The Silver Lake Village Board will get a chance to vote on appointing Allison Draeger as interim chief of the Silver Lake Fire Department.
Trustee Roger Johnson, chairman of the Emergency Services Committee, said at Wednesday’s Village Board Committee of the Whole meeting, he will have the appointment on the agenda for the Jan. 21 Village Board meeting.
Draeger has been serving as chief after being elected by department membership to the post this summer in the wake of the resignation of David Kordecki as chief. While Draeger has been allowed to serve as the head of the department, the Village Board has never formally recognized her as chief.
But on Wednesday, Johnson said he is ready to move forward with a vote on appointing Draeger until a permanent chief is selected.
“I think she’s been doing a good job for us,” Johnson said. “I’ve heard no complaints.”
As for the process of finding a permanent fire chief, Johnson said he plans to have the position posted by the end of the month or first week of February. In the meantime, he is waiting for job qualifications that are being drafted by the fire department. Assistant Fire Chief Roger Pattie said those qualifications should be ready for Johnson very soon.
The department also will name its three members to the chief selection committee soon, Pattie said.
To quote Gomer Pyle….”surprise, surprise, surprise”……Not only is Chief Draeger HIGHLY QUALFIED, she has the backing of her troops and most of the community. And her heart and soul are in the position as well. She HAS been doing a terrific job, remember, WITHOUT the support of the village board. Roger has PUBLICLY stated he does not believe she is qualified for the job. In a BIZARRE move, our part time Police Chief drafted a selection process for the Fire Chief position. Remember, that’s AFTER he and Roger concocted the “process” for “selecting” Chief King’s “replacement”. Not only should the board approve Chief Draeger and “interim” Fire Chief, she should be chosen as the PERMANENT Fire Chief. GO CHIEF DRAEGER!
Chief Draeger is more qualified than most of the previous SLFD Chiefs. She should be the permanent Chief. Just remember the back room deal that got the Police Chief hired. No process. Just you are hired. The no bid contracts worked like that also.
Because Albrecht and Galich says she’s qualified,, it makes it so? NO management experience, most of her VOLUNTEERS will have more certifications/experience then she does, so we make her a chief???
@Qualified? I assume you will be at the board meeting Wednesday night to challenge her appointment. Bring a bunch of your “Red Jacket” pals along . It will be a special moment for Chief Draeger when the village FINALLY recognizes her as Fire Chief. GO CHIEF DRAEGER!
Don’t know what “red coats” mean, but your right when you say it will be a special night. It will be the first time in the history of the village that we appoint a chief with less experience than any of the volunteers that will report to her.
Poor Bernard and Qualified,
You people have no clue. The village board is not qualified enough to make a determination as to who is or is not qualified. It appears to me that with all the management experience and academic degrees that Galich and Albrecht hold. They are qualified. I believe that no board member even holds a degree in anything but basket weaving. Hire a qualified village administrator.
I agree with “Qualified”, the DEFACTO Chief has all these years of so called experience yet left her past department for many years, and had never held a line officers position. She may have some education but you need “street smarts” to go with education. A wise fire officer once told me “To be a good company officer, you first need to be a good and smart fire fighter.” She lacks this and needs more experience before she can think about being a Fire Chief.
Wrong move you do not even know her qualifications. Who do you thinks has been running day to day operation for the last 6 months. Who ran the water recovery incident at the lake. Who has been our incident commander at are scenes for the last 6 months. Who has the respect of her people on the SLFD. Chief Draeger that is who. She has proven she ability to run the department. She is in. Wrong move you are out.
@Chief is qualified, I do know what her so called qualifications are! I am part of this department, and I’m glad yiu feel that all the people are believing in her! As for her command performances, it nice to see an IC on a scene looking so professional in a tank top and flip flops… believe what you want. I can’t wait to see how the knew chief whips this dept into shape!
