Controversial Texts Dog New Burr Ridge Leader

BURR RIDGE, IL — Amid turmoil at Burr Ridge Village Hall, the town's board on Monday promoted the assistant village administrator to take the top job temporarily.

Two weeks ago, Mayor Gary Grasso recommended Assistant Village Administrator Evan Walter as the new administrator, but that was before one of the trustees released controversial text messages from Walter.

See video of the Burr Ridge Village Board meeting's heated exchanges.

Grasso and Walter missed Monday's board meeting. Officials said Walter was sick, though not from the coronavirus.

In presenting Walter's appointment, Mayor Pro Tem Guy Franzese promised a review of his performance. The goal, Franzese said, was to make Walter permanent administrator "at some point in time if he's qualified."

Walter, who is set to get $125,000 a year, was praised for his handling of a number of issues, including the pollution from Sterigenics in Willowbrook and the effects of the pandemic.

Walter is replacing Administrator Doug Pollock, who retired Friday after a quarter century with the village, the last three as its leader. Pollock left under a separation agreement in which he would receive $38,000 in severance.

Two weeks ago, Trustee Zach Mottl released a series of text messages in which Walter harshly criticized Pollock. In a closed session last week, board members expressed disappointment in Walter's texts, calling it a lapse in judgment, Mottl told Patch last week. A week before that, they delayed action on the selection of Walter, but gave no explanation.

On Monday, Mottl, whom the board has officially reprimanded five times, tried to read the text messages from Walter, but others shouted him down. In one of the texts, Mottl said, Walter compared Pollock to female genitalia. Walter was making these private comments to Mottl at a time when the board had already censured the trustee for calling Pollock and Finance Director Jerry Sapp incompetent.

After Mottl was stopped from speaking, he stepped to the podium where residents comment on board issues. He said he had every right to speak as a resident, but once he started reading the texts, he was again stopped.

With Mottl in dissent, the board approved Walter's interim appointment.

As he did last week, Mottl apologized to Pollock and Sapp for calling them incompetent, saying Walter fed him bad information. Motl later moved to adopt a proposed resolution honoring Pollock, who was not at the meeting. The board unanimously supported it.

Mottl brought up another publicly unspoken subject among trustees — the decision to place Sapp, the finance director, on administrative leave in early September.

On the agenda was a contract to hire a finance consultant for $98 an hour to help the village's finance department.

Mottl questioned that expense at a time when the village was spending tens of thousands of dollars for Sapp to stay home and not work.

"This is something the public needs to know about. You're forcing out older employees. Jerry is being forced out," he said. "It's my understanding that Jerry wants to come back and do his job — the good work he has done for 24 years." Sapp released a letter in his defense last week.

Trustee Joe Snyder took Mottl to task for telling Patch what was discussed in a closed session. When Mottl spoke about Sapp's situation, Trustee Anita Mital said, "You just disclosed closed session materials." That prompted Mottl to look at Police Chief John Madden and ask, "Chief, are you going to cuff me?"

The chief did not respond.

The board also approved a $70-an-hour, part-time position for Pollock as the village's planner. He could work up to 1,000 hours, or about half time, which could mean receiving up to $70,000 a year, according to the village. This is a position that Pollock held before becoming administrator.

Several trustees said Pollock was highly qualified for the position. Mottl said $70,000 was a lot for a part-time planner.

"Is this some sort of payoff to Doug to get him, in addition to the $38,000 we already gave him, to not sue for potential age discrimination?" Mottl said. "The village doesn't have a lot of planning to do left honestly. It's built out already."

Mayor Pro Tem Franzese said significant parcels remain to be developed, citing examples.

Pollock will answer to Walter, the trustees said. Neither Walter nor Pollock has returned calls for comment.

A few years out of college, Walter has been with the village government since 2017. After Pollock announced his retirement last month, Mayor Grasso said he was looking at a "younger qualified" candidate, who was later identified as Walter.