Local News
Trustees appalled after fight between mayor, clerk at Sauk Village, Illinois board meeting
chicago
By Jermont Terry

September 25, 2024 / 10:30 PM CDT / CBS Chicago

SAUK VILLAGE, Ill. (CBS) -- Fighting and threats erupted at Village Hall in Sauk Village this week—tied to a financial probe in the south suburb.

The tension was all captured on video Tuesday night. Village Clerk Marva Campbell-Pruitt and Mayor Derrick Burgess got into a heated exchange right in the middle of a board of trustees meeting.

"It just went north," said Sauk Village Trustee Diane Sapp. "I wouldn't say it went south. It went north."

"Disgust, disgust," said Trustee Debbie Williams. "It's getting worse every week."

Williams and Sapp had a front-row seat Tuesday night. They said village meetings can get heated, but this week, it got to a level they had never seen.

During the Tuesday night meeting, the clerk grabbed the mayor's gavel after she made several requests for the mayor to stop pointing it at her. Out of frustration, she yanked it out of his hand and threats were made.

"I come here to take care of business. I don't come here to see the mayor and clerk fighting with a weapon in their hand," said Williams, "and I'm right next to them?"

The trustees said the mayor and clerk have been at odds because records are not showing up in the clerk's office—and when the clerk was outlining concerns during the meeting, a voice was heard yelling from the crowd.

That voice turned out to be Mayor Burgess' wife—and Campbell-Pruitt replied: "Excuse, me did you say something to me? Get your wife! Get your wife!"

Mayor Burgess replied, "Shut up!"

"So when she responded to the mayor's wife, of course that generated reaction from him to protect his spouse, which is a natural reaction," said Sapp.

Yet trustees Williams and Sapp said this is all boiling over as they are trying to protect the village's money.

"We don't have the budgets, the audits, treasury reports for two years," said Williams.

The trustees claim there are hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of misappropriated funds—and the mayor is upset that the board started an investigation.

"We hired an inspector general, because we know that there's some mess going on in this village and the administration," Sapp said.

In fact, at the start of the meeting, the trustees said Mayor Burgess was served by the office of the inspector general with an order to appear in court next week. The trustees said the mayor was upset over the order to appear.

CBS News Chicago has reached out to Mayor Burgess and the clerk. The mayor did respond, but the clerk did:

"As part of the Board Meetings, the Village Clerk's Report was presented on September 24, 2024. I provided an update on past initiatives approved by the Board of Trustees that were not in operation and others that contributed to a lack of proper procedures, processes, and statutory guidelines. I also discussed my efforts to ensure a smooth transition and proper record-keeping for the new Clerk after the April election. It is important to note that my intention was not to cast aspersions on the staff or the Mayor, but to keep the Trustees informed when the Clerk's Office faces operational difficulties, and to report on the outcome of the Voter Registration Drive that occurred that day, and to announce the Cook County Board of Review Forum that I planned for today.

"Defamatory and hostile remarks from the audience, from the mayor's wife, and the splintered sides of the aisle, contributed to the dis-ease during my report. When asked to cease, she became irater and more lodged many personal attacks against me.

"When I asked the Mayor to show leadership, control the unrest that ensued in the meeting, and call his wife and the audience to order, his frustration grew as he told me to "Shut up," all the while banging the gavel. I was appalled when he stopped banging the gavel on the sound block made of hardwood and started pointing it in my face in a threatening manner.

"I am a survivalist and know not to remain seated when threatened or attacked. When I verbally requested that he stop, and he did not, I stood up, went to the Mayor, and physically confiscated what was now considered a weapon.

"Afterward, he apologized! Shall I accept it?"

Meanwhile, it should be noted that this is politics. The mayor is up for reelection next year, and the clerk has already thrown the had in the ring for his job.

But they have a lot more meetings before the election in April of next year.