$122,658/yr for non-resident police chief?

I've known Police Chief Bill Brogan for many years; ever since we used to meet and talk on occasion at Saint Patrick's Church in McHenry. He was an is a lifelong resident of the City of McHenry and McHenry County and has spent 27 of his 31 years in law enforcement at that department. He worked his way up through the ranks and got to where he is the hard way: he earned it by living and working every day and night in the county. He stated according to the Northwest Herald in Sunday, July 26th edition that " I feel blessed to be able to be the chief in the town I grew up in," said Brogan whose salary is $109,422 and is within minutes of being available if needed by his community.

As a resident of McHenry Brogan "knows the culture of McHenry and what people expect of their police force". "He knows the nooks and crannies and niches." On top of all of this he has always been a nice guy and someone who always put the welfare of the city and his fellow police officers before his own.

In contrast we have the City of Woodstock who decided to hire a new police chief from outside the department from outside the county and from outside the city. Chief Robert Lowen Jr's salary is, according to the Northwest Herald, $122,658. According to the information I have he has still not moved into McHenry County, as previous chiefs had to, much less the City of Woodstock of which he is the chief of police. I wonder if he knows the culture of McHenry County? I wonder is he knows all the nooks and crannies and niches of his city like police chief Brogan does? Does not living where you are the Chief of Police tell you anything about the man?.....I don't know...do you?

Justices rule for whistle blowers

In a 9-0 decision, on Monday, January 26, 2009, the Supreme Court of the United States stated that employees, workers who cooperate with an investigation regarding uncouth behavior by a supervisor are protected from retaliation under the civil rights laws. So now not only is the person who filed the complaint protected but any witnesses who might corroborate the truthfulness of the complaint are also now protected against retaliation by the employer. Justice David Souter said that protection "extends to an employee who speaks out about discrimination not on her/his own initiative, but in answering questions during an internal investigation."

Another Continuance..in Woodstock IL

Will it ever end? Sgt. Gorski, almost 20 year veteran of the Woodstock PD, who was unanimously vindicated by the Woodstock Board of Fire and Police Commissioners almost a year ago of a complaint brought against him by Robert W. Lowen Jr., the current Chief of the Woodstock PD. Sgt. Gorski has been found guilty of nothing and has had absolutely no disciplinary action recommended by the Woodstock Board of Fire and Police Commissioners. Yet for the last year he has been punished by the City of Woodstock for being found vindicated by its own Board of Fire and Police Commissioners buy not paying him his back pay with statutory interest as demanded by the State statute. Likewise when he tried to go back to light duties as recommended by his spine surgeon he was told sorry we've got nothing for you, have a nice day. Now understand this, he is still a sworn police officer, an employee of the City of Woodstock, vindicated by the Board but they have decided unilaterally not to pay him even though he is still technically an employee with the city; you try to figure that one out if you can.

Could you have a nice day knowing that there is no income to support your family which includes three young daughters? I don't think so.

Today he was told that the Hearing in Judge McIntyre's Court was continued and will not take place tomorrow. He does not know why as of yet or who asked for it. I am looking forward to the reason for the continuance. I hope its not going to result in another several months of no pay or back pay for being found vindicated by Woodstock's own Board of Fire and Police Commissioners. Imagine that: being punished because you have been found innocent. Must be a new legal concept being allegedly promulgated by the City of Woodstock against its long term employees or could it be allegedly something more personal between Lowen and Sgt. Gorski that the city does not want aired in the arena of public opinion and its citizens' good judgement.

Alleged Falsehoods Told to Woodstock City Council?

A few days ago I was told by a reliable source that the Woodstock City Council was informed sometime ago in April or May by someone in city government or intimately involved in city government that when Sgt. Steve Gorski was told by his spinal surgeon that he could return to a trial of light administrative duties he chose not to return to duties. This is an absolute lie.

Sgt. Gorski telephoned Deputy Chief Neuzil and informed him of the release by his surgeon and was told over the telephone not to even bother to come in because there was nothing like that available for him even though in the past other officers were accommodated in similar fashion.

As you may recall Sgt. Gorski was vindicated of charges filed against him by Chief Lowen by a 3 to 0 decision of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners in February. He still has not been offered a light duty posting and has not been paid in over a year in spite of being found that the evidence did not prove the Chief's complaint. I can only wonder if someone or someones are telling the City Council their allegedly altered side of the story to allegedly cover their hind sides and how they may have allegedly abused and continue to allegedly abuse the system and the truth to their advantage. If these allegations turn out to be true I would wonder if there might be some opening positions in city government and departments?

