Something unusual happened last week in south suburban University Park.
Citizens spoke out at a public meeting. Well, they weren’t allowed to speak in person because the meeting took place via Zoom videoconference. University Park has held few public meetings in person since the pandemic began nearly two years ago.
But Village Clerk Dee Jones read comments from five citizens who emailed or texted comments by the 5 p.m. deadline the day before the Dec. 23 special meeting.
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“I would like information as to why we are in need of an acting chief of police,” a resident asked. “I may have missed this information if previously shared.”
The request sounded so polite. Another resident wrote that she was dismayed to learn the special meeting was called to consider appointing an acting police chief.
“I can’t believe we are even discussing the fate of our great chief of police, Debbie Wilson, the very first Black female police chief in University Park and Will County,” the resident wrote to the clerk. “She exudes excellence and class.”
A representative for University Park Mayor Joseph Roudez declined to say why Wilson was placed on paid administrative leave after a Dec. 16 incident at the village-owned University Park Golf Club.
“It’s a personnel matter and we cannot comment at this time,” the Roudez spokesperson said.
Other public comments indicated Wilson was involved in a confrontation at the golf club. My request through the Freedom of Information Act to view a police report of the incident is pending.
Roudez also declined to answer my question about why he wanted to appoint Ed Bradley acting police chief. Bradley attended the Dec. 23 meeting and appeared to be the only candidate under consideration for the job.
A cynic might question the circumstances of the situation. Was the chief’s position vacated in order to create an opportunity for Bradley?
Bradley was hired as the village’s police chief in 2013, but former Mayor Vivian Covington fired him in 2015.
Covington was among the five people who submitted public comments last week. University Park called the special meeting because it was unclear whether Village Manager Ernestine Beck-Fulgham had authority to name an acting chief without board approval.
“Only the board can hire and fire the police chief and fire chief,” Covington wrote. “What human resources policy was followed? How can someone be hired in a position without it being posted?”
Residents questioning village leaders was not unusual in University Park. Citizens have criticized Roudez and publicly protested a lack of transparency.
What was different last week, however, was that a village board majority defied the mayor. The board rejected a proposal to name an acting police chief by a 3-4 vote.
Trustees Theo Brooks, Donzell Franklin, Sonia Jenkins-Bell and Janelle McFadden voted no. Roudez and Trustees Shirley Bolding and Karen Lewis voted yes.
Brooks, who often is the sole dissenter from the board majority, said the decision means the village manager is temporarily in charge of the Police Department. Beck-Fulgham is empowered to give directives to police Sgt. Daniel Murphy, chief of investigations, he said.
“The village manager is the chief law enforcement officer,” Brooks said.
Village attorney Joseph Miller said he was uncertain about the Police Department’s chain of command. Miller seemed like he had expected the village board to affirm the village manager’s authority to name an acting chief.
“She makes appointments with consent” of trustees, Miller said. “The issue is, now that you guys have not consented to make the appointment, where do we go from here?”
Bradley ran unsuccessfully for Will County sheriff in 2010 and 2014 but failed to win the Democratic nomination both times. He retired as a lieutenant in 2009 after 21 years with the sheriff’s department.
Bradley sued University Park after he was fired as police chief in 2015. Initially, a federal district judge rejected Bradley’s claim the village violated his civil rights when he was dismissed with little notice.
However, a split appellate court ruled 2-1 in 2019 that Bradley could pursue a federal lawsuit claiming he was denied due process because he was provided insufficient notice before he was fired. The case was remanded to district court, and the village and Bradley have been engaged in settlement negotiations.
“Why are you bringing back someone who was fired?” a resident asked during public comment last week.
Due process also was a key issue when Wilson sued the village, claiming Bradley failed to follow procedures when he twice suspended her without pay in 2014 while he was police chief and she was a patrol officer. A federal judge in 2016 rejected the village’s attempt to dismiss the case, though the outcome was not immediately clear.
Murphy also was involved in litigation with the village. Murphy, who is white, sued the village, claiming his civil rights were violated in 2015 when he was passed over for the chief’s position and a less qualified Black candidate was awarded the job.
Roudez last week questioned whether the village board was promoting Murphy to the acting chief position by not authorizing the village manager to name an acting chief.
“He’s not getting promoted,” Brooks said. “I was the one that settled the lawsuit.”
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Brooks said he was certain the village code specified that in such a situation, the village manager was in charge of the Police Department.
“Miss Beck-Fulgham is technically like your chief, according to your ordinance,” Brooks told the mayor. “You’ve been mayor for two years and you didn’t know this?”
The public record is populated with other expensive-looking matters that appear to have involved many hours of legal work. The Illinois Labor Relations Board rebuked the village in a 42-page ruling issued in 2018. The village had to post a public notice informing Police Department employees of their protected union rights.
The board sided with police officer James Young, who pursued an unfair labor practice complaint. The board ruled then-chief Bradley violated procedures when Young was fired in 2015. The state board ordered Young be reinstated. A state appellate court affirmed the labor board’s ruling in late 2020.
Back in 2011, Roudez sued Covington, who beat Roudez by two votes in that year’s mayoral election. Roudez also sued election officials in Cook and Will counties, alleging clerks improperly counted provisional ballots.
Covington prevailed in that dispute, and a state appellate court upheld the ruling in 2013. Roudez beat Covington in the 2019 mayor’s race.
The four trustees who voted to not name an acting police chief at this time seemed to have considered the best interests of University Park taxpayers.
It is encouraging when elected municipal officials think critically and serve with citizens in mind. Too often in the south suburbs, members of village boards and city councils act like rubber stamps.
Too many loyalists seem to offer their unquestioning support to a mayor who seeks rushed approval of a request. It takes courage and integrity to think and act critically and independently. Last week in University Park, four trustees showed it’s OK to take time to seek answers to important questions.
Getting it right seems to be a hard lesson to learn in University Park, given the number of legal disputes in which the village has had to answer for alleged violations of due process.
Ted Slowik is a columnist at the Daily Southtown.