While election time chaos in neighboring Dolton has made headlines, Calumet City faces its own contested race for mayor and City Council on Feb. 25.
Mayor Thaddeus Jones, all seven aldermen, the city treasurer and the city clerk face opponents, with those running divided in their support for either Jones or longtime critic and mayoral challenger James Patton, alderman in the 6th Ward.
Both Jones and Patton say high property taxes, public safety and business development are top issues, but they disagree on solutions.
Property taxes in the south suburbs this year soared to record heights, leading to a drop in collections that disproportionately affected the south suburbs. Jones has been outspoken about reducing the burden of taxes on homeowners, holding a forum in July to question the county assessor about bill increases.
Jones also proposed using funds from Calumet City tax increment financing districts as a form of tax relief to residents, which ultimately failed. Patton opposed the proposal for providing only temporary relief within those districts, saying it would cripple the council’s ability to help residents with tax bills moving forward.
Patton said as mayor he would look to boost the city’s housing market to fill thousands of vacant homes that are delinquent in their taxes.
“That starts with reimagining the way we do our inspection process, reimagining the way that our our building department interacts with Realtors,” Patton said.
Patton, who is in his second term as alderman and manages a political and fundraising consulting firm, said he never expected to run for mayor, but was driven to challenge Jones by “watching the direction that the city is going.”
“Sitting back for another four years and watching what Thaddeus Jones has done to the community over the last four years is not an option for me,” Patton said.
Patton has questioned the city’s contract bidding process, disputed thousands of dollars of spending Jones charged to a municipal credit card and called a special meeting outdoors to dismiss a lawsuit Jones brought against the city clerk.
But Jones maintains that since entering office in 2021, after 20 years as 3rd Ward alderman, he has improved public safety and boosted economic development.
He said Patton and other elected officials on his slate, 1st Ward Ald. Michael Navarrete, 2nd Ward Ald. Monet Wilson, 5th Ward Ald. DeJuan Gardner and City Clerk Nyota Figgs, have created a “smoke screen” to distract residents from the progress made during his administration.
“They want to continue this wrath of chaos and talk about things that don’t matter to the voters,” Jones said. “Voters don’t want to hear them talking about mismanaging spending, because I can tell you this definitely — we are not the village of Dolton.”
Patton has frequently drawn parallels between Jones’ leadership in Calumet City and Tiffany Henyard’s leadership in Dolton. He said if Jones is reelected, the similarities between the two mayors will become more clear.
“He’s paying for his personal life with taxpayer dollars,” Patton said. “The City Council has tried to step in and stop it, we’ve tried to vote that you can’t do it. We’ve tried to tell him he’s got to pay it back, and he just doesn’t do it.”
Jones was elected mayor in 2021. He has been a state representative since 2011, leading critics including Patton to question whether he could serve in both positions.
Calumet City officials seeking reelection with Jones are 3rd Ward Ald. DeAndre Tillman, 4th Ward Ald. Ramonde Williams, 7th Ward Ald. Anthony Smith and treasurer Gerald Tarka. Current assessor Cassandra Holbert Elston is seeking to unseat Figgs.
Other members of Jones’ Calumet City Democrats United slate include Shalisa Harvey for 1st Ward alderman, Erica France Jenkins for the 2nd Ward, Roger Munda for the 3rd Ward and Miacole Nelson for the 6th Ward.
New faces on Patton’s slate, Democrats United Calumet City 2025, are Garnadette Stuckey for the 6th Ward, Melissa Phillips for the 7th Ward and Aradia Clark for treasurer.
During the final quarter of 2024, Jones’ slate took in $19,350 in contributions and spent about $5,800. At the end of December, the campaign had $14,070 left to spend.
For Patton’s slate, receipts in that quarter totaled $2,600. Expenses for the quarter were $1,270, and at the end of the period the campaign had about $1,280 available to spend.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
