McHenry County moves quickly to replace fired planning director

A day after an arbitrator backed McHenry County's firing of longtime panning and development director Suzanne Ehardt, county board members moved swiftly Tuesday to name her replacement.

The board formally hired Dennis Sandquist as its new Planning and Development director, making him one of the leading voices on growth issues facing the county.

Sandquist joins the county after spending the past decade working for Lake County, most recently as its deputy director of planning, building and development.

While in Lake County Sandquist led county efforts to create a new comprehensive plan, compile a report on the county's water supply and develop an intergovernmental land use agreement for the area around the Interstate 94/Route 173 interchange.

It is the second time in recent years McHenry County has raided its neighbor to the east to fill a top administration post. County Administrator Peter Austin was serving as Lake's assistant administrator in 2005 when McHenry officials hired him for his current post.

Although Sandquist's hiring shuts the door on Ehardt's 10-year reign as the head of the county's planning department, the saga over her sudden firing earlier this year is likely far from over.

Austin dismissed Ehardt, reportedly over what officials termed her unprofessional conduct at a meeting of the county's Regional Planning Commission.

After an arbitrator ruled Monday that county officials handled the termination appropriately, Ehardt's attorney said it is likely she would file a lawsuit over her firing.