Trustees question Hebron president's leadership

HEBRON Not much of Hebron village governments core staff remains since Village President John Jacobson took over.

Gone is a public works director and his second-in-command. Gone is the villages clerk. Gone is a longtime treasurer and, only months later, her replacement.

Gone fired is Paul Acutt, the police officer who arrested Jacobson for driving under the influence in 2011.

Less than a year since Jacobson was elected despite pending drug charges, a Northwest Herald investigation has turned up details about the departures and additions to village staff under his guidance, and how hes running the day-to-day operations of the village. Jacobsons handling of a village truck to pay a consultant without board approval has raised legal concerns.

The investigation also revealed new details into Jacobsons dismissal from McHenry County College in February 2013, where it was alleged that the then-custodian was receiving and forwarding photos of naked children and adult pornographic images using the colleges email system. The McHenry County States Attorneys Office and the college give differing answers as to whether a police report ever was filed in the matter.

In Hebron, some staffers have resigned, not commenting publicly about their reasons for leaving. Others have been fired. Their replacements, in many cases, bring a fraction of their predecessors experience.

Our village [staff] now consists of people who have no clue, and have no experience in what theyre doing, Village Trustee Susan Ritzert said.

Ritzert and at least one other trustee are questioning the way the village is being run. Theyre frustrated by their leaders lack of communication, a tactic Ritzert sees as deliberate consistent with Jacobsons desire to control every aspect of the small towns government.

A shifting village staff

Despite attempts over the course of several weeks to arrange an interview, Jacobson never agreed to talk to the Northwest Herald for this story.

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Trustees question Hebron president's leadership