David W McArdle...Back Again In Court

Remember the previous article about David W. McArdle, a managing partner of Zukowski, Rogers, Flood and McArdle, attorneys for the City of Woodstock Illinois and the phone call and meeting with Sgt. Gorski's attorneys to work out something more amicable and efficient in settling their differences? Well to the best of my knowledge Sgt. Gorski's attorneys received no calls back in regards to it but I am sure the Sergeant's legal bill increased and so did the city's because of this exercise in futility. I suspect it may have been just another tactic in trying to extend this whole matter by trying to bankrupt the Sgt. so that he could not go on and continue to defend his position in court and for the City of Woodstock to continue to not pay him any wages for more than a year now.

At court,Mr. McArdle brought out his tripod and poster boards and in a few minutes tried to convince Judge Maureen McIntyre that the 4 1/2 months of evidence and testimony presented by Anne Brophy, the attorney who handled the prosecution for the city against Sgt. Gorski and an attorney for Zukowski, Rogers, Flood and McArdle; that the decision in the case, by the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners should have been decided differently and against Sgt. Gorski. That they, the Board, should have found him guilty of the charges brought against him by the Chief of Police, Robert W. Lowen Jr. and he should have been fired from his job after 20 years of exemplary public service to the community of Woodstock Illinois. So much for advancing amicability, efficiency and trust but I will say it was a valiant effort in trying to rewrite history and a valiant attempt to forget about the concept of double jeopardy of the defendant. As far as justice...you be the judge.

Now the citizens of Woodstock and of McHenry County have an even clearer idea of what Sgt. Gorski and his attorneys have had to deal with.

LINE OF DUTY PENSION BENEFITS FOR POLICE OFFICERS

About three weeks ago a telephone conversation between two attorneys representing Sgt. Steven R. Gorski, an employee of the Woodstock Police Department for the last 20 years and Mr. David W. McArdle, a partner in the firm of Zukowski, Rogers, Flood & McArdle, representing the Chief of Police and City of Woodstock took place. It was my understanding that Mr. McArdle wanted to have a meeting of the legal representatives of the Chief of Police, Robert W. Lowen Jr. and the City of Woodstock and the Police Pension Board and those of Sgt. Gorski to see if this litigation on the part of the Police Chief and the City and the Police Pension Board could be resolved in a more amicable and efficient manner. I presume since Mr. McArdle arranged this meeting he self-assumed the role of moderator. This meeting took place in the afternoon of October 8, 2008 in the City Council Chambers.

After about two hours of talking and the usual "posturing" that attorneys are known for, the position of Sgt. Gorski was finalized to the understanding of Mr. McArdle and he said he would get back to Sgt. Gorski's attorneys after discussing this with the City Council as soon as possible. To date, Oct. 18, 2008, Sgt. Gorski's attorneys have not heard a word back from Mr. McArdle; so much for amicability and efficiency.

Also during this meeting one of the attorneys for either Workman's Comp or the Pension Board allegedly said that they were not sure that the injury ever happened during line of duty even though the appropriate form (Form 45) was filed and investigated an verified by a deputy chief of police. According to "Municipal Matters" dated July 2007, Vol. 2, Issue 3, a news letter produced by the firm of Zukowski, Rogers, Flood and McArdle a police officer is entitled to Line of Duty Pension Benefits and I quote:

"Any act of police duty inherently involving a special risk, not ordinarily assumed by a citizen in the ordinary walks of life, imposed on a policeman by the statutes of this State, or by ordinances or police regulations of the city in which this Article is in effect or by special assignment, or by any act of heroism performed in the city having for its direct purpose the saving of the life or property of a person other than the policeman."

Sgt. Gorski was at 3:30 am trying to do what he could for a man who was gravely injured in a single car accident on the side of Route 14 in Woodstock Illinois. The man expired and later it was found that his blood alcohol was in excess of the legal limit. It was at this scene during the course of his assisting in the later investigation that he incurred his injuries. Now that does not sound like an act "ordinarily assumed by a citizen in the ordinary walks of life " to me. How about you?

This gives you just a little feeling of what Sgt. Gorski has been dealing with in connection with the Chief of Police, the City of Woodstock and its hired and well paid attorneys.

