The Bridge - December 2019

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Check out our holiday feature, 6A-7A.

The Bridge reaches out to IL Gov. Read the letter on pg. 4A.

december 2019 Vol. 50/Issue 04

These plans are ever-evolving, depending on a change of staff, additional maintenance truck, or any other conceivable resource. Sichra works with members of L&C to create adaptable “McGuivers” for a plethora of emergency situations. L&C Manager of Media Services Laura Inlow continually works with Sichra to ensure a well-prepared campus and played a pivotal role in preparing for a recent full-scale disaster exercise of tornado damage assessment.

“In addition to the 30+ years of emergency service experience that Chris brings to the table, he is a great liaison and ambassador for the college,” Lewis and Clark Director of Campus Security Brad Raish said. “Chris’s role with the city as the public safety director bridges a gap for when the college may need assistance from the city or county regarding emergency services. I look forward to continuing the relationship between Sichra Consultation Services and Lewis and Clark Community College.”

“Chris is wonderful to work with,” Inlow said. “He is highly skilled at Emergency Operations Planning, not to mention incredibly detail-oriented and organized. He has made the process of rolling out Lewis and Clark Community College’s Campus EOP smooth and seamless. Personally, I feel much more confident about Photo via Lewis and Clark Flickr. my ability to react effectively in an emergency situation because of the information that is bestart of the Persian Gulf War to work as a mili- ing laid out for us and the discussions we are tary intelligence analyst at W. Fort Hood Texas. having as a part of our training. The college is much safer for having worked with him.” After the military, Sichra went on to volunteer and work in various fields of service, safety Another aspect of his duties at L&C is to and security. Another notch in Sichra’s belt teach the security and maintenance teams is his time with the St. Louis City Municipal everything he can about NIMS, ICS and EOP. Government-Civil Service System in which he wore many hats over a 20-year span. “The level of preparation that maintenance Back in 2014 Sichra started working for and security has impresses me,” Sichra said. the Village of Godfrey as the public safety administrator and emergency manager. A student, instructor, custodian or just a concerned community member might wonThanks to Sichras work, Godfrey has been der just how and what is L&C prepared for. given the “Ready to Respond Community” award, an accreditation from the Illinois “The college is highly prepared for single Emergency Management Agency made in resource incidents similar to EMS calls, 2016. With rigorous criteria for these cre- fire alarms, and calls for assistance via dentials, Godfrey managed to be the second security. I was also impressed with their community in the state to receive this validation. storm response operations,” Sichra said.

Sichra’s 30+ years of emergency service is worth exploring. He started his life of public service as a volunteer firefighter for the Village of Godfrey, while he was attending Alton Senior High School. After graduating he enlisted in the army where he served as a Specialist E-4 and reenlisted at the

These services in the community led to his current position at Godfrey’s Lewis and Clark Community College. Sichra works with staff and faculty alike to develop a National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS) campus emergency and risk management plans.

Matters of Safety Being Measured from Every Angle at Lewis and Clark

By Dillon Neibel dneibel@lc.edu

Imagine a lifetime of dedication in public service, from firefighting to military service, and a number of services in between. This is the life of Christopher J. Sichra, the emergency management, risk and safety consultant for Lewis and Clark Community College, public safety administrator for Godfrey, Illinois, and owner of Sichra Consultation Services L.L.C.

What’s in store for Sichra and L&C? “I am looking forward to conducting more complex exercises and developing additional procedures to making the campus response even more efficient than it is now, I also advocate for additional technology that could better protect the campus community,” Sichra said.

Board of Trustees

Newest Board members Hire Former Madison County Republican Party Chairman for Forensic Accounting Investigation By Dillon Neibel dneibel@lc.edu

The Board of Trustees hired Forensic Accounting & Consulting Services, Inc. Principal CFE, and CPA Jeremy Plank, to do an audit of travel expenses of the senior administration for FY19. Plank was the Chairman of the Madison County Republican Party and supported the four newest board members, David Heyen, Julie Johnson, Kevin Rust and Charles Handfelder during their campaigns. On Nov. 7, the BOT voted for the approval of this agreement. But, before this could be voted upon NursingLearning Specialist at Lewis and Clark Community College Dawna Egellhoff had some words to share during the open comment portion of the beginning of the meeting. “It’s my understanding that the Madison County Republican Party helped support the campaign for the new board members. Jeremy happened to also take over the chair in January 2017. The same

year Mr. Heyen ran and was sworn into Lewis and Clark’s Board,” Egellhoff said. Egellhoff then went on to explain that this “Jeremy” is the same one who was hired for this forensic audit and has also been hired by Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. L&C Board Member Rust sits on SIUE’s Foundation Board, too. “I do play fair,” Egellhoff said. “Mr. Plank did step down from the Madison County Republican Chair so he could focus on professional endeavors, two months ago. I would think that the high profile and the outrage the community has towards the support for not giving Dr. Dale Chapman a contract would prompt them to seek professional investigation outside of the area to get unbiased information. Forgive me if I have trust issues, your behaviors have not warranted trust from me. I have grave concerns about the validity of information that would come from this company if

agreement is accepted tonight. There are just too many correlations for me to not question the morals and ethics agenda behind all of this… So my last question is Mr. Plank the one who’s writing your script?” In the previous board meeting Johnson questioned Chapman about how performance interviews were conducted for relatives among senior administration. Chapman confirmed that a nepotism policy is in place, and that the only relation that it currently pertains to is that of himself and his wife, Vice President of Academic Affairs Linda Chapman. All board meetings can be viewed on YouTube through L&C’s page. When it came time to vote for the approval of this agreement, long time board member Brenda Walker McCain expressed skeptism during the discussion period before the vote took place. “I read what the attorney had

prepared based on an inquiry, and it raised questions for me regarding the conflict of interest possibilities. And, I want to know has any trustees received financial support from this association. Because if so, this would look like a political payback to me, or to anyone else. So, I wanted to know that, and even though even voting on it would think that’s something they would abstain from,” McCain said. Rust then explained, “I don’t quite know how to answer that.” McCain expressed her concern with this answer and said it seemed like a conflict of interest, and asked who selected the firm. Johnson then gave her answer. “That was my doing,” Johnson said. “I know Jeremy and he’s in this line of work. I think he’d be good at it. He has experience with the college. He’s someone that I trust, and it’s very important in this line

of work that you trust who’s doing it because they might run across some sensitive issues, and it’s only $5,000.” McCain countered, “But honestly, Julie, you all question anything at any level, and you know him, I don’t know him. And then I also look at the fact you know we have historically clean audits, and we have an outstanding and qualified administration and accounting staff, and they have continuously provided you with numerous reports to great detail.” After more back and forth between McCain, Rust and Johnson as to the reason for the forensic audit, McCain said, “Well, I have a concern with the firm itself, since you cannot really pinpoint if any financial support was given.” In the end the board voted 4-2 in approval for theForensic audit and the hiring of Plank. Board Member Dwight Werts was not at the meeting.


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