Details on ex-chief's job make sense

A recent media report raised questions regarding the employment of former Carol Stream Police Chief Rick Willing by Redflex, the red light camera company contracted by the village.

I attended the July 20 Carol Stream village board listening post and said that given the red light camera program was recommended under Willing's tenure, this report in the media concerned me, and I know it concerned other residents. I believe that the explanation given by Trustee Pamela Fenner at this meeting went into greater depth than was given in her brief quote that had been published, and it confirms that there was no conflict of interest in Rick Willing taking a job with Redflex.

Ms. Fenner pointed out that Rick Willing was an employee, not an elected official of the village. Furthermore, there was absolutely nothing in his contract that precluded him from accepting a job with a vendor once he left employment with the village of Carol Stream. She likened it to a journalist leaving a newspaper and taking a job as a spokesman for a politician. She is right.

It is to his credit that a vendor would be interested in the many talents he had acquired in his 29 years as a police officer and administrator.

Village President Frank Saverino stated that it was his idea for the red light cameras and that Rick Willing was opposed to them. It may seem strange that former Chief Willing would then take a job with a red light camera company, but in this economy, jobs are not falling off trees, and a person needs an income. Chief Willing demonstrated throughout his career with our village that he is a very hard worker, and I knew he would not be satisfied to sit on the sidelines for long.

Suzanne G. Hlotke

Carol Stream