GENEVA — Ahmad Whitfield hasn’t attended any City Council meetings since being arrested Jan. 7 on felony drug charges.
However, the councilor-at-large continues to receive a paycheck, Mayor Jim Cecere confirmed.
Commenting for the first time since an initial press conference following Whitfield’s arrest on charges of second-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, Cecere reiterated Tuesday that Whitfield is “innocent until proven guilty.” However, he emphasized there is nothing in the city charter that allows Council to remove him from office, nor eliminate his pay.
Cecere said Council will “create remedies for situations like this. The fact that he has not sat in on one Council meeting since being elected (in November) is an issue. He has not fulfilled that obligation.”
Not only has Whitfield not shown up to any meetings — there have generally been at least two a month — he has not engaged in any Council communications, Cecere said.
“He’s copied in on everything,” he said. “He doesn’t engage, doesn’t respond, doesn’t participate. I asked him to attend any and every meeting he could as an elected councilor-at-large and he clearly has not.”
In the wake of Whitfield’s arrest, Cecere had suggested he consider resigning in the best interest of the city.
Ontario County District Attorney Jason MacBride wrote in an email Wednesday morning that Whitfield is due to appear in front of Ontario County Judge Gregory McCaffery July 6.
“There could be a resolution to the matter,” MacBride said.
If Whitfield is convicted of a felony, he would be removed from office.
Neither Whitfield nor his attorney, Joseph Lobosco, responded to requests for comment by email as of Wednesday morning.
Ward 4 Councilor Peter Gillotte, who is deputy mayor, said no one on City Council has spoken with Whitfield since his arrest. He also urged him to fulfill his duties.
“Councilor Whitfield is still a city councilor,” he said. “We’ve never said, ‘Don’t come.’ We’ve wanted him to be (at meetings).”
Gillotte noted that Whitfield has prided himself as a councilor who represents Geneva’s less fortunate, and that his lack of Council participation has left a “big void.” Cecere agreed and urged Whitfield to return to his Council job.
City Clerk Nicole Tillotson continues to read Whitfield’s name when doing attendance at the start of meetings, Cecere noted.
“His seat is there. It’s ready for him,” the mayor said.
No other city councilors responded to a request for comment on the Whitfield matter as of Wednesday morning.