Western Springs Fire Chief Never Approved: Records

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL — Western Springs' fire chief, who started in January, never received the Village Board's approval, as required under the village code.

This is part of a trend uncovered by Patch. In response to an email this week, the village's longtime attorney, Michael Jurusik, said the matter is undergoing a legal review and that he would provide his opinion at the Village Board's meeting Monday.

Fire Chief Michael Kelly is at least the fifth Western Springs official who has sworn into office without the board's approval since last year, according to the board's meeting minutes. His selection was announced in a news release.

Patch also discovered this week that Jim Tock, who served as the village's director of engineering from October to March, swore in without undergoing a board vote, the minutes show.

Last week, Patch reported that the village clerk swore in longtime village employee Casey Biernacki as deputy village manager and Jefferey Koza as the new director of engineering without board votes. They took office just hours before the board's May 10 meeting.

Asked about this, a village spokeswoman said the appointments would be brought before the board at next Monday's meeting. But she did not explain why they were sworn in before being appointed.

In April 2020, the clerk swore in Scott Lewis as a trustee during a board meeting, but the trustees did not vote on his appointment, despite a Chicago Tribune story saying to this day that Lewis was "unanimously approved" at the meeting.

Asked about the lack of board approval at the time, Village President Alice Gallagher said the vote "slipped through the cracks with everything else that is going on." It was the first days of the pandemic.

Lewis' appointment was unanimously approved at the next meeting, but he took part in a few votes at the previous session. None of the votes affected the outcome of issues and Gallagher said they technically did not count. Virtually all board votes are unanimous.

In the case of a trustee's position, Gallagher holds the power of appointment, with the board's consent.

As for the other positions, the village code is clear: They are to be appointed by the village manager, with the approval of the president and trustees. The code lists the officials who must be approved by the board. They are called "appointive officers." Among them are the fire chief and director of engineering.

In another section of the code, the same process applies to the deputy village manager.

It is unclear why the trustees have not asserted their right to vote on appointive officers. On Tuesday, Patch left phone and email messages with all six — Nicole Chen, James John, Al Fink, Scott Lewis, Heidi Rudolph and James Tyrrell. None responded. Gallagher also did not return messages for comment.

Races for trustee and president have been uncontested since 2005. The candidates belong to a group known as the Western Springs Caucus. The group is so ingrained in village politics that when Patch asked in December who had filed to run in the April election, acting Village Clerk James Horvath responded, "The Caucus has not delivered the petitions to me at this time."