With a member of the Lake Zurich Firefighters’ Pension Board set to retire, officials have launched a search for someone to fill the vacancy.
Ken Weigand’s term on the board is coming to an end and he won’t be seeking reappointment, said fire Chief David Pilgard, who is also president of the board. Weigand was first appointed to the pension board in 2009.
“He’s been a great asset to the board with his counsel to us in addition to his investment background,” said Pilgard, who, himself, started on the board in April 1996.
The village has officially launched a search for someone to replace Weigand, posting an open call for anyone interested in sitting on the volunteer board to apply for appointment to the seat. According to a post on the village website and a notification in the town’s electronic newsletter, the mayor will select someone – whose appointment must be approved by the Village Board – and the person would serve a three-year term.
Pilgard said the trustee candidate would “need to be able to fairly and objectively look at the matters of the fire pension fund to offer their counsel and guidance for the good of the fund.”
“This position does involve a commitment. You have education requirements when you join in addition to annual education requirements you have to do along with being able to attend regular meetings, special meetings and any retirement or disability hearings that we have to set,” the chief said.
The Firefighters’ Pension Board meets quarterly at 8 a.m. on the third Wednesday of the month at Village Hall, the newsletter states. The last meeting was in January and the next one would be scheduled for April.
Pilgard said the board consists of a president and secretary who are elected yearly by active firefighters contributing to the pension fund, a retired firefighter who is elected by retired firefighters collecting from the fund and two trustees appointed by the mayor.
“The board serves in a fiduciary capacity to be good stewards of the monies provided to the fund for the retirement of the firefighters,” said Pilgard, adding that the board’s duties are set by state statute.
Applicants for the seat must be village residents, and Mayor Tom Poynton said four people had applied as of mid-February.
“I’m looking for someone with a background in pension administration and maybe a human resources background, somebody who can also fit in with the current members of the board,” Poynton said. “I’m looking more for the right candidate as opposed to just filling it with a body.”
Village officials have not said how long the application process will be open or provided a specific date. However, the mayor said he hopes to have someone identified and approved by the Village Board by the next pension board meeting.
“Once we stop seeing applications come in, then we’ll begin the interview process to see which one we think is best and go from there,” said Poynton.
In addition to Weigand, currently the board includes Lt. Spencer Cornell, secretary, who has been on the board since May 2019, Greg Fuchs, a retired firefighter and trustee since April 2018, Fand Rick Fisk, a trustee since October 2019 who was appointed by Poynton.
“What we’re trying to do over the course of a career of a firefighter is to fund their pension that they will receive so when they retire, they are able to collect from the fund,” Pilgard said about the pension board. “We also render decisions in disability benefits cases for members of the fund that are eligible. We have to approve the retirement pensions along with that. We as the board utilize our professional agencies – legal, accounting, investments, actuaries – to provide us with information for managing the fund.”
Jessi Virtusio is a freelancer.
