Bettye Gavin: 'Did You Hear Me Threaten Mr. Hervey?"

JOLIET, IL — Tuesday night's Joliet City Council meeting ended with lots of tension and drama as Joliet resident Jerry Hervey accused Councilwoman Bettye Gavin of warning him two weeks ago: "You need to watch your mouth before something happens."

Hervey said the confrontation happened in the hallway outside the second floor City Council Chambers right after the March 2 meeting. That night, Hervey questioned whether Gavin voted to hire Jim Capparelli as the new city manager in January with the anticipation that he would approve her nephew's upcoming request for a huge spike in his Joliet police pension.

During Capparelli's first week on the job, Darrell Gavin, Bettye Gavin's nephew, learned he was being demoted from a deputy police chief back to a sergeant. Rather than take a steep pay cut, he negotiated a nearly $18,000 raise during one of Capparelli's first days on the job.

After the raise was in place, Darrell Gavin abruptly retired. His Joliet police pension will now be about $10,000 more per year than it would previously have been.

At this past Monday night's pre-council meeting, Bettye Gavin gave a speech, and she denied making any such deal with Capparelli. "I was pretty much accused of a crime in here at the last meeting about working out some deal with the city manager regarding one of our former staff."

Hervey was not in the audience Monday, but he made sure to show up Tuesday night. He spoke during the citizen comment section.

"And that's the problem, learn to be quiet," Hervey said, directing his comments at Bettye Gavin. "And you don't give me anything to bring back to you. Your entire staff has told you to be quiet, but yet ... you feel the need to explain everything. But you never explained your refusal to sign that letter for Eric Lurry, and there's his wife, right there," Hervey said, pointing to Nicole Lurry, who is running for Joliet City Council at-large in the April 6 races.

"Point of order, your honor," Bettye Gavin hollered.

"Again, it's always something," Hervey said.

"Point of order," Gavin announced.

"This entire staff has instructed her to be quiet," Hervey continued. "This is why I cannot address, they just look at me, they don't say anything, (Councilwoman) Sherri (Reardon), (Councilman) Pat (Mudron), none of them. They don't say anything. She (Bettye Gavin) went out on a limb and tries to explain everything and then you talk yourself into this corner and try to play the victim."

"Point of order!" Gavin yelled.

Hervey paused about two seconds.

"Point of order?" Hervey asked. "She had a lot to say yesterday. And then you threaten me on the way out the door after I said it," referring to the March 2 meeting.

"Point of order, your honor!" Gavin repeated. "Are you going to do anything, are you, the public comments are to direct."

"The council as a whole," Hervey said finishing her sentence.

"I agree," the mayor said.

"After the last meeting," Hervey began. "After I said what I said, Councilwoman Gavin walked right out the door and this is what she said, 'You need to watch your mouth before something happens.'"

"Mr. Capparelli," Bettye Gavin spoke up.

Instead, Mayor Bob O'Dekirk replied.

He said, "If you look at the statute, personal attacks on council people."

"It's not a personal attack," Hervey replied. "It's a fact of what happened."

"I think you started to cross the line into that, I believe," O'Dekirk told Hervey.

"Listen, man," Hervey told the mayor, "I'm the wronged one."

"So am I," Gavin announced.

"It's a difference between unethical and unlawful, I know the difference," Hervey said. "That was unethical and then, to add insult to injury, you taking a risk of me suing the city, and you'll have to give me a going away fee for nothing. She's an elected official, act like it.

"Want to explain something?" he asked, directing his question to Gavin.

She did not respond.

"Start my car every day and hope it don't blow up," Hervey told everyone. "Good Lord."

Hervey began to walk away from the speaker's podium.

"Thank you," the mayor remarked.

But as Hervey began to walk back to his seat, he returned to the podium: "And I'm not here to be liked," he declared. " I don't care about being liked. That is not my problem. I got here because of Eric Lurry. That is my problem. That has and always will be my problem. It wasn't addressed properly, and that's why I'm not going away. Have a good day."

In August, Joliet Patch reported that Chicago lawyers at Erickson & Oppenheimer filed a federal deprivation of civil rights lawsuit against the city of Joliet in connection with the Jan. 29, 2020 in-custody death of Joliet Police Department prisoner Eric Lurry.

The lawsuit named Lt. Jeremy Harrison, Sgt. Doug May, veteran officer Jose Tellez and officer Andrew McCue as defendants.

"Defendant Harrison was the supervisor of Defendants May, McCue and Tellez," the federal lawsuit filed on behalf of Nicole Lurry contends. "Defendant Harrison was personally involved in depriving Mr. Lurry of his constitutional rights in that he facilitated, approved of and condoned the unreasonable force used against Mr. Lurry by Defendants May and McCue as set forth in Count IX of this Complaint."

Before Tuesday night's meeting closed, O'Dekirk and the council members had a chance to speak on any city issue they wanted to discuss.

A few praised the Joliet Fire Department and Deputy Chief Jeff Carey for the continued success of the coronavirus vaccination clinic at the Joliet West High School field house.

Others praised Joliet Police Officers Nick Giordano and Juan Santiago for sharing the Cantigny Post VFW's Joliet police officer of the year award for 2020.

Bettye Gavin, however, chose to have the last word on her heated exchange with Hervey from two weeks ago.

"Mr. Capparelli," she began, "I want to call on you one more time, sir. Because you were there. Did you hear me threaten Mr. Hervey?"

Capparelli answered: "I was standing next to Mr. Hervey, and I heard you say, 'Shut your mouth' and that was the end of it."

"Yeah," Bettye Gavin replied.

"That's all I heard," Capparelli continued.

"Thank you sir," Gavin said. "I appreciate that."