Clarendon Hills Falsehood Apparent: Records

CLARENDON HILLS, IL — The village of Clarendon Hills contends it misled no one when it said its manager was on personal leave in January and February.

However, in response to Patch's public records request, the village on Monday could provide no records showing Manager Kevin Barr was on personal leave.

Late last month, Patch obtained emails demonstrating that Village President Len Austin placed Barr on administrative leave in mid-January.

A big difference exists between personal and administrative leave. An employee chooses to take personal leave for personal or vacation time. By contrast, an employer imposes administrative leave when an issue is being investigated.

In late January, Assistant Village Manager Zach Creer, who was acting in Barr's place, told Patch in a telephone interview that the manager was on personal leave, doing some work from home.

After obtaining the emails indicating that Creer's information was wrong, Patch filed a request for any documents or correspondence showing that Barr was taking personal leave.

In its response Monday, the village provided none, other than Creer's emails to Patch standing by his original statement.

Austin has not returned multiple messages for comment over the last month.

In a story last week, Patch included Creer's explanations about why he said the village did not mislead the public.

Barr returned to work in early February. The Village Board then approved a new contract that makes it easier to fire Barr.