McDonough Co. (ECWd) –
In June of this year, we shared the resignations of the Colchester Fire Protection District Chief and his brother, the assistant chief, in this article. Those resignations came after financial concerns were raised over alleged missing memorial funds.
A couple of weeks after that article, we exposed the past criminal history of the Assistant Chief in this article. As shared in that article, a mysterious donor provided a check to the FPD for the memorial fund.
According to the second Fire Chief to resign, Mike Weaver, Colchester FPD Board President and owner of Weaver Automotive in Colchester, told “a bald-faced lie” when he claimed he did not remember who returned the funds in question. The Chief’s resignation letter is pretty pointed and points to serious issues that will directly impact public safety and already have. (Resignation letter at this link)
Based on our research, the reimbursement came from Michael Phelps, the former assistant chief, in the form of a certified check or money order. We have also confirmed that the Board President has shared the name of the source of those funds with more than one person. It has been alleged in one of those sharings that Phelps stated, when providing the reimbursement check, “if I go to Jail, I go to Jail’. We have been unable to get a good contact number for Phelps to confirm this.
Currently, the Illinois State Police are investigating this matter, and I suspect if the above “go to jail” comment is true, it will come out. The fact that ISP is investigating this points to probable cause, and if their findings are anywhere near what we have seen, someone should go to jail after a proper trial and conviction.
The resignation letter indicates that the Board President indicated the department should be dissolved since nobody can get along. As a current Fire Chief, any trustee who would take such a position needs to resign immediately. Conflict resolution is something every fire department deals with, both full-time and volunteer, and the solution is never to dissolve the department. Taking such a position makes it pretty clear there is a huge lack of understanding by Weaver when it comes to his obligations as a trustee, who we assume took an oath to uphold the laws of the state.
We will continue to provide updates on this matter as we learn more.
Chief Dixon Resignation
