Turnover Truths

During our last board meeting, Phil asked Kenny, our Golf Course Manager, to talk about the turnover rate at RedTail. This an interesting turn of events, since there had been a citzens' report that showed that under CAO Smith's leadership, our village had around a 40% turnover rate. In this post, I explained how the Majority Report that was written by Trustee Berman and approved by the board without discussion or comment, was in fact wrong with their figures (essentially bad with math again) -- so I thought it was odd that Phil called out Kenny on the morale question for the employees of RedTail. While I know that recently, an employee walked out of RedTail immediately after a discussion with Jeannine; I don't think the concern has been the turnover of RedTail employees, but really the turnover of Village Hall employees.

I think this was an attempt at misdirection because since the writing of that post, we have lost two more employees -- both from the Police Department. We know about Former Chief Richardson, but in the early hours Monday morning, it appears that Sergeant Paul Olszak packed his gear and has also resigned from the Village. This is another great loss for our village and for our police department.

I've spoken to Paul twice and I have not spoken to him about his departure. In my dealings with him, I've found him to professional, kind, self-effacing, and good natured. If I were up to no good, I wouldn't want to face Paul in an alley or in a courtroom; but as an upstanding citizen without any sort of record -- I found Paul to be a good ambassador for public safety in our village.

So, one must ask why. I don't have a concrete answer to this question; but I have my own theory. Based on some recent events, it has become evident that the attitude of the administration is that if you cross them, they will destroy you. My proof:

1. Past Employees: Several past employees have been disparaged and had their reputations called into question after leaving.

2. Todd Richardson: When you step back and remove the emotion of the accusations against Todd, you will quickly realize that in normal worlds they might have warranted a write-up or performance improvement plan and maybe simple termination -- but under no circumstances should the board have tried to destroy the 38 year career of decorated officer.

3. Amy Odom: While not fired, she was excluded from any and seeming all discussions with board and Phil admitted that the reason she is excluded is because she dissents from the board.

When you look at the role of a police officer by the very nature of their job they need to have the support of the village they work for. And this administration has sent a message loud and clear that you either do what they want or they will make your life miserable. Does that make it too big a leap to think that Paul decided to leave because he feels there's a lack of support from the administration.

With this departure, the village under CAO Smith's and Phil's leadership, we've hit an all time high of turnover rate -- I believe it is very close to 50%. We have 3 open positions in the police department -- the chief, a sergeant, and the records clerk. How is it possible that this board thinks this is at all ok? When you see that many employees leaving you have to ask the question why and it seems that that is the one question this board has no desire to ask --- or perhaps they know the answer.