Campton Hills fires its first administrator
Campton Hills trustees voted Wednesday to fire the first administrator in the village's rocky nine-year history.
Trustees met behind closed doors for nearly 2½ hours before voting 5-1 to fire Administrator Jennifer Johnsen, effective Aug. 12. Johnsen was unavailable for comment afterward.
Trustees Mike O'Dwyer, Mike Tyrell, Laura Andersen, Jim McKelvie and Susan George voted to fire Johnsen. They hastily left the meeting after the vote.
Trustee Mike Millett was the lone "no" vote and threw a plastic water bottle against a wall before leaving.
"We do have a transition plan," said Village President Harry Blecker, who votes only to break a tie. "We'll be interviewing candidates next week."
Before the vote, residents ripped trustees for infighting and dysfunction on the board.
Jennifer Block, an area resident since 1979, said she is "ashamed" to say she lives in Campton Hills and would rather tell folks she's from St. Charles.
"The continued infighting is an embarrassment. You should be ashamed of yourselves," Block said, adding trustees should stop fighting or just resign. "The only person that can hold their head high in this room is Jennifer."
Johnsen was hired in January 2014 while Patsy Smith was still village president. Smith put Johnsen on paid administrative leave in November 2014, saying there were problems with her performance and that she had possibly violated the state's Open Meetings Act.
No criminal charges resulted from the Illinois attorney general's office's investigation, and in December 2014, trustees overruled Smith and retained Johnsen. Johnsen's contract runs concurrent to the term of Blecker, which expires in spring 2019.
Kristin LeBlanc, who unsuccessfully ran for village president in 2011, said firing Johnsen would mean the day-to-day work of running the village would fall to Blecker. LeBlanc said Johnsen has been an asset to the village and a neutral party who solves problems and tackles issues without an agenda or bias.
"I'm frustrated we're letting somebody go without cause. If there is a cause, you need to let the community know," LeBlanc told the village board. "This is a bad decision right now. You need to show the community some stability and good decision-making skills."
Trustees did not immediately respond to resident criticisms and concerns, but they said they might respond to some questions at the village's first town hall meeting planned for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the United Congregational Church of Christ, 40W451 Fox Mill Blvd., Campton Hills.