Sheriff fails to halt Pyle's pay

The McHenry County Sheriff's Department Merit Commission met this morning in its regularly-scheduled March monthly meeting. On the Agenda was Item 6.0, "Executive Session."

There being no topic to be discussed during an Executive Session, the Commissioners proceeded to the end of the meeting.

Chairperson Janelle Crowley bagged the meeting and did not show up for the 10:30AM start. Not only that, she gave no notice to the other four commissioners that she would not attend, and she could not be reached. The commissioners waited ten minutes for her, and then Commissioner Patrick McAndrews called the meeting to order at 10:40AM. (Crowley recently left her position as HR Director for the City of Woodstock and is not HR Director for Elgin Community College. She could have taken a personal day today to fulfill her duty, but that might have cost her $400-500.)

Minutes and bills were approved. Applications were passed around from three persons for lateral consideration, including one from Maricopa County, Arizona. A motion was made to add those applications to the eligibility list. (Isn't the eligibility list a list of those ready to be hired?)

A file of letters was circulated without comment among the commissioners.

And then the meeting was adjourned at about 10:50AM

Out of respect for the agenda and protocol, when the Executive Session item passed, I did not ask for an opportunity to speak. The public comment portion of the meeting had been earlier.

After the meeting I expressed my outrage that Sheriff Keith Nygren had failed to bring the matter of Sgt. Greg Pyle's employment before the Merit Commission. What possible reason could Nygren have for delaying? Does he intend not to fire Pyle?

Pyle has been charged, arrested and indicted on felony charges. I was going to write "serious felony charges", but all felonies are serious. Nygren could have called a Special Meeting of the Merit Commission in January. he could have arranged for Pyle's termination to be considered at the February Regular Meeting but, instead, that meeting was canceled. And nothing happened at this meeting.

Why is Nygren waiting? How much longer will Nygren pay Pyle $9,000/month? How much longer, Keith?

It's Nygren ... Live from Minocqua!!!

Greg Pyle

The Daily Herald has published a statement from McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren in the Greg Pyle criminal charges and arrest. At 4:15PM today the DH carried a short story (gives new meaning to "short story", doesn't it?) that included this statement. The article said they got a written statement from Nygren. Email? Fax?

The Chicago Tribune had this to say at 6:25PM: "A McHenry County sheriff’s sergeant has been charged with forcing a juvenile to perform a sexual act on him on several occasions from 2006 to 2010, Michael Combs, chief of the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s criminal division, said today." See the Chicago Tribune for a close-up photo of Pyle.

From Minocqua, Wisc., winter home of Keith Nygren, the statement read to the Daily Herald read, "We are deeply concerned any time a department member has violated the honor of this organization.”

So much for sympathy for the victim!
So much for sympathy for the mother of the child!
So much for the community that suffers whenever any child is the victim of a crime, any crime; especially a sex crime!

Hey, Keith. From me to you, the hell with the "honor of this organization."

The honor of that "organization" has been in the trash for years. The honor of MCSD can be traced through the landfill by the documents filed in Federal lawsuits against the Department and you.

The actions of your rotten officers is a reflection of the leadership of your department.

So, since you don't apologize to the victim or your employees for your failure, I'll offer my sympathy to the child and the child's family. And to the honest and honorable employees of the McHenry County Sheriff's Department. Some of them have been complaining for years about the bad apples in your barrel..

Maybe you ought to fire whoever put out Friday night's statement about a "domestic issue". Tell us who dreamed up that cockamamie story. Did you think that people were going to forget it, when the truth came out? This time, it only took a day.

Keith, why don't you stay in Minocqua and just mail back your badge, department ID card, keycard for the doors, car keys and resignation letter?

Residents, shake your heads

I dare you to read today's Northwest Herald story about the deposition of McHenry County State's Attorney Lou Bianchi and understand what's really going on. Don't speed-read it; slow down. Take it one sentence at a time. You might even start a flowchart or other outline.

At the outset, let me state that I like Lou Bianchi. I like Donna Kelly. And I like Zane Seipler and Blake Horwitz.

Sheriff Nygren? That's another story. Until he pulled that dumb stunt in the Jewel-Osco parking lot (and, as I later learned, lied and told people that I had been following him around that day). If he told the Woodstock Police that lie, then he made a false report to police. I was at a conference at MCC all day.

I didn't particularly dislike him up to that point. I didn't like many of the things he had done, but my dislike didn't move to a personal level until his stupid act that afternoon in the parking lot. I later learned that something very significant in another case may have happened to set him off shortly before he pulled up alongside me in the parking lot.

Back to the recent deposition. Bianchi has been unwilling to take on a role in which he might have to investigate and prosecute Nygren. A blind man could see that the State's Attorney can't prosecute the Sheriff, who is his client. It's clear-cut. If a sheriff is believed to have committed crimes, then a special prosecutor is needed.

