Hanover Park fire chief to serve as interim village manager

With the process of selecting Hanover Park Village Manager Ron Moser’s replacement still ongoing, officials have tapped a department head to fill the upcoming gap.

Fire Chief Craig Haigh will serve as interim village manager starting Saturday, June 16, the day after Moser officially retires. He’ll be in the position until the board approves hiring a permanent successor, action that likely won’t take place for at least a few weeks.

“We’re in the process of doing final interviews and expect this to happen pretty fast,” Mayor Rod Craig said. “(Haigh) stepped forward and is willing to maintain the momentum we have going.”

There were 84 applicants for the permanent post, which have since been whittled down to three. Craig isn’t disclosing their identities to keep their current employers from knowing. They still need to come in for final interviews with the board.

Officials considered using a search firm to hire an experienced interim from the outside, but Haigh believed he could do the job considering how closely together village departments work.

Haigh, whose temporary appointment was approved Thursday by the board, is out to accomplish several goals, the top priority being to wrap up contract negotiations with the firefighters, public works and police sergeants unions.

He also said details need to be finalized for a few public works projects, and that he wants to continue progress on the Hanover Square shopping center’s renovation.

“You can’t run things without a leader, and I don’t want the new manager to walk into any type of mess or have to pick up the ball,” Haigh said. “I think we’re up to some pretty cutting edge things, so I was afraid bringing someone else in who didn’t know might be a step back.”