Suspended Burr Ridge Official Noted For Budget Award

BURR RIDGE, IL — Burr Ridge recently received a top budget award. In noting the honor at a Village Board meeting this week, Mayor Gary Grasso singled out Finance Director Jerry Sapp as among those deserving credit.

Here's the kicker: The village placed Sapp on paid suspension in early September.

That situation would be an unspoken subject at Village Board meetings, but Trustee Zach Mottl has brought it up more than once.

At Monday's meeting, Mottl said Sapp had just emailed trustees and reported that he was "in pretty good status."

"We need to get him on a return-to-work plan. I think he has been very great for the village," Mottl said. "Jerry deserves the opportunity to come here in a dignified way and get back to work the way he wants to. We're spending a lot of money keeping him out of work. I question if that's what those legal fees are for."

Sapp, who has worked for the village for 24 years, emailed the mayor and trustees in early November to describe the circumstances of his situation, a message that Burr Ridge Patch obtained.

Sapp was placed on leave around the time that the mayor and trustees were looking to negotiate an exit for Village Administrator Doug Pollock, who had been with the village for 25 years, the last three in the top job. Pollock received $38,000 in severance pay after he left in early November.

In his November email, Sapp said Grasso told him over the summer that the board no longer wanted him in his position after 24 years.

Also in the email to the board, Sapp said Assistant Village Administrator Evan Walter was speaking with other officials about personnel changes he would make once he became administrator. Walter became interim administrator last month, but was dogged by a controversy over his text messages that disparaged Pollock.

In the email, Sapp said he suffered an anxiety attack Sept. 4 at work and was taken to the emergency room, but left the hospital a few hours later. He said his doctor cleared him for work Sept. 8.

The village, though, barred him from returning.

Mottl has suggested before that age discrimination may be at play in the situations involving Sapp and Pollock. In different contexts, Grasso and Walter have mentioned age as it relates to hiring.

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

Asked about Sapp on Friday, Grasso said in a text to Patch that the director "received deserved credit with the rest of the staff for the budget award."

He said Sapp remained on leave.

Sapp declined to comment on his status Friday.

At the Village Board meeting, the trustees held a closed session at the end about personnel issues, but officials did not discuss details.