Former South Bend Mayor Joe Kernan, center, speaks Wednesday about the current state of the South Bebnd Common Council and its recent infighting at a news conference at the County-City Building in South Bend. (SBT photo/GREG SWIERCZ)
SOUTH BEND – Common Council President Oliver Davis brushed aside concerns about dysfunction on the council Wednesday, calling the source of such angst — a group of current and former city leaders led by former Mayor Joe Kernan — the real problem.
"To have people who served in government criticize us in government is really shabby," Davis said. "I’m pleased and proud of the council … We have not lost focus and what the governor talked about has been another distraction."
Davis’ comments followed a news conference at which a group led by Kernan, who also served as governor, called for a permanent end to the constant infighting on the council, fearing it may hurt the city and threaten business prospects.
In addition to Kernan, the group included former Mayor Stephen Luecke; former mayoral assistant Lynn Coleman; Associate Director of South Bend Heritage Gladys Muhammad; former council member Ann Puzzello; city Clerk John Voorde; and county Auditor Pete Mullen.
"I have watched over the past two and half years with great dismay the council’s inability to come together," Kernan, who served as mayor of South Bend from 1988 to 1996, said. "Like any other team, if you’re not working together, it’s not going to work."
Kernan described the council as "fractured in a sense that there really are two teams ... One of those teams is embarrassed to be a part of the city council, the other team doesn’t care ... because they’re not embarrassed by their behavior."
That behavior, Kernan said, includes members speaking out of order during meetings, attacking each other and the administration, not respecting the public’s time and, in the case of Henry Davis Jr., posting obscene and objectionable material to social media.
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