To all the citizens of Woodstock Illinois don't forget that your elected officials are allegedly condoning this by setting policy and allowing their subordinates to proceed in this matter as regards Sgt. Gorski. Last but not least it is your tax money being used to pay the legal fees of these attorneys to pursue this course of action. That tax money could be used in a much better way in these troubled times.

WOODSTOCK ILLINOIS TAX PAYERS...BEWARE?..THE SAGA CONTINUES

It has been about a year or more since the City of Woodstock Police Chief, Robert W. Lowen Jr., who I believe still lives in Carpentersville after more that three years on the job as Chief, filed a complaint with the Woodstock Fire and Police Commissioners, who are considered officers of the City of Woodstock. He, the Police Chief, Robert W. Lowen Jr. alleged that Sergeant Steven R. Gorski, a 19 now 20 year veteran of the force be fired because of alleged abuse of prescription medications that he used to control pain that had been caused by two in the line of duty injuries that he sustained to his lower back and his neck. At an "open" meeting the attorney for the City of Woodstock, at that time, made sure that all the alleged details that she, Anne Brophy, an attorney of the firm of Zukowski, Rogers, Flood & McArdle, and the Chief wanted to be publicly disseminated was done so to the media which was present. It did not appear to me that they were allegedly too concerned about private personnel or private health issues whatsoever. They accomplished what they set out to do; to allegedly air private personnel and health issues to the public via newspapers, Internet, etc.

I have served on many boards of directors over the last thirty plus years and I cannot recall once when a board discussed personnel or health matters of an employee in a public, open forum; to me the manner in which this initial complaint of the Chief that was presented to the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners was allegedly done to injure and defame Sergeant Gorski before he even had the chance to defend himself. It was, I allege, unscrupulous behavior at best.

It then took Ms. Brophy about four and one-half months, (all in closed session to the public) to present the evidence that was to prove the Chief's complaint. In January of 2008 the prosecution (Ms. Brophy) rested it's case; it had presented all the evidence it had. Why it took four and one-half months to do so I do not know and why all of a sudden it had to be in "closed session" after the supposed complaint was announced in detail in public is beyond my understanding. I allege a murder trial might have been resolved sooner and this whole matter I allege has a certain distinct smell to it.

Sergeant Gorski's attorney, Tom Loizzo then asked the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners to consider a directed decision since to his perspective the Chief and the City did not prove their case. The Board of Fire and Police Commissioners in February of 2008 then granted the motion for a directed decision and deliberated in private for several minutes to arrive at a decision. The decision of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners was unanimous, 3 to 0 in favor of Sergeant Gorski with absolutely no disciplinary action recommended. The City was directed to pay him all his back pay and interest that he had not been receiving and to reinstate him when he had recovered from surgery on his lower back which had incurred in the interim. None of the directives of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners were obeyed by the Chief or corporate city authorities. The Chief, Robert W. Lowen Jr. filed for Administrative Review with the Circuit Court. Two scheduling hearings have already happened in the hope that this could be resolved but so far it has not. Each time a junior member of the law firm of Zukowski, Rogers, Flood & McArdle appeared (musical lawyers) who could not and did not have the authority to act for the law firm. A hearing before Judge M. McIntyre is finally set for October 15, 2008.

You have to understand one thing, the Chief has named the Fire and Police Commissioners as Defendants in his action for an Administrative Review...the City in a sense suing the City. Sergeant Gorski was also named as a Defendant although he had absolutely nothing to do with the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners' decision to accept the motion for a directed decision and with the final decision of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, 3 to 0 in his favor.

This whole misadventure has only one winner at this time, I allege it is the law firm of Zukowski, Rogers, Flood and McArdle who will collect their legal fees for over the last year of continued litigation on their part. The losers will be Sergeant Gorski who has not been paid in almost one year and the tax paying citizens of Woodstock who are going to pick up the legal tab. What are the City of Woodstock leaders thinking? The hole is just getting deeper and deeper.

City Councils...do what?

This city council can initially structure the municipal government. Once that is accomplished and the city is under the manager form, the power of the council is almost entirely legislative. 65 ILCS 5/5-3-6.

The city council retains ability to control by the power to approve or not approve all municipal expenses and liabilities. 65 ILCS 5/5-3-6. The manager's projects are subject to the council's power over the purse. The council can also abolish offices. 65 ILCS 5/5-3-8.

The final power the council has is that it can fire the manager from office. He/she can be removed at any time by a majority vote of the members of the council. 65 ILCS 5/5-3-7. A wise manager knows how many votes he needs to stay hired.

NEVER ENDING EGO?

