Now that the details of Park Ridge Chief of Police Jeff Caudill’s “Voluntary Separation Agreement And Release Of All Claims” (“The Fix”) are finally being released by the City, we’re left to scratch our heads and wonder even more about the honesty and the judgment of the folks running City Hall.

As best as we can recall, Caudill received annual raises that exceeded the cost of living ever since his promotion to chief in 2000, which we assume were at least in part a reward for his performance.  Those raises were presumably endorsed by then-Alderman now-Mayor Howard Frimark (since 2003), Ald. Rich DiPietro (since 2000), Ald. Jim Allegretti and Ald. Frank Wsol (since 2005), and former City Mgr. Tim Schuenke (since 2000).

So with all those years of performance-based rewards, why was Caudill suddenly shown the door? 

The most common rumor – and we’re stuck with rumor because nobody in a position to know is talking – is that he wouldn’t kow-tow to the mayor and was put in the ejector seat, ready to be launched the moment his boss and protector, Schuenke, left the building.  A variation on that same theme was that he was being booted to make room for a Frimark crony.  And a third version had him voluntarily departing before the Police Dept. was audited and he was sacked for cause.

If Caudill wasn’t getting the job done, why was he getting rewarded year after year with pay raises that not only put more money in his pocket but also drove up the benefits – and the costs – of his pension?  And whether or not Caudill has been getting the job done, the taxpayers still deserve a thorough explanation of why he got pushed out (and by whom), especially with The Fix that will pay him:

• A lump sum of $70,259;
• A salary increase of 4% “in recognition of his performance of Fiscal Year 2007/08;
• An “additional four percent (4%) in exchange for his voluntary separation prior to the commencement of the next fiscal year”; and
• Two (2) years of medical coverage for Caudill and his eligible dependents, under the same terms as when he was employed.

More troubling than the money, however, is the timing of The Fix – just as the City is planning to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on an outside “audit” of the Police Department to investigate, among other things, a variety of allegations about mismanagement and the mistreatment of our residents that has resulted in more than one lawsuit against the City.  Putting The Fix in now, prior to the investigation, seems at best like putting the cart before the horse.

But more troubling still is the prospect that The Fix will result in a whitewash – at least as to “public” knowledge of any misconduct or incompetence by Caudill, which could effectively deprive the public of key audit information about the Police Department as a whole, as well as the auditors’ opinions and conclusions related to Caudill and his operation of the Department.  That’s because Paragraph 7 of The Fix provides that “Mr. Caudill and City management officials agree to refrain from making statements to the general public or news media disparaging one another.” [Emphasis added]

While non-disparagement language in such agreements is not unusual, its use in The Fix could be a huge mistake in view of the upcoming audit – something City Attorney Everette “Buzz” Hill already started tap-dancing around with his comments at Monday night’s Council meeting that the release of audit information would need to be “managed” so that the non-disparagement provision is not breached.  As Hill admitted about the wording of The Fix, “it is the release of the information to the public that is governed by that non-disparagement clause.”  

So what the City may have done, via The Fix, is contractually bind itself to a level of secrecy (at least about those parts of the audit related to Caudill being disclosed to the public) that exceeds anything it could enforce under the Illinois Open Meetings Act! 

Not surprisingly, the City’s negotiator of The Fix was now-former City Mgr. Tim Schuenke, which shows how Schuenke was able to dis-serve us one last time even as he was walking out the door.  But we also have to question why City Attorney Hill, who we assume is not so dumb that he didn’t realize the cover-up potential of that language, gave it his stamp of approval.  If he wasn’t asleep at the wheel, whose order was he marching to?  And instead of quietly tap-dancing around this issue Monday night, why wasn’t he loudly blowing the whistle on it?

Since the City obviously dropped the ball on this matter but isn’t legally entitled to a do-over, we are left to call on Chief Caudill to do the right thing and agree to amend The Fix to expressly exempt from the non-disparagement provision any fact-finding, conclusions, opinions and recommendations of the auditors.  The public deserves to know those things, and we think that’s the least Chief Caudill can do for his fellow taxpayers in return for the generous benefits he’s getting because The Fix is in.