Portage Council addresses 'elephant in the room'
NWI Times
December 07, 2016
PORTAGE — After dealing with a series of updates to its ordinances, the City Council got down to what Councilman Mark Oprisko called “the elephant in the room.”
The “elephant” referred to federal charges against Mayor James Snyder for allegedly accepting bribes from a towing company. The charges were announced the Friday before Thanksgiving.
“There’s a dark cloud in the city as long as this continues," Clerk-treasurer Christopher Stidham said. "I remain focused on moving forward. That begins with a review of all our processes to be sure we are as transparent as possible. The council and Mark Oprisko and I have been working to improve the transparency as to the towing.”
“It’s been a tough month," Oprisko said. "I’ve exhausted a lot of hours talking to people in the city and outside. No one here has missed a beat at city hall during this period.”
Snyder hired attorneys Dogan and Dogan, of Portage, to advise him during the investigation, and Oprisko said the city should probably take the firm off the city payroll during this time as it could be a conflict of interest. Snyder promised to look at the issue and give him an answer soon.
Oprisko also asked City Attorney Gregg Sobkowski to provide a summary of all the litigation involving current and past employees as to what the claims are, when they were filed, what law firm is handling each one for the city and the amount of money the city has paid.
Joking that the request should probably take only a couple of days to complete, Oprisko added, “I just want to see where we’re at with these. There could be a conflict, and it should be addressed.”
During the public comment portion of the meeting, one resident called on the mayor to resign so the city could move on. Snyder then asked, “Does anyone else want to address the elephant in the room?”
Resident Robert Cook said, “The city has never looked better, and it is going in the right direction. The mayor is innocent until proven guilty, and to ask him to resign is just wrong.”
Snyder said, “You can imagine the toll this has taken on me and my family. I think you all know we’ve been as open as we can be (about the investigation). I’m at a severe disadvantage when I do that because everything I say can used against me in court.”
He praised the staff for continuing to do its work for the city, adding, “We will get through this and, when it is done, we will be better for it. The support I’m getting from the residents is very humbling. The negativity has been very small.”
Councilwoman Elizabeth Modesto thanked Snyder for his leadership and said, “I agree we will get through this no matter what the outcome.”
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