‘Conflict of interest’ : Mayor Chris Clark used Calumet City co-worker to investigate aldermanic critic

Clarification, 03/26/2024: This report was updated to clarify a sentence regarding Harvey city spokesperson Glenn Harston II.
Editor’s Note, 04/03/2024: This report was updated to provide greater context to recent changes to Harvey’s committee meetings.

The mayor and police chief tapped one of Mayor Chris Clark’s co-workers to personally investigate a City Council member over a local dance group’s unauthorized use of a police command vehicle.

Since 2021, Mayor Chris Clark has led the Department of Ethics and Professional Standards in Calumet City. Clark and Harvey Police Chief Cameron Biddings both recently personally requested Patrick Walsh, who serves as special prosecutor and legal counsel for Calumet City, to launch an independent investigation into Alderwoman Colby Chapman (2nd) for her appearance in a dance film where a teen climbs atop a Harvey police vehicle.

The Legacy School of Performing Arts dance troupe, composed of kids aged two to 18, filmed a dance video spring 2023. “The Butterfly Effect: Kendrick Lamar” was released June 2023.

The film explored themes of gun violence, police brutality, mental health, and social media addictions. In one scene, a young boy climbs atop a Harvey Police Department vehicle located at the 154th St. substation. Another young boy hangs from the side ladder. 

Walsh’s investigation specifically concerned itself with those actions, whether Chapman authorized them in her capacity as an alderwoman, and possible civil liabilities it could’ve opened the city to. But Chapman wasn’t elected at the time. Walsh’s report, and his ruling that she be censured, wrongly assume Legacy leadership involved Chapman in its decision to use a police command vehicle in an authorized and dangerous manner. Walsh’s report doesn’t indicate if he reached out to Legacy leadership for an interview or how he determined a censure was specifically the appropriate punishment. 

This comes as tensions between Clark and Chapman are growing. Clark introduced an ordinance in February re-establishing the city’s standing committees after several alderpersons resigned. Tucked into the legislation was the removal of Chapman from all committee assignments she held, including finance committee co-chair; she and other alderpersons were reshuffled to other committee assignments, per an ordinance introduced by the mayor. The Council approved the ordinance.

“There is a conflict of interest here that the mayor has begun a political investigation of an opponent and that he is using someone with whom he works,” said Dick Simpson, political science professor at University of Illinois at Chicago.

Investigative red flags

Both Clark and Biddings, who the mayor personally brought into the department in 2020 from Dolton Police Department, circumvented the city’s legal counsel, city attorneys, and inspector general, going out of their way to tap a colleague of the mayor to investigate Chapman. The move raises concerns about abuse of power from executive officials and if Clark and Biddings sought to influence Walsh’s ruling. 

Walsh first emailed Chapman on Feb. 10 to request an interview for the investigation. “I have been directed by Mayor Clark and Police Chief Biddings to independently investigate the circumstances surrounding the use of a Harvey Police Department Command Van in an Instagram and Facebook Social Media Reel,” he wrote.

After Chapman didn’t respond, Walsh followed up again via letter on Feb. 15. He called Chapman on Feb. 21, which she answered. According to Walsh’s report, Chapman “said she could not speak at this time because she was busy.” By Feb. 25, Chapman never responded to Walsh but was active on social media in the interim.

Walsh confirmed an active investigation to the HWH in late February but declined to comment. His report only listed Biddings as the complainant. 

Chapman forwarded Walsh’s email from Feb. 10 to the HWH but declined requests for comment.

Walsh didn’t launch a criminal investigation. And he wouldn’t. No one committed a crime.

Currently, attorneys with Ancel Glick, a private Chicago-based law firm, provide legal advice to Harvey.

That’s the equivalent of a corporation counsel, Simpson said. Corporation counsels frequently help litigate, defend, and negotiate on behalf of municipalities in civil suits. They don’t normally conduct investigations, Simpson added.

However, municipal inspector generals could investigate. If there’s a crime found, they refer that matter to the State’s Attorney. If not, they would simply issue a report, Simpson said.

Harvey Inspector General Anthony Reese could not be reached by press time.

There wasn’t any sense to bring in an outside investigator, Simpson said. Generally speaking, local governments don’t appoint special counsel to investigate anything, said Simpson, a former Chicago alderperson and ethics reform researcher.