A book could be written just from the Northwest Herald reporter story today. First of all, look where the editors put it. Section B. Not even on the front page! This petition (Case 10MR000011) for a prosecutor is almost two years old. Stalling tactics would have bankrupted many petitioners, causing them to abandon their cases. But Seipler and Horowitz have hung in there, fighting against the bottomless pit of County dollars.

I know that I need to read the deposition itself and not rely on the Northwest Herald article. Why is that? For example, the article reads, "Instead, (in the deposition) Bianchi said he made the decision not to investigate the sheriff in order to save money through in-house handling of cases involving Nygren's office, rather than hiring private attorneys."

If that's what he really said, it doesn't make any sense at all. Were these words carefully crafted (as attorneys are trained to do), so that a whole sentence could be uttered and be meaningless? I've read that sentence several times. It didn't make any more sense the last time than it did the first time!

Then Bianchi is quoted as saying "I don't want to jeopardize our (the State's Attorney's Office (SAO)) successful representation of the Sheriff ..."

Does that mean that, if the SAO investigated the Sheriff and found wrong-doing (and then had to prosecute the Sheriff), many old cases would be at risk for review and possibly new/different decisions?

For example, what if, during an investigation, it turned out that Nygren wasn't even eligible to hold office and then the case would be that McHenry County had had no elected Sheriff for years? Would every defense attorney run to a judge and ask for convictions of his clients to be vacated, because deputies had had no duly-appointed supervisor (sheriff) and therefore couldn't arrest or otherwise act?

Finally (for this article), look at this carefully-crafted statement, as quoted in the paper today, "We don't have any specific written policy or unwritten that says in this case we're not going to [investigate the sheriff]."

Why was "unwritten" placed after policy, rather than before it? And look at the words "in this case". Every planned word coming out of a lawyer's mouth is important. The choice of words is important. The order of the wording is important.

What will happen on December 22 at 10:00AM in Judge Meyer's courtroom? Let's hope he puts a stop to this nonsense and grants Seipler's request for a Special Prosecutor.

And then what will happen? Will Nygren resign, head south to Cape Coral and hope this all blows over if he is no longer Sheriff?

Sheriff Nygren sued AGAIN

Answer to "A Simple Question", asked last week in this blog.

Sheriff Keith Nygren, Undersheriff Andy Zinke, Cmdr. John L. Miller, Bryan Krause, Sgt. Steven Schmitt, Lt. Ken Nielson, and the County of McHenry are the named Defendants in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Rockford by former Deputy Scott Milliman.

Milliman was a deputy in good standing at the McHenry County Sheriff's Department, until he gave a deposition in November in the lawsuit for Zane Seipler against Sheriff Nygren et al. in his wrongful termination lawsuit, also in the same court. Have you ever been deposed? The person giving the deposition is sworn in; i.e., he is expected to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So, if that truth is "x" and if you are asked a question about "x", then you tell the truth.

The Northwest Herald carried a story late today about the lawsuit, but it didn't provide all the allegations made by Milliman in the lawsuit. Cal Skinner is writing an article and will publish a copy of the lawsuit. See www.mchenrycountyblog.com and the article for a link to the copy of the filing.

In that deposition Milliman gave a sworn statement pertaining to excessive force being used by deputies; retaliation against Milliman and others for reporting unlawful conduct by other deputies; allegations that Nygren was directly involved in ticket-fixing; that Nygren accepted bribes intended to influence his actions as Sheriff; Nygren's "involvement in a scheme to fraudulently procure SBA loans for individuals and share in the proceeds of the loans knowing that the loans were going to default"; Milliman's cooperation with the FBI about corruption in McHenry County; racial profiling by deputies; and general corruption within the Sheriff's Office.

I say that it's too bad that our county's daily newspaper didn't give readers the whole story.

Milliman was placed on administrative leave in November and on December 23, 2010, Miller stripped Milliman of his badge and Department ID.

Milliman was ordered by the sheriff to undergo psychological testing, and then MCSD's Cmdr. Miller is alleged to have contacted the psychologist to provide false, negative information about Milliman to influence the outcome of the testing. I didn't see this in the Northwest Herald article, either!

The lawsuit alleges that Nygren and Miller provided the psychologist with a copy of his November deposition in the Seipler lawsuit.

Milliman's lawsuit contains several Counts -
I. - Freedom of Speech
II. - Freedom of Association
III. - Civil Conspiracy - State Law Claim
IV. - 745 ILCS 10.9-102 State Law Claim

Trial by jury has been requested. Milliman is represented by Thomas C. Crooks, Esq., of Chicago. The Federal Case Number is 3:11-cv-50361, which also was omitted from the Northwest Herald article.

