Phil Kadner pkadner@southtownstar.com | (708) 633-6787
October 19, 2011
Updated: October 20, 2011
Crestwood officials really like Theresa Neubauer, the village’s police chief.
Neubauer was placed on paid administrative leave this year after she was named in a 22-count federal indictment that accuses her of falsifying water department records over a period of two decades.
Before she became police chief, Neubauer was a Crestwood water department clerk. She did such a good job in that role that she was promoted to water department supervisor.
What exactly did she do in the water department?
According to the U.S. attorney’s office, “for 20 years Neubauer, 53, and Frank Scaccia, 50, Crestwood’s retired certified water operator, purposely hid the fact they commingled well water with Lake Michigan water and, by doing so, avoided complying with state and federal environmental regulations.
“As a result,” according to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, “Crestwood’s water customers were exposed to well water that was not adequately tested for contamination.”
And that must have really impressed Neubauer’s superiors because she was named the police chief, even though she apparently had never been a full-time police officer.
I guess they could claim that they didn’t know what Neubauer was doing at the water department, but they do now.
And since the indictment was released, Neubauer has been told she doesn’t even have to work to collect her annual salary of $61,500 as chief.
Her punishment for being named in a federal indictment is that she no longer has to work for her money.
Still, Mayor Robert Stranczek and the Crestwood Village Board apparently feel they need to do more to support Neubauer.
At the village board meeting at 8 o’clock tonight, they will consider paying the legal fees of her criminal defense attorney. That item was on the board’s Oct. 6 agenda, but trustees decided to get a legal opinion from the village attorney before voting on the matter.
That opinion was delivered this week, and I’m told it is very likely the village board will vote tonight to pay for Neubauer’s legal defense.
I’m impressed.
This is an era in American history that tends to bring out the worst in employers. People who have worked for a company for 30 years, never taken a sick day, always been on time, are losing their jobs.
They’ve never been accused of a crime or done anything wrong. It’s just the economy, people are told. Times are tough.
But not for Neubauer. She has a job, and Crestwood taxpayers will likely finance her legal defense.
Trustee John Toscas is the only elected official who has spoken out publicly against spending tax money to defend a village official accused of jeopardizing the health of everyone in her village.
Toscas was elected in the aftermath of the Crestwood water scandal and apparently doesn’t fully appreciate everything Neubauer has done.
Why, if it wasn’t for her, Crestwood might not be facing multiple class-action lawsuits.
Irony, dripping like puss from a scab, leaks from the page.
If she had refused to falsify those water department documents, the village might have saved the $3 million in legal bills it has spent defending itself.
That’s right. The tab for legal bills alone is already more than $3 million, and the meter is going to be ticking for many years to come.
If I were a taxpayer in Crestwood, I would attend the village board meeting tonight to congratulate my elected leaders for setting a standard of loyalty unequaled in America today.
While other employers look for any excuse to cut their budgets, Crestwood officials stand tall behind Neubauer.
Where other elected leaders and company CEOs have cut and run when a scandal destroyed the reputations of their community or business, the people at the helm in Crestwood have said, “Public opinion be damned.”
Neubauer is obviously just the sort of police chief the village wanted.
As a water department clerk and supervisor, she must have fulfilled every request and expectation of the village fathers.
In other words, it seems clear she did exactly what she was told to do.
Tonight’s meeting is at the Crestwood Civic Center, 14025 Kostner Ave. This is a unique opportunity to see an employee rewarded for decades of unquestioned devotion.
It’s not often that a police chief indicted for criminal conduct is honored in such a fashion.
Bring the kids.
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