Longtime Clarendon Hills Fire Chief Brian Leahy is one of four employees of the village’s fire department who is being forced to step down, after the Village Board voted Monday Dec. 18 to approve a mandatory retirement age of 65.
The measure to create the mandatory retirement age also affects administrative Lt. Jim Weil, Capt. Dave Sobottke and Myles Laffey.
Village Manager Zach Creer said the new retirement age of 65 matches up with the state’s requirement for all full-time firefighters. Clarendon Hills works as a paid-on-call department; however, Leahy, 68, who has been chief since 1985, is a full-time employee.
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Creer said employees were told in October that the mandatory retirement age would be discussed in November.
“The biggest thing is safety,” Creer said. “We only have four on duty at a time, and firefighting can be a very demanding job.”
Creer said the forced retirement for the four fire department personnel takes effect Feb. 1, 2024. He added he is hoping those retiring will be interested in working on a new Emergency Management System group in the village.
Lt. Dave Godek is serving as interim chief, and Creer said he doesn’t expect staffing issues to be caused by the newly-forced retirements.
Meanwhile, Leahy and Weil have remained on administrative leave, while the village looks into possible policy violations.
“The village received information about possible payroll abnormalities and policy violations in the fire department, particularly on callbacks,” Creer said, adding that the administrative leave began Nov. 7.
Creer said the village hired Charles E Hervas, of Hervas, Condon & Bersani, to act as a third-party investigator related to the information received.
“At this time, the village has made no determinations on this matter, as the investigation is ongoing,” Creer said. He said Leahy is being paid while on leave; however because he has on-call status, Weil is not.
As for how long the investigation is expected to continue, Creer said it’s hard to speculate because it depends on findings.
“Scheduling interviews has been tricky — Thanksgiving, a COVID issue and now holidays,” he said. “We’re trying to move as fast as reasonably possible.”
Creer said the village has been notified by Leahy’s attorney, Patrick D. Dolan, about possible defamation claims.
Neither Dolan nor Leahy responded to requests for comment.
Chuck Fieldman is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.