Sauk Village board votes to lay off 2 workers to pay police chief

SAUK VILLAGE | The Village Board voted Monday to lay off two members of the Police Department and offer a $75,000 salary to Chief Robert Fox.

"I do not believe we have to lay anybody off in order to pay the police chief," Village President Lewis Towers said. "Our village manager and finance director have provided us with options, but the board has decided not to act upon those options."

The layoffs were approved 2-1. Trustees David Hanks and Derrick Burgess voted yes. Enoch Benson voted no, and Robert Chavez, Ed Myers and Rosie Williams abstained.

The motion to offer Fox $75,000 passed by a 4-2 vote, with Williams and Benson voting no.

On Jan. 24, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Pantle ruled Towers had the right to appoint Fox as police chief and that the village had to pay him for his work. A majority of the board had been at odds with Towers on how to pay Fox because no money was budgeted for the new position.

Williams said Village Manager Henrietta Turner submitted three options to help cover the cost. The first was to reduce police overtime by $70,000. The second was to use an anticipated tax increase of 3 percent that the village hopes to get at the end of the year. The third was to reorganize civilian personnel in the Police Department. That reorganization was estimated to save $37,000.

Williams said the board reviewed all three options but believed they would not work out as planned.

"The bottom line is that these three suggestions would not result in an amount that could be used to pay the police chief," Williams said.

Hanks then made the motion to lay off two workers.

After a lengthy and somewhat acrimonious discussion, the motion passed. The board then set Fox's salary at $75,000. That amount is considered very low for a police chief in the south suburbs.

The board instructed the village attorney to inform the judge if Fox turns down the offer.

Towers said the reduction in overtime was all that was needed to pay Fox's salary.

"We have police officers who made $30,000 to $40,000 in overtime alone last year," Towers said. "Something is very wrong in our Police Department. That is why I need to bring someone in from the outside to fix the serious problem we have. We do not need to lay anyone off. We just need to live within our means."

It was unclear how quickly anyone would be laid off. It also was unclear if Fox would accept the offer.