Steven Spearie
The State Journal-Register
The Springfield City Council unanimously approved the nomination of Roy Williams Jr. as Ward 3 alderman Tuesday two weeks after voting him down on “emergency passage.” The vote was bumped up to near the start of Tuesday’s meeting.
After the vote, Williams, the president of the board of directors for the Faith Coalition for the Common Good, was swiftly sworn in by Judge Rudolph M. Braud Jr., an associate judge on the Seventh Judicial Circuit Court.
Williams’ mother, Arlene Brandon, held the Bible for the swearing-in. Williams’ brother, Michael Williams, was also in the audience. Williams received a standing ovation from the council as many members from the Faith Coalition and other Springfield activists, some of whom had spoken on his behalf two weeks ago, cheered him on.
Before the vote, Williams acknowledged it had been “a tough couple of weeks,” but he thanked council members for “the dialog and the conversation.”
Williams was voted down 6-3 on March 2.
Mayor Jim Langfelder picked Williams to succeed Doris Turner, who now represents the 48th Senate District of the Illinois General Assembly.
Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin called on city council coordinator Tim Griffin to get his nameplate swapped out with Turner’s “expeditiously.”
“I was excited and glad to be a part of the team,” said Williams afterwards.
Even some of Williams’ backers on the council two weeks professed that the reason they voted against him was because they wanted assurances that a candidate wouldn’t run again when the term was up.
Williams will serve until 2023, when all council seats are up.
Williams said he wasn’t asked in the interview process about whether he would run for re-election and he said at the previous council meeting his mind wasn’t made up about running.
Williams acknowledged that the Mar. 2 vote might have been “some sort of protesting about the mayor on how he handled it.
“I had to get (council members) to understand that I’m an innocent person dealing with their feelings about an institutional or organizational situation,” Williams said. “I wanted them to look at my merits. Look at me, don’t look at the process. I have no control over that.
“Tonight was supposed to be about me so that’s why I think you saw the swing (of votes). (The council members) were deliberate, they took their time and they finally gave me that look.”
Langfelder said he appreciated the council’s support for Williams.
Teresa Haley, president of NAACP Illinois and the Springfield NAACP chapter, had some barbed comments for the alderpersons who voted down Williams two weeks. “I don’t think we can forget, but we can forgive and we can move on,” Haley said. “And I think that’s what Roy and the people from the east side are willing to do.”
Williams is a 1976 graduate of Southeast High School and a 2001 and 2003 graduate of the University of Illinois Springfield.
The Faith Coalition is a non-profit that works to combat systemic racism and poverty in the community.
Williams also serves as the president of the Ernie Bankhead Neighborhood Association.
Williams served as the executive director of the Illinois Association of Minorities in Government from 2005 to 2007. Prior to that, he had served as a legislative liaison for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and as an intern and executive director of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus. He also worked as a field coordinator for thenIllinois Sen. Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate campaign in 2004.
A U.S. Army veteran, Williams served as a platoon sergeant for 14 years, leaving the Army in 1990 after going on kidney dialysis. He received a successful kidney transplant in 2014, allowing him to return to full-time work.
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 