Caldwell in, Gummerson out

What did last Tuesday's hearing in Judge Meyer's court really mean? The one about Zane Seipler's petition for a special prosecutor to investigate Sheriff Keith Nygren.

Here is one guy standing up and putting his money where his mouth is. How many around here to do that? Remember back when Zane filed the first petition? He did so pro se; that is, without an attorney. Pretty quickly he realized that he was going to need an attorney, or his petition would grind to a halt. And so he got an attorney - a good one. Chicago Attorney Blake Horwitz has kept this petition alive, continually filing amended petitions as new information came to light.

I don't know what it has cost Zane so far - my guess is that the legal bill is $70,-100,000 - so far.

There were many court dates when Judge Meyer could have ended Seipler's petition. My experience from being in his courtroom often was that he was looking for every opportunity not to stop it.

The State's Attorney doesn't want to investigate Nygren, saying that he is the sheriff's attorney which, legally, he is. In that position there seems to me to be a clear conflict of interest. And so a Special Prosecutor should be appointed.

The latest step was for the State's Attorney to pull Assistant State's Attorney Don Leist out of the picture, with the result on Tuesday, October 11, that Judge Meyer appointed Woodstock attorney Bill Caldwell to represent the County of McHenry.

Nygren had countered with his own petition late last week, asking that Caldwell not be appointed and asking for the Court to appoint Woodstock attorney Mark Gummerson to represent him "in his official capacity", meaning that the County would pay Gummerson to represent Nygren. Judge Meyer put the kabosh on that by appointing Caldwell to represent the County and refusing to appoint Gummerson as Nygren's taxpayer-supported counsel.

Now, who represents Nygren? Isn't the Sheriff's Department part of the County of McHenry? Opinions outside the courthouse seem to be divided as to whether Bill Caldwell will represent Nygren and the County. If the County and Nygren are at odds, then Caldwell might have a hard time representing both.

I am reminded of the situation in which robbers hit a bank and get arrested. Should they have the same attorney? Even a "Bonnie and Clyde" team? Should they make do with one attorney or should each have his own attorney? I say, separate attorneys. Of course, in our wonderful country you can get only as much justice as you can afford.

It seems to me that Judge Meyer, in appointing Bill Caldwell to represent the County and refusing outside, County-paid, legal services to Nygren as Sheriff, was saying that Caldwell will represent the Sheriff in this case.

Now, aren't they both Republicans? Do they like one another?

But what about the conflict of interest? Seipler's petition claims that Nygren has spent thousands of dollars, wrongfully, to plaster his political badge all over County equipment, property and stationery. How could the same attorney (Caldwell) defend and prosecute Nygren? He can't.

That's why a Special Prosecutor is demanded in this case. And why Judge Meyer should appoint one.

Does Keith Nygren pay property taxes?

Where are all the bashers now who claimed I did not pay real estate property taxes in McHenry County? They came out of the woodwork a while back, during my election campaign and prior to that, and claimed that I was a bad person, because I didn't cough up thousands of dollars a year in property taxes in this county.

Well, folks, take a look at the property tax rolls and see if you can find Keith Nygren's name there. Just go to www.mchenrytreasurer.org

In the center box "Looking up a tax bill", click on "View your tax bill".

Then click on the button for "Owner Name" and enter Nygren.

You won't find Keith there.

OK, so maybe he rents at the Crystal Lake address he uses for a voting address. Keith is registered to vote from an address that provides his voting place as Lundahl Junior High School in Crystal Lake.

Is Keith a bad person because he doesn't pay property taxes? Where does that $145,000 salary go? That's over $12,000/month - a nice deposit in his bank account while he is vacationing in Cape Coral or Minocqua or Galena.

Now, remember that in Mark Gummerson's petition last week that Nygren claimed to be a taxpayer and would be paying, in effect, the expenses for the legal case against him if Attorney Bill Caldwell is recognized by the Court to replace Don Leist from the State's Attorney's office?

Was a false statement made to the Court?

Seipler v. Nygren - enter Mark Gummerson?

Just got a call from a reader who asked me if I had read Cal Skinner's article yet on McHenry County Blog - about Nygren and Mark Gummerson. No, I haven't. I now know it's there, and I am going to read it, for sure. But first I'm going to write my own article.

Of course, I read the Northwest Herald article this morning, which let Sheriff Keith Nygren whine at the top of Page 1. I still get a print edition at home every morning, just so I can have fun with the scissors and slice out all the fodder for the day's grist mill.

Early this afternoon I was at the courthouse, where I read (some of) the petition that was filed by R. Mark Gummerson in 10MR000011, which is the case by Zane Seipler in which Zane asks for a special prosecutor to investigate Nygren.

