By KAREN PARKER
County Line Publisher Emeritus
A brush fire between Town of Glendale patrolman Steve Murray and board chair Raye Walz erupted into a roaring blaze last month, when Murray resigned from his 13-year position with the township. Or did he really quit? It seems to depend on who you talk to.
The trouble began in early February, when Murray suffered a medical emergency requiring the implantation of a pacemaker. Although he missed only a short amount of work, he was released to return with restrictions: 22.5 hours per week, a weight limit for his left arm, and a prohibition to operate anything requiring a CDL license.
Murray conceded he did exceed the hours on at least one occasion, when the town’s other two employees were unavailable to work.
But the conflict deepened when Walz found Murray operating the town loader. Murray claims the loaders does not require a CDL, while Walz alleged the town board had voted to keep Murray off any equipment for fear his health could result in an accident with damages for which the town could be held liable.
To make matters worse, Walz changed the locks on the town shop due “items missing,” he said at Monday evening’s board meeting.
Murray saw this as an accusation that he had taken things, but Walz contended in a phone conversation with the County Line on Tuesday that Murray had removed his personal tools and items from the shop and the town had already replaced them. To add further confusion, Walz said Murray quit his job, while Murray believes he was fired and plans to fight for unemployment compensation.
The situation has left Logan Henthorne as the only town employee, while a third employee, part-timer Dale Johnson, has not appeared since the incident. Whether that was out of loyalty to Murray or because he also was locked out of the town shop is not clear, but Supervisor Steve Zirk said in a conversation with Johnson that it appeared the latter had no intention of returning to employment. Walz also said he had contacted Johnson a month ago, but had not heard back from him.
Asked if he would consider some sort of arbitration or peacemaking that would bring the parties together, Walz said, “That would have to be a board decision.”
Other business
• The board had a lengthy discussion on how much money could be spent by the patrolman without board approval. In the past, it has been $200, but the board upped that to $500 before the chair’s input should be sought.
“We have to be able to keep the town going,” noted Supervisor Don Yahnke, who favored a generous discretionary amount for repair and maintenance, but anything characterized as capital improvement would need board approval.
• Melissa Murray read a letter to the board criticizing them for lack of transparency and charging that some board members were “going rogue” and failing to consult with the full board. She later pointed out that the recent hiring of Jim Zirk to mow St. Luke’s and the town shop had been done without the item appearing on a past agenda. The board had no comment on Murray’s presentation.
• Monroe County land-use planner Roxie Anderson introduced herself and indicated she would be available to help the town update its land-use plan dating back to 2008.