Residents Demand Answers -- But Get None -- on Status of Plainfield Deputy Fire Chief

Two weeks after a deputy chief was placed on paid administrative leave, dozens of residents — along with elected officials, police and firefighters — turned out to a Plainfield Fire Protection District Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday looking for answers.

In the end, neither the board nor Chief John Eichelberger shed any light on why Deputy Chief Jon Stratton, who has been with the fire department since 1995, is currently out of work.

Eichelberger said he could not comment on personnel issues, echoing Deputy Chief Dave Riddle, who is set to take over as chief when Eichelberger retires at the end of the year, and fire board attorney Tom Gilbert.

Village of Plainfield trustee Jim Racich spoke up during Wednesday’s public comment period, saying the lack of information amounts to “character assassination through innuendo” against Stratton.

Racich said he was extremely disappointed in the board’s decision to place Stratton on leave.

“Who in this room of true and honest citizens has not been imprinted by the dedication of Jon Stratton?” Racich said. “... Can anyone question that this man has taken so very little and given so very much and is the definition of an honorable man?”

Racich ended his comments by asking everyone in the standing-room-only crowd who supports Stratton to stand and applaud — and virtually everyone did.

Plainfield Police Chief John Konopek, who was one of many to speak up in support of Stratton during an Oct. 9 special fire board meeting, again spoke out, reading an email he received from former Chicago Fire Department commissioner and current Carol Stream Fire Protection District Deputy Director Robert Hoff.

Hoff, who noted that Stratton has helped coordinate funerals for Chicago firefighters killed in the line of duty, lauded Stratton’s “respect, loyalty, dedication, morality, integrity and trust.”

Plainfield resident Vicky Polito bluntly demanded answers.

“You have created your own private hell with this,” she told the board. “You’re losing public trust ... This is not going to go away,” Polito added. “You owe the people some kind of justification, some kind of explanation. What about the people who vote for you, who pay for this?”

A citizen who spoke up, saying he is a resident of the Whispering Creek subdivision, called Stratton “a neighbor to everyone in this community,” adding, “The public does not know what’s going on here ... We don’t want another fiasco like the one we had with the Plainfield Park District last year.”

Asked when the personnel issue with Stratton could be resolved, Eichelberger responded, “It’s in their court.”

Stratton, who attended Wednesday’s meeting, also said he could not comment.

Watch video of Wednesday’s fire board meeting.

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