Praprotnik Drops Out of Fire Board Race to Support Hilmer

Robert L. Praprotnik has strong feelings about the Mehlville Fire Protection District, and that’s what prompted him to add his name to the ballot back in January. Praprotnik, who is an architect and has owned his own firm for 33 years, said that his main reason for tossing his hat in the ring was that he didn’t want the union to control the fire district’s board.

“I didn’t want the union to become powerful again in the district because I do think that’s a conflict of interest,” Praprotnik told Patch. “You can’t serve the taxpayers and the union at the same time.”

Praprotnik calls himself a “Reagan conservative” Republican, and he believes that the United States is headed in the wrong direction under the current administration. That’s why he ran for a seat in the Missouri Senate back in October 2010, and while he didn’t win, he did get more than 8,000 votes.

“I don’t agree with Obamacare, I don’t agree with the stimulus and I don’t agree with the financial aspects of controlling Wall Street,” he said. “That’s just another catastrophic bill that Obama has created.”

While he feels that the current fire board is doing a great job, Praprotnik said he had negative experiences with the board when he felt it was controlled by the union. He said that his company, RL Praprotnik and Associates, did a lot of work for the district in the mid 90s.

“Unfortunately, the board was controlled by the union then,” he said. “I noted in the specifications for a project to purchase cabinets for firehouse No. 5, and the union thought that wasn’t right.”

Praprotnik said he was fired because of that incident, even though he was only following the board’s requests on the details of the project.

“It’s useless to go against a board that is united against you,” he said. “So I just decided to move on.”

Praprotnik’s company has worked with major clients over the years, including companies like McDonnell Douglas, United Van Lines and the State of Missouri, along with many private clients. He said they also designed libraries for more than 20 years. He received his certificate in building from Washington University in St. Louis in 1968.

According to Praprotnik, the board should be controlled by people who represent the taxpayers, not the union.

“I believe the union is good for the employees, but they don’t need to control the board,” he said. “They don’t represent the taxpayers. That’s my opinion.”

He said that the current board is on the right track, and that it doesn't need to change anything it's doing.

“They’re doing the right things. They’ve built new firehouses here, and without a tax increase,” he said. “Previously, the board has always gone for a tax increase to build something new, and this has been avoided with the current board.”

Praprotnik said he thinks that the board needs to keep moving in a positive direction, and that what they’ve started is outstanding. He feels that voters should seriously , because it won’t cost them anything and could ultimately save the taxpayers money. Proposition S is a measure that will be on the April 5 ballot, asking voters to consolidate the district's ambulance and general funds into one. 

“There are a lot of other things that need to be done, too,” he said. “I want the board to continue thinking in that direction.”

He said that those running against current board chairman Aaron Hilmer are affiliated with the union, and he thinks that’s a conflict of interest.

“You can’t serve two masters,” he said.

Because he wasn’t sure that Hilmer would run again, Praprotnik added his own name to the ballot. But, he said, when he learned that Hilmer was seeking re-election, he decided he didn’t need to run after all.

“I think the board has done a wonderful job since 2006 in doing what needs to be done for the taxpayers in this area,” he said. “Hilmer stands up for the things that the taxpayer would stand up for. That’s all that counts.”

Though Praprotnik's name will remain on the ballot, he said he wants people to vote for Hilmer.

Hilmer said that while he hadn’t heard of Praprotnik until he put his name on the ballot, he takes his support as a big compliment.

“It’s humbling, and what I think is interesting is that people care about what I’ve done in the last six years and they want to continue it,” Hilmer said. “That’s the best form of flattery.”

Hilmer said that he first met Praprotnik as a fellow candidate, and that soon after, the two men met for breakfast.

“That was when he said, 'I want to see you re-elected,'” Hilmer said. “He said he was going to support me in the election. I was surprised, but I appreciate that someone would care this much.”

Considering Praprotnik’s strong feelings about the Mehlville Firefighters Union Local 1889 running the board, Patch asked Hilmer what he thought of the union.

“Oh, I just ignore them,” Hilmer said. “They have sued me so many times. Lawsuits, threats, you name it.”

Hilmer said the union has filed at least 25 lawsuits against him during the six years he’s served in the unpaid volunteer position on the board.

“The first one was because we changed the disability plan,” he said. “We asked voters to decrease the property levy, and they sued.”

He said there were also several lawsuits relating to changes made in the firefighter’s benefits, wrongful termination suits and a number of other suits filed against him.

“There are a lot of issues with the union,” he said. “Their former union vice president got arrested at the firehouse, and now he’s got a life sentence in prison for contract murder charges.”

Hilmer was referencing former Mehlville firefighter James Kornhardt, who was convicted of both conspiracy to commit murder for hire and murder for hire in June of 2010. Kornhardt, a 16-year department veteran, was found guilty of murdering Danny Coleman in 1992 when his widow, Karen Coleman, hired Kornhardt to kill her husband.

After recruiting a friend, Steven Mueller, the two men murdered Coleman and burned his body and truck. Karen Coleman collected her husband’s life insurance policies and then used some of the money to pay Kornhardt and Mueller.

“I can’t make this stuff up,” Hilmer said. “Look, if the union gets back in power, the taxpayer will be shut out. It’s as simple as that.”

Editor's note: All lawsuit information was confirmed according to the Missouri courts system database.