The city of Aurora has delayed the appointment of a new fire chief, pulling the planned discussion and potential vote from Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.
The posted final agenda for the Tuesday, April 14, meeting previously listed a resolution to approve Mayor John Laesch’s appointment of Mark Bozik as fire chief of the Aurora Fire Department. A statement from the city to The Beacon-News at noon on Monday indicated no change from the posted agenda — but on Tuesday morning, less than 12 hours before the meeting was set to take place, a city spokesperson said the item had been withdrawn.
The city declined to comment on why the change had been made. Aurora’s spokesperson only said that Laesch would continue to work with City Council on “a path forward” for the fire department’s leadership.
Also on Tuesday morning, former Aurora Fire Chief David McCabe sent a letter to City Council members expressing “frustration and disappointment” over Laesch’s pick for the role and urging them to vote against the appointment. Instead, he urged aldermen to direct the mayor’s office to look at internal candidates again, and to make them prove an outside candidate is needed.
McCabe retired near the end of last year
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after nearly three-and-a-half years as fire chief and 28 years at the Aurora Fire Department in total.He made it clear in the letter that, although he was critical of Laesch’s pick, his criticisms were directed at the mayor’s office and were not intended to be a reflection of Bozik as a candidate.
When Laesch was asked on Monday why he chose an outside candidate instead of an internal one, he said in a statement that he was “most impressed” with Bozik’s experience, perspective on fire service and proven leadership skills.
“I look forward to having an experienced voice with a fresh perspective leading one of the strongest fire departments in the state of Illinois,” Laesch said in the emailed statement.
Bozik’s resume, which was included online with the Tuesday City Council meeting’s agenda, shows that he has over 34 years of experience in fire service. He retired in early 2025 from his role as Roselle’s fire chief, and after he served as the village’s fire marshal and emergency management agency coordinator.
While at the Roselle Fire Department, Bozik “rebuilt the structure and morale of the department” through careful planning, creating a “great relationship” between labor and management, offering “robust education opportunities” and creating external relationships, he wrote in his resume.
A letter from Roselle’s local firefighters union, dated to April 6 and included online alongside Bozik’s resume, expressed full support of his candidacy.
“Having worked closely under Chief Bozik’s command during his tenure with the Roselle Fire Department, our membership has seen first-hand the caliber of leadership, integrity and professional expertise he brings to the fire service,” Professional Firefighters Local 4051 President Timothy Dopita wrote in the letter.
But in a follow-up letter to Aurora dated April 11, the Roselle firefighters union rescinded its previous support.
“This decision is not a reflection of Chief Bozik’s character or qualifications; we maintain the utmost respect for his professional abilities and contributions,” the follow-up letter said. “To remain consistent with Roselle Professional Firefighters values and advocacy for internal career ladders, we must withdraw our formal endorsement of an external applicant for this specific role.”
Similarly, McCabe wrote in his letter to City Council that he has consistently told Laesch that he should hire an internal candidate, since the Aurora Fire Department has people that are capable to fill the chief role and each of the positions below it. In fact, he said, preparing employees to move up the ladder was one of his objectives as fire chief.
“If the department was stuck in a culture consisting of harassment, bullying, or other scandals, I could see the need to look externally for its next leader,” McCabe wrote in the letter, which he also shared with The Beacon-News. “That is not the case here, and this is a huge mistake.”
As evidence of the Aurora Fire Department’s cohesion, McCabe pointed to a number of projects that have been completed in recent years. Among those mentioned was the new fire stations being built — two of which opened earlier this year, and another of which, the new fire department headquarters, is still under construction.
The city’s firefighters and Laesch have not seen eye-to-eye on many different occasions.
When flags were ordered lowered by President Donald Trump and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker following the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last year, Laesch told city leadership to raise them instead. However, all of the city’s fire stations seemingly disobeyed the mayor by lowering their flags.
Then later in the year, the International Association of Firefighters Local 99, which represents Aurora firefighters, publicly opposed a 2026 budget proposed by Laesch’s administration because it cut firefighter positions. City officials argued that cuts across all departments were needed to stabilize the budget, but that public safety departments saw the smallest percentage reductions.
Referencing these and other situations, McCabe wrote in his letter to City Council that it is “not a secret the mayor has had it out for the fire department since he entered office.” In talking about staffing cuts, McCabe said that, instead of keeping the fire department’s momentum going, the mayor’s office has “decided to cut it off at the knees.”
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Laesch declined to comment on the contents of McCabe’s letter, saying that he had not seen it.