Saturday, March 5, 2016

McNamara quits - sort of

When you are being investigated for some pretty serious stuff and you quit, are you really quitting because a better opportunity came along?

With the sudden departure of Matt McNamara from the McHenry County Sheriff's Department, the public will probably never know the whole truth. The first newspaper article (Northwest Herald) made it sound like a voluntary resignation - not under fire.

Then on Thursday just past, it turns out there was a reason. See the Northwest Herald article just this past week. Were any of McNamara's indiscretions crimes, or were they "merely" matters that the Sheriff hoped to handle administratively.

We know that Nygren used the 30-day suspension frequently, and sometimes repeatedly with the same deputies. He could do that without having to go to the Merit Commission. Nygren only had to go to the Merit Commission for discipline of "more than 30 days".

Nygren never even went to the Merit Commission with Greg Pyle's mess. Technically, a case could be made that Pyle's resignation was never even effective, because the Merit Commission didn't get a chance to approve it. Will Pyle show up someday and demand pay for the time he was sitting in prison?

McNamara never should have been hired in the first place. It was good ol' cronyism of the worst sort for Sheriff Bill Prim to hire him and put him immediately in a position of authority. Sure, he had a bunch of paperwork that he could present as "qualifications". He also had a DUI and a nasty bar fight in his background.

And then for Prim to duck at the first news conference and palm the responsibility off on a mouthpiece ... well, in my book that's as bad as anything McNamara did. Prim should have had the guts to make the announcement himself and tell the truth right from the get-go.

This has got to draw into question just about every decision Prim has made. He could take some lessons from Joe Arpaio or Leon Lott or David Clarke.

Prim will ride the $150,000/year gravy train for the rest of his term, but the pols had better start looking for somebody good to run in the next election cycle.

News reports in the past described McNamara's problems with alcohol in the past. Was alcohol a problem at the SWAT Christmas party? Oh, wait; we all know that deputies don't drink and drive. They don't, do they? OK, you can stop laughing now.

It's too bad that McHenry County doesn't have a newspaper with a really good investigative reporter!

4 comments:

Big Daddy said...

McNamara may have some problems with alcohol but he was extremely well qualified for the position he held. His resume is not one of strictly paper. He walked the walk. He wasn't an inside house mouse. You may not like him Gus, you may not agree with his hire but he knew his profession better than most.

Gus said...

Big Daddy, it's more that I dislike Prim's decision to hire a previous co-worker who got drunk and into an ugly bar fight, got a DUI and lied to the arresting cop about a police affiliation and got hired over a number of qualified internal deputies.

And especially that Sheriff Bill Prim wouldn't stand up tall in front of a reporter and disclose the full facts.

The Northwest Herald's narrow-minded policy about extremely limited non-subscriber access means that I - and many area residents - cannot read stories to keep informed. It's not worth $9.00/month.

Unknown said...

Sounds like Bully Valley Police Department is also going through a well deserved "clearing of the louses in the house". Stay tuned. Bully Valley Police Chief may be on the ropes. Casamento's Facebook one man campaign against illegal ticketing may be finally paying off. Mayor Berendt and her cronies may have major budgetary problem stirring. Hats off to Ron Parrish for leaving the Bully Valley in such capable hands and hiring the current Bully Valley Police Chief. Rumor mill indicates that Ron Parrish is responsible for the illegal ticketing activity that has created such a stir. Hear that the States Attorney and State Police are conducting an investigation.

coupon monger said...

Ron Parrish got rid of the speed traps.