Sheriff bails on Merit Commission February meeting

The McHenry County Sheriff's Department Merit Commission canceled its February 8th meeting today. Why should it not have done so?

First, what is the Merit Commission? It is a "public body" of hand-picked people liked a whole lot by Sheriff Keith Nygren. The members are Janelle Crowley, Patrick Andrews, Gloria Urch, William Mack and Brian Goode.

One of the duties of the Commission is to be involved in disciplinary decisions that could result in termination or being taken off duty for more than 30 days or off pay status. Note the key words, "more than 30 days."

Nygren can discipline deputies for 30 days or less without going to the Merit Commission for what is too often a rubber stamp of approval. By doling out a 30-day suspension to a deputy, Nygren can avoid the Merit
Commission. Why is this important? Because decisions by the Merit Commission are a public record, and the public, if it is nosy enough, can find out about the bad apples.

By keeping discipline to "30 days or less" the bad apples can continue to float around in the brine, causing rot among other apples. I think the public would be shocked at the offenses and even criminal acts of deputies and corrections officers that get handled administratively; i.e., out of the public eye.

Now, why would a meeting on February 8 have been important? This would have been the first Regular Meeting date after the January 7th arrest of MCSD Sgt. Greg Pyle on ten counts of Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault (Child (victim) under 13). Pyle is on paid administrative leave right now. Nygren continues to pay Pyle around $9,000/month, while he is out on a $200,000 bond.

If Nygren can't make it back to town (has anyone even seen him in the past 30 days?), couldn't Undersheriff Andy Zinke conduct the Merit Commission meeting? After all, he's in charge of the Sheriff's Department when the cat's away. Right?

Can the Commissioners call a Special Meeting or void the cancellation of a Regular Meeting? Do they have the guts to do that, if they do have the authority? If you know some of them, why don't you ask them?