Silence From Clarendon Hills Leader On Inquiry

CLARENDON HILLS, IL – Clarendon Hills Village President Eric Tech was silent Monday on whether the village would let residents see the results of an investigation into firefighters' compensation.

After Monday's Village Board meeting, Patch asked Tech whether the village would keep the investigation's report secret.

He would not say, referring the question to the village's attorney, Jason Guisinger, who was sitting next to him.

Guisinger said the village would not speculate at this point on whether the village would keep the outcome of the inquiry secret from the public. Last week, Village Manager Zach Creer said the same thing.

The village can legally keep it under wraps because another attorney, Charles Hervas, is investigating. It involves the secrecy of attorney-client communications.

During the meeting, the Village Board enacted a mandatory retirement age of 65 for firefighters. That meant the immediate ouster of Fire Chief Brian Leahy, administrative Lt. Jim Weil and two others.

In November, Leahy and Weil were placed on paid administrative leave. Hours after that happened, the village told firefighters about a new policy for paid-on-call compensation, known as "callbacks."

The village has since acknowledged to Patch it is investigating the callback policy.

Last month, Patch reported on a former Clarendon Hills firefighter and paramedic's allegations that some of his ex-colleagues abused the use of the callback policy. He said department members signed in to work unnecessarily and wasted taxpayers' money.

A couple of years ago, Hinsdale conducted an investigation involving its fire department, costing taxpayers more than $100,000. But the village kept the results secret, saying an attorney wrote it.