On Sunday 3/2/14 a special closed meeting of the Village Board was held to consider WFB Village Manager Pat DeGrave's letter of resignation. The following Monday, at a regular Board meeting, his decision, and the Village's acceptance of the same, was announced by Village President Julie Siegel. It was also announced during Monday's meeting that Police Chief Young would be acting Village Manager until the position could be filled permanently.
From what I've been able to gather, no information regarding his decision has been forthcoming. Open records requests have been made by more than one party, including candidate for Village President Anne O'Connor. Ms. O'Connor received a reply indicating she would have to pay $120/hour for 4 hours of professional IT work in order to have emails related to his resignation forwarded to her. For the time being the Village is contracting out the duties of Village Manager on a part time basis (hourly rate $75.00) to a gentleman who retired in 2008 from the position of municipal manager for Janeseville, WI.
More information regarding the interim manager and Ms. O'Connor's records request is available at http://oconnorforpresident.com/news.html
Unlike his predecessor, Pat was more than willing to answer questions from and address concerns expressed by residents in a courteous and helpful fashion. During some of the more contentious meetings surrounding the sewer issues, he was the one who managed, in most cases, to keep the discussions and presentations focused and on track. When I, personally, had some issues regarding inspections and other village services, he was more than willing to respond to my emails and route things to the proper department, even when the front end at Village Hall refused to do so.
Barring any information to the contrary coming to light, this appears to be a significant loss for the Village. Hopefully it doesn't result in a return to the ways of the past.
Best wishes to Pat in his future endeavors from someone who greatly appreciated the assistance he offered during his tenure as WFB Village Manager.
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