The DeKalb City Council abandoned plans to rid itself of an outspoken critic when it voted 5 to 2 Monday against a recall provision for elected officials.

The council asked City Attorney Ron Matekaitis on Oct. 11 to look into an ordinance that council members conceded was intended to remove 7th Ward Alderman Mark Powell.

Matekaitis said he researched recall procedures and recommended the council vote to establish a voter referendum rather than an ordinance to recall elected officials. He said Tom Kelty, Municipal League chief counsel, recommended that a referendum would be easier to defend than an ordinance.

Illinois has no provision for recalling elected officials. Only one Illinois community, Arlington Heights, has a recall ordinance. However, it has never been challenged in a court of law, Matekaitis said.

DeKalb council members said they did not want DeKalb to be one of the first cities to enact a recall provision. The two aldermen who voted in favor of the provision were 3rd Ward Alderman Bill Hanna and 4th Ward Alderman Rita Tewksbury.

“We needed to have some research done,” said 5th Ward Alderman Bessie Chronopoulos. “It’s too much uncharted water for us to go into at this time. I for one don’t have the energy level to go into that.

“We (the council) are going to have to psych him out of our minds and conduct the business at hand,” she said.

Powell called the recall provision “totally un-American.” He said the attempt was a “political tool to try to discredit me as an alderman and a candidate for mayor.” He said, “Opposition will always be harassed.”

Fourth Ward Alderman Rita Tewksbury said, “I agree the purpose was to try to eliminate him (Powell). If there was any way to make this work, I’m sure the six of us would have.”

Tewksbury said the public asked for the recall provision. “Watch him (Powell), he’s an ass. There’s no other word for it,” she said.

“That man was put in as a joke,” Tewksbury said. “He had just 91 votes in his ward. (Before voting) just try hard to think about it.”

First Ward Alderman Chris Hoagland said the electoral process is more important than giving someone the right to recall elected officials.

The council said Powell’s conduct at meetings prompted consideration of a recall ordinance.

Chronopoulos said, “Mark, you don’t need an ordinance to discredit you. You’re doing that on your own.”

If the council had opted to include a recall referendum, voters would have been asked to vote on it in April city elections. The ordinances could not have been used to remove an official until the next general election in November.

Hanna proposed that a $50 fine be attached to censure votes in which the council can opt to remove an alderman from meetings, but the proposal failed. The council has censured Powell twice.

The council initially directed the city attorney to investigate recall ordinances at an October press conference called by Chronopoulos. All aldermen except Powell were invited.