Burr Ridge Official Gets $106K While Not Working

BURR RIDGE, IL — More than nine months ago, Burr Ridge decided to bar its finance director from returning to work. He says he wants to get back.

While not working, Finance Director Jerry Sapp has received $106,000 in salary from the village. This information comes a result of a public records request that Patch filed.

Last Friday was the last day for the acting finance director, Amy Nelson. She gave her two weeks' notice late last month, a few days after the Village Board voted to grant her a $15,000 raise, to $125,000. Now, the village has hired a private contractor to help the finance department.

The finance department's page on the village website makes it seem as if both Sapp and Nelson are still working there. He is listed as finance director and she as acting finance director. She was previously the assistant director under Sapp.

Sapp's extension is still listed, but dialing the number prompts the message, "I did not recognize that as a valid entry." Meanwhile, Nelson's message is still on the phone system, in which she promises to return calls as soon as possible.

At Monday's Village Board meeting, trustees voted to accept Nelson's two-sentence resignation letter, but no one commented on it.

Village officials have declined to indicate Sapp's status with the village or whether they are negotiating a settlement with him. Mayor Gary Grasso did not return a message Wednesday.

Before Trustee Zach Mottl was ousted in April's election, he urged the village to bring back Sapp, the director for nearly a quarter century.

In response to Mottl's questions in a January meeting, Grasso said the village would discuss Sapp's situation as things develop.

"That is still an issue between Mr. Sapp and the village," Grasso said. "He has his attorney. We have our attorneys."

On Sept. 4, Sapp suffered a medical emergency at work, but has said doctors cleared him to return days later. For undisclosed reasons, the village has not allowed him back.

Sapp has alleged the village's interim administrator, Evan Walter, then the assistant administrator, filed a hostile work environment complaint against him while he was in the hospital Sept. 4.

Also last fall, Grasso and the trustees pressured then-Administrator Doug Pollock to resign. Pollock left, but received $38,000 in severance pay.

Sapp declined to comment Wednesday.