Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr. has called for the resignation of Danville Area Community College’s President, Dr. Stephen Nacco, after what Williams described as “tyrannical” and “denigrating” behavior by Dr. Nacco surrounding their differences over a proposed plan to invite undocumented immigrants to Danville.
In an open letter sent to DACC’s Board of Trustees and posted to Williams’ official Facebook page, he outlined the events that led to an alleged tense exchange between the two men after a Vermilion Advantage Executive Committee meeting on Thursday, Aug. 8, at the David S. Palmer Civic Center.
“On Friday, August 3rd, I received an email from Dr. Nacco stating that ‘The Chicago-based Immigration Project is seeking Illinois grant money to support the recruitment of undocumented people as workers in downstate regions,’’’ Williams said in his post. “According to the email, The Immigration Project will provide wraparound Social Services to 20 unduplicated individuals in the Danville area, including assistance with application for Public Benefits, enrollment in the CCAP program, and assistance with VITA appointment.”
After reading over the Immigration Project proposal — which Dr. Nacco intended to write a letter of support for and requested a similar support letter from the city via Mayor Williams — Williams responded via email that the plan was “a terrible idea for a host of reasons,” and informed Dr. Nacco he would discuss it further over the phone, which they later did.
The proposal, had it been accepted, would have invited 20 or so undocumented workers to move from Chicago to Danville in order to receive work training, ESL classes, and asylum/VISA assistance so that they may legally live and work in the area.
Notably, Williams claims that Hoopeston Mayor Wise also opposed the proposal, causing the Immigration Project to rescind their offer, so the process never happened.
Williams is adamant that he supports immigrants who come to the country legally — he claims to have assisted more than 40 to 50 undocumented immigrants who came seeking his help during COVID-19 pandemic seeking food since they couldn’t legally work.
Even so, Williams called the proposal “unwise,” claiming that the city is incapable of supporting and housing its own residents, let alone more would be arriving without resources. The Immigration Project would have provided them only three months worth of rent payments and no security deposit, according to the proposal.
“We have a housing crisis in Danville. We do not have enough quality rental housing for the people who are already here,” says Williams. “We also have a huge homeless crisis now that our two largest homeless shelters are closed. … It would put a huge strain on the people that are here. Our social services are already overwhelmed.”
Williams went on to address some of his concerns over the harm those undocumented immigrants could face should they move to the area.
“In my opinion it would be cruel to these people who have come here from halfway across the world and risked everything to [come to] a community where they’re not going to have any resources, where people are not going to hire them and where unfortunately, although I think most people would be kind and welcome, there is still an undercurrent of bigotry. It wouldn’t be setting them up for success. It would not be helpful to them.”
“Intentionally recruiting people here who have virtually no resources when we cannot even take care of the people who are already here is just counter-intuitive and unfair to all involved,” he says.
As Williams was explaining his reasons for opposing the proposition to the Vermilion Advantage Executive Committee on Aug. 8, he claims that Dr. Nacco interrupted his statement by shouting at him.
“Before I could even finish, Stephen screamed aloud, ‘That’s a lie and you’re a liar!’ He then went on a tirade in which he called me a liar again and said I was nothing but a political hack,” claimed Williams in his open letter.
After the meeting ended, Williams claims that Dr. Nacco approached him aggressively, reiterating his key points and calling Mayor Williams a liar once again.
“As I attempted to walk away from him, he walked around in front of me, standing mere inches away. He then proceeded to point in my face and he was so close that I could smell his breath. I told him to back away from me and get his finger out of my face. He then puffed up his chest and yelled, ‘Or what? Are you gonna hit me? Huh, are you gonna hit me? Come on, are you gonna hit me?’ I said, ‘Something is wrong with you!’ In a fit of rage and in an effort to belittle and intimidate me, he then pointed in my face again and yelled, ‘BOY!’,” claimed Williams in the open letter.
Williams claims he then asked another board member nearby whether or not she heard Dr. Nacco refer to Williams as “boy” — a racial slur used to denigrate and demean Black men, Williams claims, “When they want to call you a nigger but can’t” — but she denied having heard it and advised Dr. Nacco to just walk away.
After the heated exchange, Williams claims that Dr. Nacco sent him text messages apologizing for calling him “Boy,” and insisting that he meant no racist intent in the word, but was addressing Williams in reference to his parents.
“The word boy came out in the context of your parents,” Dr. Nacco said in a text message to Williams. “You’ve been given a pass by us because of your parents enormous contributions to the college.”
Williams included several screenshots in his Facebook post of emails and text message exchanges between the two men in which Williams repeatedly asked Dr. Nacco to stop messaging him.
“I have contacted my lawyers and have filed an official complaint with the human resources department at DACC,” Williams said. “Quite frankly, I feel like he should resign. Dr. Nacco has done some very good things for this community, so I give honor where honor is due. But his tyrannical behavior, the way he denigrates and mistreats people and abuses people is unacceptable and I’m not willing to tolerate it for myself or the people in this community. Most importantly, I’m not willing to tolerate it for the people that can’t stand up for themselves.”
For his part, Dr. Nacco claims that he is cooperating with the college’s Board of Trustees’ investigation into Williams’ claims.
“What the Mayor has said is under investigation by the college. The information I have about it is also part of their investigation. They’re doing a thorough investigation and they’ll then report to the board what the outcome is. So I think the process is a good, fair process for all concerned.”
As for Williams’ accusations, Dr. Nacco neither confirms nor denies them.
“I would say that the evidence that I provided is not necessarily congruent with what he provided so it’s going to be a case of really doing an investigation that’s going to yield the truth. And the truth will come out.”
Mr. David Harby, Chair of DACC’s Board of Trustees, was unable to comment on the investigation as he is currently dealing with several health issues, he says, and was not at the DACC Board of Trustees meeting that took place Thursday evening.
This is a developing story.