@wrong move: Your comment “I am part of this department” let your “farkle factor” slip. If you truly were “a part of this department”, you would be doing everything you could to try and help out the department, and that INCLUDES supporting the Fire Chief, whether you agree with her appointment or not. If you truly were “a part of this department”, doesnt’ the SLFD badge on your chest and patch on your shoulder mean ANYTHING? Fire Chief Draeger is running the SLFD under the most trying of circumstances, virtually NO SUPPORT from the village board, obviously no support from you……and she continues to do a terrific job.
If that bothers you so much, why not “turn in your badge”? If I was the “knew chief”, seems to me you would be the FIRST person I would “whip into shape”.
As I was showing you the EXIT door!
@wrong move; Um..you are not “part of this (fire)department”, you are “part of the PROBLEM!!! Chief Draeger has the support of her firefighters and MOST of the community. That rankles some folks. Like you. I agree with Mr. Punsley, you DID let your “farkle factor” slip…..trying to make the rest of us look bad. We will continue to stand by Chief Draeger!
@wrong move: Please explain how much management and command experience did our current police chief have when he was “selected” for the position? He got to sit down with Roger J. and “select” himself. All SLFD is asking for is that the board recognize Chief Draeger as their FIRE CHIEF.
Facts are Ms. Draeger is less qualified to be chief then over half of her volunteers reporting to her currently. She shows up ill prepared for meetings fire calls, and doesn’t know how to lead people. Not all the SLFD is asking for her to be recognized as Chief. Please be clear on that.
@”Facts can be a good thing”…..I expect you will be at the board meeting Wednesday night when Chief Draeger is FINALLY recognized by the board. You can sit in the back row with the “Red Jackets” and moan. See you at the meeting! GO CHIEF DRAEGER!
@facts can be a good thing: I have seen chief drager on a few incidents for my family. she did a wonderful job leading her crew as did the rest of the firemen. All i hear is good stuff.
I have talked with each one of the members there, and they ALL stand behind chief drager so you are a phony and should be ashamed of yourself. I also know your not a fireman because a fireman wouldn’t talk about another fireman or chief or fire department the way you are disrespectfully choosing to do. Who would want a ‘firefighter’ like you representing the fire service? No one would want you serving their community and I’m guessing that’s why your being a bully on here in hiding. Also you called her ‘Ms.’, if you knew her or were really ‘on’ the fire department you would’ve said ‘Mrs.’ As she is married.
I think people are just plain mad because it is working and it is working better than it ever did with past chiefs. I’ve lived here 22 years now, my advice to you is if you can’t say something nice don’t speak.
Go chief drager! Silver lake is behind you
I do not know who this person that is bashing the chief. I have to say it does not sound like an SLFD member in good standing. She is chancing the department for the better. It has not run this well since Chief Smith ran it. Back then Chief Smith asked to have the beer removed from the station. It met with high resistance from the old membership. They said the beer will be here long after you leave. He left with 9 other firefighters. Two weeks later the beer was gone and they lost good members because they could not see the light. Same thing happen with SLFDs contract with Salem Township to cover areas in its boundaries. Silver Lake Village board wanted more than what it was worth to cover and Salem said take a hike. That back Silver Lake into a 1.35 square mile area. We are paying for the mistakes of people long ago.
The department is working better? Really? Is it because nobody drove a truck through the garage door in awhile? Because they haven’t had someone drive the one of the trucks in the lake in a couple years? Or maybe your saying this because they haven’t burned down the fire house in years? Gee, I guess yo are right. Things are just swell now.
Congrats to CHIEF DRAEGER. She has the support of her troops AND most of the community. Readily apparent she does NOT have the support of Silver Lake Rescue Squad, as both of their “board members” voted to “abstain”. REALLY? The board was LONG OVERDUE is recognizing both Chief Draeger as Fire Chief, and FINALLY realizing the terrific job she had done in not only keeping the department together, but making tremendous strides in moving it forward. Kudos to those board members that now support Chief Draeger(and the SLFD),
Shame on those that don’t! GO CHIEF DRAEGER!@
@”working better you say?”….umm….you let your “good Ol Boy farkle mentality” slip again. Take DEEP breath, take off your “Red Jacket” and RELAX.
