CHICAGO (CBS) — Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) publicly apologized Tuesday to Ald. Emma Mitts (37th), who said she felt like she "was back in the South" when he blocked her from entering the City Council chamber last week to vote at a special City Council meeting on a bid to ask voters to weigh in on Chicago’s status as a sanctuary city.
"Thursday’s special meeting was chaotic, tensions were high, I dramatically overreacted to the intensity of what was happening in that meeting, and there’s no excuse for that," Ramirez-Rosa said. "I sincerely apologize to you, my colleague, Alderwoman Emma Mitts, for the disrespectful interaction that we had outside of council chambers, and for my overzealous attempts throughout the day to try and convince you not to be part of a quorum. I should have never done that to you. I should have never put you in that position."
Part of the incident between Ramirez-Rosa, Mitts, and Lopez was caught on video exclusively by CBS 2. The video shows Ramirez-Rosa appearing to grab onto Mitts, and then use his body to block her from entering the City Council chambers for a procedural vote on the proposal for an advisory referendum on Chicago’s status as a sanctuary city.
Ramirez-Rosa announced Monday he was stepping down as Mayor Brandon Johnson’s floor leader and as chairman of the City Council Zoning Committee because of his actions.
Speaking for the first time about the incident, Mitts said Ramirez-Rosa’s treatment of her on Thursday "was unbecoming of anyone who’s elected to represent people."
"Because if it happens to me, then who else can it happen to, or who else have it already, and they didn’t have a voice?" she said. "Every woman should be respected. No one should overexert their power or their authority on them because they can. It’s unacceptable."
Nonetheless, Mitts said she accepted Ramirez-Rosa’s apology, hugging him on the council floor. The two also said they believe they can work together in the future.
"I will tell you this. Action always speak louder than words. Apology is good, but you’ve got to have some action behind it, and I’m looking for the action moving forward. No one has a right to retaliate because one speaks their mind," Mitts said. "I’m willing to work along with you, because we have to represent all the people of Chicago. I don’t want a divisive city."
Ramirez-Rosa also apologized to the mayor and the rest of the City Council, and said he was committed to making amends.
"I feel awful about everything that happened, and the role that I played in everything that occurred last week," he said. "Our Chicago City Council does important work, and even when we strongly disagree with each other on policy or approach, it is critical that we show each other respect. The people of Chicago deserve nothing less, and have every right to demand that of all of us. I cannot take away the mistakes I made last week, but I hope to be able to rebuild the trust that we have in each other as we move forward as a Council that addresses the important things impacting the city of Chicago."
Mitts also offered her first public account of the incident, saying Ramirez-Rosa had texted her Thursday morning, urging her not to attend the meeting. At that meeting, Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) was seeking to pass a resolution to put an advisory referendum on the ballot in March, asking voters if Chicago should keep its sanctuary city status.
Mitts said she planned to attend the meeting regardless of Ramirez-Rosa’s request, but he later approached her in person during the meeting and asked her "do you know that the migrants get offended when they hear you all talking about them like that?"
"I replied to floor leader Rosa, ‘my community gets offended when our resources are being driven and taken away from us because of this issue,’" Mitts said.
As that meeting became more chaotic, with multiple roll call votes called to determine if there was the needed 26-vote quorum to conduct business, Mitts said Ramirez-Rosa told her "you shouldn’t be in here."
Mitts said, when she asked him, "why are you bothering me?" he said "Because the rest of your colleagues are idiots."
"I take that stuff seriously. I don’t call people idiots. Never would," Mitts said.
Finally, when another roll call was demanded to determine if there was a quorum for the proposed sanctuary city referendum, Mitts said she was the last one to arrive at the door to the council chamber, where Ramirez-Rosa told her "you can’t go into this meeting" and blocked her path.
"It was more of ‘you can’t go into this meeting,’ where I was literally blocked at that door," she said. "Not manhandling, I don’t call it, but more or less ‘you can’t go into this meeting,’ facing me."
Mitts said that’s when Ald. Shirely Coleman (16th) Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) saw what was happening and moved Ramirez-Rosa out of the way to make sure she could go into the meeting.
"I felt like I was back in the South. I felt like everything in me was shaking, and I literally tried to share, but it seemed like no one wanted to hear it but my colleagues," she said. "At that point, I really didn’t know if I could do my job again. I didn’t. If this is what I have to put up with, if this is what women have to put up with, somebody better stand up for not only me but any young women who get abused. That’s the problem with Black women today, and I’m a strong Black woman that believes in fairness."
Saying that she and her colleagues need to serve as a example for others, Mitts said she is hoping for a more respectful attitude within the council going forward.
"Until we get some law and order in here now, and start respecting each other, then we’ll be having even more darker days ahead," she said. "This should never happen again. Just never, never happen again."
Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) had drafted a letter seeking to formally censure Ramirez-Rosa for his actions, but has not called for a vote on that proposal. City Council rules allow aldermen to formally censure "any member acting or appearing in a lewd or disgraceful manner, or who uses opprobrious, obscene or insulting language to or about any member of the Council, or who does not obey the order of the Chair."
The draft censure letter accused Ramirez-Rosa of pressuring a handful of other aldermen to either leave the City Council chamber during the meeting on the sanctuary city referendum, by threatening to block "any future zoning legislation" in their wards from passing out of the Zoning Committee if they helped the meeting go forward.
"Such threats made by Alderperson Ramirez-Rosa were not mere legislative ‘horse trading,’ but rather are a clear abuse of power reminiscent of the worst aspects of our City’s political history," Waguespack’s draft censure letter stated.
The draft censure letter also indicated aldermen planned to file complaints with the Chicago Inspector General and the Chicago Board of Ethics to formally investigate Ramirez-Rosa. However, after Mitts and Ramirez-Rosa both addressed the incident during Tuesday’s council meeting, Waguespack did not call for a vote on censuring Ramirez-Rosa.
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November 7, 2023 at 02:05PM
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