Politics & Government

Sheridan To Steve Jones: 'The Mayor Is Out Of Control'

John Sheridan has offered to take a lie-detector test about his knowledge of subpoenas brought against Joliet City Hall.

Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk, at left, has been at odds with several members of the Joliet City Council since May.
Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk, at left, has been at odds with several members of the Joliet City Council since May. (Image via City of Joliet)

JOLIET, IL — The city of Joliet has publicly released all emails exchanged between Joliet resident John Sheridan and Interim City Manager Steve Jones during the past six months. In the communications, the president of Joliet's Cunningham Neighborhood Association expresses a new sense of admiration for Jones and he says he also wants to take a lie-detector test.

Additionally, Sheridan makes it clear that he views Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk as a "big bully."

Patch reached out to the mayor for comment on Wednesday night. The mayor declined to respond to Sheridan's statements.

Find out what's happening in Jolietwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Last week, someone in the community filed a Freedom of Information Act request with City Hall seeking access to "copies of any and all emails, texts, correspondence and phone records between Steve Jones and John Sheridan between May 2019 and present."

It turns out that following the Oct. 1 council meeting, Sheridan sent an email to Jones, copying Joliet City Clerk Christa Desiderio.

Find out what's happening in Jolietwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In that email correspondence, Sheridan said, "In that speech I mention the Kendall County State's Attorney subpoena for the executive session tapes. I want to reassure you that I DID NOT obtain that information from the City Clerk's Office. I have the utmost respect for Christa and would NEVER place her in that situation ... While I would never disclose my sources for information, I would take a lie-detector test for that one question only, 'Did she or her office give me that information?'"

Moreover, Sheridan informed Jones that his confidential source related to the Kendall County State's Attorney's Office's secret criminal subpoena "did not come from City Hall."

"I'm well-connected in the community, including Kendall County," Sheridan wrote. "I have many people feeding me information because the Mayor is out of control ... I'm not indebted to no one."

Later in his email to Jones, Sheridan reflected on Mayor O'Dekirk's ongoing performance, saying, "There are people in power that want him gone."

At the last council meeting, Sheridan spoke during the public comment section and informed the city and the mayor that he had inside knowledge concerning the widening of the criminal investigation of former Joliet Police officer Brian Nagra, who faces five criminal charges.

That night, Sheridan suggested that Mayor Bob O'Dekirk and City of Joliet Inspector General Chris Regis had worked out a shady deal that allowed Nagra to remain on the city's payroll for many months so Nagra could reach his 20-year service date with the city.

In the summer of 2018, city officials first suspected that Nagra was falsifying his payroll records to inflate his overtime pay. In spite of that, Nagra remained on regular active duty patrol until January when Police Chief Al Roechner fired him. However, Nagra appealed his firing and the city let him remain on the payroll for another seven months; Joliet never presented its evidence at a hearing before the city's police and fire commission to justify why Nagra was being canned.

Finally in early July, Nagra submitted notice of his retirement. A couple weeks later, once he had parted ways with the city on his own terms, Nagra was formally charged in Kendall County with five felony crimes related to public misconduct and theft from the city of Joliet.

Sheridan, who is in his late sixties, grew up in Joliet and is retired from the Caterpillar plant. He is a regular at council meetings and often speaks his mind at the podium. Sheridan was a strong proponent of City Councilman Pat Mudron and the Mudron 5's decision to remove Marty Shanahan as interim city manager back in June.

In a split decision, the council voted to elevate Jones from city economic development director to interim city manager for the next six months while Joliet takes applications from outside candidates.

The council has said it hopes to hire a permanent city manager sometime next spring.

Back on Aug. 20, Sheridan also sent Jones another email communication, which is now a matter of public record, as a result of last week's FOIA request to City Hall.

In that email to Jones, Sheridan advised: "Just wanted to drop a line and say you have done a good job on two occasions, of standing up to the arrogant (City Councilman) Larry Hug.

"He is a know it all and a big bully. He learned from the best, the Mayor. With all the FOIA requests going around for people's email, texts, phone calls, etc. please do not respond. I don't want them to use it against you."

In closing, Sheridan alerted Jones to be aware that "you do have supporters in the community."

RELATED PATCH coverage: Brian Nagra Probe Leads To City Hall Subpoenas

Sgt. Cardwell: Mayor O'Dekirk Tries To Make Joliet Police Dept. His Political Playground

City Councilman Larry Hug, image via city of Joliet


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here