Mudron 5 Hires Ancel Glink To Investigate O'Dekirk, Quillman

JOLIET, IL — Interim city of Joliet manager Steve Jones has gained the support of the City Council's Mudron 5 to spend in excess of $25,000 to hire the Naperville law firm of Ancel Glink to investigate the contentious disputes involving some police supervisors and elected officials such as Mayor Bob O'Dekirk and City Councilwoman Jan Quillman.

At Tuesday night's meeting, the Mudron 5, which consists of Pat Mudron, Don "Duck" Dickinson, Mike Turk, newcomer Sherri Reardon and Bettye Gavin, all voted together to hire prominent Illinois municipal government law firm of Ancel Glink P.C. The vote was 5-2.

City Councilmen Terry Morris and Larry Hug voted against the expenditure. Both men made several comments suggesting this was a wasteful and unnecessary expense of city tax dollars.

"I think this is a waste of time and money and we should have been past this point," Morris said. "And again, without really knowing what they're being accused of, other than an ethic violation, what was ethically done wrong? Because I have not heard, to my knowledge, anything."

Hug said that for every $150,000 the city council spends, that translates into three-quarters of a mile of new sidewalks that the residents of Joliet don't ever get.

Quillman and O'Dekirk excused themselves from Tuesday night's discussion and vote since they are the targets of an ethics complaint filed by Joliet Police Supervisor Sgt. Lindsey Heavener, who is on the verge of retiring in 2020, according to city officials.

Joliet Patch previously reported that Sgt. Heavener was calling up the Joliet City Council in June urging them to get rid of Marty Shanahan as interim city manager. City employees say Heavener is closely aligned with Police Chief Al Roechner.

This week, Roechner was named as the key defendant in a civil rights racial discrimination lawsuit filed by black Joliet Police Detective David Jackson. Another defendant is the owner of a Joliet bar who is a relative of Heavener.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the outside law firm, Ancel Glink, will be tasked with investigating the merits of Jackson's civil rights lawsuit against his employer. Jackson's 31-page federal lawsuit accuses Joliet's upper police administration of having had a long-standing policy of racial discrimination and unfairly punishing minority officers and female officers.

On Sept. 26, Sgt. Heavener sent an email to city clerk Christa Desiderio, whose husband Bob Desiderio is a member of the Joliet Police Supervisors Association with Heavener.

"Christa please accept this email as my notification and desire to initiate a formal complaint against Mayor Bob O'Dekirk and Councilwoman Jan Quillman for the actions both parties engaged in on the night of September 14th and outlined in the report submitted to the City Manager by Chief Roechner," Heavener's letter states.

"The actions outlined in this report not only demonstrate a clear ethics violation but also show a complete disregard for the oath of office that both the mayor and councilwoman swore to uphold. I respectfully request a complete investigation by the jurisdiction with authority in this matter."

In 2015, Sgt. Heavener, as president of the Joliet Police Supervisors Association, submitted a six-paragraph letter to the editor of area news agencies asking readers to be sure to vote for Bob O'Dekirk as the next mayor of Joliet.

"I have been fortunate enough to have served this city as a police officer for the past 25 years. I have personally witnessed the best and worst this city has to offer. I have lived in this city for 30 years, during which time I have raised a family. My senses tell me it's time for change in this city and that's why I, along with the organization I represent, have chosen to endorse and support Bob O'Dekirk for Joliet mayor ... Let's use all our senses on Tuesday and elect Bob O'Dekirk our next mayor," Heavener wrote in his letter to the editor published by The Times Weekly.

In September, the mayor told Patch that several people contacted him on the day of the Mexican fiesta, including at least one Joliet Police officer, concerning Heavener being on duty Sept. 14 at the Fiesta en la Calle and possibly consuming alcohol from a plastic red cup at the tequila bar set up in downtown Joliet across from the Rialto.

Joliet's mayor accused Sgt. Heavener of being "drunk as a skunk" at the fest, leading the sergeant to supposedly take blood and urine tests that showed no drugs or alcohol in his system, according to a memo from Chief Roechner that was subsequently provided to a local newspaper.

O'Dekirk told Patch in September that he first reported his suspicions about Heavener's behavior to Roechner around 4 p.m. that afternoon. However, Heavener was not tested for alcohol consumption until 9 1/2 to 10 hours later, the mayor said. "I observed what I believed to be improper conduct and I notified the chief of police twice," Joliet's mayor told Patch at the time.

During Tuesday's council meeting, Steve Jones did not want his City Hall's legal department to investigate the ethics complaints lodged against the mayor and Quillman or handle other high-profile controversies surrounding city officials and members of Joliet's Police Department.

There are only three lawyers employed in a full-time capacity with the city of Joliet's legal department: inspector general Chris Regis, corporation counsel Marty Shanahan and assistant corporation counsel Sabrina Spano.

Jones said he supported the hiring of Ancel Glink at an hourly rate of $220 for lawyers and $115 for its paralegals. The contract Jones proposed did not put any specifics in place regarding the scope and the duration of the outside law firm's work with the city of Joliet.

"It became very clear that many elected officials feel that there is not sufficient independence and objectivity within our legal department," Jones said during Tuesday's meeting. "Staff members feel that, and I feel that, so ultimately, that's the reason this is being done."

Pat Mudron, the leader of the Mudron 5 coalition, praised the idea of hiring Ancel Glink to investigate his political rivals on the council.

"I am of the opinion that an outside firm is needed for this," Mudron said. "I think a firm like Ancel Glink, I think, should be hired."

At one point, during questioning from Hug about the financial ramifications facing the city of Joliet for hiring Ancel Glink, Jones responded, "I don't expect the Mueller Report here. It's our responsibility to deal with these two ethics issues. Could it get into others? Sure."