Ex-E. Dundee fire chief paid plenty on leave
The East Dundee Fire Protection District has paid its former chief nearly $60,000 to go away.
Moreover, Mark Rakow made more than twice that amount while on paid leave for more than a year.
Rakow received a lump sum of $59,969.98 on March 15, according to his separation/retirement agreement from the fire protection district. That includes $48.177.25 for 5½ months of salary, $8,086.40 for his 2010 vacation pay, $2,956.33 for his 2009 vacation pay and $750 in accrued sick leave. He is also entitled to a pension that he has not yet applied for, said district board member Henry Clemmensen.
The district will also pick up Rakow's health, dental and life insurance through Dec. 31, 2011.
Rakow had been with the district for 39 years, made $105,114 a year and spent 14 months on paid administrative leave — from December 2009 through February 2011. In addition to the amount listed in the separation agreement, which the Daily Herald obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, Rakow made a total of $122,633 while on paid leave.
On March 4, Rakow sent a letter to the board, announcing his retirement as chief, effective Feb. 19, 2011 — he had been chief since 1993.
The board removed Rakow from his post and placed him on administrative leave Dec. 18, 2009, two years after his last contract began. Both the four-year contract and his paid leave were to terminate on Dec. 31, 2011, the settlement said.
As for Rakow's removal, board members have previously said the district “needed a change.” Trustee John Bonkoski wrote in a letter to the Daily Herald that Rakow was placed on leave for refusing to obtain the certifications expected of a fire chief. Bonkoski further stated that the board gave Rakow 12 months to finish the first level of the Illinois State Fire Marshal's Fire Officer Series and that Rakow did not comply.
Last week, the district installed Steve Schmitendorf as the new fire chief. Schmitendorf, a 37-year department veteran, had been acting chief during Rakow's leave.
In exchange for the lump sum payment, Rakow agreed not to take the fire protection district to court. Both parties agreed not to disclose the terms of the settlement with the news media except to say, “The matter has been resolved.” As such, Schmitendorf, board President Mark Guth and board member Clemmensen declined to comment on the settlement. As well, calls to Rakow and board member Bonkoski were not returned.
East Dundee resident Lark Sanders, running against Clemmensen for the lone spot on the three-member district board, had plenty to say.
While he doesn't agree with the board's “tight-lipped” nature of Rakow's ouster to the public, Sanders said the board saved money by cutting his contract short.
“In the overall concern for the residents of the district, $59,000 is better than paying $105,000, so I agree with what was done,” Sanders said. “It saves the taxpayers about $50,000, so on that end of it yes — that was a better end for the taxpayers themselves.”