Lake Zurich cop withdraws as Oglesby police chief

The Lake Zurich police sergeant hired Monday as Oglesby’s new police chief no longer wants the job – and he said in a letter he was “shocked” by what he observed at Monday’s city council meeting.

Monday, the Oglesby City Council emerged from 45 minutes’ closed session and installed Scott Pavlock as chief of police by a vote of 3-0 with commissioners Tom Argubright and Jim Cullinan abstaining.

But in a head-snapping turn of events, Pavlock withdrew his application and told the city he no longer wanted the job.

Mayor Dominic Rivara agreed to turn over the letter today; but before transfer could be arranged, and with deadline approaching, the NewsTribune drew from a copy of Pavlock’s letter posted online and that Rivara confirmed was authentic. In it, Pavlock said he reevaluated the post after the council meeting, though he also cited difficulty establishing residency amid coronavirus.

“My wife and I could not believe what we saw,” Scott Pavlock wrote in a letter reneging on the chief’s post. “The first time I met some of my officers and staff I observed an attempted mutiny. This is conducted by a councilman with a grudge, an officer not selected for a promotion to chief (I wonder why?) and another are leading this rebellion after clearly violating their chain of command.”

A message for Pavlock left with the Lake Zurich Police Department was not immediately returned before press time today.

While Pavlock didn’t name names, his withdrawal prompted a posting on social media by commissioner James Cullinan, who had vocally complained Monday of being ousted as public safety commissioner. (Cullinan had joined a 5-0 vote shifting committee assignments.)

In the online post, Cullinan labeled Pavlock’s hiring and subsequent withdrawal as “yet another black eye upon Oglesby” and that he abstained because he wasn’t involved in the hiring process and left in the dark.

“Had I known then what I know now about Sgt. Pavlock, I would have most definitely cast a vote against his appointment,” Cullinan wrote, citing Pavlock’s “brazen unprofessionalism” and mischaracterization of him and some members of the Oglesby Police Department.

“The other reason why I would have, in retrospect, voted no is because of unanswered questions about Sergeant Pavlock’s character and integrity,” Cullinan wrote, citing an online posting raising various allegations. He added later, “Is there something else that we don’t know about? Somehow, I do not buy Sergeant Pavlock’s story that he simply could not find a house in town.”

Cullinan pledged to abstain in future nominations for police chief, which drew a response from Rivara today.

“I am not going to be bullied into picking a police chief by anybody,” the mayor said. “What I am looking to do is to get the best chief for Oglesby, one who will unify the dept and do the best job for the people of Oglesby. The officers are ready to move forward and do a good job and that’s what we’re going to concentrate on.”

Rivara further stated Pavlock “would have made a good chief” and “I think there were some other things besides this that led him not to take the job.”

Tom Collins can be reached via (815) 220-6930 or TCollins@shawmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @NT_Court.