Check CU is in possession of a letter which was sent to the Urbana City Council on June 22^nd this year, in regards to the Mayoral appointment process.  The letter was sent by forcibly-retired Urbana Fire Department Division Chief Chad Hensch, and it sheds a bright light on Mayor Diane Marlin’s abusive employment tactics.

The letter argues that Mayor Marlin does not care about City employees’ jobs and welfare, and it even talks about “gag orders”, and a “concealed scheme” to remove valuable employees.

 The full text of the letter is provided below.  The City provided a heavily/inappropriately redacted copy to one FOIA requester, but Check CU was able to obtain an unredacted copy (Check CU only redacted personal contact information).  Both of those variants can be viewed by clicking on the images below:

“Greetings Mrs. Bishop,

As my Ward 5 representative, I’d like to share my experience with you into the Urbana reappointment process.  I have no opinion—specific to the police situation.  I can only share what Mayor Marlin personally did to me and to my service record to show her gratitude.

I served the City of Urbana for 24 years, 11 months and 8 days finishing my career as a Fire Division Chief (in the annually reappointed capacity) representing the cities interest of the labor contract, running incident command, shift supervision and overseeing programs assigned to me.  I was forced as a “appointed” employee to adhere to a mandated residency requirement–for which I complied in 2011 by Chief Dilley.  This requirement was dropped to permit other DC’s to live outside the city–approximately 2-years later.  I was reappointed for 9-consecutive years, under both (Prussing and Marlin) mayoral ships before being informed in February 2020 that I was not being reappointed on July 1st.  Therefore, I was forced to retire.  This was a totally unexpected supersize to me and my family.  The reason stated was “culture change” by Mayor Marlin—was disclosed.  I was not given a chance to speak to Mayor Marlin directly and was told her decision was final.  All attempts by me to schedule a meeting were blocked.  It was very clear to me following this meeting that the firefighter’s union leadership in conjunction with Mayor Marlin had enacted a covert plan to ensure I would not be part of the Fire Department moving forward.  If I did not adhere to this mandate that I would essentially be terminated by the city legal team.  I was told not to contact my council member (Dennis Roberts) nor make any waves–simply ride out my tenure till June 30, 2020.  Fire Chief Lauss told me in confidence (after this formal process) that his hands were tied, and he had nothing to do with it.  Though I posses physical evidence to prove his knowledge otherwise.

     Ironically, I wasn’t the only fire department Division Chief to not be reappointed in 2020.  Division Chief Derrick Odle also was not reappointed, and Fire Marshall Edwards was informed (October 2019) that he was not going to be reappointed and was given opportunity to extend his time beyond July 1, 2020, to reach his 25 th service anniversary on September 4, 2020.  Phil had to sign a gag order to prevent his disclosure of his agreement until September 4, 2020.  Division Chief Odle and I were not given same opportunity to extend our service time beyond July 1, 2020 in order to achieve our career milestones.

     I did nothing wrong to support the actions for not being reappointed.  I had no disciplinary files or complaints on my record.  I have no disciplinary conversations with the chief on my conduct.  This was a political action to appease the firefighter’s union and offer a token reward for those whom would directly benefit as a result of this action—in my opinion.  Mayor Marlin never visited the fire department on routine basis for daily operations to get an impression of the culture.  She only made appearances for public promotion instances such as retirements or union promoted activities like fire factor or fire operations 101.  Therefore, it is hard to fathom how she can see a desperate need for “culture change” internal for the betterment of the fire department—when she never experienced it firsthand to form the basis of her opinion.  That is unless she was being fed misinformation—which I believe to be the case.

     Only the fire chief (and all department heads) recommends to the mayor the intentions, desires, or willingness to retain the appointed members on his/her staff.  This historically has been non-eventful as the mayor(s) simply put forth this list to retain them.  The council votes yes or no for the upcoming year on the names submitted for reappointment.  The mayor can only vote in a tie situation—procedurally.  Thus, insight as to why this premediated effort was employed to remove personnel prior to their reappointment to avoid council scrutiny and vote debate or override.

     Urbana has had a long history of recently removing appointed employees through a concealed scheme to thwart the attention of the public during the annual reappointment meeting.  All these employees were not reappointed by Mayor Marlin.

