'Uncertain Time': Clarendon Hills Gives Fuller Story

CLARENDON HILLS, IL – Clarendon Hills Village Manager Zach Creer gave the fullest explanation so far for his decisions with the fire department this week.

Late Friday afternoon, he emailed fire department employees and forwarded the message to Patch. He called the last few days an "uncertain time."

On Tuesday, Creer put on administrative leave with pay both Fire Chief Brian Leahy and administrative Lt. Jim Weil. He named Lt. Dave Godek as acting chief.

Shortly after, he announced that he was curtailing the practice of "callbacks," in which paid-on-call firefighters are called back for incidents. The new policy means fewer opportunities for department members to get paid, but a former firefighter has alleged potential abuse in the longtime practice.

This weekend, Creer said, a deputy chief would rewrite the policy for callbacks. He said it would be based on Leahy's presentation from early 2022.

The village's finance department, Creer said, has been working overtime on getting proper pay and attendance sheets that will be used going forward.

In his email, Creer took issue with reporting that Leahy was suspended. Patch has referred to Leahy's leave as a suspension.

"He was placed on paid administrative leave, and has not been subject to any discipline," said Creer, who took the helm in July.

He said he wanted the department to be data-driven from now on.

"I do not think it is necessary to use scare tactics, hypotheticals, half-truths or trumped-up anecdotes to make the point of how important the fire service is," Creer said in the email to firefighters. "I would appreciate it if you granted myself, the (village) board and the community that respect. Our community demands extremely high service levels as a standard."

He apologized for being unable to be more forthcoming about everything happening.

Creer also mentioned his proposal to enact a mandatory age of 65 for firefighters, which reflects state law. He said he wanted to transition those older than 65 to an emergency management assistant program.

"You all can appreciate firsthand the extremely physical nature of firefighting when faced with a tough call," Creer said.

Leahy is believed to be over 65. He has not returned a message for comment.