Mayor Curses at Mayoral Candidate in City Hall

Shortly before Monday's city council meeting, Mayor  walked up to mayoral candidate and councilwoman  and threw a four-letter word at her.

"The f-word was the first word in a two word statement," councilman  said. "There was one profanity and one very negative, derogatory word."

According to Rotering, there were 15 other people in the room, including Mandel. The group was lined up for dinner during the break between the Committee of the Whole meeting and the .

Rotering said she hadn't seen Belsky in weeks before the encounter. She believes a topic that she brought up during closed session earlier in the evening may have been what "set off the mayor," who wasn't present during the meeting. She couldn't go into detail about the topic because it was discussed in closed session, but said there was a conversation about how the mayor had not returned someone's phone calls.

"It was probably a mistake," Belsky said on Wednesday. "I was inappropriate."

Shortly after confronting Rotering, Belsky challenged Mandel to a fight, according to Mandel.

"He said, 'You and I are going to dance,'" Mandel said. "You know something? I'm not a good dancer."

Mandel alerted Highland Park Police Chief  about the exchange, telling him he might "need to be in the room." Shafer gave Mandel a ride home at the end of the night.

"Belsky is really gone off the deep end," Mandel said of the mayor, who decided in November not to seek re-election for a third term. "I think he should resign."

Mandel called Belsky "the ultimate bully" and said that the mayor has often intimidated council members in and out of meetings. 

Others, like councilman Larry Silberman, disagree with the characterization.

"I would say that there were heightened emotions in the closed session that probably spilled over," said Silberman, who was not in the room when Belsky confronted Rotering. "I don't classify Mike Belsky's issues with Nancy as bullying issues."

Councilwoman , who is running against Rotering for mayor, was not in the room during Belsky's outburst. Olian said she has encountered similar behavior from Mandel, who she said has screamed at her over the phone.

"To me, that's not civility," Olian said. "That's not how leaders should act."

According to Rotering, this isn't the first time Belsky has addressed her "in this manner," though she disagrees with Mandel that he should resign because of it.

"He chooses to share his frustration in a manner that I don't agree with and certainly don't appreciate, but at the end of the day it's about doing what's right for the city and not getting distracted by the craziness," she said.

Rotering said that Belsky has apologized in the past for outbreaks like the one that happened Monday. She said she looked into censuring Belsky for his actions, but decided that was "unnecessary."

"I hope that he can find a different way to express his opinion going forward as he finishes out his term," she said.

Though Belsky admitted that he could have "conducted myself in a more civil way," he also expressed frustration with Rotering, who he said is "all about trying to tear down the institution."

He said he was aggravated by some of her campaign mailers, specifically one that he said misled residents about the city manager's pension package.

"She's injecting Springfield/Washington-type politics into what previously was a congenial city council," Belsky said. "I'm tired of it, I'm going to be very glad to be leaving."

Councilman , who was standing near Rotering when Belsky confronted her, seemed dismayed by the encounter and its consequences.

"I prefer that we work out these issues collectively as a council," he said.