2 Investigators: Suburban Road Commissioner Who Worked By Phone From Florida Apologizes
(CBS) -- All this week, 2 Investigator Pam Zekman has been reporting on a suburban road commissioner who has been doing his job by phone from Florida. Today, he made an apology to voters.
Oswego Township Road Commissioner Gary Grosskopf issued a written statement today defending his 26 year record on the job, but also apologizing for the negative perception of all of his Florida trips.
As we first disclosed, Gary Grosskopf's cell phone records show he was in Florida for 321 days between the end of April last year through June of this year.
In a statement to "Only Oswego," a local news website, Grosskopf said:
"For over 26 years I have had the great honor of serving as your elected Highway Commissioner.
Over these years I have worked hard to create a department that is responsive to the needs of the community by improving the roads, adding services, providing quick and effective snow and ice removal and handling a multitude of issues we deal with on a daily basis.
It has been my goal to achieve these improvements without overburdening the taxpayer. I have kept the road district tax to a minimum and lowered the tax for two years after the economic downturn to decrease the cost to taxpayers.
I have decreased staff by 30 percent over the past 3 years in order to direct more money to the road maintenance fund and still have been able to run the department effectively thanks in large part to the road district staff.
The Highway Commissioner is a salaried position that has many duties under the state statutes and I have always fulfilled those duties. In regards to my trips out of town, I have always been actively engaged in the operation of the department no matter where I have been. And this past year is no exception.
That being said, I understand the negative perception, and I apologize to the people of Oswego Township for my actions. I have been Oswego Township Highway Commissioner for half of my life and I have always tried to run the department to the best of my ability."
So what is he going to do about it? He doesn't say and he did not return Zekman's phone calls.
