Committee member conditions approval of police chief agreement on background check and minutes corrections

A committee member pressed the Village of Big Bend board to approve the police chief’s working agreement only after three specific steps: remove section 5.02, ensure the Police and Fire Commission completes and accepts a background check, and correct earlier minutes that omitted a second and a recorded vote in the hiring of Scott Sadowski. The committee member said the corrections should be made before the contract is executed.

The matter was moved by a fellow committee member and discussed at the table. The Committee member said there had been "a lack of reference to a 2nd" and a lack of reference to a vote in the hiring minutes, and that a subsequent interview with a Police and Fire Commission member "confirmed the fact that the vote was taken and it was taken properly." The board agreed the listed steps must be completed prior to executing the contract.

Board members also noted that one of the minutes’ errors referred to an officer selection that should have identified Officer Brown as selected for an officer position rather than as chief; the committee member requested the minutes be corrected to reflect that Officer Brown was selected as an officer and not as chief. The Chair acknowledged the need to notify the Police and Fire Commission to begin the background-check process promptly.

The board did not finalize execution of the working agreement at the meeting; instead, the item was conditioned on the background check and corrections to the minutes being completed. Next steps are for the Police and Fire Commission to complete the background check and for staff to correct the minutes before the board proceeds with final contract execution.