Feb. 29--A Harvey alderman has been charged with battery and disorderly conduct in an incident fueling even more controversy in an already caustic political environment in the long-troubled south suburb.
Ald. Lamont Brown -- considered a swing vote in Harvey's divided City Council -- is facing a legal challenge that he be removed from office for having two felony convictions from the 1990s. Now he faces misdemeanor charges stemming from an altercation Thursday with a city employee at a Harvey gas station.
The administration of Mayor Eric Kellogg -- a political opponent of Brown's -- asked Cook County sheriff's deputies to handle the allegation. According to the sheriff's office, its investigators spoke with the city employee, reviewed surveillance video and "found that Ald. Lamont Brown approached and followed the victim inside the store, and used his hands and fingers to grab the victim's arm." The office said it charged Brown with the misdemeanors Sunday.
City spokesman Sean Howard issued a press release Monday saying Brown was caught "aggressively following and cornering" a city employee "throughout the store and making physical contact" with the city employee.
Brown, in a YouTube response, said he did nothing wrong and merely had a "passionate" conversation with the city employee over the issues facing the suburb.
The incident adds one more to a long list of controversies in a suburb that Tribune investigations found has suffered from high crime, subpar policing and insider deals that have drained the town of millions under Kellogg's tenure. One deal in particular has led to a lingering federal corruption investigation.
Brown was elected last year and joined a bloc that made the highly unusual decision to stop the town from collecting an annual property tax levy, arguing Kellogg couldn't be trusted with the money. Kellogg has responded that the move threatens massive layoffs and cutbacks, leading city employees to protest outside Brown's home. Kellogg also has tried to reassure employees and residents that he'd figure out a way to keep collecting property taxes -- something county officials have said will be difficult to do now.
At the same time, Kellogg and his allies have ramped up pressure to have Brown thrown off the council -- a move that could provide Kellogg more political leverage. Illinois law forbids a felon from serving on a town council, but nobody checked his record before elections. Once a felon is elected, someone has to sue to remove that official, which happened in Brown's case, and it can still be a lengthy court battle to force removal. That lawsuit remains pending.
Along the way, Brown has acknowledged secretly recording his colleagues with his smartphone, a move that drew a chorus of complaints from Kellogg and others. Recording people without their permission can be a crime in Illinois, although no charges have been filed. One alderman sued Brown in federal court, but the case was thrown out.
The recordings came to light after another incident in which a Kellogg supporter, David Muhammad, allegedly assaulted Brown and broke Brown's smartphone -- prompting authorities to charge Muhammad with battery and criminal damage to property.
The latest controversy prompted Kellogg to repeat demands that the state's attorney's office join the civil lawsuit to kick Brown off the council.
"This blatant act of aggressiveness ... is totally unacceptable," Kellogg said in a statement.
Brown countered in his online video that the incident was one more attempt by the mayor and his allies to shift the focus from the "real issues" facing Harvey, which he summed up in four words: "Where is the money?"
Brown, who posted $150 bail after the charges, is scheduled to appear in the Markham courthouse March 14.
mwalberg@tribpub.com
jmahr@tribpub.com
