Long-time Village employee John Ledwith has been fired. Mr. Ledwith has served the Village for 22 years, most recently in difficult roles enforcing the Village Codes and supporting the various Village Boards. The reason given for his firing is “no reason.” There does not appear to have been any determination of malfeasance, theft, or other serious illegal activity.

Our Village employees deserve to be treated fairly. Terminating an employee is a drastic act. Just because, in theory, an employer “can” act to fire an employee “for no reason” does not mean that it is the right thing to do. If there is a basis for firing an employee – particularly one of Mr. Ledwith's tenure and history – it should be clearly articulated, documented, and communicated to the employee.

With Mr. Ledwith's absence, the Village, the functioning of its Boards and the success of its ongoing projects – including a major Dam project and a potential rebuilding of the Front Gate – are in danger of being disrupted by the loss of a valuable, perhaps critical, resource.

We, the undersigned, call upon the Mayor and the Board of Trustees to reconsider the decision to fire Mr. Ledwith and to consider whether any transgressions could be dealt with in a manner more consistent with human resources best practices.