Unite Glenview on Fire Station 13 - Update

On Saturday March 6, my fellow trustee candidates and I had the opportunity to see democracy in action. We stood with over 300 people in front of Fire Station 13 and listened to our firefighters and one very unique high school student passionately engage the public to rally for the Village to keep the fire station open. There is a meeting on Monday, March 7, where the same (and hopefully more) public will have an opportunity to speak directly to the Board (link below to join).

As trustee candidates, Gina, Tim and I are in a unique position. People at the rally and before have asked us for our position on station 13. They have every right to do so and if this situation has taught us anything, it’s that the public expects that our elected officials must be more responsible and transparent to the public. While the current board had good intentions, it was clear that the public expected more opportunity for discussion and insight. Security is not political - but we recognize the gravity of the situation. As trustee candidates, we did release statements and letters to the community supporting our position that station 13 should remain open - but I think it’s important that we take a moment to explain how we got there.

At the outset, Gina Tim and I were surprised that the Village was moving to close a Fire Station, and that is having a clear impact on our residents’ sense of security. It would have been very easy to immediately call for its opening and to place a red sticker saying so on our campaign literature and our website. Here is why we did not do that - and why we stand by that:

If elected, as trustees we would have a fiduciary responsibility to the village and its residents. That does include maintaining a level of objectivity as it relates to dealing with union matters. Based on our backgrounds and understanding of governing, we recognized that while the “political” thing to do was to align ourselves with the union, we recognized that we could not place the Village in a difficult legal position going forward. We simply needed to do more investigation.

The second reason a knee jerk reaction was not warranted is because it cuts against everything we promise in our platform. The residents of Glenview require trustees who will listen, analyze all data points, ask insightful questions, and who will challenge the status quo. If we simply said “keep 13 open” without doing our due diligence on this issue, what faith could the public have that we wouldn’t react emotionally in other issues?

Here is what we did instead: (1) we met with firefighters who explained their positions and where they saw the data as misleading. (2) We reviewed in great detail the Fitch report and asked questions of our village. (3) We heard from the Union’s political action committee and better understood the concerns on safety. (4) We talked to members of the public - particularly those who live on the east side of Glenview — who explained that no amount of savings is worth even a 30 second delay when they or their loved one is in peril.

As two of us are lawyers and one is an engineer, we also investigated the process by which this all went down. While policy can legally be changed in a village managers report without a public hearing and accompanying binding vote, it was inappropriate to do so here. Once the process does not work, it is difficult to even get to the substance. That is the case here as well. After spending time gathering all of the above data points, the Unite Glenview slate of trustee candidates very clearly broke with the current board and its president, and publicly called to keep station 13 open. We called for an opportunity to have a fair public hearing to investigate all data points - both those in the Fitch report and the important points cited by residents and firefighters.

We are pleased that President Patterson has called for a meeting on Monday. We are thrilled to see the engagement by the community. As trustee candidates, we can opine on specific issues - but we owe it to the public to be predictable and transparent in our processes. Other issues will come up, and as residents, you need to know that your elected officials will approach each with professionalism, candor, and respect for process. That is all we have ever asked of our current board, and it is what we will deliver if you vote for Gina Tim and me on or before April 6.

Please attend the March 8, 7:30 p.m., special meeting of the board. Congratulations to Mr Duffy and fellow residents and firefighters for raising awareness on this very important issue. We stand united with you.

Link to join Monday's Meeting:

https://zoom.us/j/91397396663
By telephone: Dial (312) 626 6799
Webinar ID: 913 9739 6663