Bieker resigns as chief; Randle appointed interim
Special from Ferdinand News
As of Midnight on Thursday, May 16, Ted Bieker will no longer serve as chief of the Ferdinand Police Department.
The 24-year department veteran — over nine of those in the top spot — asked the council and audience (it was a packed house) to bear with him as he read his letter of resignation.
“It was difficult to write and will be difficult for me to read,” he prefaced.
The four page missive was filled with a chronology of departmental accomplishments as well as issues he perceives to have been detrimental to the job.
“I have not been allowed to be the chief in any real sense of the word for some time now,” he read. “I have had my authority taken away little by little but I am still expected to perform as leader to the Police Department … my voice seems to remain unheard and my issues remain unaddressed. This simply means that when an issue arises I am critiqued or micromanaged. But when something goes wrong the burden of responsibility falls squarely on my shoulders. I have felt that I am being phased out for quite some time now. I feel for the most part disrespected. In this situation it is not just me but my entire department and others. It is as if my hands are tied.”
He laid some of the blame for the lack of autonomy at the feet of Town Manager Marc Steczyk.
Bieker said he met briefly with Town Council President Ken Sicard on Monday May 6. He also met with Councilwoman Debbie Johnson and Councilman Ron Weyer on Tuesday. Each of them informed him that he should submit a letter of resignation as chief but should stay on as a Ferdinand Police officer.
“I feel that I have served the people of the town honorably and I hope that my efforts here will not soon be forgotten by them.”
He cited the period of “extreme duress and unrest within the department” prior to his appointment, when the staff was down to three.
Bieker said in his talks with all three council members he was advised there was no wrong-doing on his part. He intimated the resignation was requested so the Town could move in a different direction.
After reading the letter, Bieker and his wife, Patty, were ready to depart but several audience members asked him to stay.
Resident Don Farina questioned the council’s decision but was told the issue was not up for discussion. Sicard asked for a motion to accept the resignation and it passed, 3-0.
Farina pressed on. He cited the monthly police reports, noting that this month there were no arrest made. “Why?” Due to the experience of the chief and officers. “You want to micromanage and that’s wrong,” he added, suggesting council members put on the uniform and strap on the gun. “For years he’s kept this town safe. That’s absolutely wrong.”
Farina continued, “Those guys protect this town day and night. Yet you’re willing to snatch the rug out from under this guy. I ask you to reconsider.”
Town attorney Bill Shaneyfelt told council members they needed to appoint someone as acting chief, as there would be no opportunity to schedule another meeting.
Council members agreed to make Rob Randle interim chief effective May 7 until they can determine who the next chief should be.
Resident Larry Hilgeman Jr. wondered if the asked-for resignation would cause problems within the department. “My concern is the consistency factor. People you talk to think he [Bieker] is doing a good job.”
He suggested staff members will get the wrong message since there was no disciplinary action nor apparent wrong-doing.
Prior to reading his letter, Bieker did something he often does during council meetings.
He praised others.
The chief (until midnight on May 16) asked Officer Lloyd Froman and Fire Chief Dan Lindauer to stand up. He said the two had inspected a resident after a call came in concerning a smoke smell. They found the problem and fixed it, then a second call came saying a woman was unresponsive at the Ferdinand American Legion. They rushed to the scene to find a woman on the floor surrounded by patrons. She was not breathing.
They administered CPR and got her breathing again, continuing until the ambulance arrived. As of this writing the woman has recovered and returned to her home.
Bieker wanted to be sure others learned of Froman and Lindauer’s actions.
After the meeting, Sicard said he had talked to all the officers and had also been conversing with Bieker for a “period of time.”
“He stated [in the letter] he did a lot of good things for the town,” said Sicard. “And he did.”
“It’s important to remember Ted’s statement is what he believes, “added Johnson. “We have full confidence in [town manager] Marc [Steczyk] … he’s done a terrific job for the town.”
So the big question was still why.
“There are some things he was doing that I wasn’t happy with,” said Sicard. “He understands why I asked him to resign.”
“Sometimes it’s a good idea to look at it with fresh eyes,” added Johnson.
Bieker will retain his former rank of captain and will have his pay decreased 50¢ per hour.
As to who will fill his shoes as chief, Sicard said the council needs to be open to all options.
Weyer said he thinks Bieker will do what needs to be done in this role, noting he cares about his native community.
“He’s a good officer,” Steczyk agreed. “There’s no question.
I still can’t believe that Ferdinand hired this someone who is not even from Ferdinand to the “Town Manager” which was an unnecessary position which gets a free vehicle and a ridiculous salary. Also, how many cop cars has Mr. Randal wrecked? I know it is more than one, and they have been kept hush hush. I can’t believe he is even on the force at this time.
As a resident of Ferdinand I know Mr Randle has only wrecked 1 vehicle, and that wasn’t kept quiet and was no fault of his. Second you might be speaking of Mr. Seffernick who has wrecked 2, and had several more minor accidents, all not kept quite.
First, not the same Ferdinand Resident as the first post. The first post listing from Ferdinand Resident has no knowledge one way or the other on the subject of how many cars Randle or any other officer may or may not have wrecked. Secondly, why don’t you come up with a different name when Ferdinand Resident was already used instead of trying to discredit or impersonate another’s semi-anonymous name.
After reading the above article the only question I have is if he is such a damn good officer and has done so many positive things for our town why remove him and try to fix what isn’t broken? Unless I have completely missed something some of our fine town leaders need to reconsider and cease making waves for no apparent reason or be forthcoming with information on why they determined after all of his honorable years of service he is now not fit to be chief. It appears that someone wasn’t happy that he didn’t respond like a puppet to every pull of the string. Just my humble opinion.
First, lets stay focused on the Step Down, NOT RESIGNATION By Chief Bieker,If Former Chief Bieker did A Great Job like the Town board and Town Manager State , then why Remove him,We have an Excellant Police , Fire, And utilities Team here now, the only ones doing the Complaining are Councilwoman Debbie Johnson, and Town Manager, Mark Steczyk which neither one has any POLICE EXPERIENCE WHAT SO EVER, Nor have they been to ILEA For any training, They also do not have a job description for the Chief to follow , so how is he supposed to do his job, He does it by his years of experience , THATS HOW and he does a damn good job of it along with his team that He Manages, not the board. This town is safe to walk, sleep, and watch our children grow up in because our police department cares , THE ISSUE was brought up by the police department about the Wi-Fi. that was installed at the 18th street park,…….. Think about people ,the only ones that wanted the WI-FI installed was the Town Manager, and board members, little did they realize alls they did was open up the park for pedifiles to use the system and hackers to get our CREDIT CARD NUMBERS when we host our Festivities, Think about it, NOW the PEDIFILES can come to the park video our children and Grandchildren without us knowing it, Credit Card INFO by HACKERS As Well AND Even Download Porn……. Thanks to the TOWN MANAGER AND TOWN BOARD Members, For not listening to our Police Dept And former Chief, as someone said alls they want is a puppet, not someone who Cares about our Community, well I hope your Happy Mr. Steczyk, and Councilwoman Johnson And the other Board Members.
We seriously Need To Reinstate Ted Bieker Back to Chief Status. I think we all need to attend the next town board meeting to show our support and get him back.
P.S. on the Car Accident Problems, you can thank the town board and town Manager about not releaseing that info, not Ted.
Sincerly Don Farina Sr., I do speak my mind.Thanks for reading this.