Text messages led to discipline, resignations in Lake in the Hills

Text messages from the work phones of former Lake in the Hills Village Administrator Jennifer Clough, former Public Works director Dan Kaup and former Finance Director Shane Johnson paint a chaotically unprofessional picture of village government in the era of COVID-19.

The messages reveal the three individuals berating village trustees and other officials, making jokes about the coronavirus and talking about playing drinking games during village board meetings, according to public records obtained by the Northwest Herald.

"What's the drinking game tonight?" Clough wrote to Kaup in a message before a meeting on May 7.

"Oh the possibilities ..." Kaup replied. "It has to involve some standard Steve commentary, Brad saving Russ moments ..."

The two are likely referring to village trustee Stephen Harlfinger, the village's attorney Brad Stewart and village president Russ Ruzanski.

"My decision to participate in the text communication during the May 7 board meeting was unprofessional and hurtful and, for that, I apologize to the organization, the board of trustees, and the community," Kaup wrote in a statement on Friday. "I am not proud of my actions."

The village's former Information Technology Manager Justin Piessens was also involved in a few exchanges and group text messages with the other officials.

During the May 7 meeting, Clough messaged the three other officials in a group telling Johnson and Piessens to make someone on the call have technical difficulties. Kaup responded with a picture of a bottle of what appears to be alcohol with a glass next to it.

On April 23, Piessens exchanged a series of messages with Johnson making fun of Ruzanski and some of the village trustees for having audio issues during a meeting. In the exchange, Johnson referred to Ruzanski as "rusty."

On March 24, Piessens and Johnson exchanged a few messages about starting a meeting. According to the village's meeting archives, there was a special meeting of the board of trustees called for 7:30 p.m. to discuss changes to future meetings due to COVID-19.

About an hour later, Clough messaged Johnson about alcoholic beverages and then said "I've never wanted to give someone a disease as much as I do now."

"COVID coming," Johnson messaged back. "And by disease you mean virus."

"I want to sneeze so loud right now," he added.

The nearly 40 pages of messages obtained by the Northwest Herald portray a close social relationship between Kaup, Clough and Johnson in which they frequently messaged one another to share a laugh, often at the expense of other staff members and elected officials.

Clough and Kaup resigned June 18 and June 19, respectively. Johnson and Piessens continued to work for the village, but submitted their letters of resignation Thursday, July 9.

"I am, however, proud to have worked for the village of Lake in the Hills and for the many notable accomplishments in which I took part during my tenure as a member of the leadership team," Kaup wrote on Friday. "I wish the organization and community the best going forward."

Clough could not be reached for comment Friday. Johnson and Piessens provided their letters of resignation, but did not wish to comment further.

"The manner in which the organization handles issues seems to be more through personal intent rather than policy and professionalism," Johnson wrote in his letter. "The inability to provide a stable and fair environment is apparent due to me working with my 4th different Village Administrator in my 4.5 years with the Village."

According to both individuals, it was a toxic working environment that gave them no other choice but to resign. Johnson wrote that the culture at the village has resulted in what he called "revolving doors," where employees in various positions work for short periods of time before leaving.

Both mentioned repeated efforts to improve their situation, which were ultimately unsuccessful, according to the resignation letters.

"I cannot in good conscience continue to allow an assault of my character," Piessens wrote. "As a result of this, I feel it is in the interests of my own physical and mental health that I must resign at this time."

In his letter, Piessens referenced an interview with village elected officials, the village's attorney and Lake in the Hills Police Officers about an incident which occurred in a village board meeting, but did not elaborate further.

He wrote that recent events made him feel "unsafe" and that "the distrust and disrespect for village staff is insurmountable."

Neither expressed remorse for their part in the text message controversy, but both wished the village and their fellow staff members well.

A June 25 memorandum written by interim Village Administrator Fred Mullard states Johnson was suspended for one week without pay for "unprofessional conduct and lack of appropriate leadership."

According to the memorandum, the suspension was scheduled for the week of July 13 through July 19, meaning it is likely Johnson never actually served the suspension.

Previously, Ruzanski denied the consecutive resignations of Clough and Kaup had anything to do with each other, stating the timing was "just a coincidence."

"Actually, these two folks admitted to wanting to move on and possibly pursue some other career paths, opportunities, that may have come their way," Ruzanski said June 29.

"There was not a specific investigation opened into those two individuals," village attorney Brad Stewart said. " ... There was no discipline issue to either of the individuals as president Ruzanski said."

Ruzanski did say there was some rift between the village's board of trustees and the two officials, but he and Stewart maintained the village did not look into any kind of misconduct before their resignations.

According to Ruzanski, " ... the board was really not happy with their leadership at this time and thought it might be time to make a change in our direction."

When asked why Johnson was not selected as Clough's replacement despite being the seemingly obvious choice as assistant village administrator/finance director, Ruzanski said Mullard was the "natural choice."

Neither Ruzanski nor Mullard could be reached for comment Friday.

In the June 25 memorandum on Johnson's suspension, Mullard mentioned the text messages directly, which were exchanged primarily in the months of April and May.

The messages "create the possibility of adverse reaction from the press and village residents, display disrespect for village officials and affairs, and violate common decency, professionalism ...," Mullard wrote.

Mullard chastised Johnson for bringing members of his staff into these kinds of "unprofessional activities" and for setting a poor example for less senior staff members to follow.

According to the memorandum, Johnson issued an apology to the village board and encouraged them to broaden their investigation to look at the phones of other officials who were involved.

"This attempt to ensnare others without any evidence of potential wrongdoing only served to minimize the sincerity of your apology," Mullard wrote.

Mullard also mentioned Johnson lied to the board when asked whether Clough, his supervisor, had ever expressed any concerns about his work performance. Email records from October 2019 show Clough and Johnson met to discuss some kind of performance issues, but Johnson denied having any previous disciplinary concerns, Mullard wrote.

"Trust is the most important element of this relationship if we are to be effective in our jobs," Mullard wrote in the memorandum. "In the future, I expect that you will strive to be a positive example for your staff and endeavor to establish the high level of trust that reflects positively on the organization and you as a professional."