North Aurora will get elected firefighters group

You can't miss the signs in North Aurora.

"We support the North Aurora Firefighters Association," the yard placards proclaim. On the other side of the placards are the names of the five incumbent trustees of the North Aurora Fire Protection District, all endorsed by the association: Gerald Auchstetter, Richard Haen, Richard Brackett, Kevin Fatten and Alfred Coppes.

The association, comprised of firefighters and their officers, has criticized the man who spurred voters to change the district's board of trustees from an appointed to an elected body. It has called Steve Gaspardo, who collected signatures for the 2008 referendum, a "disgruntled" former employee and questioned his campaign points and abilities.

Gaspardo says he's not disgruntled and would work with members of the district. He spent 14 years as a paid on-call firefighter/paramedic. He says it wasn't until he began questioning district practices in 2003 that he ran into trouble.

Gaspardo was fired in December 2003, accused of insubordination for refusing to sign a disciplinary report contending he failed to meet a monthly training hours requirement. Gaspardo said he did attend the drill, but no credit was given for it. When asked to sign the discipline report, he was in the middle of a continuing education class and told his supervisor he would examine it on his next paid shift day.

He did not appeal his firing. "What was the point?" he said. He has since interviewed to become a paid-on-call firefighter in Oswego, but has not been hired.

Gaspardo said the troubles began when he began investigating staffing and responses to calls, in the wake of criticism of paid on-call firefighters after an incident at Euclid Beverage Co. Gaspardo believed the criticism - that not enough paid on-call firefighters showed up - was unjustified, and that it was more a case that the incident overwhelmed the department's resources. After studying call reports, he concluded the district was undermanned on calls for activated fire alarms and not meeting the standards called for in its insurance rating. He presented the information to his superiors in mid-2003.

Gaspardo suggests the district consider converting paid on-calls to designated shifts, to ensure adequate staffing. He thinks that would also reduce turnover among the paid on-calls, who are scheduled month by month, unlike full-time firefighters, who have permanent shifts.

He also would like to explore the idea of the village taking over the fire district (it was a village department until 1958), and he wants an annual report published, detailing expenditures and various statistics such as response times.

"Steve Gaspardo has continually said 'there is no transparency,' " said Mike Klemencic, chairman of the association's political action committee. The association dismisses that, saying such reports are often public relations efforts "in expensive folders" and that information is available on the fire district Web site and by asking fire officials.

The fire association was also critical of the nonincumbents for not visiting fire stations or the association. Challenger Dale Steward has since met with the association. In a letter to the Daily Herald, challenger Norm Ruth wrote that if elected, visiting the fire stations and talking to firefighters would be one of his first tasks. But "as important as it is to have a good relationship with the rank and file, the bottom line is the trustee relationship and commitment to the voters of the district," he wrote.