How Burr Ridge Mayor Handled Awkward Moment

BURR RIDGE, IL — Bur Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso was mandated to do something at this week's Village Board meeting he likely did not want to do — giving praise to a retiring official that he tried to oust for the better part of a year.

The mayor's solution: Go through it as quickly as possible.

For months, Mayor Gary Grasso and the Village Board tried to show the door to the longtime finance director, Jerry Sapp. Last September, Sapp suffered a medical emergency on the job, according to his memos. His doctor cleared him to come back to work a few days later, but village officials refused to let him.

Under a settlement in June, Sapp was allowed to come back to work until Aug. 19 and then retire. He received $90,000 in compensation as part of the settlement in exchange for dropping a discrimination complaint. The agreement also required the mayor to issue a letter commending Sapp upon his retirement for his quarter century of service as finance director.

This came in the form of a mayor-signed retirement resolution for Sapp. Typically, Grasso reads such resolutions in their entirety.

Just last month, the mayor read a resolution for Cristina Henderson, the village's police records coordinator, who retired after 21 years. And at this week's session, he read the resolution for Julie Tejkowski, an employee who was recognized for her 20th anniversary with the village.

After the Tejkowski resolution, the next item on the agenda was the one for Sapp. The mayor said he would not read the entire document, citing an approaching storm. He read only the last line, which said Sapp "shall hold a place of esteem in the minds and hearts of the residents, businesses and employees of the Village and is offered our sincere congratulations on his retirement."

Without comment, the board unanimously approved the Sapp resolution. Sapp did not attend the meeting. Henderson also was not present when the mayor read her resolution.

The village never gave a public reason for its effort to oust Sapp. It spent nearly $200,000 in the process. The settlement happened two months after the village election. In that contest, Grasso and his allies criticized then-Trustee Zach Mottl for costing the village with his public records requests and his alleged legal maneuverings, but they avoided speaking about the Sapp situation.

In December, the village won the Government Finance Officers Association's Distinguished Budget Presentation Award. At a meeting, Grasso gave congratulations first to the suspended Sapp and listed then-Assistant Finance Director Amy Nelson, Accounting Analyst Amy Sullivan and the administration in general.