Over one year ago Robert "coffee with the chief" Lowen of the Woodstock Illinois Police Department filed a complaint against Sgt. Steven R. Gorski with the Woodstock Illinois Board of Fire and Police Commissioners asking that the Sergeant be fired from the department for misconduct according to Lowen. Lowen's tax payer paid City of Woodstock Illinois attorneys presented 4 1/2 months of supposed evidence ending prosecution of the Sergeant on January 4, 2008....or did they....yes you heard me correctly...4 1/2 months. The Sergeant's attorney asked the Woodstock Illinois Board of Fire and Police Commissioners to consider a Motion for Directed Decision. What this meant is that Lowen and his cadre of tax payer paid attorneys did not prove their case in the 4 1/2 months they were trying to. On February 14, 2008 the Woodstock Illinois Board of Fire and Police Commissioners granted the Sergeant's Motion for a Directed Decision and also decided the complaint which was filed against him. The decision was 3 to 0 in the Sergeant's favor. The Woodstock Illinois Board of Fire and Police Commissioners ordered that "the charges against (the Sergeant) be dismissed" and that the Sergeant "be reimbursed for any wages withheld"...now almost a year's amount of pay. The Board stated that the "Chief" and "appropriate corporate authorities are directed to implement this order forthwith." To date only further litigation has been implemented forthwith by Lowen and the appropriate corporate authorities. This further litigation against the City's own Board of Fire and Police Commissioners and the Sergeant is counterproductive and is only costing the tax payers a whole lot of legal fees to the firm of Zukowski, Rogers, Flood & McArdle of 50 Virginia Street in Crystal Lake Illinois. In the end I suspect the only real winners in this episode will be the law firms bottom line....more money out of Woodstock tax payers pockets and into the law firms pockets.

I wonder if you still want to have "coffee with the chief" next month? Very, very expensive coffee.

Woodstock & PD Takes Care Of Its Own...Joke

Within the Illinois Compiled Statutes there is a division called GENERAL PROVISIONS and within it is (5 ILCS 345/) Public Employee Disability Act, commonly known as "PEDA".

Sec. 1. Disability benefit.
(a) It lists among other things that an "eligible employee" is "any full-time law enforcement officer or full-time firefighter who is .............employed......., any unit of local government granted the power to employ persons for such purposes by law."

In my humble, non-lawyer brain this would include a city like Woodstock Illinois.

(b) "Whenever an eligible employee suffers any injury in the line of duty which causes him to be unable to perform his duties, he shall continue to be paid by the employing public entity on the same basis as he was paid before the injury..."

(c) "At any time during the period for which continuing compensation is required by this act, the employing public entity may order at the expense of that entity physical or medical examinations of the injured person to determine the degree of disability."

(d) "During this period of disability, the injured person shall not be employed in any other manner....."

Now lets look back at the situation of Sergeant Steven R. Gorski, an "eligible employee" of the Woodstock Police Department for (19) nineteen years.

1. Under Section 1 (a) he is an "eligible employee".
2. Under Section 1 (b) he sustained an in the line of duty injury that was reported, documented and approved after an investigation by a Deputy Chief of Police of the City of Woodstock. This injury has resulted in his inability for him to perform his duties as a Patrol Sergeant for the City of Woodstock Police Department.
3. Under Section 1 (c) never did the employing public entity (City) have a physical exam to determine the degree of disabililty of Sergeant Gorski.
4. Under Section 1 (d) at no time during this now current period of disability was or is the Sergeant employed in any other manner.

In conclusion, it seems to me that the City of Woodstock, its Mayor, City Council, City Administrator, Director of Human Resources and Chief of Police are alledgedly NOT in compliance with 5 ILCS 345/, The Public Employee Disabiltiy Act.

Now tonight when you go to sleep you can relax and have pleasant dreams knowing that your public officials are looking out for your best interests should something happen to you while you are working for the City of Woodstock. Pleasant dreams and yes don't forget to buy plenty of private disablity insurance so your family and you can survive.

Intimidation by...Deep Taxpayers Pockets in Woodstock Ill.