The ten-page petition, which would take a Philadelphia lawyer a week to understand and will probably take Judge Meyer a year on which to rule, lays out, in high-falutin' terms (all legalese, of course)), why Attorney William Caldwell cannot be appointed to represent Nygren. Not "should not". Not "could not". Why he CAN not be appointed.

How many months will it take to argue that Motion, which will probably have to be cleared away before Zane's request can be ruled on?

Zane's legal action names Nygren, in his official capacity and personally. In yesterday's petition Nygren asks for Gummerson to be appointed to defend him "in his official capacity.".

OK, folks. Mind those four little words carefully - "in his official capacity". Then start putting a whole lot of dollar signs behind them. If Nygren ran off to Gummerson's office (or, more likely, told Gummerson to hot-foot it over to 2200 N. Seminary Ave.) to get the ball rolling on the petition that was filed yesterday, don't you just have to wonder what the legal fee was for that? There's the start-up time, the research time, the drafting time, the time in the office for 2-3 lawyers to "confer". Yesterday's peition was not of the "off the shelf" variety. I'll bet the fee just for the petition was $5,-10,000. And from what fund will that be paid? The McHenry County Sheriff's Department's budget. That's my guess, anyway.

I laughed out loud at Paragraph 10. "It is not in the best interests of the County of McHenry for the Court to grant (Seipler's) petition" for a special prosecutor.

Well, duh... of course, it's not in the best interests of McHenry County. Just imagine what could come to light.

On the contrary! The "County of McHenry" is the People, not Sheriff Keith Nygren. It's the People, Keith. The people whom you swore to serve and protect. Those people, Keith. Us!!!

So, yes, it is in our best interests for a special prosecutor to investigate Sheriff Keith Nygren, in his official capacity and personally.

Is Nygren trying to run out the clock? Stall, stall, stall? With Undersheriff Andy Zinke's having announced an election campaign for THREE years from now (2014!!!), should we expect Nygren to bail sooner, so that his hand-picked successor can slide right in?

Let's hope that Judge Meyer rules immediately that he will not appoint Mark Gummerson as Nygren's attorney. If Keith wants to hire him at his personal expense, fine.

But isn't there a strong conflict-of-interest? Gummerson is known as a defense attorney. He's in the courthouse every day, fighting tickets issued to his clients by McHenry County Sheriff's deputies. Doesn't this put him on the other side of the "fence"?

Sure, they can both belong to the Republican Party. They can hobnob socially and smile and be friendly. But in legal matters, doesn't Gummerson's role as a defense attorney preclude his representing Nygren in any case. Might Gummerson be able to learn insider information that could help him (unfairly) to win a case in court? Just thinkin' ...

$6,000 - not a felony?

One employee gets a 29-day suspension recently for what may have been a $6,000 "theft" of County money for false claims for over-time pay, yet previous employees were much more harshly disciplined by Sheriff Keith Nygren following a 1998 matter. You be the judge...

Was Nygren just flexing his muscle then, after only about a year on the job as Sheriff? What has happened over the years? Why is $6,000 not a felony?

"The McHenry County Merit Commission Thursday gave county jailer Brenda Goodwin a 60-day suspension without pay for allegedly participating in a $315 payroll fraud scheme.

"Special Assistant State's Atty. James Harrison, representing Sheriff Keith Nygren, said he will appeal the decision to the McHenry County Circuit Court. Nygren wanted the commission to fire Goodwin.

 "In August 1998, Goodwin was accused of helping former guard Alan Witort get paid for three sick days when he should have been charged for vacation days.

"As a result, Witort improperly received pay for three days of unused vacation when he quit the department, according to Nygren. A third guard, Sgt. Darren Garrison, was fired for his role in the alleged scheme.

"Witort, Goodwin and Garrison were indicted by a McHenry County grand jury in August 1998. 

The charges were all Class 3 felonies punishable by 2 to 5 years in prison

'Case law in the State of Illinois is clear as a bell,' Harrison said."

Can you believe running off to a Grand Jury over $315? So, why wouldn't Nygren head for the Grand Jury over $6,000? 

Should the Grand Jury look into Nygren's conduct? Should a Special Prosecutor be looking into Nygren's actions and decision-making (or lack thereof) in this recent case?

Does a person's signature change over the years?

How much does a person's signature change over the years? Now, I'm not talking about a lot of years, like from grade school to applying for Social Security retirement income. I'm talking, say, the last five years.

Take a look at Keith Nygren's signature on the termination letter he sent to Scott Milliman, dated August 17. You can see it on Cal Skinner's blog right here: http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2011/08/19/the-letter-firing-mchenry-county-sheriffs-deputy-scott-milliman/comment-page-1/#comment-110412

It resembles very closely the signature that sometimes appears on Media Releases on the sheriff's website (when he is in town to sign them, which isn't all that often).

