Bristol-Kendall fire chief placed on leave by trustees

YORKVILLE – Bristol-Kendall Fire Protection District Chief Jim Bateman has been placed on administrative leave.

The action by the fire district’s board of trustees came Oct. 12 during a meeting at Station 1 on Route 47 in Yorkville.

The trustees voted 5-0 to put Bateman on leave and appointed Assistant Chief Jeremy Messersmith to serve as interim chief.

First, the board went into closed session to deliberate.

“We needed to discuss our chief’s position,” board President Ken Johnson said.

After completing their discussion, the board called Bateman into the closed session. The chief then left the building, Johnson said.

When returning to open session, where a large number of residents and firefighters were waiting, the board took its unanimous vote.

The trustees include Marty Schwartz, Jeff Farren, Gary Schlapp and Darin Peterson.

Johnson said Bateman is not working but is continuing to be paid during the administrative leave.

The board of trustees is expected within the next 30 days to decide whether to terminate the chief’s employment or return him to active duty, Johnson said.

Johnson declined to discuss the board’s reason for its action.

The Bristol-Kendall Fire Protection District covers the city of Yorkville and surrounding unincorporated areas.

The district maintains three fire stations and is staffed by 25 full-time employees, about 30 part-time individuals and a command staff of five.

Until earlier this year, the district’s trustees had been appointed by the Kendall County Board, but a pandemic-related controversy over the dismissal of a firefighter in fall 2021 resulted in a referendum the following spring to make the board an elected body.

Voters approved the ballot initiative, and the first election for the five available seats on the district board on April 4 produced 12 candidates.

Johnson, Schwartz, Farren and Schlapp were incumbent board members who had voted to dismiss a firefighter who refused to comply with an order to either be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus or submit to weekly testing.

A slate of five candidates critical of the board’s handling of the case, including Peterson, sought to completely replace the incumbent board.

However, the four incumbents racked up the biggest vote totals, with Peterson placing fifth. A fifth incumbent, Phyllis Yabsley, decided not to run for reelection after serving 17 years as an appointed trustee.

The five newly elected board members were sworn-in on May 15. Bateman has served as fire chief since 2018.