Allegation 'absolutely false,' mayor says
By JAYETTE BOLINSKI
STAFF WRITER
Published Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Springfield Mayor Tim Davlin on Tuesday denied a former staffer's accusation that he once had told her he would not meet with more than three black people at one time, stopping just short of calling her a liar.
Addressing the alleged statements in public for the first time, Davlin told reporters that the accusation, as well as others leveled by his former chief of staff, Letitia Dewith-Anderson, are "absolutely false" and "inaccurate."
"I'm absolutely taken aback by what I've read about her deposition," Davlin told reporters at an appearance Tuesday morning to open the first building of the city's new Children's Safety Village. "I just can't fathom where the comments came from."
He said he has, in fact, met on numerous occasions with three or more African-Americans at once and that the first he'd heard of such accusations was when he read excerpts from Dewith-Anderson's deposition in Sunday's State Journal-Register.
"It's absolutely false. It's a false statement. Those words have never been said by me," he said.
"I think you need only go as far as the president of the NAACP Ken Page or past president Rudy Davenport or any of the Ministerial Alliance (and) ask about any of our meetings the last 21/2 years to know that not only is that an absurd statement, but also I would never even have the notion of saying something like that.
"All I can say is that was a very inaccurate and false statement."
Dewith-Anderson, who is black, made her comments in a deposition she gave as part of a federal racial discrimination lawsuit filed against the city by black current and former police officers. She is not a party to the lawsuit. Davlin also was questioned as part of the suit and denied her accusations in his deposition.
Davlin's deposition was taken Aug. 23; Dewith-Anderson's came the following day. Assistant city attorney James Lang was present for both depositions.
Courtney Cox, the attorney for the black officers suing the city, had interviewed Dewith-Anderson before she testified and knew generally what she would say. Cox asked Davlin questions based upon what he believed Dewith-Anderson would testify to the next day.
City spokesman Ernie Slottag had said that Davlin was aware of the tone of Dewith-Anderson's deposition but had not read it.
Contacted Tuesday afternoon, Dewith-Anderson said she knows for a fact the statements she made in her deposition are accurate, but she declined further comment.
Davlin said Tuesday he had not had time yet to read the transcript of her deposition, only the excerpts printed in the paper. He also said he last spoke to Dewith-Anderson when he ran into her and her husband at the Illinois State Fair in August. He said he talked to them for a few minutes and thought the encounter was "very friendly."
Asked whether Dewith-Anderson might have misinterpreted something he said, Davlin responded: "I would hope to think that maybe is what it is, that maybe she had a misinterpretation. But I can only say ... that it's false."
In her sworn statement, Dewith-Anderson said Davlin told her two years ago he would no longer meet with more than three black people at one time. The alleged statement followed heated meetings between the mayor and black leaders about racial issues in Springfield following his election as mayor.
"Your people like to scream and yell at people, and I'm not meeting with them anymore. I don't understand your people," Dewith-Anderson said Davlin told her.
Dewith-Anderson, who served as Davlin's chief of staff and executive assistant for nine months, resigned after her role in the administration was reduced.