Now, compare the 8/17/2011 signature with Nygren's signature on the Second Home Rider for his mortgage on his Florida home. Does that look like Nygren's signature to you? (To enlarge this image, click on it (you can click twice if you want to). Then, to come back here, click on the Back button on your browser.

Wouldn't be interesting to have a graphoanalyst examine both signatures and give an opinion? Not only could such an expert opine as to whether two different people signed those signatures, but s/he could tell us a lot about the person who signed each name. Open up a second window and pull up the McHenry County Blog article. Then toggle back and forth and look at both signatures.

Now the questions are: who signed Keith's name on the mortgage rider? If not Keith, what officer at Home State Bank watched someone sign that rider, knowing it wasn't Keith? Or was the Rider signed out of the presence of a bank officer, and then the reviewing officer just "assumed" that Keith had signed it.

No one can sign anyone else's name to anything without legal authority. That's why the Undersheriff now puts his "AZ" by Keith's name on the Media Releases. That little detail slipped by everyone (heh-heh), until I called them on it earlier this year. Picky, picky, picky. You bet! If someone happened to hold Keith's Power of Attorney for signing that Rider, then that person was required to sign it as the holder of the Power and so notate on the document.

So, what do you think? Did Keith sign both the Rider and Milliman's letter?

Special Prosecutor costs, if after Nygren

What will it cost McHenry County taxpayers, if Judge Meyer give a green light for appointment of a Special Prosecutor to investigate wrongdoing by McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren?

Taxpayers are reeling over the bills and anticipated future billings in the failed Special Prosecutor tag-team match of Tonigan/McQueen against Ekl.

County Board members are posturing now (elections are coming up, folks) to save face and cry over spilt milk. Why weren't they screaming bloody murder months and months ago? Why ever did they roll over and allow the blank check to the special prosecutors? What gives a judge the right to order unlimited spending of taxpayer dollars?

Why didn't the County Board say, a long time ago, "Here's $100,000. Go for it. Make it last. There won't be any more."

Remember this at election time, folks.

Now, what about the costs to go after Nygren? Read the following message on the website of Zane Seipler's Chicago attorney, Blake Horwitz: www.theblakehorwitzlawfirm.com/in-the-news-2/costs-special-prosecutor/

Endorsement by elected official?

A reader contacted me today to ask if I thought the Sheriff's testimonial in a paid commercial ad looked like an improper use of an elected official's title. (The reader has no affiliation with the McHenry County Sheriff's Department.)

What do you think?

There is a full-page ad on the last page of today's Sidetracks in the Northwest Herald. The ad is for Donley's Old West Steakhouse. Randy Donley is a County Board member, representing District 6.

Here's how the testimonial reads:

"I've held several fundraisers at Donley's. The food is delicious, the service and surroundings are exceptional and their pricing has always been the best!" - Sheriff Keith Nygren"

Because he mentions the fundraisers, the Sheriff is obviously referring to political events. His praise is nice, but is there any chance he got a break on pricing because he is Sheriff? or because he is a Republican? or for any other reason? When does the Sheriff submit his budget to the County Board?

Is it appropriate for him to use "Sheriff" in his testimonial, since the events were political fundraisers? I suspect there are many who would prefer that he had just used his name without the title of his elected office.

Are there other questions to ask about the use of his title in a testimonial? Is it legal? Is it ethical?

My thanks to that reader who contacted me. I'm wondering if others wondered the same thing. Did you? Do you? (Did you even notice the testimonial? (I didn't))

Harassment at courthouse must stop!

This morning I witnessed overt harassment at the McHenry County Courthouse (Government Center) and had to wonder why the courthouse security officers didn't stop it. (Psst... I'll tell you why they didn't stop it - they were the ones doing it!)

When Scott Milliman and his mother (and other family members) entered this courthouse for today's hearings that pertain to his brother's killing on May 29, Scott and his mother were stopped and given special scanning - even though they passed through the scanner without triggering an alarm.

A court security guard was waiting for them. When he saw them come through the doors, he got ready. As Scott walked through the scanner, he was stopped for the extra search. The guard was polite, and I'm sure he was only doing what he had been ordered to do.

Scott's mother was also searched with the wand.

What are we dealing with here? Since when do the relatives of a victim of a heinous crime get specially selected for a wand search - and each time they enter the courthouse, since this happened last week, too.

Who would give the orders? Chief of Security Howard Parth. But would he do it on his own? Not likely. Would Undersheriff Zinke give the orders? who would tell Zinke to treat the Milliman relatives in this fashion? Where does Zinke get his marching orders?

