pilot- ?

So why did the other blog get shut down, anyone know?

justme2
I know who you are. Why are you so unhappy that you need to lash out at others? Is your life now less than blissful with the hubby?
I suggest you get new denture creme and maybe you'll feel better.
Or maybe not! LOL!

bob_the_builder-I do not have an axe to grind, just tired of people that are full of bs. Sorry not the gf of her ex don't even know him.
I could care less about the weather in ND.
You are clueless.

Yah, give me a break about the village president. We get one that actually CARES about the village and us in it, and we have the conspirators on here bashing her like she is out for herself because she asked for compensation for her wireless plan. If I were her and had an hour drive to work and spent it trying to babysit the village on my commute home, I would want some coin thrown my way too seeing as the village has an endless supply of $$$ for everything else. Why are some so blind?

Justme2
You seem to have a real axe to grind with EE..I too checked out all of you posts and they are full of hatred towards EE..
What's the problem?
Sounds to me like you must be a gf of her ex??
What's the weather like in ND?

justme2- you obviously don't care much for the vp. Do you agree with her - being against the proposed waterpark?

Justme2,

You’re worried about a little phone bill but yet you have no comments about new signs, new tractors with snow blowers to do business's sidewalks. And Part-time employees having full time benefits. And not to forget the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on a witch-hunt? All these things that previous board members and Machi have allowed. I think if you check even MD gets a phone allowance and mileage in his contract. I agree totally about wasteful spending, in fact I was the one who always got shot down trying to save the village money. But the people like EE and DO are still out numbered just like I was. And until the other board members realize that we will soon be a suburb of Delavan and no longer a Village because of their fruitful spending I will back the new board members. Because the old members are the ones that have gotten us in this situation not EE,CM,DO.

pilot- our new vp is already asking us to pay towards her phone bill, what next, her taxes because she has to live here. She is not out to save us any money, you will see with time, and then we will see who is eating crow.

There just has got to be something HUGE that they are all banding together to try and hide. This might be more than just eating crow on the DeVoy situation. oplease nailed it. Going against legal counsel is just out and out dumb. How are they able to live among us in the village and look us in the eye?

oplease has a good point. The prior village board hired Hazelbaker, and 3 of those board members remain on the board. Why are they now resisting the advice of the very attorney they hired?

Maybe because they are blinded by their own vendettas so much that they think even an experienced attorney - that THEY hired - is stupid.

That is not only one-track minded, but ignorant. Those 4 board members are more than willing to cost this village even thousands of MORE dollars just to have their own petty way.

Good luck in them getting re-elected, as their agendas do NOT include representing voters and taxpayers AT ALL.

Voters are smarter than those 4 board members give them credit for.

I had a thought today that maybe others have thought of but I hadn't seen it on here. If Chief DeVoy was such a time waster with e-mails or whatever, WHY would he ask for cameras to be installed in his own office?!?!

And WHY when the cameras were discovered, didn't the board say something like "Wow, cameras in the police department, something must be pretty messed up for that to have happened, let's talk to the Chief, this is concerning for the citizens of Darien."

(over a half a year later, then get his side of the story)

(but only after we wipe his name in the paper and run his wallet empty)

Oh, wait, that's right, cuz the ResponsibleCitizens and levelheadeds say there is no conspiracy or vendetta. That's why.

justme2 I clicked on your name to see your prior posts and I have to say you are one of the most negative people on this blog.
You have some problem with the new VP but it's unclear why and seems to be unfounded.
If Metzner is your idea of fair government that represents the people - you must be him.

I'll be moderating a chat tonight from 5-7 PM for anyone who's interested in discussing any topics relating to Darien.

http://www.urwebchat.com/robbymccall

ResponsibleCitizen- you could just send them a box of chocolate. lol

if you are going to start a recall, start one on Evelyn Etten & Debi Olmstead!

WiSpedTeacher and one943 did you ever think that's what the 4 board members wanted was for the chief to run out of money?
Its obvious that the chief was fired illegally and maybe that's the only way they thought of to save face - by running his funds dry.
If thats the case they are sadly mistaken because there are too many eyes on this case now, from all over SE Wi.
I think the copperguy is right - recalls need to happen ASAP so the corruption stops.

One943
He can file a suit and ask for attorney's fees, but it's not a guarantee.. It's a BIG risk..
Plus how many people have that much $$ sitting around for a retainer?

copperguy check your email.

one943: I think you are oversimplifying just a bit. If he is reinstated by the Hearing Examiner, he can ASK the Examiner to order some amount of reimbursement. There's no statute providing for such reimbursement, so it's quite "iffy." He could sue for reimbursement in Circuit Court. But, that would most likely not be a case that an attorney would take on contingency, which means he would again have to pay attorney fees as the case proceeded and hope for a favorable outcome.

As it is, and as windixie discussed, Chief DeVoy has forked out easily $15K - $20K (likely more) already. Then, Mr. Hazelbaker comes back with directions from the VB to negotiate a settlement. Again, another few thousand dollars spent by Chief DeVoy IN GOOD FAITH, to achieve an agreement. Then, the VB says, "Oh, just kidding. We weren't serious about settling!" So, Chief DeVoy has spent that negotiation money for naught.

As windixie noted, EVERYONE can rest assured that the VB's reneging on their promise of good faith negotiation is NOT going to be received well...not by Mr. Herrick, and not by a Circuit Court Judge. If the VB has engaged in questionable conduct in the past, they have crossed the line into egregious and outrageous in the eyes of jurists. This was a HUGE mistake.

Thank you citizenofdarien for showing this link on the other page and thanks to copperguy for filling in more details on this story. This is quite a soap opera going on!

