Shorewood Building Department Trading Up

After dropping more than $20,000 on a 2012 Ford Escape for the building inspector to drive in the line of duty, the Shorewood Village Board cleared the way to auction off the pickup he had been using on the job.

The board also voted to sell off a 1994 Amco lift.

The lift was replaced with new equipment. The board voted through both measures during its meeting last week.

The village board voted to buy Building Inspector David Myers the 2012 pickup truck back in June.

Trustee Jim "Mac" McDonald was the only member of the board to vote against buying the Escape to replace the 2000 Ford F-150 Myers had been driving.

McDonald was also the sole trustee to buck the board when it voted to buy the police department's administrative commander, Aaron Klima, a $30,305.75 Chevy Tahoe.

Klima, who is now the department's acting police chief, also serves as the director of Shorewood's Emergency Service and Disaster Agency.

McDonald drew the ire of fellow-Trustee Dan Gron when he called the Shorewood Village Board "kids in a candy store" for the way it has been spending money.

During a recent meeting, Gron called on McDonald to apologize for his remark, but McDonald wouldn't say that he was sorry.