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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives wish to congratulate Chief James P. "Jay"
4Reardon on the occasion of his retirement as CEO of MABAS-IL;
5and
 
6    WHEREAS, Chief Reardon's career includes over 30 years in
7the emergency services field within various local and federal
8government positions; he began in Evergreen Park, where he
9served as a cadet, firefighter, and apparatus engineer; he then
10accepted an entry-level firefighter position with the Hoffman
11Estates Fire Department, where he received paramedic
12certification and promotions to the rank of tactical lieutenant
13and captain-shift commander; during his tenure with Hoffman
14Estates Fire Department, he also served as an on-call
15firefighter for Cary; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Chief Reardon was recruited to Portage, Michigan
17as assistant fire chief of emergency operations; he was
18promoted to the position of fire chief for Portage; he was then
19recruited to Collier County, Florida as administrator of
20division of emergency services; he was subsequently recruited
21to the position of fire chief for the Village of Northbrook;
22and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Chief Reardon was the area incident commander in
2charge of mobilization and deployment of mutual aid emergency
3forces responding to Chicago's LaSalle Bank Building Fire, the
4Metra train crash, the Utica tornado, and Hurricane Katrina in
5Louisiana; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Chief Reardon attended the National Fire Academy;
7he has a Bachelor of Science in Fire Service Management from
8Southern Illinois University - Carbondale and graduated with
9honors from Western Michigan University with a Master of Public
10Administration; he was recently awarded a postgraduate Harvard
11University Scholarship to the John F. Kennedy School of
12Government; in 2003, he was awarded the Chief Fire Officer
13designation by the Commission on Fire Accreditation
14International, Inc.; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Chief Reardon was named Illinois Fire Chief of the
16Year by his peers and colleagues at the 2002 Illinois Fire
17Chiefs Annual Symposium; he was named Fire Chiefs Magazine's
18International Career Fire Chief of the Year in 2002; in 2003,
19he was awarded the International Fire Chiefs prestigious
20President's Leadership Award for championing inter-state
21mutual aid initiatives; he was also selected by the
22International Association of Fire Chiefs as one of three
23selected experts in the development and publication of their
24NFPA 1710 Implementation Guide for Fire Chiefs; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Chief Reardon is past president of the Illinois
2Fire Chiefs Association and was appointed by Governor Ryan to
3serve on the 2000 Blue Ribbon Panel for fire service issues
4along with the statewide Terrorism Preparedness Task Force; he
5previously served as Illinois Fire Chiefs' representative to
6the Great Lakes Division Board of the International Association
7of Fire Chiefs; he serves on several national committees
8including the International Association of Fire Chiefs
9Domestic Terrorism Committee, the Homeland Security
10Coordinating Council, the Emergency Responder Technology
11Transfer Group, and the National Mutual Aid Task Force; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Chief Reardon's career also involved services
13within the federal government; he served as liaison between the
14Department of Defense and local communities in the reuse,
15economic redevelopment, and civilian conversion of military
16institutions scheduled for closure; he was an active reservist
17with the United States Air Force, previously assigned to F-16
18Tactical Units and C-130 Airlift Wings; he was selected as
19Disaster Preparedness Officer of the Year for the Air Force
20Reserve; he served as officer in charge of readiness for 22nd
21Air Force, Dobbins Air Force Base, Georgia; his military career
22concluded in November of 2004 when he retired after 28 years of
23service; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Chief Reardon has instructed at various colleges
2and conferences and authored numerous articles published in
3various trade journals; therefore, be it
 
4    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
5HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
6congratulate Chief James P. "Jay" Reardon on his retirement as
7CEO of MABAS-IL, and we wish him the best in all his future
8endeavors; and be it further
 
9    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
10presented to Chief Reardon as an expression of our esteem and
11respect.