Just from my knowledge of a small town in past turmoil, I think I can answer part of your question cmh.

If the village board asked the attorney to negotiate on their behalf for a settlement, and he did so, and the opposing attorney and him both agreed, that would be an implied contract. As it says above, the board then reversed course. Backed out. Did not honor.

That was a BIG mistake by the board. Could be an ace in the hole for the chief and possibly blow away everything else on the table. Could be a lawsuit, or several.

I don't know all the details but from what the paper says it seems he was fired under questionable terms at best and this has gone on for almost a year. That could be seen as almost cruel and unusual! The hearing examiner will take all the whole snowball of events into consideration and could very well decide the chief has been unfairly harrassed or targeted from the very beginning and he could start out fresh, reinstated and rich!

cmh
That's just the question I asked. As long as he is reinstated he can sue to get his expenses back.

cmh
He wants to settle vs go to the hearing, because the hearing would cost a freakin' fortune!
No matter what kind of case be it tickets, divorces or accidents you ALWAYS want to try to settle...

My question is this; the chief says he has been falsely accused of everything by the “4”. Why hasn’t he just gone ahead with the hearing he wants or wanted and completely, once and for all, cleared his name when the hearing officer finds in his favor? This mess would be over, the chief would have cleared his name, he would be reinstated, and he could sue the “4”?

2LH: Thanks for your vote of confidence, but Darien is too far away from where I have other commitments and roots.

outsider: I don't think you will be nominated for "Detective of the Year."

I noted that the Delavan Enterprise correctly refers to Chief DeVoy as "suspended," not "fired." I know it may seem like semantics, but it seems to me that since the press is the watchdog of government, The Gazette should be more accurate in their portrayal. There is a strong case to be made that the Darien VB overstepped their bounds when they "fired" the Chief, since they do not have the authority to do so.

One943: I think I can address your question(s) without a “rant”. Based on the charges against DeVoy, the resolution is a more “appropriate” discipline than termination. It appears that Hazelbaker now knows that DeVoy is not going to back down and therefore is willing to negotiate a settlement (smart on his part because the outcome determines his reputation). Not to mention the costs that both sides would inevitably incur. Everyone would come up a loser, most of all the taxpayers that haven’t had a say in the matter. Both sides need to put their respective differences away and – “get back to work”.

2levelheaded
Open your eyes or are you blinded by the truth. The "4" on the board as well as pp and bm are pushing for this hearing. The cost for this hearing will drain the village budget of monies well needed in other areas of the village. SD was obviously more than willing to work with his hands tied for the next three years but that was not good enough for the "4". So nobody better be putting the blame on SD.

2LevelHeaded
copperguy can't run for the board if he's reinstated

Could someone explain this to me (without a rant). DeVoy has done nothing wrong yet he is pushing for this settlement that does nothing but beat him up. If he waits a couple of weeks, is reinstated and sues the Village for lawyer fees he is in great shape . But no he asking to lose 30 days pay, can not sue & have most of his power taken away. Makes no sense to me, but it is Darien

Who in their right mind really believes that 4 individuals are putting the village into bankruptcy? Come on people use your brains! Copperguy maybe you should move to village and run for the board.

105 signatures will begin to bring some responsibility back to your government folks. If you start the recall process now, a new VB can be in place before this makes it very far in Circuit Court.

Some will undoubtedly blame Chief DeVoy for this latest delay. In reality, the blame rests squarely at the feet of Mr. Abbot, Ms. Kaufenberg, Mr. Wenzel, and Mr. Zipp. As I said, this is predictable and to be expected. Chief DeVoy and his attorney negotiated in good faith. In the courts, good faith still has meaning. Chief DeVoy would have been remiss if he did NOT seek enforcement of the settlement agreement. The Village had an obligation to honor that good faith, and failed.

I'm totally uncertain of what power Mr. Herrick will have to enforce the agreement, so folks of Darien should be prepared for this to drag into next year. It is quite possible that Chief DeVoy will have to move this battle into Circuit Court for resolution before a hearing can occur. This is FAR from over, and the legal bills FAR from done. Bankruptcy is looking more and more like a foregone conclusion thanks to the bad faith efforts of the gang of four.

It may be time for the village to secede from society.

Mr. Hazelbaker would not have engaged in good faith negotiations with Chief DeVoy and Mr. Halloran if he had not been instructed to do so by the VB (probably at their meeting in mid-August). This good faith negotiation has undoubtedly run up Chief DeVoy's legal bills, as it has certainly done for the Village.

Why is it that the VB (and apparently Mr. Dennison) have caused delay after delay in this process, accompanied with skyrocketing legal bills? Is it any wonder that Chief DeVoy would seek to have the settlement enforced? I'm sure he put thousands of dollars into these negotiations to arrive at a settlement.

Once again, four members of your Village Board have caused another delay in resolution of this matter, adding more thousands of dollars to prepare for the motion hearing. This was all so very foreseeable and predictable.

Does ANYONE doubt that it's time to recall the four who are driving your Village bankrupt?

oplease is on track. The twists and turns in this strange case only mean that the good old boys are struggling HARD to maintain their unlawful control and destruction of the chief. Laws and citizen concerns be damned, they will do what they want.

I agree with copperguy, there has never been such an urgent need for recalls as in this village, right now.

And the band played on.........

LOL You're right.

Thanks BostonBill! The possitive is I don't have to deal with the seasonal Illinois traffic!

Look on the bright side; you could be living in Lake Geneva.

I think I am ready to put a for sale sign up for my house! Why would I want to live in a village filled with liars. I have just had it with this crap! A person can become bitter when nothing good happens where they live and I want out before I am bitter. I hope it isn't too late already. I doubt if anybody would want to buy my house either. I feel trapped!