DECATUR - Voting to change the form of city government would be "the biggest mistake the city could ever make," Mayor Paul Osborne said Friday.

Osborne strongly urged voters to retain the current council-manager form of government on Feb. 5.

ChangeDecatur advocates dropping the council-manager form of government for a commissioner form. The commissioner system would be an interim step toward enacting a strong mayor and aldermanic system at a future election, advocates have said.

That would be a huge error, Osborne said.

"If you want to make Decatur the laughingstock of Illinois or maybe the nation, that would do it," Osborne said. "It's beyond me why anybody would want to make two changes (in the form of government) in a few years. It would be absolutely devastating."

Osborne's support for the current form of government was echoed by several members of the Decatur City Council. Others declined to offer an opinion, saying it's a decision for voters.

Osborne said a commissioner form of government can lead to corruption and may "shut out" minority representation.

Springfield and Danville abandoned a commissioner form of government to help ensure minorities had a fair shot at being represented, Osborne said.

But the culprit in those cases was not the system, said Don Craven, a Springfield-based attorney representing ChangeDecatur.

The "evil" to be rectified was at-large elections, Craven said.

Council members are elected at-large to represent the entire community under both the current council-manager and the commissioner system, Craven said.

"The analogy simply fails," Craven said. "The commission form of government is alive and well in Illinois, and the Voting Rights Act did not outlaw the commission form of government."

Craven and his father have taken cases in Springfield, Danville and other communities to ensure minority voting rights.

Under the current council-manager form of government, six council members and a mayor are elected at-large to represent the city.

A city manager is appointed by the council to administer the council's policies and run the day-to-day operations of the city.

Under a commissioner form of government, a mayor and four commissioners are elected at-large to head a city department or function.

With a strong mayor and aldermanic system, the mayor would act as full-time CEO of the city. The city would have wards, served by up to 20 aldermen.

Steve Daniels, an organizer of ChangeDecatur, said the group supports an aldermanic form of government to ensure better representation.

The city was organized in the commission form from 1911 to 1959, when it was replaced by the council-manager system.

The commissioner system can open the door to nepotism, corruption and inefficiency, Osborne said.

"You could put a commissioner over the police department who has no training at all," he said.

A commissioner could "maybe hire a lot of his friends and relatives," Osborne cautioned.

Brian Burcham, a ChangeDecatur founder, doubts a commission system necessarily leads to corruption.

"It's all hogwash," Burcham said. "Does (the mayor) read Tarot cards or does he go to a psychic? How can he predict what the future is going to be? I guess he's saying all the people who get elected are going to be crooks. Does that mean the people we elect now are crooks also?"

Keith Anderson, a founder of ChangeDecatur, said a form of government does not dictate corruption.

"Corruption is all about an individual taking a bribe or the devil getting into them," he said.

Anderson said if opponents of ChangeDecatur truly cared about minority representation, they would be more involved in important community issues, such as anti-violence efforts and improving the high school dropout rate.

"If you care about minorities, prove it," Anderson said.

Osborne remembers a fateful vote by the Decatur City Council decades ago that allowed Hickory Point Mall to be built in Forsyth.

"If you think that was awful, and it was, that would pale in comparison to what the city would become (if it reverts back to a commissioner system)," Osborne said. "It would be the biggest mistake the city could ever make. It would destroy so much."

Councilman Mike McElroy said he is "adamantly" opposed to changing the form of city government.

If voters are unhappy, they can elect a new mayor and council members, McElroy said.

"If we're not doing the job, we should be voted out; it's not the system," McElroy said.

In last year's city council election, Osborne ran unopposed, and incumbent councilmen McElroy, Patrick Laegeler and Michael Carrigan were re-elected.

Other forms of government are plagued with nepotism and cronyism, McElroy said.

"Those are a couple of things we don't have now, and I don't think that we need to start," McElroy said.

Councilman Patrick Laegeler said he "strongly" supports the current council-manager system.

Laegeler said he is not running for re-election.

"For the overall good of the community, this form of government serves our needs and serves our needs very well," Laegeler said.

Laegeler also voiced concern about ChangeDecatur's plan to change the form of government first to a commission system and later to a strong mayor and aldermanic system.

"That's just a mistake," Laegeler said. "We would lose all the momentum we had going forward in the community."

Councilman Shad Edwards said he's not promoting or opposing the effort to change the form of government.

"It's all up to the voters; I'm there to do what the voters want," Edwards said. "For years, even before I was elected, there has been a core group in the community that is unhappy with the way things have been done. This is the culmination of their efforts, and I'll live with what the outcome is."

Councilman Dan Caulkins agreed it's an issue for voters to decide.

"The form of government is affected by the people who are involved in it," Caulkins said. "If you don't have good people, if you don't have good leadership and transparency and control of your spending, it doesn't matter what form of government you have."

Councilwoman Betsy Stockard declined to share her thoughts Friday on changing the form of city government.

"I don't feel like those phone calls right yet," Stockard said, referring to community reaction to her opinion.

Stockard said she might have an announcement after the Feb. 5 election, depending on its outcome. She declined to elaborate on the possible announcement.

Councilman Michael Carrigan could not be reached immediately Friday.

Mike Frazier can be reached at mfrazier@herald-review.com or 421-7985.