Village Administrator Tim Gillian made a smart move last week when he doubled down on Steve Glinke. The long-time fire chief will soon add duties as chief of the village’s building department.
With this move, subject to certain ratification by the village council, Gillian puts a genuine pro in charge of the long-troubled, headline generating building department. And he saves the village a bundle, herewith defined as $200,000, by combining the jobs.
Glinke is rightly well respected. He’s earned that respect as a firefighter who climbed the ladder to fire chief over a quarter century of service. He is seen as bright, organized, fair and always professional.
Gillian would also say that Glinke comes to his added duties with the enormous benefit of having an encyclopedic knowledge of Forest Park’s building stock. As fire chief he has been in and out of hundreds of buildings, has focused on issues of code compliance and has been actively involved in most of the new construction in town in recent years.
Glinke, paired with Gillian, also have total clout. These two have no need to brook the politicizing shenanigans that have visited this department for many years. By the book is a good motto going forward.
We are enthusiastic about this move. It is a distinct upgrade in the building department. It is a necessary concession to the sort of job-sharing, cost-cutting that has to be the future of Forest Park and all municipal governments going forward. It reflects a seriousness of purpose on Gillian’s part that we admire.
