Better Government Association

Business ties, secrecy tarnish reputation of Orland fire district

August 10, 2007
Editorials

In the spring, when the Orland Fire Protection District firefighters union endorsed candidates for the district board of trustees, we said in an editorial that we were concerned about the union's influence over the board, and we endorsed the opposing candidates. Nonetheless, the union's candidates won the election.

Daily Southtown staff writer Isaac Wolf revealed in a story published last week that the relationship is even cozier than we feared. Wolf reported board President Patrick Maher and firefighters union President Nick Anastos are business partners -- co-owners of two apartment buildings in the southwest suburbs, one in Orland Park and another in Lockport.

In our view, the relationship represents a clear conflict of interests for Maher and illustrates highly questionable judgment on his part.

The relationship presents a potential conflict for Anastos as well in his role as president of Professional Firefighters Union local 2754. Members of the union will decide for themselves whether Anastos is representing their interests as strongly as they expect, or if he's tempering his representation because he and Maher are business partners.

But Maher's potential conflict is troubling because, as an elected public official, he is responsible for representing the public's interest, which might be directly counter to the interests of his business partner.

The chief investigator for the Better Government Association, a watchdog group, asserted that the business relationship between Maher and Anastos represented a more serious conflict than accepting campaign contributions from a special interest group, because such donations must be disclosed under Illinois law.

Taxpayers in the district can reasonably question several aspects of the relationship. If the leaders of the board and the firefighters union are capable of such questionable judgment concerning their business activities, should the public trust their judgment on fire department matters? When the board of trustees under Maher's leadership makes a policy decision for the district, is it influenced by Maher's business interests? Is Maher's top priority the welfare of the taxpayers or the welfare of his business partner?

Such questions are compounded by the timing of the building purchases. Maher and Anastos bought the Orland Park building Jan. 9, according to Cook County recorder of deeds documents, and they bought the Lockport building within the next few days, according to the Will County recorder's office. Only a few weeks later, the firefighters union endorsed two political allies of Maher in the April board of trustees election, over a board member who was an open critic of Maher and her running mate.

Maher said his business relationship has no effect on fire district business. Anastos has repeatedly declined comment.

Dan Sprehe, chief investigator for the BGA, said the Maher-Anastos relationship "does not look good any way you slice it. ... It influences (their) decision making. We don't have partitions in our head where we can literally put things aside."

A senior firefighter in the district told Wolf that the Maher-Anastos relationship is tarnishing the district's image and reputation, especially coming in the wake of the unexplained departure of former fire chief Don Bettenhausen, who appeared to be on the outs with the fire district board for months.

Maher and the district board have refused to release documents relating to Bettenhausen and possibly shedding light on his departure, denying a series of Freedom of Information requests filed by Wolf on behalf of the Southtown.

More recently, board members, including Maher and Marty McGill, refused to disclose the salary of the district's new acting fire chief, even after the board voted to raise his salary July 25. On July 30, the board reduced the pay raise but refused to disclose Bryant Krizik's salary as acting chief. They finally relented and disclosed Krizik's salary in a press release dated Aug. 3.

The fire district board and the acting chief have a responsibility to be open and honest and to respond to questions from the public -- including the Daily Southtown -- about fire district affairs.

The Orland Fire Protection District has -- for many years -- had a reputation as an effective, well run public safety agency and has been a leader in regional public safety matters. The recent secrecy, refusal to openly address questions from the public and the ongoing run-around in response to Freedom of Information requests is undercutting the district's reputation and is not in the public interest.

Nor, for that matter, is the cozy relationship between the firefighters union and the fire district board.

Maher and his fellow board members must recognize they are public officials, accountable to the public and responsible for answering to the residents, including answering questions from the Daily Southtown. Maher, in particular, must recognize that his business relationship with the union chief is inappropriate and raises legitimate questions about his priorities. His two roles are incompatible, and he needs to end one of them.