Two in, two out as new police committee starts

By Patricia Bogumil

Editor

The Town of Waterford Board met in special session Sept. 30 to undo a vote taken five days earlier.

At a Sept. 25 special meeting, supervisors Lisa Jeschke and Jan Alvey were appointed to a new two-person committee tasked with creating job descriptions for Police Chief Tom Ditscheit and any non-union police department employee working without one.

Days later, Jeschke and Alvey had resigned from the police committee.

Town Chairman Tom Hincz and Plan Commissioner Duane Luick were then appointed to the committee. Luick, a former town supervisor, is retired from the Milwaukee Police Department. Both met as committee members after the Sept. 30 board meeting concludeed.

At both board meetings, Supervisor Tim Szeklinski cast the only “no” vote against the appointments.

Szeklinski had expressed concern Sept. 25 about the appearance of a conflict of interest if Jeschke serves on the police committee.

Jeschke’s husband is a town police officer. Town Attorney Michael Dubis opined Sept. 25 that it is legal for Jeschke to serve on the committee and said he believed Jeschke would be fair.

Dubis also advised that, when the committee takes its recommendations to the Town Board for a vote, her presence on the committee could lead to allegations that the initial committee was not impartial.

On Sept. 30, Szeklinski said he voted “no” again because he can’t figure out why the committee is needed.  Szeklinski said he’s never heard a negative comment from a citizen about the town police or the chief. “I don’t know what’s sparking this whole thing,” he said.

Reasons behind it

Hincz said Sept. 25 that he stands fully in support of the town police department.

But Hincz explained there has never been a job description for the police chief, other than general wording in a contract that expired in 2011. (For the full story, see the Oct. 3 print edition of the Waterford Post).