Sleepy Hollow newsletter raises eyebrows in W. Dundee

West Dundee has a beef with Sleepy Hollow over an article in its newsletter about a proposed police consolidation between the two villages and East Dundee.

The uncredited story in question ran in the spring edition of The Legend, a newsletter Sleepy Hollow produces three times a year.

As part of the plan, Sleepy Hollow and East Dundee would contract for police services and direct its officers and resources to the West Dundee police station. Those services include police operations, facilities, administration and management. Each village still would be responsible for paying its own officers.

In a letter West Dundee Village Manager Joe Cavallaro sent May 18 to Sleepy Hollow Village President Stephen Pickett, Cavallaro writes that the article presented the consolidation, “In an extremely unfavorable light, with some blatant misstatements of facts” about the study that examined its feasibility.

Cavallaro says the article:

Ÿ Claimed the consolidation would cost Sleepy Hollow $1.3 million annually. Sleepy Hollow would, according to the study, pay $735,200 a year, saving the village $134,800. Authorities threw out the $1.3 million model after Sleepy Hollow officials said it was too costly, Cavallaro said.

Ÿ Did not include the rest of a relevant quote in the study that said while Sleepy Hollow pays the least of the three towns for police services, it still has difficulty funding its own force.

“I think that as a village newsletter, there is an obligation for it to be factual in terms of its reporting and I think that’s what’s more bothersome than anything,” Cavallaro said Wednesday.

Ultimately, the savings, coupled with autonomy issues, were not enough for Sleepy Hollow to justify joining and the board pulled the plug on its involvement earlier this year. East Dundee remains in limbo. The article appeared several months after the vote.

It’s difficult to pinpoint who wrote the article in question, as the village has a roster of volunteers who write news and features articles for the publication. Pickett said. Even so, the board of trustees approves every article before it appears in print.

Pickett said he may bring up at the June 20 board meeting the possibility of running a retraction in the next issue, but he first needs to vet Cavallaro’s complaints for himself.

“I’ve got it under review at the moment,” Pickett said. “I would have to go back and get that letter and review the information.”