Letter: A strong team

To the Editor:

The Bristol-Kendall Fire District has had an appointed board of trustees since inception. These trustees molded and built the strong district we have today. In the past 10 years, people were attracted to Yorkville because it was a great place to live and raise a family, and part of that attraction was the healthy fire department.

We respect all the former trustees for getting us to where we are today and we were honored to have been asked to continue their work. Last year, the process of filling the board changed from an appointed seat to an elected seat. We understand why the voters wanted that. However, we feel that we have done an excellent job and want to retain our seats. It was unfortunate that we had to fire a probationary firefighter in 2021 because he refused to follow Governor Pritzker’s mandate. We did not make that rule, but we had to follow it.

The four of us have different backgrounds yet have become a strong team because we have the same goal, and that is to retain a secure fire department. We do not serve for political reasons or to further our own ambitions, but rather to be the trusted eye the department needs and to keep expenses within the taxpayers’ budget. If elected, we will continue working towards the same goal.

Please read our full bios and accomplishments at retainBKFDtrustees.org. Your vote will matter in the April 4 election.

Jeff Farren

Gary Schlapp

Marty Schwartz

Ken Johnson

BKFD Board of Trustees

Yorkville