By Heart of Illinois ABC

BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington Alderwoman Jenn Carrillo has received a formal rebuke from the city council, but she’s standing by controversial remarks she said on election night that earned her the censure.

Meeting in special session Monday evening, the council voted 6-3 in favor of Alderman and soon-to-be Mayor Mboka Mwilambwe’s resolution expressing displeasure with Carrillo’s remarks on Facebook after her favored candidates went down to defeat.

Carrillo said she planned to make life “a living hell” for newly-elected council members Nick Becker and Sheila Montney, and she called them “dangerous authoritarians” for receiving the endorsement and campaign cash from the Bloomington Police officers’ union.

Alderwoman Mollie Ward voted with the majority to rebuke Carrillo.

“The statements that were made on April 6 have distracted the council from the work that needs to be done,” Ward said.

Council member Jamie Mathy also voted for the reprimand, but indicated he would not support a code of conduct for elected officials that the council will consider in the coming months.

Only Carrillo, Jeff Crabill, and Julie Emig voted against the censure. According to Emig, a code of conduct might limit free speech.

The resolution urges Carrillo “to be mindful of language the ability of the city council to work together.” However, Carrillo claimed Becker and Montney are authoritarians who “lied and fear-mongered their way into office, financed by record-breaking donations from the very same police union that represents the officers that they now have to oversee.”

Carrillo said the vast majority of the council has done nothing while people try to silence her, call for her deportation, and question her citizenship.

“So now to have the audacity to have this meeting talking about civility is a bitter pill to swallow,” Carrillo said.

Heart of Illinois ABC can be reached at [email protected].