The Pension "Plan"
Pension Benefits Of Over $98,000 A Year
Courtesy Of The Berwyn Tax Payer.
Another Bill From The Politically Controlled Berwyn City Government
First The "Back Story"
Before presenting the articles that appeared in the Berwyn Life, let me give you a little background.
It amuses me that this is news today. It was common knowledge throughout my term in office (2005-2009) that Michele Skryd was doing everything possible to have her husband promoted within the Berwyn police department in order to enable him to retire at a much higher level of retirement income. If you were involved in city government and did not know this, you must have been in a coma.
The efforts Alderman Skryd supported and her husband made to secure his advancement were..........well let us say.............. novel. Armed with a resume enhancing "internet degree", the scramble to qualify for higher rank revealed a questionable approach to higher eduction. You will read more about them in the Berwyn Life and Berwyn Independent articles copied below.
Alderman Skryd's problem was that she could not get enough votes to achieve her goal. The only votes she could get included Lovero, Chapman, Phelan and herself. That was only four votes and she needed at least five.
What angered her most was the fact that she could not manipulate O'Connor (the mayor) into supporting her efforts. That meant that, even if she could find a 5th vote to create a 5 to 3 victory for herself, O'Connor would have vetoed the proposal. She then would have needed 6 votes to over-ride his veto. That was not going to happen.
Alderman Skryd's failure to achieve this goal under the O'Connor administration was the primary reason that she abandoned O'Connor and the IVB to join Lovero's ticket. Lovero had promised her that she would "have her way" if he was elected. It was a deal.
During the last election cycle, I wrote and advised residents of this fact and warned that if the "political machine" regained control over city government, Alderman Skryd's loyalty for joining their campaign would be amply rewarded and they would grease the way for her husband's promotions. This is exactly what has happened.
They won the election and she won her prize with 7 obedient votes clearing the way.
In summary, the greasy road to cashing in on a big promotion began, more or less, in 2008 when Tom Skryd sued the taxpayers of Berwyn twice after being denied a promotion by then Police Chief Kushner. Kushner based his decision, in part, based on Skryd's attempt to use a phony internet degree to "enhance" his resume.
Skryd lost both his lawsuits against Berwyn taxpayers as well as a hearing on the grievance he had filed before both the city council and the Police and Fire Commission.
In July of 2009 Mayor Bob Lovero's new city council upheld Skryd's grievance stating that they felt that Skryd had done nothing wrong and deserved a promotion. He was then quickly promoted to "Watch Commander" at an annual salary of $107,162.
In December of 2010, Skryd was promoted to division commander with an increased salary of $121,742 (as reported in the Berwyn Life below)_and he starts the process to retire from the Berwyn Police Department within days.
In January of 2011, Skryd retired to collect over $98,000 a year based
in part on his final salary of $121,742.
To describe this differently, before Skryd was quickly promoted to "Watch Commander" in 2009 at a annual salary of $107,742, he was making less than the $98,000 annual retirment pension he will be receiving for the rest of his life (and probably for the rest of your life).
Here are links to relevent Berwyn Life articles:
Click Here: Life Article #1
Click Here: Life Article #2
Click Here: Life Article #3