When the process initiated by Chief of Police, Robert W. Lowen, Jr. of Woodstock Illinois began by him filing a formal complaint against Sergeant Gorski with the City of Woodstock's Fire and Police Commission seeking his termination from the force that he served in for over 19 years I must confess I was somewhat depressed and angry that a single relatively new individual backed by a City (at least allegedly a few persons in high level positions) could allegedly con volute and change the true circumstances of a situation to serve their own self serving and financial interests respectively. The Sergeant understood that his oath of office was to the U.S. Constitution, the State, the County of McHenry and intimately with the people of Woodstock Illinois; he understood that his sworn duty was to the citizens and not to be a "team player of the Chief" and not to do things that he felt may have not been in the best interest of the citizens or his fellow officers. I guess he was just not viewed as one of "the good ol boys" that would go along with someone elses personal agenda.

My faith in the intrinsic goodness of most people was restored on February 4, 2008 when, after months of the Chief's and City's unilateral prosecution of Sergeant Gorski they, the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, after several minutes of deliberation, found in favor of Sergeant Gorski after they were asked to consider a directed verdict (which means that Sergeant Gorski did not even present his side of the case or defend himself). They found in his favor 3 to 0 and ordered he be reinstated and all back pay with interest due him by State statute be paid immediately as possible. To date he and his family which includes three young daughters have not received a penny from the City....so much for 19 years of loyalty to the people. I've learned one thing from this fiasco and that is one individual and his backers may take the wrong path and they cannot give up because they will loose face and might fracture delicate egos. What reinforces that direction they take is that it costs them nothing....they don't pay the tab...you do the taxpayer. You pay the tab to the lawyers who think they have nothing to loose and the other individuals involved. Eventually the tab will be paid and it is usually the taxpayer who winds up paying that also...all this for something that need never have occurred.

The Chief could not accept the fact that the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners found in Sergeant Gorski's favor and filed for an Administrative Review with the 22 Judicial Circuit Court...more taxpayer dollars being spent. And the Saga of Sergeant Gorski goes on and his family and children must suffer because someone cannot accept the decision of his superiors.

The question remains: why even bother to have and fund a Board of Fire of Police Commissioners if their decision can be disobeyed by one alleged individual with someones alleged political backing? I hope that the tax payers of Woodstock get angry and upset and look into this matter that is draining their pockets and inappropriately causing severe hardship on a hard working cop's family. Someone other than me has to realize that it may be them in the cross hairs next time.

Checks, Balances & Transparency of Government

The Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution reads in part,

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; or deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

As a people, when we accept the legitimacy of government, the next question we should ask ourselves is: Why not give government officials, its agents (Police Chiefs, City Attorneys, Mayors to name a few) all the power they need to fullfill their missions? John Locke and Thomas Jefferson provided us with the answer to this question over 200 years ago. Their contention was that when government officials are given unlimited power, they inevitably misuse the power, oftentimes becoming worse than the murderers, rapists, thieves and burglars they were charged with protecting the people from.

The Fathers of our country solved this problem by bringing our government into existence by using a Constitution to specify and limit the government's powers. It is important to always keep in mind that, government is necessary, but also to realize that it can be the primary threat to the freedom and liberties of its citizens. Remember the saying "power corrupts and absolute power absolutely corrupts". That is why we have the Bill of Rights and ultimately the Fourteenth Amendment. Thanks to the Woodstock City Government we also have the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners to further guarantee this right.

Woodstock Municipal Code (2.12.1: BOARD ESTABLISHED) states that "There is hereby created a Board of Fire and Police Commissioners in the City, whose members shall be appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the City Council....". (1986 Code)

Woodstock Municipal Code (2.12.4: POWERS AND DUTIES) states that "The Board of Fire and Police Commissioners shall have the following powers and duties pertaining to sworn members of the Police Department: (emphasis added)

A. To make and promulgate rules and regulations for the conduct of examinations for original appointments, conduct of examinations for promotions, and conduct of hearings on charges brought against the member of the Police Department. (1986 Code) (emphasis added)

B. To make all original appointments to the Police Department and appointments to promotion within the Police Department pursuant to examinations.

C. To conduct examinations for original appointments and promotions.

D. To conduct hearings on charges brought against any member of the Police Department. (emphasis added)

E. Such other and further powers as may from time to time be authorized by the General Assembly. (1986 Code)"

2.12.2: MEMBERSHIP AND TERMS: states in part that

"A. The Board of Fire and Police Commissioners shall consist of three (3) members, whose terms of office shall be three (3) years............

B. Members of the Board must be residents of the City and shall be considered officers of the City and shall file an oath and fidelity bond....." (emphasis added)

So as far as I and I hope you can see the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners is an important link in the line of checks and balances emanating from the U.S. Constitution to the level of the Woodstock Police Department through the Government of the City of Woodstock.