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Pingree Fire voters to decide if they want elected board amid complaints

Voters in the Pingree Grove and Countryside Fire Protection District will be asked in a binding referendum question March 17 whether the fire board should be elected, rather than appointed, amid complaints about the current board.

The five-member fire board - like about half the fire boards in Kane County - is appointed by the county board after recommendation by the county board chairman.

Residents gathered about 650 signatures asking for the referendum question to be placed on the ballot. Among them were Pingree Grove fire union President Tom Bevins and his wife Debra, also a firefighter, who said they disagree with the fire board's decision to have a separate referendum question March 17 asking voters for permission to borrow $8.5 million to build two new fire stations.

The Bevins said the construction plan is not in the best interest of taxpayers. The fire board's insistence on putting the question on the ballot for a fourth time - after failed attempts in 2017 and 2018 - shows the board doesn't listen to voters, they said.

The board voted 3-2 to go to voters again for the building referendum, which has the support of Fire Chief Mitch Crocetti, who says it's about long-term planning.

Tom Hite, a recently retired firefighter from Pingree Grove, said he believes there also is a conflict of interest on the current fire board. Two fire trustees, James Cartee and Matthew Clark, also are trustees for Plato Township, and Fire Chief Crocetti is the Plato Township supervisor. The boundaries of the township and fire district overlap.

"They are working on the same boards, working together," said Hite, who recently lodged a complaint about that with Kane County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen. "To me, it looks like it's political."

There is nothing prohibiting the same individual from holding those two offices simultaneously, said Matt Dietrich, spokesman for the state board of elections. Cartee, Clark and Crocetti defended their roles, saying they always act in the best interest of each district.

Crocetti said there are no intergovernmental agreements or decisions by either body that affect the other. "There is no conflict of interest," he said.

Cartee said the three of them don't even have an especially close relationship. "I actually have more discussion with my wife than I do with the chief about the district and the township."

When Cartee and Clark filled out paperwork to apply to be appointed to the Pingree Grove fire board, both stated they served in Plato Township, documents show. However, Clark checked "no" in the box that asks "are you (or your spouse) an elected official?"

Clark said that was simply a mistake. "I have never run into a situation, on either side, where I felt there was a conflict of interest on any of those duties. I have never been at a meeting where we discussed anything that overlapped," he said.

The Kane County State's Attorney's office gave the opinion there is no "automatic" conflict of interest in this case, Lauzen said. Still, "it's not a good situation when there is dissatisfaction," Lauzen said. In the future, he will focus more on whether applicants hold other elected office before making his recommendations to the board, he said.

Lauzen said he's looking into Hite's complaint about the $8.5 million borrowing plan, which Hite considers excessive.

Lauzen said he's sympathetic to people who do their best to serve their districts, but he's also not in favor of spending too much taxpayer money. "Why are you giving us so many referendums? That is a standard complaint I've heard for the last three decades," Lauzen said. "I wouldn't be surprised if I sponsor legislation that you get only one or two bites of the apple."

In an unusual twist, Fire Chief Crocetti had filed an objection in December to the referendum petition regarding having an elected board.

Crocetti alleged the petition didn't have enough signatures, but a Kane County electoral board allowed the question to be placed on the ballot after Crocetti didn't show up to a hearing Jan. 6. Crocetti said he was on a pre-scheduled vacation; the notification of the hearing first had the wrong date, then came in with short notice, so he couldn't find anyone to go in his place, he said.

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