The Morton Board of Trustees voted out its longtime fire chief Monday after he violated two municipal codes.
The trustees voted unanimously to remove Joe Kelley as director of fire and emergency services after he moved outside village limits last month. He also had not been driving his village-assigned vehicle, which was also a violation of the municipal code.
Village President Jeffrey Kaufman made the decision to remove Kelley on Aug. 29 and announced his decision at their Sept. 3 board meeting. A yes-no vote on reinstatement, required to complete the state-mandated, two-step process for removal or reinstatement of municipal officials, was tabled until Monday’s meeting. All six trustees voted no to Kelley’s reinstatement.
Kaufman said that Kelley had sold his house to make the move more than 45 miles outside the village, but indicated Kelley wanted to remain as fire chief.
“He’s a decent man,” Kaufman said. “He left on good terms (but) it was a safety situation. We have to have the fire chief in town. When we have a multiple (vehicle) accident or something (else), we have to have our fire chief.”
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When asked where exactly Kelley had moved to, Kaufman declined to comment.
Kelley had been with the village since 1995 and served as the city’s fire chief since 1999.
Justin Hale, a division chief who has served in his role since January 2023, will act as fire chief in an interim role. He said he intended to vie for the full-time position.
“I’m looking forward to having a great working relationship with our volunteers moving forward,” Hale said. “I feel like I have a good working knowledge of our department. Being a volunteer myself before I was a full-time firefighter, I feel that we’re going to move our department in the right direction.”
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The village plans to appoint the next full-time chief at their next board meeting on Oct. 7, with Kaufman saying that they’re looking specifically for someone qualified as a paramedic and one willing to serve full-time on the first shift.
“We’re going to be running our own fire department on first shift,” Kaufman said. “We’re going full-time on first shift, so (we’re going to seek) someone qualified to do that.”
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Morton votes to remove its fire chief after two municipal violations