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player ready...East Dundee trustees blocked Village President Jeff Lynam’s attempt Monday to publicly outline the reasons why he recently fired Village Administrator Jennifer Johnsen.
Lynam terminated Johnsen last week, minutes before a village board meeting was to start. After her termination, emails to trustees regarding her relationship with Assistant Village Administrator Brad Mitchell were made public.
During Monday’s meeting, Lynam attempted to read a statement outlining his reasons for firing Johnsen, but trustees blocked his efforts and instead voted to go into closed session to discuss the termination. When Lynam asked trustees why they didn’t want the public to know his reasons, they cited state law that allows for closed door meetings to discuss personnel issues and expressed concern over Lynam and his recent actions.
Though some residents at Monday’s meeting backed the trustees’ decision to go into closed session to discuss the issue, Lynam argued residents had a right to know.
“These good people came here to find out what I had to say,” Lynam said, referring to residents at the meeting. “Your board members are taking that away from you, so there you go, give them a call.”
Trustees argued that Johnsen’s character had been attacked publicly and the board should go into closed session to discuss her dismissal. At one point, Trustee Tricia Saviano said she wanted to hear the reasons in closed session because she was unsure what Lynam would say about Johnsen or her dismissal.
“You’re a loose cannon,” she told Lynam. “So I’m going to err on the side of caution.”
Some residents at Monday’s meeting also said they backed the trustees and a closed door discussion.
“Well, you get the government you deserve and here he is, so have it,” Lynam said, pointing to Trustee Scott Andresen, who made the motion to go into closed session.
At least one resident Monday criticized Lynam for firing Johnsen and called for his resignation.
“I am so disappointed in how this situation was handled,” resident Susan Holliman told Lynam. “I think you should resign tonight.
“If you can’t work with staff, shame on you,” she added.
Other residents, however, questioned the village’s spending on employees and suggested the village should cut back on salaries.
“Jeff Lynam got elected for a reason, because we want change here,” resident Mary Kay Bocain said. “I think we should give him a chance and trust the decisions that he’s making.”
Lynam refused to answer any questions from The Courier-News after Monday’s meeting and did not respond to Holliman’s suggestion he should step down.
Neither Johnsen nor Mitchell returned calls for comment Monday.
Trustees Andresen and Kathleen Mahony declined to give too many specifics about what Lynam said in the closed meeting, but did say Johnsen’s relationship with Mitchell was listed as one of his reasons for firing Johnsen. Andresen said he asked for a copy of the document Lynam read from in closed session, but Lynam refused to give it to any of the trustees.
Mahony said other reasons cited by Lynam for Johnsen’s firing indicate “Jeff (does not understand) the role of the village president.” After she was fired last week, Johnsen said Lynam often tried to overstep his authority and the two had disagreements as a result.
Trustees also expressed concern over the effect Johnsen’s firing will have on have on village operations.
“We don’t have our village administrator in her role,” Trustee Scott Kunze said. “There’s a lot of things that are falling in the cracks because no plan was put in place at the time of her removal. Her removal was done so hastily and without anyone’s knowledge and now we’re playing catch up to try to sort out all of the details.”
Others said they were concerned about employee morale.
“I am so concerned about the staff,” Mahony said after Monday’s meeting. “He (Lynam) has created a hostile work environment and relationships.”
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Johnsen’s relationship with Mitchell came to light in an anonymous letter to trustees just before the April election, trustees said. In a May email from Johnsen to trustees, Johnsen acknowledged the relationship and informed trustees that the couple had blended their families and were expecting a child in October. She stated in the email that the couple planned to get married, trustees said.
Trustees initially discussed having a closed door meeting Monday to discuss the situation and had asked to place an item on the agenda that would have allowed them to reinstate Johnsen with a two-thirds majority vote from the council.
However both items were canceled. At the time, Andresen said he had spoken with Johnsen and she stated she did not wish to return to work for the village.
Trustees last week noted there was nothing in village policy preventing a consensual relationship between employees. They had planned to discuss the relationship and any potential issues resulting from it during a closed meeting last week. Johnsen’s firing occurred before that could happen.
Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.