Three Island Lake trustees are formally requesting the village’s recently suspended police chief and another officer be reinstated.
Mayor Debbie Herrmann suspended acting Chief Anthony Sciarrone this week and part-time officer Fred Manetti last month in separate actions. She did not consult the board before benching the officers and has yet to explain her actions to the public or the trustees.
Trustees have said they didn’t like being cut out of the process. Today, three of them – John Ponio, Laurie Rabattini and Don Saville – plan to send Herrmann a pair of letters requesting Sciarrone and Manetti get their jobs back.
“We heartily disagree with your opinion that we trustees are not part of your decision making process,” both letters read.
The letters cite village statutes that indicate the mayor overstepped her powers by suspending the officers without consulting the board.
According to one statute, the police chief “shall serve at the discretion of the mayor and board of trustees,” not merely the mayor.
Additionally, part-time officers are appointed by the mayor “subject to the advice and consent of the board of trustees.” Likewise, part-time police officers may be terminated by the mayor but only “subject to the advice and consent of the board of trustees.”
Herrmann could not be reached for comment.
The letters follow a two-hour, closed-door village board meeting on Thursday night in which trustees discussed the police personnel changes.
They’d hoped to question Herrmann about her decisions, but she deliberately skipped the meeting.
Trustees Connie Mascillino and Don Verciglio attended Thursday’s meeting but did not sign the letters.
Although Verciglio believes Herrmann should have told the trustees why she suspended the officers, he said Herrmann had the right to take such action and won’t ask for them to be reinstated.
Mascillino declined to comment on the letters.
Trustee Donna O’Malley did not attend the meeting and did not sign the letters.
For updates, revisit dailyherald.com.
Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services