Clark and Chapman have butted heads since the announcement of a controversial water detention and park project on 153rd St. and Myrtle Ave, in Chapman’s ward. The near $10 million effort, in conjunction with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, aims to reduce local flooding. That project requires the displacement of longtime homeowners and renters. 

After four years of planning, the mayor’s office never directly told Chapman about the effort. Safety concerns about the project have flared. In December 2023, a man overdosed on fentanyl and cocaine on a city-owned property on Myrtle Ave. that the city seeks to convert into the civic center and park. A public comment period has opened for the effort until March 29.

In the community, complaints grow about missing monthly finance reports, unitemized bills list, and a lack of government transparency in a mayoral administration that promised reform.

Chapman, elected in 2023, quickly emerged as a vocal Council critic to the mayor.

“It’s a very dangerous practice to have an executive use their authority to investigate political opponents,” Simpson said. “If you don’t like a political opponent, get rid of them the next election season.”

Young people in political crosshairs

The debacle will likely agitate long standing criticism that Harvey politicians have ill care for the city’s kids. Youth programs have dwindled over the past 20 years. Some emerged during the pandemic to provide arts and entertainment programming.

Legacy performers are one of a few active dance troupes in Harvey. 

The group, which relies upon donations, practices in the basement of Transformation Community United Methodist Church. Chapman’s ward office is located in the same building.

A newly edited version of “Butterfly Effect” was posted to Legacy’s YouTube page in August 2023. In the credits, the group issued a special thanks to Chapman in her Council capacity. The group also thanked “City of Harvey Municipal” and “City of Harvey Police.”

Legacy’s creative director Pagan McClure handled direction. Video companies SheShoots x SheScores and WatchThis Productionz oversaw cinematography and production, according to the credits. Still, Walsh’s report falsely indicates Chapman “[…] produced, directed […]” the film, in addition to being featured with youth.

Legacy leadership could not be reached by publication of this story.

The HWH reached out to the mayor’s office on Feb. 27, requesting information on when Clark and Biddings contacted Walsh, if the matter was to antagonize Chapman, if officials ever spoke with Legacy leadership, if the city issued soft warnings to the dance troupe, or if officials were worried the investigation could inadvertently cause the group to scale back operations out of fear of Clark and Biddings.

City spokesperson Glenn Harston II declined comment, citing an active investigation.

An hour after Harston II declined the newsroom’s request for comment highlighting conflicts of interest and ethical problems on behalf of the mayor and police chief, Harston II personally sent Walsh’s findings to the Daily Southtown via email, the HWH has learned. 

The Southtown later reported on the investigation, largely regurgitating Walsh’s findings without indicating if the newsroom independently analyzed and verified the findings.

Defining and investigating public corruption

Clark leveraged his authority to politically intimidate an aldermanic critic—and used the city’s police chief to do so, in the process. However, his actions against Chapman aren’t politically corrupt, Simpson said, since Clark wasn’t “stealing or doing favors and getting payback from material benefit.”

There’s a very thin line between what investigators would believe to be corrupt behavior and what the public perceives as corrupt. 

Launched in 2020, the Illinois State Police Special Investigative Unit is tasked with investigating government officials accused of wrongdoing or criminal acts. 

It recently launched the Illinois corruption hotline. The public can now anonymously report suspected corruption to the ISP, which would then assign the case to the appropriate division to investigate.

Much of what the ISP’s referring to pertains to officials who use financial crimes for their personal gain. Overbilling a contractor and embezzling surplus dollars. Wire fraud. That’s a few examples of what the state’s looking for. 

That’s too narrow, some experts say.

“You can also use your office or public powers for political gain, and so sometimes doing something—voting on a bill—can be an act that involves trading favors for political power, something that results in generating some kind of cash value or exchange of things of value,” said Kent Redfield, political science professor at the University of Illinois Springfield.

But the investigation is still potentially damaging to the Harvey community’s perception of the city’s political culture.

Unethical behavior erodes trust in government, Redfield said, especially if the public sees “the system invites corrupt people and corrupts good people that become public officials” […] “that makes it harder to root out and change culture, because people assume that’s kind of normal.”

Redfield added, “for the public, the appearance of corruption is just as corrosive as corruption itself. They’re going to connect the dots whether the dots are there or not.”