Politics
City Clerk Briefly Removed Video of Contentious City Council Committee Meeting at Mayor’s Office Request
(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
City Clerk Anna Valencia said Wednesday that her office briefly removed a video of a contentious Chicago City Council meeting that took place Tuesday after what she called an improper request from the mayor’s office.
The recording of the meeting on the Committee of Special Events, Cultural Affairs and Recreation should not have been removed from the city’s website, Valencia said, adding that she ordered the complete video to be republished early Wednesday morning as soon as she learned about it.
A representative of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office did not respond to a request for comment from WTTW News.
Valencia said in a statement she would take additional steps to ensure “this does not happen again.” Valencia, whose office is responsible for livestreaming, recording and publishing all City Council meetings, declined a request for an interview with WTTW News.
A representative of Johnson’s office asked an employee of the city clerk’s office after business hours to edit the recording of the meeting to remove audio of a conversation that took place before the meeting while alderpeople and staff prepared to start the hearing, Valencia said.
The meeting video includes audio of a conversation between two people who are not shown on camera. One speaker identifies Alds. Jeanette Taylor (20th Ward) and Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) and says they like Sigcho-Lopez. The speaker also identifies Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th Ward).
Silverstein pushed to hold Tuesday’s committee hearing after demanding that Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events staff remove a controversial pro-Gaza puppet display at the Chicago Cultural Center, which she said was antisemitic. Silverstein is the only Jewish member of the City Council.
The conversation then turns to George Blakemore, a frequent presence at City Hall best known for his high-volume comments and his paint-splattered hats and jackets. He frequently makes racist remarks about Latino Chicagoans and in support of President Donald Trump.
“Progressives loved him when he was an ornery, eccentric guy that showed up to hearings to talk about (unintelligible),” the unidentified voice said. ”Then things got dark about the pandemic and then anti-immigrant sh--.”
Valencia’s office declined to identify the employee of the mayor’s office who made the request, saying they were a “rank-and-file” staff member.
“The team member explained that under our internal procedures, the already public video could not be edited until morning and the edits could only be made under specific guidelines,” Valencia said. “The mayor’s office asked that the video come down until all the edits were made.”
The committee hearing, which lasted nearly four hours, spiraled out of control after Sigcho-Lopez appeared to call Ald. Bill Conway (34th Ward) a “white supremacist.”
Sigcho-Lopez, who spoke at a rally to protest the Democratic National Convention taking place in Chicago amid the war in Gaza where an American flag was burned, told reporters he said “this is white supremacist” in response to a statement from Conway about the flag-burning controversy, but didn’t direct his comments at Conway.
Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38th Ward) ordered Sigcho-Lopez to leave the hearing after his remark. Sigcho-Lopez left and did not return.
Conway told reporters Sigcho-Lopez apologized and added that he had “no desire to escalate this” even as other alderpeople called for Sigcho-Lopez to be censured.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
