Mike Mahon, who is facing off against McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren has issued the following press release:
NYGREN’S LEGAL GRUDGE MATCHES AGAINST EMPLOYEES COSTING TAXPAYERS HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS
Zane Seipler
Mike Mahon
News that McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren will appeal a court ruling reinstating Deputy Sheriff Zane Seipler means that County taxpayers will be on the hook for additional tens of thousands of dollars in attorneys’ fees, Candidate for Sheriff Mike Mahon said Friday.
The Sheriff has already blown hundreds of thousands in fruitless legal forays against Seipler and another Deputy Sheriff, Robert Schlenkert, who has since returned to work.
The protracted legal battles arose when Nygren disputed various rulings, only to see the original decisions upheld by courts at various levels.
Schlenkert is awaiting his back pay award of more than $200,000 and Seipler’s back pay will be well over $100,000 when he likewise collects it.
When the final bill for back pay hits the taxpayers, it will be more than $400,000, and that is before legal fees, which will also likely total more than $100,000.
“The County, and by extension taxpayers, are not only out the legal fees in these two cases, but there have or will be substantial awards for back pay, which means taxpayers are left holding the bag for hours that were never worked,” Mahon said. “And now Sheriff Nygren expects taxpayers to ante up for another hopeless paper chase.”
Whatever the merits of either case, it is clear that Nygren is tilting at legal windmills on the taxpayer’s dime, Mahon said.
“It’s not as if these cases were marginal and could have gone either way,” Mahon said. “One involved a recommended three-day suspension and the other a dispute about testing procedures for reinstatement to duty. In both cases, Nygren’s hard line did nothing but run up the bill for taxpayers, who shouldn’t have to reach for their wallets every time the Sheriff has a snit.”
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Also relevant to the Sheriff’s race are Zane Seipler’s latest postings on his blog.
One article says, in part,
I promise the taxpayer this, after I win (and I will win) I will pay off my debts and then I will use some of the money I receive to make McHenry County a better place.
First order of business will be to run Keith Nygren and his boys out of town.
Then we have to rebuild the Republican party with quality candidates who believe in the rule of law and don’t campaign on lies and intimidation.
I’ll have money ready to donate to those candidates when the time comes.
Heck, it will be your money anyway.
I have to side with Nygren on this. Mahon can spout and spew all he wants but the fact remains that Seipler tarnished the MCSO and Nygren has no real option except to get rid of him. Mahon is grasping at any thig he feels can get his name in the paper.
In any other job, a comparible act of misconduct would have that person fired long ago. ONLY due to UNIONS and the extra protections given pubic employees keeps this Zane alive. I read this in the paper and shake my head. Where is the public outrage. A deputy writing unlawful tickets is a criminal act and he should be fired. There should be no appeal. You’re a liar and you should not have a badge, period. I want quality decent deputies not guys that think they make up laws to fit their agenda.
Lost in the arguments is that the deputy that had been suspended for three days gave a person a ticket that they legitimately had coming. This deputy only let them choose between two violations. A sort of ticket lottery. ZANE charged someone with an offense they DID NOT COMMIT. FALSE ASRREST. That is official misconduct.
I don’t see how Nygren has a real choice. Zane Seipler surely can’t be put back into patrol. His word is useless so how can he testify. His word or the defendants?
Respectfully “Not”
What is it that the Arbitrator, then the District Judge both saw, that goes against what you believe and see. Not a loaded question.
There has to be more to what you are stating and what Nygren is placing forth.
In your statement, you have neglected to provide the name of the female deputy whose actions were deemed to be more serious than Seipler’s, yet, she was not fired.
If credibility is at issue. I believe, and I could be wrong, but based on all I have studied on this case, that both the arbitrator and the judge utilized the ‘female’ deputies case, whom you neglected to name and cite the case history, as a ‘baseline’ for their decisions.
