La Grange 911 Agency Head Leaves Amid Siren Issue

LA GRANGE, IL — On Aug. 6, the head of the 911 dispatch agency for La Grange and nearby towns issued a news release on its investigation into why it did not sound off sirens when a tornado warning was issued in June.

Days later, Executive Director Michael O'Connor, who was quoted in the release, was no longer working for the agency, officially known as the Lyons Township Area Communications Center, or LTACC.

The agency's board members are made up of chiefs of participating police and fire departments. Patch has left messages with the police chiefs for La Grange, Western Springs and Countryside, but they have gone unreturned. O'Connor couldn't be reached for comment.

Reached Friday about O'Connor's status, Jim Moldenhauer, the agency's interim executive director, had no comment, referring questions to board members.

More than a week ago, Patch filed a public records request for documents related to O'Connor's exit with both LTACC and the village of La Grange. Under state law, they were supposed to respond within five business days or seek an extension. On Friday, they extended by five business days.

The request for records on O'Connor was coupled with one on the discipline for the dispatcher who is being blamed for failing to sound the sirens.

In December 2018, O'Connor started as LTACC's executive director. Before that, he was the support services division manager for the Libertyville Police Department for nearly two decades, according to his LinkedIn page.

In O'Connor's last days with LTACC, Patch filed a public records request related to the agency's investigation into the siren issue. Patch reported on the inquiry's findings Aug. 9, in which a dispatcher was said to have apologized for the failure.

In the Aug. 6 news release, O'Connor noted the agency's investigation.

"After conducting a thorough review into this incident, LTACC has identified and addressed the cause and has taken steps to prevent its occurrence in the future," O'Connor said in the release.

He also said the agency reviewed its policy on tornado sirens with dispatchers.

"LTACC is confident that the siren activation policy will be effectively applied going forward," the release said.

The agency's board last met Aug. 5, one day before the news release. The agenda for the meeting, which is on the village of Western Springs' website, indicates that the board likely knew of O'Connor's departure at that point because of an item labeled "transition update."

It's not easy finding information online about LTACC board meetings from the four participating villages — La Grange, La Grange Park, Western Springs and Countryside.

Western Springs appears to have all the recent agendas, but it includes no minutes. La Grange Park's last agenda for LTACC was from March 2018, which was before O'Connor joined the agency. The village had no minutes.

Meanwhile, La Grange's last meeting agenda for the board was from April, but the last meeting minutes were from March 2020. Countryside includes no information at all.