Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
The Tri-State Fire Protection District will be looking for a new fire chief after Jack Mancione stepped down earlier this month with 18 months left on his contract, said Eric Habercoss, president of the district’s board of trustees. The board appointed Battalion Chief Patrick Brenn acting fire chief at its Monday meeting.
The Tri-State district provides fire protection services to parts of Burr Ridge, Darien, Willowbrook, Willow Springs and unincorporated DuPage County.
Mancione had been chief following the retirement of Chief Michelle Gibson in February 2014. Gibson’s retirement agreement was criticized by the Better Government Association because it called for paying her $115,000 for unused sick, vacation and personal days and an additional $22,000.
The terms of Mancione’s retirement agreement, which the board approved Nov. 16, will not be released until after Mancione has received a copy, which is expected to happen Monday, the district’s administrative assistant said.
Habercoss said he believes the agreement is fair and reasonable. The terms were based on Mancione’s contract, which was approved before Habercoss was elected to the Tri-State Board in April.
A week after Mancione retired, Deputy Fire Chief William Just also retired.
In the past four months, the Edgar County Watchdog website has criticized Mancione for not documenting donations of used fire district equipment and releasing personal health information about employees as part of a response to a FOIA request. Mancione did not respond to a request for comment.
Habercoss said the district is checking with an executive recruiting firm and the Illinois Association of Fire Chiefs to find out the costs of getting outside help with the search for a new chief. Habercoss said the board wants a chief who will clean up the administration and modernize the administration, policies, and procedures.
The district has drawn increased scrutiny since the Better Government Association reported last year that despite Gibson and a district trustee, Julie Strenzel, being in a civil union and raising a family together, Strenzel did not recuse herself from votes on Gibson’s salary, benefits, and retirement agreement. Strenzel ran for re-election April 7, but lost to Habercoss.
Hamilton Gibbons, who was president of the board when Gibson retired, subsequently stepped down. Bob Jewell was chosen to replace Gibbons. Further change occurred in August when Trustee Mike Orrico said he was no longer living in the district and resigned. The remaining two trustees interviewed five candidates and selected Joseph Wolski to fill Orrico’s spot.
Responding to residents’ call for an expanded board, the board has voted to expand the number of district trustees from three to five. The district received differing legal opinions about when the board expansion could occur. Habercross favors waiting for them to be chosen in the April 2017 election.
The board at its Nov. 16 meeting also instructed the district’s Board of Fire Commissioners to proceed with the hiring of three new firefighters.
“We seem to be moving in the right direction,” Habercoss said.