Remember when the board would not approve new tires for the fire trucks? At last night’s board meeting, Chief Draeger requested computer program upgrades so the department could properly document their calls. The vote was 6-1 to APPROVE. Care to guess which board member voted NO? The one wearing her “Silver Lake Rescue Squad” jacket sitting up at the board table. Don’t know how or what technology her SLRS uses to document their calls, I’m guessing it has to be updated on a pretty regular basis. Same board member voted to “ABSTAIN” when it came time to approve Fire Chief Draeger’s
appointment, as did her fellow SLRS member and board member. So the department IS working better, DESPITE efforts of folks like you to undermine it!@
For realizing that Ms. Draeger wasn’t a good permanent solution for fire chief due to her lack of experience and certifications.
@Congrats to the whole board! Umm…you “naysayers” need to try and get some of your “facts” straight! You continually NEGLECT to cite what “experience and certifications” Chief Draeger is supposedly lacking. Chief Draeger “stepped up to the plate” when the SLFD was in serious need of leadership. And let’s not forget, she did it WITHOUT the SUPPORT of MOST of the board. Despite that, she continued to persevere. MOST of the board members FINALLY realized that, and SUPPORTED her appointment. Naturally, the 2 SLRS “puppets’ abstained. So be it. Her appointment was NEVER meant to be a PERMANENT position. Keep up the good work Chief Draeger….with the support of the board, you will take the SLFD to new heights!
This is for all the “experts” knocking the “qualifications” of Fire Chief Draeger, knocking the board for approving her appointment, and blasting the fire department for their supposed ineptness. Sounds like maybe contracting for Fire & Rescue services with Salem Fire & Rescue might not be such a bad idea, according to your logic!!!!
I must admit, I get a “kick ” out of the responses citing “lack of experience, lack of certification, lack of education”…blah blah blah. The Ad Hoc Committee had literally over 100 years of combined experience,education, training, etc. and they were pretty much run out of town by the “clubbies” Our board and the “RED JACKETS” pretty much ignored the expertise that the AH committee brought to the table(for free!), yet HOWL that our Fire Chief should not have been appointed to that position. The last 2 referendums proved that Silver Lake residents are finally starting to see the light. This upcoming election has the “Good ol boys”(& girls) scrambling. See you at the polls!
Bernard set a new personal record, 3 posts in a row without anyone else getting a word in. I will type this big since Some can’t understand simple things……LEVEL1 CERTIFICATIONS. One more time, LEVEL 1 CERTIFICATION. Seems simple enough doesn’t it? How can someone with the most basic certification available be qualified for anything? I will what for your answer Bernard.
@Bew record: You CONTINUE to cite “LEVEL 1 CERTIFICATION”……in what?
Basketweaving? Checkers? Bingo? Not only do you show everyone that you do NOT have a clue what you are talking about, by your own conclusions, somebody that is “Level 1 certified” isn’t qualified for ANYTHING!! Read your post again..those are YOUR WORDS..NOT MINE!!! So if I am “Level 1 Certified”, I’m not qualified for ANYTHING? Keep grasping for those straws. Chief Draeger is not only QUALIFIED, she is now the RECOGNIZED/APPOINTED FIRE CHIEF of the SLFD. To the satisfaction of most, the chagrin of a few, yourself included. By the way, I am “Level 1 Certified” in chain-yanking.
Someone with a LEVEL 1 Certification is not as qualified as someone who has put in work to achieve higher levels of certifications. Ms. Draeger is less qualified than 99% of the volunteers that she is in charge of. Not my opinion, this is a fact. Where do I get my opinion, look at her level of training/certification versus others in the department. She might be a great person, mom, and friend, but she’s not qualified to be a Chief.
It is easy to see you are not a firefighter or know the passed certifications of the SLFD chiefs. One chief in the history of the SLFD has had more certifications than Chief Draeger. That was Chief Tom Smith. He is the Chief of Somers Fire. Chief Draeger has FF1, FF2, MPO, Hazmat Tech, EMT, Incident Command, NIMS and much more. Nice try who ever you are. You most likely do not know what any of thoses certs are.