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| FIRST ON WGIL: Mayor Wants to Form Task Force in Light of Criticism |
FIRST REPORTED 6:00am 5/21/09 The Mayor of Galesburg says he wants to put an alleged controversy over a statement he made at Monday night's City Council meeting behind the city.
Mayor Sal Garza said Monday he was disappointed to see Galesburg Police not involved in a seminar organized by Alderman Wayne Allen designed to make the public aware of potential signs of a methamphetamine problem, saying he doesn't want the city to look like it's not doing all it can to combat the issue.
Published reports indicated the police department wasn't wanted, which led Allen to claim City Manager Dane Bragg had betrayed his trust about a conversation had on the matter. In an interview with WGIL, Garza said he would rather see action than talk.
"I have a lot of confidence in the city manager, have a lot of confidence in our new deputy mayor, which is Wayne Allen, and if there is a disagreement that I'm interceding to make sure that disagreement doesn't fester and that we work through it and that we get back to the focus of doing the business of the community."
It's not clear if Galesburg Police either weren't invited or declined an invitation. Police Chief David Christensen was unavailable for comment when we tried to contact him several times on Wednesday.
Garza's comments came as he announced a task force he's put together with representatives of police, the Knox County Sheriffs Department, the Henry Hill Correctional Center, the Galesburg School District, Knox and Carl Sandburg Colleges, and other groups that will be asked to share information with each other on ways drug use and abuse can be combated.
He says all entities invited were pleased to participate, although one -- the Knox County State's Attorney -- has yet to respond, in part because of jury trials that have been going on this week. |
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| 05 20 09 by Newsroom |
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