John Collins—Operation Supervisor for Public Works.  2019—told he was not going to be reappointed and forced to leave or retire.  He had over 20+ years’ service.

John Schneider—Community Development Director.  2019 —told he was not going to be reappointed and forced to retire.  He had over 20+ years’ service.

Chad Hensch—Fire Department Division Chief.  2020–—told was not going to be reappointed, forced to leave and retire.  I had over 24+ years’ service.

Derrick Odle—Fire Department Division Chief.  2020–—told was not going to be reappointed, forced to leave and retire.  He had over 22+ years’ service.

Phil Edwards—Fire Department Division Chief.  2020–—told was not going to be reappointed, forced to retire with a gag order.  He had over 24+ years’ service.

Chief Seraphin’s 2021 reappointment was called into question by Jared Miller (Ward 2) on June 8 th, 2020 last year.  Council went into executive session to discuss personnel matters.  Upon return, the council voted (approval) on the everyone on the list except the Police Chief.  Discussion commenced and ended with a 5 to 1 vote to retain—if my memory serves me correct.  Jared Miller was the nay vote. Colbrook abstained the vote with conflict of interest.  Research June 8, 2020 City Council meeting minutes (pg. 6).

     Mayor Marlin is hypocritical for her statement in the News-Gazette (6/21/20) that she has “concerns for employees’ jobs and welfare”.  She did not care about my service or any of the others mentioned above when Phil, Derrick or myself were not reappointed to the fire department last year.  She did nothing to protect our safeguards for stepping out of the protection of the union that she is now advocating for the Police department.  Marlin stated, “I strongly support every single person — the four lieutenants and the three division chiefs,” she said. “Their names were put forward because they are doing the job and their performance is excellent, and I also want them to continue working at the city of Urbana. I want them to continue working for the people of Urbana.  “I’m backing them.”

     We were hardworking, loyal servants, and our performance was most excellent within the fire department.  Why didn’t the mayor want us to continue working at the city of Urbana last year?  What made the mayor change face and flip-flop on public servants?  Why didn’t the mayor support us when we supported her as she publicly stated in this article?   We were all Division head level personnel in the fire department, yet now this administrative level immediately needs protected from the scrutiny of the a council vote?  This can work against you in the near future.  When the current DC’s retire, their replacements will be many individuals (Capt.’s and Lt’s) whom have questionable ethical conduct and lack empathy towards minority diversity efforts.  Are these the individuals you want protecting Urbana’s interest, welfare of the fire department, while paying them a high salary, and affording them protection from scrutiny?  This is not a wise idea as it endorses a lack of accountability of their past actions and promotes apathy.  I’ve worked with many of them for over for many years, know their allegiances, their loyalties, attitudes towards various city goals and initiatives, their past work history and behaviors.  Yes, we have some great up and coming employees–no doubt.  However, many of them are buried at the lower seniority levels of the department and will not be afforded the opportunity to showcase their talents for some time to achieve this position.

     Urbana would be better served seeking outside candidates for DC replacement when the time comes–in my opinion.  Requiring them to live within the city of Urbana so they would have an authentic sense of community.  Bring forth an unbiased viewpoint and willingness to address xenophobia and intolerance from within.

The city of Urbana may have lost a loyal public servant in my situation.  However, more importantly, the mayor lost my vote and support.  92% of the fire department lives outside the city of Urbana.  So, her charitable actions were primarily rewarded to non-residents whom don’t contribute or support Urbana’s economy, infrastructure, or community involvement.  Ironic that a city that makes claims of embracing diversity has a fire department makeup that is 93% white.

     I’m willing to meet with you to discuss specifics over coffee, lunch, or zoom–if you so desire or feel relevant.  Though my experiences only pertain to the fire department, I do think continued discussion on imbedded culture of shrouded prejudice and questionable ethics……may be enlightening to your discovery of information.  My intent is share my experiences and observations as my story was never disclosed and concealed from the knowledge of the council last year.

Welcome to the City of Urbana government–a work environment where loyalty, honor and integrity mean nothing.

Sincerely,
[address redacted]
Urbana, IL”