Contrast this with what happened in the courtroom today, when Timothy Smith, charged with first-degree murder, was brought into the courtroom - not even in handcuffs! Or when Kimberly Smith, his wife, was brought in for her hearing. No handcuffs. Of course, she is not charged with being an accomplice or a co-conspirator with her husband on the murder charge. Some wonder why not!

Judge Prather read the charges to Timothy Smith and informed him that he is at risk of 45-Years-to-Life for a sentence, because a deadly weapon was used in the crime. Let's say it takes a year to convict him; he'll be 28. Add 45. He'll be 73 when he gets out, assuming no reduction in sentence or allowance for good behavior. Do you think he might be thinking pretty hard right now about everything that happened that night?

I myself don't think the whole story has been told yet - and maybe not even the true story yet.

Crime Stoppers offers $1,000 reward

While looking for the press release on the sheriff's website pertaining to the crash of the MCSD patrol vehicles on June 8, I did find a press release about a $1,000 reward offered by Crime Stoppers for McHenry County.

An unspecified amount of Azek-brand decking material was stolen from Woolf Distributing, 8550 Ridgefield Road, unincorporated McHenry County near Crystal Lake. The press release less-accurately reports the area as "unincorporated Crystal Lake." Well, "there ain't no such place", as my dad used to say. A building is either in Crystal Lake or it's not.

The press release bears the signature of Sheriff Keith Nygren. Well, not really. The undersheriff has been practicing Keith's signature, but now he correctly (and legally) places his initials "AZ" when he signs Keith's name.

Wouldn't you think that the Undersheriff would have the authority to issue such a bland press release over his own signature?

Where was the Sheriff on June 10th? Back in Minocqua? How many days of vacation is Nygren going to take before June 30th??? He came into town for the Feldkamp photo op, which could have been handled by Zinke, but he didn't bother himself to come back for the Milliman shooting, which would be an active murder investigation. Did he fly back? At whose expense?

Public building - sheriff was wrong

On Wednesday Sheriff Keith Nygren of the McHenry County Sheriff's Department conducted a press conference for "credentialed media" in a conference room in the public building of the McHenry County Government Center, a taxpayer-supported building.

However, he limited admittance to the building's conference room and kept Cal Skinner (McHenry County Blog) and me out.

Nygren was wrong. He improperly (and perhaps illegally) prohibited members of the public and electronic media from attending this meeting. Since it was held in a taxpayer-supported building and outside a "secure" portion of the building, such as the Jail, it should have been open to Cal Skinner and me.

I'm awaiting the Public Information and Media Relations Policy, for which I submitted a Freedom of Information Act request on Wednesday, before I left the building. Obviously, Lt. Miller could have given me a copy of it on the spot, but he told me I could FOIA it. The FOIA window was right across the hallway, and that's exactly what I did. So much for conserving taxpayer money and employee time!

As I've written before, the McHenry County Sheriff's Department could take a PR lesson from the little Round Lake Park (Ill.) Police Department. There, the chief was open, transparent, friendly, took questions, and made no deal whatsoever of my attendance at a press conference, where he announced that the body of a woman missing for more than a week had been found.

If you watched the video of the press conference on the Northwest Herald website, you had to wonder why Nygren stumbled through the reading of it. Maybe he was airsick from the flight in. To me, it sounded like he was reading from the Northwest Herald article. A lawman with 40 years' experience should have been able to just stand there and speak about it!

Press conference Wednesday

Is it true that Sheriff Keith Nygren flew back to Woodstock (that's, by air) for Wednesday's 1:00PM press conference about the Feldkamp murders in Marengo?

Help me here, folks. Two murders, one serious injury, murderer shot dead ... and the sheriff flies back for a photo op.

And about a week before, a man is killed by gunshot, suspect is charged with first-degree murder and suspect's wife also arrested, but not a peep out of the sheriff?

Which murder investigation demands the presence of the top cop in the county? The one with the assailant dead or the one with the alleged killer in custody?

If Nygren was on vacation in Minocqua, who paid for his flight back? The County? And who will pay for him to get back to his vacation?

Where's my FOIA request form???

FEN questions new blog's purpose

In today's edition of First Electric Newspaper, the publisher mentions a new blog that is being published that contains internal investigations of deputies who have been "behaving badly off-duty." Such behaviors include intoxication, DUI and getting arrested in Wisconsin for disorderly conduct.

That new blog is http://www.realmcsoexposed.blogspot.com/, and FEN reports, "Absent exegesis it's not clear what  the reports are supposed to prove."

 First, I had to look up "exegesis"; according to the online Merriam-Webster dictionary, the defintion is "an explanation or critical interpretation of a text."

