By Gail Peckler-Dziki/CORRESPONDENT
When Silver Lake trustee Roger Johnson nominated Dave Kordecki as the new Silver Lake Fire Department (SLFD) chief, trustee Pat Dunn voted no and had a lot to say about it. In a later telephone interview, Dunn explained it all.
“For over 50 years, the fire department has named its own chief. They promote from within,” Dunn said. “But last night, the board decided to make that choice.”
During the meeting, Silver Lake firefighter and former interim fire chief Roger Pattie stated that the department has named its chief for the past 87 years.
The board appointed Kordecki, who is currently a fire captain and EMS director for Wheatland Fire, but the Silver Lake Fire department voted firefighter Alison Draeger as their new fire chief. Draeger has been with SLFD for seven years.
After the meeting, Draeger made the following statement. “I am more than honored to have been chosen by the fire department members as the new fire chief according to the bi-laws. After several weeks of thought and discussion, I accepted their nomination. Although I am disappointed in the board’s decision to not follow their own screening and hiring policy, I will support the new chief along with my fellow brothers and sisters in moving Silver Lake forward, continuing to strive for the common goal of providing the citizens with the best possible emergency services”
During the meeting, both village president Sue Gerber and Johnson said one reason to appoint Kordecki was that he has no ties to anyone and would be impartial. A rumor that Kordecki is cousin to one of the board members has been floating, but both Kordecki and Sabrina Moran have said there is no truth to the rumor.
Dunn and trustee Mike Decker were the only no votes for this appointment.“ All firefighters are considered village employees,” Dunn explained in a telephone interview. “The village has a policy that all positions should be posted. This one was not.”
After the vote was taken, Dunn commented that this was a joke and left the meeting. He also sent a letter to Gerber dated June 20, asking to be removed from the general welfare chair position and also as weed commissioner.
The letter reads in part, “Due to your perceived style of rule over the Village Board, I cannot continue to head any department. In my opinion I find that you lack the leadership skills necessary to guide the Village of Silver Lake in a fair and impartial manner.
“In my opinion you obviously have an agenda that does not have the best interest of the whole Village in mind and you continue to push forward without regard for rules, ordinances or statutes. I will not head any department while you continue to be the Village Board President, as I will not be dragged down to your level. I will remain on the Board to do what I can to serve all the good Citizens of the Village of Silver Lake.”
According to Dunn, this has the appearance of a backroom deal, a claim that some others on the board have denied. Village attorney Linda Gray said that the board does have authority to appoint the fire chief but did not address the policy issues of posting the position and completing background checks.
Village residents may see two referenda on the November ballot. One would be to prevent the village board from entering into any fire/EMS contracts with Salem beyond the ARA and MABAS agreements and the other to dissolve the village. If that passes, Silver Lake will become part of Salem as it was in the 1920s. There are some in the village who believe that would be a step forward.
In addition to his position on Wheatland Fire, Kordecki was also the fire protection sales and project manager for AAA Fire, located in the greater Chicago area until March of this year. He worked there for one year and nine months.
Before that, he was a service tech for Great Lakes Fire Protection, LLC for one year. He did sales and service for Monona Plumbing and Fire Protections for three years.