Speaking Personally, What to do with your fire chief opinion

Week by week, stories that fill these pages are about people. Whether we’re covering crime, government, a new restaurant, or high school sports – there is no separating the “who” from the story. Most of the time, public interest is in the office or public position that they hold. Usually, it’s not personal –it’s just news. 

 

Last week was a different kind of story. No matter how I tried to frame it, last week’s story “Search is on for a WSFD fire chief,” was ultimately about specific personalities colliding. My goal as a journalist was to give you, my reader, the straight facts. Last week, that was a tall order. 

 

I know these men. In the course of my work, I speak to each of them frequently. I consider more than one my friend. And yet – I (tried to) listen with a blank face as they each told me their sides of the same story. Then, I put it all together into something that was supposed to be a news article, not a history article. 

 

But this week? It’s my job to use this opinion page to tell you what I really think – and what I think you should do.

 

This story really began in 2021 when, for the first time, the board of aldermen chose the WSFD fire chief. Before this change, the Willow Springs Fire Department voted among themselves to choose their leaders. 

 

In 2021, the city passed an ordinance defining the duties and qualifications for the fire chief position and establishing the aldermen’s authority to choose the chief. 

 

A search committee convened and reviewed the applicants. This committee chose Vance Farmer over Adam Webb for the job, and the aldermen voted accordingly. There was opposition to the choice at that time. One Royce Yardley took his grievances straight to the decision-makers and addressed the aldermen. 

 

The aldermen stood by their choice. 

 

From there, exactly what happened on the fire department is unclear to me. What I expect is -- the personality type of someone who is willing to run into a burning building to save a stranger’s life is a bombastic one. Put a team of bombastic personalities in a room, and that’s an obvious powder keg of potential conflict. A house divided against itself cannot stand. 

 

Farmer resigned the chief position on December 31, 2023, and the aldermen put Assistant Police Chief Alan Lewis in the Interim Fire Chief position. His success with reforming the Willow Springs Police Department is undeniable. I think the aldermen, and City Administrator Beverly Hicks, formed a reasonable plan to allow him to try to do the same with the fire department. It was a good plan, but it just didn’t work.

 

Conflict continued. In the last year, there has been a massive personnel shake-up in the WSFD. Opposition to Lewis brought together the previously fractured schisms. Those schisms, including both Farmer and Webb, splintered away from WSFD. Most of the active firefighters on the department today are new faces–having joined during Lewis’ tenure. 

 

Now, it’s time to choose a chief again. In 2025, the board of alderman still has the ultimate authority to do so. The Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) exists in Willow Springs now and will likely serve as the search committee. If they aren’t the search committee, they will surely be called upon for their opinion.

 

Reader, if you have a strong opinion about who should be the fire chief – these are the people you should speak to. Now is the time to say your piece. The aldermen are meeting November 21 – this Thursday – show up and have your say. 

 

Or better yet. 

 

Run for office. It’s time. Candidate filing for the city of Willow Springs begins on December 10. If you think the aldermen bungled the fire department leadership issue, it’s time to put up or shut up. Run for office yourself. 

 

There are two aldermen seats and the mayor’s seat up for election this cycle. 

 

If you’re not ready for public office, express interest in the PSAC. That newly formed group has had difficulty establishing a quorum throughout the year. If fire department business is something you care deeply about, the committee could use dedicated, engaged members. The committee is self-nominating, and both residents and non-residents of the city can serve. 

 

These are the people who are making the decision about this issue everyone seems to care about – the issue I hear about wherever I go. The aldermen and (maybe) the members of the PSAC will choose the fire chief. This year, you can talk to them. Next year, you could be one of them.

 

Do not assume you can’t make a difference because you don’t have the right last name. Do not assume that these decisions are set in stone – as inevitable as the impending winter.

 

As I said, everything in these pages is the story of a person – a person like you. By simply reading this newspaper, you have already chosen to be an informed citizen. Ask yourself – is it time for you to lead?