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Thursday, February 21, 2013
NIU baskeTball • spOrTs, b1
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Hanson’s former position to split
Race a factor in firing? Ex-NIU police chief disputes university’s reasons
Some on County Board concerned By STEPHANIE HICKMAN shickman@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – DeKalb County will separate the positions of deputy county administrator and finance director formerly held by current county administrator Gary Hanson. Hanson suggested in January that his former role as deputy county administrator and finance director be divided into two separate positions. After some discussion during the board’s Executive Committee meeting last week, the motion was carried unanimously to present the resolution to the full board Wednesday. But some board members expressed concerns. “This issue comes before the board with many questions still remaining,” said Anthony Cvek, R-Sycamore. Cvek said he didn’t want to decouple the two positions without working out the details first. He said the responsibilities of the deputy county administrator still were unclear. Ultimately, the board voted to approve the finance director position and table the deputy county administrator position, sending it back to the Executive Committee for discussion. Hanson, who was promoted to county administrator in 2012, said the salary of the deputy county administrator is still being worked out, but the finance director would earn $85,000 to $100,000 a year. But he said splitting the positions would be more cost effective, saving the county somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000. The search for a finance director has begun, which Tracy Jones, R-Kirkland, said should’ve been brought to the board beforehand. “In essence, we are voting to approve something that has already happened,” he said. Jones said advertising for the finance director position alone implied that the county had already made the decision to separate the two positions. But Hanson said if they were to keep the positions as one, they would have to advertise differently, which would delay the process. “My concern is to get the finance director hired,” he said. Julia Fullerton, R-DeKalb, supported Hanson. “There’s no question in my mind that these two positions need to be separate,” she said. “We’ve grown immensely as a county.”
Daily Chronicle file photo
By JILLIAN DUCHNOWSKI jduchnowski@shawmedia.com
and JEFF ENGELHARDT jengelhardt@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Ousted Northern Illinois University Police Chief Donald Grady doesn’t believe evidence mishandled in a rape case was the only reason he was fired from his job. In a Feb. 3 letter to NIU acting director of Public Safety Bill Nicklas, Grady said NIU officials treated him and Lt. Kartik Ramakrishnan differently than the white defendants in the coffee fund case. Grady is black, and Ramakrishnan is of Asian descent. Grady pointed out that six of the eight employees charged with felonies in connection with that investigation are back at work. “Despite the fact that many of them have been indicted by a grand jury, most have been allowed to return to their posts,” Grady wrote. “Not a single one of these employees has been subjected to the all-out effort to sever their relationship with the University that has been
ABOVE: Northern Illinois University Police Chief Donald Grady (second from left) answers questions the day after the Feb. 14, 2008, campus shootings during a news conference at Altgeld Hall on the campus in DeKalb. With Grady are (from left) Executive Vice President of Finance and Chief of Operations Eddie Williams, NIU President John Peters, then-NIU Board of Trustees Chairwoman Cherilyn Murer and Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs Melanie Magara. LEFT: Grady told university officials Feb. 3 he believed race was a factor in his punishment.
directed at me.” Grady, 59, has been the NIU police chief for more than 11 years. He earned a salary of $205,987 at the time he was fired. Nicklas said race was not a factor in any decision and the letter of termination contained all the reasons for the firing. Rather, Grady’s actions caused him and the NIU police to lose credibility, Nicklas said. “It is not surprising Mr. Grady or his legal counsel would want to distract the observer from the facts,” Nicklas said. “But the facts were stated clearly in the letter of dismissal and the university stands by that letter.”
2 INVESTIGATIONS INTO NIU EMPLOYEES At issue are two separate investigations into university employees, both conducted by NIU police under Grady. Criminal charges are pending against eight employees and one former employee after Grady began investigating the “coffee fund,” an
See NIU, page A4
Online To read Northern Illinois University’s former police chief Donald Grady’s letter of termination as well as additional documents related to the dismissal, visit Daily-Chronicle.com.
Ex-Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. fights tears, pleads guilty By FREDERIC J. FROMMER and PETE YOST The Associated Press WASHINGTON – Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., holding back tears, entered a guilty plea Wednesday in federal court to criminal charges that he engaged in a scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. He faces 46 to 57 months in prison, and a fine of $10,000 to $100,000, under a plea deal
with prosecutors. A few hours later, his wife, Sandra Jackson, pleaded guilty to filing false joint federal income tax returns that knowingly understated the income the couple received. She faces one to two years in prison and a fine of $3,000 to $40,000. In a 17-page prosecution document, Jackson’s wife admitted that from mid-2006 through mid-October of last year, she failed to report
$600,000 in income that she and her husband earned from 2005 to 2011. Before entering the plea to a conspiracy charge, Jesse Jackson told U.S. District Judge Robert L. Wilkins, “I’ve never been more clear in my life” in his decision to plead guilty. Later, when Wilkins asked if Jackson committed the acts outlined in court papers, the former congressman replied, “I did these things.” He added
later, “Sir, for years I lived in my campaign,” and used money from the campaign for personal use. Jackson dabbed his face with tissues, and at one point a court employee brought some tissues to Jackson’s lawyer, who gave them to the ex-congressman. Jackson told the judge he was waiving his right to trial. “In perfect candor, your honor, I have no interest in wasting the taxpayers’ time
or money,” he said. U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen called the guilty plea “so tragic because it represents such wasted potential” and that Jackson used his campaign as “his own personal piggybank.” He said that Jackson could have been the voice of a new generation. Machen credited Jackson for coming in early and telling the truth. “But today is his day of reckoning,” the prosecutor said.
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