Watchdog Group: Tri-State Chief, Trustee’s Relationship is Conflict of Interest

Tri-State Fire Protection District Chief Michelle Gibson’s life partner Jill Strenzel is a member of the board that governs the agency, the Better Government Organization found.

The watchdog group Better Government Association (BGA) is reporting that the life partner of Tri-State Fire Protection District chief Michelle Gibson, Jill Strenzel, is a long-time member of the board that has voted on Strenzel’s promotion, salary and benefits for at least six years.  According to the BGA report, Strenzel, who lives with Gibson, voted on her partner’s promotion to chief in 2007, as well as on multiple items detailing pay and benefits; Gibson currently earns about $140,000 annually, plus benefits like an SUV, $30,000 more than in 2007 and higher than the average for the area ($129,000), the organization said. Experts consulted by the BGA said that the revelations were not illegal, but certainly a conflict of interest. "It’s…

•  38 Comments
• Photos (1)

sneaky

7:54 pm on Wednesday, April 17, 2013

darien woodridge same amount part time full time, no contract, 5 chiefs 9 lieutenants ...make perfectly good sense randy   more ›

10 Years Later

World Trade Center Steel Set to Arrive in Darien Thursday

Ceremony set for 12:30 p.m. at Tri-State Fire Station Two, 419 Plainfield Road.

An eight-foot steel beam from the World Trade Center wreckage is on its way to Darien. A team from the Tri-State Fire Protection District picked up the beam Wednesday morning from Hangar 17 at JFK International Airport in New York City, Chief Michelle Gibson wrote via text message. The veterans' group Warrior Watch, as well as police from different states, will join Tri-State as they transport the beam from New York to its new home in Darien. On the way, they plan to make stops in Parsippany, NJ, Danville, PA, Harrisville, PA, Fremont, OH, South Bend, IN, and Tinley Park, IL. Tri-State is scheduled to hold a ceremony around 12:30 p.m. Thursday when the beam arrives at Fire Station Two at 419 Plainfield Road. City officials, members from …

• Photos (3)

Tri-State Fire Engineer Remembered for Dedication, Humor

Mourners honored Peter Fiala after he lost a decade-long battle with cancer.

Peter Fiala was a serious guy. He took his job as an engineer with the Tri-State Fire Protection District seriously. He took his family seriously. And he took his practical jokes very seriously. "You would never guess he was the type to play jokes," said Tri-State Fire Chief Michelle Gibson. But play jokes he did—many of them on his lieutenant and next-door neighbor Bill Rybak. Once Fiala drove off with Rybak's car and hid it around the corner while Rybak made a stop at his Darien home to pick up his dog. And then there was the time Fiala mixed orange juice with water, spattering the concoction across the bathroom floor while Rybak took a shower. Those were just a few of the memories friends, co-workers and family shared of Fiala, 46, as …

• Photos (13)