Oglesby tables proposed conduct policy

Oglesby might get a “behavior-conduct” policy, but the first draft was deemed problematic Monday and the City Council tabled it.

“I don’t think you can hamstring an elected official’s ability to communicate.”

—  Pat Barry, city attorney

Commissioner Tony Stefanelli presented the Oglesby City Council with a draft proposal that would effectively hold elected officials to the same standards of conduct as any municipal employee.

“I can’t ask the girls in the clerk’s office to behave one way and (then) I behave differently,” Stefanelli said.

But City Attorney Pat Barry recommended a line-by-line review after spotting some problematic language governing free speech, particularly in provisions that apply to elected officials.

“I don’t think you can hamstring an elected official’s ability to communicate,” Barry said, adding later, “I think you have to clean it up throughout the document.”

Mayor Jason Curran said he supported a code of conduct in principle – “What you’re saying makes perfect sense: Hold ourselves to a higher standard” – but that the proposal failed to spell out disciplinary provisions and, in any case, an elected official cannot be terminated the way an employee can.

The council voted unanimously to table the proposal, giving Stefanelli and Barry time to craft language.

Separately, Curran proclaimed April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Curran acknowledged he had tried to cut back on official proclamations – “It was at the point where we were doing one or two a meeting” – but this “makes a difference” in people’s lives and he fully supported the work of La Salle County Court-Appointed Special Advocates.

Finally, Commissioner Terry Eutis commended the Oglesby Police Department for its handling of a recent domestic situation from which police seized a pistol that had been modified into an automatic weapon.