City vs. BOFPC (and Gorski) - Round 2

Tomorrow morning, Friday, August 15, the City of Woodstock heads back into court against its own Board of Fire and Police Commissioners. Judge Maureen McIntyre should be hearing from the attorneys what they talked about in the past 30 days, when the City's attorney asked for 30 days to "discuss" matters with the attorney for Sgt. Steve Gorski.

Sgt. Gorski is the 19-year employee of the Woodstock Police Department that the chief is trying to fire. Sgt. Gorski is the same 19-year employee that the three-man Board of Fire and Police Commissioners decided on February 14 was not guilty of any major infraction. The Board told the chief and the City to pay him his back wages, which were due since August 2007.

Has the City of Woodstock paid him, as directed by its own civilian Board? NO.

Instead, the police chief filed in Circuit Court claiming that the City's own Board did not make the right decision and did not make it in the right way.

How much is it costing Woodstock for its legal advice in this matter? $250/hour? $300/hour? Or is there a flat rate of $5,-10,000 or more?

Even though the case is against the Board, the Board was not represented at the last court appearance. WHY NOT? Why would the primary defendants not even show up for court? Could it be because this court case is not really against the Board, but against Gorski?

The chief named Sgt. Gorski in his Complaint about the Board's decision-making abilities, forcing Sgt. Gorski to hire legal defense and appear in court. After court, I heard Sgt. Gorski's attorney, Tom Loizzo, tell the woman lawyer from the City Attorney's office to tell Rich Flood to call him. Has Rich Flood called Tom Loizzo? If so, when? Will he call today, the day before the City is expected back in court?

What will happen tomorrow morning?

Will Sgt. Gorski's attorney file a Motion to have Sgt. Gorski dismissed from the City's case against the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners? After all, why was he included in the first place. It was the decision of the Board that the chief didn't like!

Will his attorney file a Motion that Gorski should be paid his back wages?

Or should he file a wage lawsuit against the City and request punitive damages; say, triple the amount of unpaid wages?

Will the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners be represented by legal counsel tomorrow morning?

Will the two sides deal tomorrow with the Scheduling Conference that was the purpose of last month's court date? Why didn't they deal with that then?

Why didn't the Judge put a stop to this nonsense and delay by insisting on scheduling and not allow a 30-day foot-dragging delay? Maybe because she wasn't asked to?

In the chief's Complaint, which was filed in March 2008, he did not ask the Court if the City could withhold paying Sgt. Gorski his back wages. Therefore, by what authority did the City fail to honor the decision and direction of its own Board and decide not to pay Sgt. Gorski his back wages?

What Woodstock needs is more people paying attention to what is going on. If our City Council and Mayor knew that the residents (the Voters) were actually minding the store and that they would be accountable for their actions (and inactions), both during their terms and at the voting booth at the next election, then they would be addressing issues like this and not letting them fester.

© 2008 GUS PHILPOTT