Belleville alderwoman complains about attendance. Is your rep showing up?
Cancellation of a recent Belleville City Council committee meeting and near cancellation of a second due to lack of quorums have prompted one alderwoman to step up her complaints about absences.
“Belleville residents pay us to show up,” said Lillian Schneider, who represents Ward 1.
The City Council has 16 members, two from each of eight wards. They hold regular meetings twice a month, except in cases of inclement weather, and occasionally call special meetings. There were 23 meetings this year.
The mayor also assigns alderpersons to serve on committees, which generally meet monthly to examine issues and make recommendations to the full City Council, as well as public boards and commissions. Some have more assignments than others.
The main committees include Public Health and Housing; Finance; Master Sewer; Ordinance and Legal Review; Police and Fire; Streets and Grades; Traffic and Parking; and Economic Development, Planning and Zoning.
Below are attendance records for 2025. They don’t include canceled meetings, public board and commission meetings with no posted minutes or guest attendance by alderpersons at meetings of committees on which they don’t serve.
Ward 1
Bryan Whitaker – Attended 20 of 23 meetings of the full City Council. Minutes list one absence out of 33 committee meetings.
Lillian Schneider – Attended 23 of 23 meetings of the full City Council. Minutes list one absence out of 34 committee meetings.
Ward 2
Carmen Duco – Attended 21 of 23 meetings of the full City Council. Minutes list four absences out of 37 committee meetings.
Jamie Eros (defeated in April election) – Attended four of seven meetings of the full City Council during her incumbency. Minutes list two absences out of eight committee meetings.
Gigi Dowling Urban (elected in April) – Attended 14 of 16 meetings of the full City Council during her incumbency. Minutes list four absences out of 23 committee meetings.
Ward 3
Kent Randle – Attended 21 of 23 meetings of the full City Council. Minutes list four absences out of 37 committee meetings.
Scott Ferguson – Attended 19 of 23 meetings of the full City Council. Minutes list 11 absences out of 32 committee meetings.
Ward 4
Johnnie Anthony – Attended 21 of 23 meetings of the full City Council. Minutes list five absences out of 35 committee meetings.
Raffi Ovian – Attended 22 of 23 meetings of the full City Council. Minutes list three absences out of 26 committee meetings.
Ward 5
Ed Dintelman – Attended 21 of 23 meetings of the full City Council. Minutes list five absences out of 26 committee meetings.
Shelly Schaefer (elected city clerk in April) – Attended seven of seven meetings of the full City Council during her incumbency. Minutes list no absences out of 12 committee meetings.
Kathy Kaiser (elected in April) – Attended 13 of 16 meetings of the full City Council during her incumbency. Minutes list seven absences out of 25 committee meetings.
Ward 6
Mary Stiehl – Attended 19 of 23 meetings of the full City Council. Minutes list seven absences out of 32 committee meetings, including her chairmanship of Downtown Belleville Development Commission.
Chris Rothweiler – Attended 20 of 23 meetings of the full City Council. Minutes list seven absences out of 34 committee meetings.
Ward 7
Phil Elmore – Attended 21 of 23 meetings of the full City Council. Minutes list four absences out of 38 committee meetings.
Dennis Weygandt – Attended 20 of 23 meetings of the full City Council. Minutes list six absences out of 29 committee meetings.
Ward 8
Nora Sullivan – Attended 21 of 23 meetings of the full City Council. Minutes list six absences out of 22 committee meetings.
Kara Osthoff – Attended 18 of 23 meetings of the full City Council. Minutes list six absences out of 43 committee meetings, including her position on the Library Board.
Schneider has been talking about the importance of attendance by City Council members for more than a year. She recently addressed the issue in a Facebook post to Ward 1 residents.
Schneider complained that only four out of nine members, including three alderpersons and one citizen representative, showed up for a Dec. 20 meeting of the Public Health and Housing Committee.
The committee needed five members for a quorum, so everyone went home after waiting about 15 minutes. That included several city employees who provide information and support at meetings.
Two aldermen had given advance notice that they were going to be absent, according to Scott Tyler, director of health, housing and building, who schedules meetings for the committee.
“Keep in mind that this was a week before Christmas, and you’ve got people with family and grandkids in town, or they’re traveling, and they may or may not remember they have a meeting,” Tyler said this week. “So I really didn’t have a beef with it.”
Five out of 11 other meetings of the Public Health and Housing Committee have been canceled this year. Tyler said that’s because there was no pressing business, not because of absences.
In some cases, Tyler said he and committee Chairman Chris Rothweiler lean toward canceling meetings if there isn’t much business and Assistant City Attorney Lloyd Cueto is going to be out of town because he’s “instrumental” in many discussions.
Schneider noted that the committee hasn’t approved minutes from as far back as Sept. 25 because meetings on Oct. 23 and Nov. 20 were canceled, and the Dec. 20 meeting wasn’t held.
“This is ridiculous,” she said.
Schneider said the Finance Committee meeting on Dec. 9 also lacked a quorum initially, but attendees waited until enough members could be summoned to City Hall to approve a key recommendation in advance of a City Council meeting on Dec. 15.
In 2022, the City Council voted 10-5 to increase annual salaries of members by 3.5% each year for four years for a total increase of 14%. It was their first raise since 2009.
Salaries went from $11,086 to $11,474 in May 2023, $11,876 in May 2024 and $12,292 in May 2025. They will go to $12,722 in May 2026. Alderpersons don’t receive health insurance or other benefits.
