Bernard Schoenburg
The State Journal-Register
A sticker making fun of Springfield Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin is making the rounds, but a local union leader who used language similar to that on the sticker said Friday he has nothing to do with its production or distribution.
McMenamin was highly critical of a Sept. 27 gathering at a downtown Springfield restaurant where a majority of aldermen attended a fundraising event. He wrote in a guest column in The State Journal-Register that at and near the time of that gathering — which he did not attend — aldermen were given about $40,000 in contributions from labor unions and a developer. McMenamin wrote that the gathering was part of a process where “special interest allegiances are forged, and we end up with less quality at City Hall.”
Acting on a request from WICS-TV, the state attorney general’s office ruled in November that the gathering did not violate the state’s Open Meetings Act.
McMenanin said he first saw a picture of the sticker on Friday.
“I think voters in Ward 7 know there is nothing crazy about earnest efforts to make wise financial decisions for the city based on the merits and not on financial influence,” the alderman said.
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 