Angelo Hightower, outside city hall
MARION, Ill.---Angelo Hightower is not performing his duties as a police officer as of this morning.
Hightower, a member of a local school board as well as, now, a newly-elected Marion city commissioner, has accepted the paid leave of absence offered him by the city of Marion upon the swearing-in ceremony for commissioners Monday night.
Hightower is being very gracious. However, the facts of the case point to an underlying issue that few seem willing to talk about: Hightower, it appears, might be being discriminated against in both his job as a police officer for the city, as well as the matter of his presence on the city council.
Dawn Tondini
Last year, Hightower filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaint against Marion when he was passed over for the Lieutenant position within the department, upon the promotion of Dawn Tondini to chief. Hightower would have been next in line to take her position; instead, he was not promoted.
That complaint has yet to make its way through the system. This is the case Hightower is referring to when stating he's "letting it work through the courts." There has been no filing in federal court over the matter. However, an EEOC filing can "give leave" to Hightower to file a federal civil complaint of discrimination against the city, with the full support and backing of the EEOC and its findings.
Chuck Garnati
Hightower is the only black officer on the force, and now, the only black city commissioner. And it's long been said that Marion is one of the last strongholds of racism in southern Illinois. Bob Butler, the mayor who's a throwback to the 60s anyway (as he's been mayor since then), fields these kinds of allegations frequently from the constituency. Former State's Attorney Chuck Garnati lost his job as prosecutor because of it. It's a reality in Williamson County as a whole.
Where this will go remains to be seen. Look for more information in the upcoming print edition, however, on stands in less than a week.