Basically stated, Nygren has been blamed for “Poisoning” his own tree because he ‘doles’ out, punishment, UN-equally?
A document I have read, clearly points to this fact. A document that no newspapers have bothered to print? It does exist…Seen it with my own insane eyes.
The arbitrator wrote a scathing and scolding decision about Nygren’s own behavior regarding the matter I mention above.
Tell me where I’m wrong and what I am missing.
Thank you for helping us find clarity by providing a documented answer.
PS. Please remove your mask, and reply with your real name. Halloween isn’t until Sunday.
First let’s be clear there seems to be no argument over the facts of the case against Seipler. Despite all the ranting by him what he did was wrong. The debated point is what level should his punishment be. The arbitrator thought he should be suspended for his wrongdoing the Sheriff feels he should be fired. Many of us simply believe in the stronger punishment for this type of wrongdoing. Cops that do this type of stuff should not be on the street. Mahon seems to be taking the stance that when an officer signs a document stating that a citizen committed a crime the officer knows they did not commit that we should prioritize money over public safety. Sorry, Mahon I don’t want a Sheriff who thinks it’s ok to falsely sign a document stating that a passenger was speeding. We deserve better than that.
Oh and Mahon is really going to lecture on holding a grudge against a subordinate?
http://www.garlands-digest.com/cs/7th/2000s/01/070901ri.html
Her name has been posted by Zane and others but I don’t feel it is appropriate to name her in this forum. To your point I disagree. She did not charge someone with an offense they did not commit. She let the driver choose which ticket he would receive and wrote him that charge. Far different than what Zane did which was in essence a false arrest.
There are many good deputies at the MCSO and with only a few exceptions, (those that wear Mahon t-shirts) feel the discipline she received was fair. They also feel that what Zane did, clearly WARRANTED discharge. The arbitrator was blinded by the issue of a three day for what he felt was the same, but failed miserably in that he could not differentiate the huge difference.
This comes down to the Union running the MCSO or commonsense. Mahon promotes his Teamsters 700 endorsement, but truth be told Teamsters 700 is the Cook CO Sheriff Union. They are affiliated with the Teamsters but are just the Sheriff’s local. Of course they will back their own member.
Commonsense says, get rid of a bad employee, but the unions protect thuggery.
the facts are clear..Nygren needs to go….runaway with Margie Margie, WHO wears the pants in that family. …If you donated money to Nygren, kiss it good by.
Margie Margie time for you to go back to Florida, and take Keith back with you, this time for good.
THE CLEAR CHOICE FOR MCHENRY COUNTY SHERIFF IS MIKE MAHON
VOTE NYGREN OUT
LBH-HOW DARE YOU? WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO ATTACK ANYONES FAMILY MEMBER SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU DON’T LIKE THEIR SPOUSE, WHO ACTUALLY IS A PUBLIC OFFICIAL?
NYGREN’S WIFE, MAHON’S WIFE, AND ANYONE ELSE’S FAMILY MEMBERS ARE NOT FAIR GAME, I DON’T CARE WHO YOU LIKE OR NOT.
NEXT TIME YOU HAVE A THOUGHT, KEEP IT TO YOURSELF
Zane should be back to work? WHERE CAN NYGREN PUT HIM? Seipler ruined his credibility and now his word is meaningless in McHenry CO Court. ANY defense attorney will bring up the FACT that he KNOWINGLY charged people with traffic charges that were not driving to avoid arresting the driver who BTW was from South of the border.
Seipler has set himself up as a one man advocate for unlicensed Mexican drivers. Back to his assignment. he can’t be in a duty that would require him to make arrests or testify. Every Judge knows him as a liar.
Mahon can try and use this as an issue but if he becomes Sheriff, he will be saddled with this badly tainted deputy and is he going to thereby waste a deputy position. He can not be used in a law enforcment position and union rules prohibit him from working in the jail or civilian units. Seipler is a WHITE Elephant.