Let me offer an answer. What are the reports supposed to prove? They are supposed to show that the dirt being circulated about some deputies at the McHenry County Sheriff's Department may be true and that it gets swept under the rug far too often.

The Sheriff can handle the "dirt" administratively, as long as he doesn't impose a discipline that is greater than 30 days. If the discipline is longer than 30 days, he must go to the Sheriff's Department Merit Commission, where the five-member, hand-picked crowd can approve what he wants to do. But he has to go there. And once there, it becomes public record, because the Merit Commission is a "public body" and subject to FOIA and the Open Meetings Act.

By being able to handle disciplines of 30 days or less "quietly", the public never learns about them. Until someone leaks information. And that person does so at great risk.

That's why the public didn't hear about the drunken deputies leaving the Red Mill Inn (under its former ownership) and driving while DUI. Or about the deputy who pushed another deputy down, causing an injury. Or the deputies who prevented that injured deputy from calling Woodstock P.D. to report it (that's a felony right there - interfering with a person who wants to call for help). Or whoever at the sheriff's department lied to the Woodstock Police detective who inquired about the DUIs and the battery.

I was told that at least three deputies got 30-day administrative leaves.

McHenry County needs and deserves a squeaky-clean sheriff's department. Voters missed an opportunity last November to push Keith Nygren into retirement. By now many are probably wishing they had. Why? The sheriff sold his Hebron home two days after taking office and then refused to yield the residence to the purchaser for four months; revelations by Deputy Scott Milliman about involvement in alleged criminal activity; loss in lawsuits but continued appeals, which run up legal expenses; the sheriff's extended vacation immediately after yielding the house and moving to a small condo in Crystal Lake.

When a long-time deputy and someone who was close to the sheriff for years gives a sworn statement that Nygren is not squeaky clean, it doesn't sound like sour grapes to me. Where is the thorough, independent investigation and the "unpaid administrative leave" for the sheriff?

Racial profiling - is it? was it?

When will the issue of racial profiling at the McHenry County Sheriff's Department be put to rest? And how?

Will an outside, independent, trustworthy agency be brought in to investigate? Or will the sheriff's department investigate itself - again?

What will they find?

I remember the phone call I received one day after rollcall. "They told us, 'Just mark everybody down as white.'" Now that's a good way to end racial profiling, isn't it? Seems like some of the deputies did just that.

And I remember the statement to Judge Mahoney in Federal Court in Rockford by the sheriff's own attorney: "...Seipler was terminated for complaining about racial profiling."

Now we all know how I have complained about not being able to hear so well in McHenry County Courtrooms. Could I have "mis-heard" in Rockford? Let's see what the transcript of that fateful day in Rockford has to say:

"MS. BARTON: Because Mr. Seipler was terminated for complaining about racial profiling. ..." [Page 6, Lines 21-22]

Well, I guess the way I wrote it down right in front of Judge Mahoney was pretty accurate; right?

How many investigations were there at the sheriff's department into racial profiling, before and during the early parts of Zane Seipler's civil rights lawsuit against the Sheriff and the Department? Three?

If there is a "current" investigation, could it possibly come up with any other result than "No racial profiling"? If it did, how would they ever explain away the results of the first three "investigations"?

Wait! Breaking News: SEE http://dailyherald.com/article/20110525/news/705259788/  The Sheriff says there is no racial profiling. Four deputies just "mis-marked" citations.

Oh, my. Thank goodness...  Somehow, I think this isn't the end of things...

I'm reading an interesting book right now - Hoodwinked, by Jack Cashill. On January 24, 1980, author and progressive Mary McCarthy was a guest on The Dick Cavett Show. She had this to say about Lillian Hellman, as she answered a question from Cavett about her accusation that Hellman was "tremendously overrated, a bad writer, and a dishonest writer." She added, "I said once in some interview that every word she (Hellman) writes is a lie, including 'and' and 'the.'" (Hoodwinked, by Jack Cashill. pp. 37-40, Nelson Currant, Nashville, Tenn.)

Got a serious gripe against MCSD?

There is an online petition being circulated to request the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the McHenry County Sheriff Department.

There are many good employees at the Sheriff's Department; the petition is not aimed at them. However, there seem to be numerous questionable practices reaching the public eye, such as the current attention to racial profiling.

The current online petition can be found at www.rightsworkinggroup.org/content/stop-racial-profiling-mchenry-county-il  The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR - http://www.icirr.org/) is sponsoring this petition. ICIRR doesn't like the racial profiling that has been revealed at the the McHenry County Sheriff's Department and which has been publicized in a Federal civil rights lawsuit being heard in Rockford.

It seems to me that Sheriff Keith Nygren was on the Board (of Directors? of Trustees?) of ICIRR not too long ago. I saw his name on the list on ICIRR's website. When I looked the next time, it was gone. Trying to get the dates from ICIRR of his medmbership on the Board is as hard as trying to get Board information out of Crime Stoppers of McHenry County. What is the secrecy all about?

