Belvidere Park Director Says He Was Fired Over a Clerical Error

There's a little bit of drama going down in Belvidere this week inside the walls of Belvidere Park District.

Think about going to work, reviewing an agenda for an upcoming meeting, and seeing your name next to "termination." That would be pretty surprising for most people. It would immediately create a pit in my stomach.

But, in this situation, the former Executive Director told MyStateline he figured it was just the board's way of putting the subject to rest.

“I interpreted it as something that we wanted to get to a vote since it already failed two votes that they were just going to try to officially kill it on an agenda and then move on,” said Pentecost.

This wasn't the case and Belvidere Park Board of Commissions voted and made an ultimate decision to fire him. Mark Pentecost was SHOCKED, as you can imagine.

WHY WAS HE FIRED?

It is a case of the classic he said/she said. Pentecost told the press there was a board meeting at the end of April where the commissions claimed he gave himself a raise without their approval. Part of the meeting was the possibility of prosecuting him. MyStateline reported the legal action never occurred.

The former 4-year Executive Director of Belvidere Parks said it was merely a clerical error and was fixed.

No I did not give myself a raise, it was not the intention of it. It was a clerical error within the office and it was fixed between staff and I. Really, that was as far as it needed to go.

The "out" in his contract was either cause or convenience, the Board of Commissioners opted for the latter.

[h/t MyStateline]

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