They're already clearing out

The McHenry County Sheriff's Department has lost its Business Manager (but it gained a take-home car). As the countdown to December 1 continues, certain civilian employees must be dusting off their resumes and thinking about where they want to work next.

A few weeks ago I heard that Don Leist had left. Leist was the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) officer and Legal Affairs officer. Not "officer" in terms of deputy; he was a civilian employee and slid into the job when Nygren reworked the job description and threw in a requirement or preference for a law degree.

Republican candidate for sheriff Bill Prim had made it clear that he didn't intend to keep that position. It had been created for a particular reason following a Federal court order, and the position had outlasted its need well before Leist was hired into it. I think Nygren was angling to get a lawyer aboard who could fill his ear with more than just EEO business.

MCSD had a Business Manager and then gave her a take-home car, even though she lived outside McHenry County - a condition for having a take-home car, if you are a deputy. Why would the Department give a take-home car to a civilian employee whose only job was to fly a desk? Was she ever expected to respond in an emergency and rush to MCSD with the keys to the Coke machine?

I believe Prim had also said the Business Manager position was to be eliminated, and she must have seen the handwriting on the wall.

McHenry County will have a new sheriff on December 1, 2014. For the first time in a long time, the sheriff won't be part of the "machine". Whichever candidate is successful in the November 4th General Election, change will come to MCSD.