Police Chief sues Red Bud

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The Red Bud City Council met in closed session at a special meeting Monday to discuss pending litigation against the city. In open session, City Attorney Mark Rohr excused himself from representing the city in the matter, noting that he may be called as a witness by the plaintiff.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Randolph County last week by James Creighton seeks relief from the termination of his pay by the city council and challenges the legality of an ordinance passed by the council limiting Creighton's term of office.

On July 7, Alderman Don Glasscock addressed Mayor Ken Mueller's failure to act in accordance with Ordinance 1178. Glasscock said, "In essence you (Mueller) have unilaterally decided to ignore a lawfully enacted ordinance, which is unacceptable. After consulting our own legal counsel we disagree with you and the City Attorney's position that "There are several questions about the validity of this ordinance which could be raised in a lawsuit, the most important of which is the attempt to apply it to a temporary appointee whose appointment was made prior to the ordinance becoming effective."

Mueller and six of Red Bud's eight aldermen have butted heads since Mueller's election last year. Mueller decided against reappointing the Chief of Police Dan Brotz and instead named former Chester Chief Don McKinney. The council voted six-to-two against confirmation. The council then created a new position, assistant police chief and unilaterally appointed and confirmed Brotz.

Illinois state statutes and the Red Bud City codes allow the mayor to fill vacancies on a temporary basis whenever the council fails to confirm. So Mueller temporarily appointed McKinney. After four days, McKinney resigned citing difficulties with Assistant Chief Brotz and lack of support from the council.

Then in April of this year after the council refused to confirm Mueller's appointment of Creighton, Mueller again exercised his privilege to appoint Creighton as a temporary appointment.

This was followed by the council passing an ordinance to limit temporary appointments to sixty days with no more than two appointments of the same individual in a fiscal year. The ordinance also provided for the time limits to apply retroactively to existing temporary appointees. Mueller vetoed the ordinance claiming it would make it impossible to fill vacancies, was an attempt to undermine the mayor's authority, and would probably lead to lawsuits the city could not afford.

The latter now seems to be the case, as Creighton who has been serving as chief without pay since June 15, has filed suit against the city. He is represented by Larry Kaplin & Associates of Clayton, MO.