Joseph Swanson’s job performance has been under the microscope ever since he got put on leave back in October. The police department staff weren’t too happy with him, saying he wasn’t pulling his weight on the job.
Swanson, who had been serving as the police chief for 18 months, faced a 14-hour long hearing in March. After weeks of going back and forth, the Woodstock Village Trustees decided to bump him down to a patrol officer. Ouch.
His lawyer, Linda Fraas, isn’t taking this lying down, though. She plans to appeal the decision and even file a civil lawsuit to get some monetary damages out of this mess. She’s not holding back, calling the demotion unlawful and malicious. Drama much?
The whole saga began when Swanson was placed on leave following a road-rage incident involving his husband. Town officials started snooping around his performance, and things quickly went downhill from there.
The police union and the emergency dispatcher’s union both gave Swanson a big thumbs down with unanimous no-confidence votes. That’s gotta hurt. Municipal manager Eric Duffy then brought in a private investigator to take a closer look at Swanson’s leadership. Talk about a full-blown investigation.
When Duffy recommended that Swanson be demoted, Swanson wasn’t having it. So, the town went all out with a Loudermill hearing, a fancy term for a trial process for public employees facing disciplinary action. It was basically Swanson versus the town, with a hired gun presiding over the whole shebang.
During the hearing, it came to light that the police department wasn’t too thrilled with Swanson’s management style. All five employees who testified said they’d hit the road if he got his chief title back. Ouch, talk about a burn.
The trustees deliberated in secret for weeks before dropping the bomb on Swanson. Seton McIlroy, the chair of the village trustees, kept it vague, saying Swanson got demoted for “personnel issues.” Real specific there, Seton.
But hey, they stuck to their guns and followed the procedures. Gotta give them credit for that, right? Fraas is still holding out hope that a judge will see things her way. Fingers crossed, right?
So, there you have it, folks. Swanson went from top dog to patrol officer in a blink of an eye. The drama, the tension, the suspense. It’s like a soap opera, but in real life. Who needs TV when you’ve got the Woodstock police department?
