Minutes into the first board meeting since tangling with a Wilmette resident over the village’s decision to opt out of a county minimum wage ordinance, Wilmette Village President Bob Bielinski apologized for what he described as his “combative” manner.
“As people know, I’m a huge proponent of and a champion of civil discourse in our public debate,” he said Tuesday. “Unfortunately, for several minutes at our last board meeting, I did not live up to that expectation or that standard.”
On Sept. 26, Bielinski interrupted Jeff Axelrod as the latter condemned Wilmette for opting out of Cook County’s minimum wage and sick time ordinances in June. He accused Axelrod and other ordinance supporters of organizing a boycott of village businesses that didn’t support the ordinance.
Bielinski stopped the argument after being chided by another trustee and apologized to Axelrod. The two spoke for more than 50 minutes by phone later that week, at which time Bielinski again apologized.
Meanwhile, Axelrod and several others at the meeting said Bielinski shouldn’t have used the village newsletter to advocate for the opt-out. Doing so misused a taxpayer-funded newsletter, Axelrod said.
They also said Bielinski was wrong to use the “Communicator” to call their pro-ordinance campaign a boycott of local businesses, and demanded the right to answer his charges in the next newsletter.
In the newsletter, which appears online and was mailed to residents, Bielinski writes, in part: “I regret to say that there are Wilmette residents who are organizing boycotts and retaliation against local businesses for no offense other than sharing their concerns publicly with the Village Board.”
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He also wrote that their actions were attempts to chill free speech and could harm local businesses.
Bielinski defended his right to publish the commentary, and said after the meeting it would be inappropriate to let them publish a response in the newsletter.
According to a website created by a group calling itself the Wilmette Justice Team, the group is creating a “Fair Employer Honor Roll” of local businesses that pay the $10 per hour minimum wage. The group states it will publicize those on the roll, encouraging people to patronize them.
Resident Jon Marshall, a member of the group, said it was the opposite of a boycott.
Marshall said he respected Bielinski for his apology, but his commentary was misleading and inaccurate.
“I think I can speak for all my allies in this cause, we would oppose any boycott,” Marshall said at the meeting, asking for a correction in the newsletter.
“When the village encourages people to shop Wilmette, you’re not encouraging people to boycott other communities … When a newspaper recommends a restaurant, it’s not encouraging a boycott of other restaurants,” Marshall said.
Resident Dan Fogel told Bieilnski that he should either allow people to respond in the “Communicator” or, in future, to restrict his own comments to less political statements.
“It’s frustrating to me. I think you’re entitled to your opinion and to express your opinion, but I’ve never seen you use the “Communicator” like this before,” Fogel said.
Bielinski responded that his article was an attempt to explain a complex and nuanced issue, adding, “I appreciate that you don’t agree with me … but I do believe it was an appropriate use of the platform.”
Bielinski said Wednesday he believed campaign organizers had “good intentions,” but he insisted the honor roll campaign damaged local businesses, in part because Wilmette’s business community is so small that honoring some would automatically tell observers which ones weren’t being honored.
“My point of view is that you can call it what you want, but it’s an attempted boycott,” he said.
Twitter: @pioneer_kathy