Retired Barrington police chief explains his new role

On his last day as Barrington police chief May 1, the retiring Jeff Lawler was still planning to take some time this summer to decide what he wanted to do next.

But his dilemma was solved more quickly than expected, he said, when he was offered the job of acting village manager the following week.

Former village manager Denise Pieroni attended her last village board meeting May 11, at which her contract was not renewed after what she described as philosophical differences.

Three days later, Lawler was appointed acting manager and began work the next morning.

Lawler was among several senior officers who'd accepted early retirement incentives more than a year ago to reduce the department's staff on May 1, when the village of Inverness it had long served started its own police force.

As others who were made the offer were younger than himself, Lawler said he saw his own acceptance as a way to lead by example and protect the jobs of newer officers.

But he still felt too young to just stay at home.

Having served as acting village manager on a more temporary basis in the past, he expected to decide this summer whether to look for a new job in either law enforcement or municipal management.

But he was pleased that opportunity brought him back to the village he'd already served since 1975, even though it's been struggling as much as any with finances and other issues lately.

"I look forward to the challenges we have right now," Lawler said.

His former deputy police chief, Jerry Libit, is now acting police chief. Village President Karen Darch said the board feels under no time limit to remove the "acting" part of either title, even though she doesn't consider either appointment temporary.

Lawler is taking it in stride and intends to do the very same job as manager, either with or without the "acting" title.

"I was acting police chief for a year and a half before I was appointed," Lawler said, referring to the time more than a decade ago when Barrington was last between managers and police chiefs simultaneously.

The village board has not yet approved a contract with Lawler, but expects to do so at its May 26 meeting.

From a financial standpoint, Lawler is like a brand new employee of the village, with his previous service and retirement from the police department having no impact on his new payment plan.

Lawler's existing pension will be paid by the police pension fund, while as village manager he and the village will begin contributing to a new pension from the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund.

Currently, employees contribute 4 percent to the fund and the village contributes 9.66 percent, Barrington Human Resources Manager Colleen Nigg said.

Employees must contribute to IMRF for eight years before they're vested and are eligible for any level of retirement benefits, Nigg added. Withdrawing from the system before that brings only the refund of the money already invested.

Though an exact salary for Lawler hasn't yet been determined, he won't be paid at the top of scale as Pieroni was when her contract ended, Darch said. Lawler's current level of management experience and knowledge of Barrington will see him start somewhere in the middle of the pay scale, however.

While finances weren't the prime consideration in letting Pieroni go and rehiring Lawler, neither are they being overlooked, Trustee Tim Roberts said.

What is still to be determined, though, is whether the recent change brought a net increase or decrease in personnel costs, he added.

"The financial thing is always a concern; it's always a factor, especially in times like these," Roberts said.