Galesburg Mayor Peter Schwartzman: ‘I see a path forward’
By Robert King
New developments out of the City of Galesburg after Monday’s special meeting.
People showed up to the meeting to support City Manager Gerald Smith as well as apply pressure on some council members who called the meeting to try to oust him.
After seeing that, Mayor Peter Schwartzman said he is very optimistic for Galesburg’s future.
“After Monday’s meeting, I think we actually made — I see a path forward,” Schwartzman said. “And I’ve gotten emails from people I’ve never met before — which is a good sign — saying, ‘Yes, we can do this.'”
The mayor says to move forward the city council needs to work together.
He says he was unaware of the meeting until last Friday.
New alderwoman Heather Acerra called for the special meeting.
“That’s what I love about Galesburg,” Schwartzman said. “I didn’t grow up in Galesburg. I didn’t grow up anywhere near here. I moved here 25 years ago. And I came here to be a professor — that was what I thought my calling was. And I lived here and I started having a family here. Started getting involved with people and different organizations. And I thought, ‘Wow, this is a really cool place.’ And it’s a cool place when people respect each other, when people work together.”
Items discussed during Monday’s special meeting will be discussed again at their next meeting in June.
Some council members are looking to change ordinances to authorize city council to retain legal counsel, and there is a proposed idea to shorten public comment to two minutes from the current five.
