told her they would drop their lawsuit if she dropped hers.
“If I make that go away, then he’ll make this go away — because it was done in retaliation,” Figgs said.
Aldermen led by Patton, who is challenging Jones in the 2025 Democratic Primary for mayor, called the special meeting Dec. 4 to dismiss the suit against Figgs on the City Hall steps. They were unable to meet in the council chambers, as earlier that day, Jones sent a notice that they must cancel the meeting “due to an emergency pest control and water piping issues” within the building, according to the obtained email.
Patton said he had expected Jones to interfere with the meeting due to his personal interest in the lawsuit, and reported staff changing locks to City Hall entrances and barricading the building shortly before the scheduled meeting. He said he notified the mayor’s office in advance the council would hold the meeting outdoors without the mayor presiding if he refused to cooperate.
Jones later denied he barricaded the building because of the meeting or plans to dismiss the lawsuit and claimed the council did not have authority to dismiss cases brought by the city.
“Only the mayor can direct legal work on behalf of the city, OK, not City Council,” Jones said at the time.
However, Jones soon after vetoed the dismissal approved during the special meeting, leading to Monday’s vote to override. Figgs said she is not shocked three aldermen who voted against dismissing the case, as they are all closely aligned with Jones and his administration.
The case was set for trial in early December, but was continued after Cook County Judge Alison Conlon recused herself after disclosing she may have distributed literature for Jones when he was running as a state representative in 2016. The case is due back in court Feb. 20, according to court records.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
