County board at odds over TFPD appointment
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By Randy Pierce
Two of 10 appointments, one of them concerning the Troy Fire Protection District, presented to the Madison County Board Government Relations Committee for consideration at its meeting held Tuesday, June 6, were soundly defeated by the members present.
At that committee meeting chaired by county board member Stacey Pace of Troy, following the approval of three individuals for the fire protection district board in Moro, the next item on the agenda was a proposed three-year term, to expire on May 1, 2026, for Alan Secrest to serve on the Troy FPD Board of Trustees, replacing Ryan Cunningham. Madison County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler had suggested this appointment of Secrest while removing Cunningham.
Pace opened the discussion about this matter by stating she had received a message from Steve Lynn, president of the Troy FPD Board, who was unable to attend the committee meeting, asking that she read a letter he had written concerning Cunningham.
“This past year,” Lynn’s letter said, Cunningham, who has a master’s degree in emergency services management, has been a dedicated member of the fire district board, bringing with him a high level of “government expertise that is extremely beneficial.”
Lynn further referenced Prenzler’s desire to replace Cunningham on the Troy FPD board “for unknown reasons” prior to filling another open position on it currently held by Kevin Byrne who, as pointed out during this meeting, wishes to terminate his involvement as a member.
“I am unclear as to why Mr. Prenzler would want to replace a productive member of the Troy Fire Protection District Board (Cunningham) and I encourage the committee to drill down a little deeper,” Lynn’s statement continued.
During the past year the fire district board, Lynn’s comments said, has been “working diligently on removing political motives and have created a cohesive team that is working hard for the residents.”
Lynn made it clear he was not opposed to Secrest serving on that board, suggesting that Prenzler instead appoint him to the slot being left open because of Byrne’s decision.
Pace brought up what she feels is a confirmation that Byrne does not wish to serve on the Troy FPD Board, citing an email he had sent out in late March, saying he “will no longer be able to fulfill the duties of the position.”
Present at this committee meeting, Prenzler commented that he was “shocked by hearing that letter, very shocked, because I spoke to Mr. Byrne (today) and he made it very clear to me he is not resigning.”
Countering that she concurred Byrne was not resigning, Pace said he instead is not seeking to be reappointed, leaving his seat as the one which is to become vacant rather than that held by Cunningham.
Answering back, Prenzler claimed the Byrne seat was not vacant because he has not formally resigned, “He’s on the (fire district) board until he’s replaced.”
Pace and Prenzler went back and forth some more about the semantics involved in Byrne’s correspondence and what Lynn said about it also with the county board chairman saying there is no resignation and Pace remarking that Byrne does not want to serve on the FPD board and would not accept a reappointment.
“I spoke with him today,” Prenzler said of Byrne, “and he said he is not stepping down. He’s not resigning.”
With Cunningham, the one Prenzler wishes to replace with Secrest, on the fire district board, Pace went on, there has been a “night and day difference” in its effectiveness resulting from the members “working together, getting things done.”
“The reputation of the fire district has changed in a positive way. I’d like to see that continue,” Pace added.
Prenzler said he had met with another county board member from Troy, Dalton Gray, who is on this government relations committee but was not present at the June 6 meeting, with the outcome being that he “liked” Secrest while expressing a major concern about fire district taxes.
“I don’t think there’s a person here who doesn’t support Mr. Secrest,” Pace reacted while adding Cunningham “has done a great job,” has more experience as a fire fighter and “turned that board around. I don’t know why you would be omitting him (Cunningham) when Mr. Byrne has said he does not want to be reappointed.”
Byrne told Prenzler, the latter stated, that he intends to remain a fire district trustee until he is “properly replaced.”
When Pace questioned Prenzler as to why he is not choosing Secrest to fill the Byrne seat, the county board chairman, after answering, “These are not lifetime appointments,” asked “Can I tell you a little bit about the qualifications of Mr. Secrest?”
“Mr. Secrest has a long history with the Troy Fire Protection District. Also, as a former public works director in Troy, he knows every manhole cover, every fire hydrant, he knows the whole town extremely well.”
Prenzler added that he recalls Gray, when the two had conferred recently, mentioned that Secrest is a fiscally conservative individual, something that “made a difference” to Prenzler.
Additionally met with opposition from the committee, but in much less time devoted to talking about it, was Prenzler’s proposed appointment of Dwight Kay to a four-year term filling a seat vacated on February 28 by Kelly Schmidt on the Madison County Transit Board.
Kay, a high-profile individual as a result of his serving in the Illinois General Assembly as a representative from this district between 2010 and 2016, has been brought forward for appointments by Prenzler, Pace mentioned when this item came up for discussion, four times since the start of this year, surfacing at both the committee and full county board levels with none of them leading to final approval.
“I don’t understand,” Pace remarked. “Does anybody else understand this? Is it Mr. Kay’s choosing?”
Committee member Alison Lamothe of Edwardsville reacted by saying she wished to quote Albert Einstein, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
