Darien to consider its plans for patrols
DARIEN — The last time the village board agenda was this full, the meeting lasted more than four hours, Darien Village Board President Evelyn Etten said.
The board Monday night could take action on the future of police patrols in the village, among other things.
The Darien Police Committee on Wednesday unanimously voted against recommending Walworth County Sheriff David Graves’ proposal to provide patrol services in the village.
When village and county services are compared apples to apples, village police would cost $50,000 less than the county, Etten said.
“We can still keep our police department and run it more cost effectively,” Etten said.
Graves’ proposal didn’t include crossing guards, the department’s phone system and a part-time police clerk position, she said. Those items add up to $29,000, she said.
At the board’s request, Graves in February presented a plan to provide full-time patrol services in the village. The start-up cost for the program would be $496,820, Graves said.
At a special board meeting in December, the village board voted to seek information from Graves. At the time, Etten said the vote was meant to seek management of the village department. The board intends village officers to keep working in the village, she said then.
That vote was the board’s first step to replace Police Chief Steve DeVoy. DeVoy was suspended with pay Dec. 1, 2008. In March 2009, the board voted to fire him, but a hearing was pending to uphold or reject that decision.
A settlement came days before the hearing. The village will pay DeVoy $30,000 plus paid leave for six months on top of the 11 months he was paid while suspended and $35,000 for accrued holiday, vacation and sick time.
DeVoy will resign in May, according to the settlement agreement.
Village board members said they were hesitant to hire a new police chief. Etten told the Gazette it would be possible to hire a consultant to temporarily manage the department while the board seeks a new chief.
“An outside service would be a better solution than having Mr. Dennison or the board or (Sgt. Mike) Maltese making that decision,” Etten said.
The board also could vote on board member Craig McCue’s status. McCue has been absent since August when he had a stroke. He has told Etten and the Gazette he plans to stay on the board.
IF YOU GO
What: Regular meeting of the Darien Village Board
When: 7 p.m. Monday
Where: Darien Village Hall, 24 N. Wisconsin St.
Details: The board could talk about and vote on the police committee’s recommendation to keep a village police department rather than contract with the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office for patrol services.
Mar 16, 2010 at 8:41 p.m.
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I heard Maltese thinks he's too experienced to get hired by the sheriffs office so he wants to block them from taking over.
Sheriff Graves heard the same thing. He laughed.
Mar 16, 2010 at 8:17 p.m.
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Oplease=debi O I have seen your and EE's work at board meetings and I seem to recall both of you acting very unprofessionally. Including, yelling at and slandering other board members. Mr. Dennison works very hard for the village while you seem to work hard for a disgraced person who did nothing for the village, he only took from it. Thousands of documents to show the proof of what he did. Did you ever check that out? I didn't think so. Getting back to anger management, I think you should check out your own little tirade at the end of the 12/01/08 board meeting. That may refresh your memory.
Mar 16, 2010 at 9:23 a.m.
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oplease: you are right. I bet they looked around and said to themselves, "Sgt can't do anything right or for himself. We can't just wait around for him to do something positive for a change."
There is a line dividing that police department as obvious as there is a line dividing this village board.
Mar 16, 2010 at 9:19 a.m.
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I mean look at it, you have board members telling the Sgt. to stop using the "acting chief" title and he just ignores them knowing that he is protected on the side of these same crooked board members that now "don't want to spend the money" to look into the valid charges filed against him.
Mar 16, 2010 at 9:16 a.m.
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Dennison does not interact with the village board as someone that he works for. Anyone that knows the situation here knows that Dennison feels that he is so protected by the majority crooked board members (past and present) that he thinks the board works for HIM. Because he is the "village administrator" kinda like an "acting chief".
Mar 16, 2010 at 9:12 a.m.
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Why is everyone so blind to what is going on here? Doesn't anyone find it interesting that Officer Mair is putting together power point presentations and going to bat for the police department and NOT the Sgt. who likes to call himself the "acting chief"??? The answer is just as we have been saying all along, he doesn't know what he is doing, let alone, giving a speech on why he should be saved to keep doing it. Even the DarienGals of the world cannot glaze over this one.
Mar 15, 2010 at 10:04 p.m.
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DarienGal, you have no idea what is and has been going on up until this point so I guess I cannot fault you for being completely clueless. You are being lied to.
Mar 15, 2010 at 2:52 p.m.
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Life: Just what is your issue with Mr. Dennison anyway? Maybe your username should be changed to 'getalife' since you can't seem to get off of Mr. Dennison's back and have had issues with him since he came to this village. He has done nothing but try to do what is right for this village. HE TAKES DIRECTION FROM THE BOARD!!! If you have issues with what has been done, go after the board and leave Mr. Dennison out of it. Oh and by the way, GET A LIFE for real, cause if Mr. Dennison is the worst thing you have to worry about in life I'd like to know your secret.
Mar 15, 2010 at 9:02 a.m.
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don't forget about his brother dennison.
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