EAST PEORIA, Ill. — Local elected leaders in East Peoria have named the man to replace former Fire Chief John Knapp, whose retirement came under a bit of a cloud earlier this year.
Knapp hastily announced retirement in late February, 2022 after an investigation found he had been using time during his fire shifts to do work on personal side hustles with a company he owned privately.
During Tuesday’s city council meeting, commissioners voted 4 to 0, with one abstention, in favor of promoting former Deputy Fire Chief Robert Zimmerman III to the post.
Zimmerman had taken the position of Acting Fire Chief since Knapp’s scandal first broke in February.
“I think the department will be in great hands,” Mayor John Kahl said during Tuesday’s meeting, “and he’s a record setter. He’s the youngest chief I believe East Peoria’s had.”
Zimmerman will be paid an annual salary of roughly $129,000 as the new fire chief.
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