Walsh also says that the failure of the councilto pass the order calling for his resignationproves that he has supporters among his colleaguesas well.

"My other colleagues stood behind me [and] gaveme the reassurance that they think I should staytoo," he says.

Gardner disagrees.

"[Walsh] is not a person to be trusted," hesays. "Morally, he has no right to taint thebusiness and politics in the city and the respectfor truth in the city."

Greater Repercussions

Although councillors point to ethical reasonsrequiring Walsh to resign, greater politicalrepercussions are at stake, they say.

Council relations have been strained by havinga convicted felon on the council, they say.

"A resignation would go beyond the requirementsof the law," Duehay says. "But the realities arethat the city council will not operate aseffectively with this concern hanging over hishead and over everybody else's head."

Duehay says it is anomalous to have a convictedfelon chair the Ordinance Committee, the body thatmakes the laws.

"[Walsh] chairs the committee on local laws andI think it makes the people who sit on thatcommittee and others who work with himuncomfortable to have a person who is in charge oflaws to be a person who has been convicted," hesays.

Duehay is not the only one to voice thisconcern.

"It does create tension because it is anundercurrent in...the council," Triantafillousays. "It's all the attention that's being paid tothe issue by the press and by the people...Weshould be focusing on other issues."

But Sullivan says the council has not sufferedfrom Walsh's permanence on the council.

"I think we work well together," Sullivan says."there is a level of maturity on the council."

Vice Mayor Sheila T. Russell, who voted againstthe resignation order, says Walsh's presence hasnot detracted from the working relations in thecouncil.