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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are pleased to congratulate James "Jay"
4 Reardon on his retirement as Fire Chief of the Village of
5 Northbrook on May 3, 2007; and
 
6     WHEREAS, James "Jay" Reardon has performed 40 years of
7 dedicated fire service; his fire service career began in
8 Evergreen Park; his career has taken him to Hoffman Estates,
9 Cary, Portage, Michigan, Collier County, Florida, and
10 Northbrook, where he has served as Fire Chief since June 1994;
11 he concurrently served a total of 28 years with the Air Force
12 Reserve, retiring in 2004 at the rank of Major; and
 
13     WHEREAS, James "Jay" Reardon's service in the Village of
14 Northbrook includes numerous accomplishments; under his
15 command, Northbrook's fire department received an Insurance
16 Services Office Fire Department Class 2 Rating, making the fire
17 department one of the top twenty best rated fire departments in
18 Illinois; he secured grants to construct and equip a new
19 regional emergency dispatch center; he was integral in the
20 modernization and equipping of the fire department into a
21 recognized state of the art operation; and he developed a
22 highly competent and dedicated firefighting and professional
23 staff second to none; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, James "Jay" Reardon's personnel file in full of
2 thank you notes, letters of appreciation, certificates of
3 training, and correspondence from many grateful individuals,
4 including the Governor of the State of Illinois and the
5 President of the United States; he has touched the lives of
6 many citizens in the Village of Northbrook while serving as
7 fire chief; his endless enthusiasm and stellar work ethic have
8 inspired many who have had the pleasure of working with him;
9 and
 
10     WHEREAS, During his tenure with the Village of Northbrook,
11 James "Jay" Reardon has served as President of the Mutual Aid
12 Box Alarm System and President of the Illinois Fire Chiefs
13 Association; he was appointed to the 2000 Blue Ribbon Panel for
14 the Fire Service's Issues; he served on the Statewide Terrorism
15 Preparedness Task Force; he chaired the Legislative Committee
16 of the Northeast Illinois Public Safety Training Academy; in
17 2002 he was named "Illinois Fire Chief of the Year" and was
18 named Fire Chiefs Magazine's International Career Fire Chief of
19 the Year; in 2003 he was awarded the International Fire Chiefs
20 prestigious Presidents Leadership Award from championing
21 inter-state mutual aid initiatives; he has also tirelessly
22 served on countless regional, State, and national committees
23 and task forces for the betterment of the nation's fire
24 services; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, James "Jay" Reardon's background in Disaster
2 Planning, Incident Management, and Recovery Operations has
3 served him well as he led the mobilization and deployment of
4 mutual aid forces responding to Chicago's LaSalle Bank building
5 fire, Metra train crash, Utica tornado, and Hurricane Katrina
6 in Louisiana; and
 
7     WHEREAS, Upon his retirement, James "Jay" Reardon will
8 assume the duties as the Chief Executive Officer of the Mutual
9 Aid Box Alarm System, where he will direct Statewide fire, EMS,
10 and Special Operation team responses associated with large
11 scale events and Declarations of Disaster; therefore, be it
 
12     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
13 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
14 congratulate James "Jay" Reardon on his retirement, thank him
15 for his service to the Village of Northbrook and the State of
16 Illinois, and wish him continued success and happiness in the
17 future; and be it further
 
18     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
19 presented to James "Jay" Reardon as a symbol of our esteem and
20 respect.