Online petitions may or may not be effective. It probably depends on what really happens to all the names and information gathered and whether the "signers" of an online petition can be verified. If you are in favor of the topic of the petition, add your electronic signature.

But you might also take a more direct route and file any complaint directly with the U.S. Department of Justice. Visit http://www.justice.gov/ and click on "Contact Us", then on "Submit a Complaint" in the DOJ box to he right. Then click on "Complaint against DOJ employee or DOJ funded organization". From there, choose your options.

Sheriff wastes over $300,000

According to the Northwest Herald this morning, the McHenry County Sheriff's Department is finally squaring up with Deputy Bob Schlenkert, and it's costing the Sheriff's Department over $300,000 to do so.

Schlenkert is to receive $185,684 in back wages for the period September 13, 2007 to April 12, 2010, plus $5,646.12 for medical expense reimbursement. That's $191,000+. Estimating the cost of the Sheriff's wasteful legal actions at another $100,000 and the possibility that the sheriff's department might have to pay Schlenkert's legal costs, the Department wasted over $300,000.

The Northwest Herald said, "Because Schlenkert's position was held open, his pay already was part of the office's budget." The newspaper article attempted to minimize the outlay, for people who just read the first paragraph of a story, by first reporting it as "$130,000 in lost wages," because Schlenkert must reimburse IDES for $51,764 unemployment pay he received.

Does that mean that the sheriff expected to lose? If the position was "held open", does that mean that the County did without a deputy on patrol in that position? If it doesn't mean that, then where did the money come from to pay for the replacement deputy who filled in for Schlenkert? And was that deputy laid off, when Schlenkert returned to duty?

Taxpayers should keep in mind that at least two other deputies are cooling their heels and expect to win back their positions. Zane Seipler has won legal actions before an arbitrator and a McHenry County judge. Yet Sheriff Nygren continues to fight an uphill battle and has his outside lawyers in Elgin now, hoping for a victory in the Appellate Court. When he loses there, will he head for the Illinois Supreme Court and waste more taxpayer dollars?

And Deputy Scott Milliman, who was paid while on administrative leave, is now off pay status. Yet the sheriff hasn't fired him. He had taken him off active duty and then stopped paying him.

Now, how does this work in the wonderful world of HR rules? Can you just send somebody home, pay him for a while, then stop paying him, but never tell him that you are firing him? Seems like this should have been presented to the Merit Commission a long time ago?

Milliman ought to show back up at the office, dressed for duty and ready to go to work. Otherwise, the sheriff might say that Milliman didn't come to work, so he is letting him go. Milliman would have a problem now dressing for work, because the Department recently confiscated his uniforms.

Maybe the battery is dead in the sheriff's cell phone and he can't be reached to make decisions. Why doesn't Undersheriff Zinke take action? Isn't he in charge when the sheriff is on vacation and out of the country? Of course, it could be hazardous to his own position, if he made an independent decision to go against his boss's (wrong) decisions.

Is the Undersheriff even around? Last week I sent an email to him and also to the general email address for the sheriff? It was a politely-worded request about an incomplete press release, but no one had the courtesy of replying.

Chicago Tribune editorializes on MCSD

Look at what Sheriff Nygren's attorney, James Sotos, told the Chicago Tribune: "The sheriff is committed to ensuring that there is no racial profiling at the sheriff's department."

Look at, and understand, the words. Lawyers are good at using a lot of words so that people really don't understand what is being said. Is this a classic example?

He didn't say, "There isn't acial profiling." He didn't say, "There will not be racial profiling." What he said was, "The sheriff is committed to ensuring ..." That's not the same thing. That's a statement that is not measurable and attaches no accountability. How do you measure commitment?

You can read Tuesday's editorial in the Chicago Tribune right here: www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-profiling-20110329,0,5937494.story

The Tribune has this to say about "mislabeling" in the McHenry County Sheriff's Department: "In 2006, 1 in 8 likely Hispanics who were ticketed in McHenry was labeled as white or was not logged. By 2009, the Tribune reported, the error rate had spiked to 1 in 3."

But remember that Sheriff Nygren confidently announced that his (first) investigation revealed no profiling. And so did the second. Only after a smart, out-of-McHenry-County (read, Chicago Loop) attorney got involved did the profiling bubble up to the surface where it counted - in Federal Court.

Why did Zane Seipler go to Chicago for an attorney? Why did Jerome Pavin go to Chicago for an attorney? Why did the Estate of David Maxson go to Chicago for an attorney?

Heck, why did Sheriff Nygren go out of McHenry County for an attorney?