The meeting was called to order at 6:32 p.m. In attendance were Chairman Gene Ege, Commissioner Robert Johnston, Police Chief Don Thomas, and Fire Chief Don Riddle. Commissioner George Beasley arrived at 7:00 p.m.

A motion to approve the minutes from the open session of the May 9, 2002, meeting as presented was made by Commissioner Johnston and was seconded by Chairman Ege.

Ayes – 2

Nays – 0

Abstain –0

A motion to approve the minutes from the closed session of the May 9, 2002, meeting as presented was made by Commissioner Johnston and was seconded by Chairman Ege.

Ayes – 2

Nays – 0

Abstain – 0

• Daily Herald

A letter was received from the Daily Herald about future advertising in their publication. Chairman Ege explained that we had used their service in the past and that it was quite expensive. He and Commissioner Johnston agreed that the Commission would not be using their services again and that the letter from them could be disregarded.

OLD BUSINESS

 

59 applications were received. Orientation is scheduled for Saturday, June 22, 2002, in the City Council Chambers. Chairman Ege asked that Chief Riddle find a place for the applicants to take the written exam on July 13, 2002, as the Council Chambers would not be big enough. Chief Riddle said that he would take care of it, and would have the location by orientation so that it can be announced to the applicants. Chairman Ege also asked Chief Riddle if he had received the Study Guides to pass out at orientation. The Chief said that they had been ordered and were on their way. The workshop is scheduled for Thursday, June 27, 2002, and will take place in the Council Chambers. Chief Riddle said that he would conduct the workshop, which will concentrate on test taking skills. Chairman Ege said that he would be attending the workshop. Commissioner Johnston said that he would try to attend as well.

Chairman Ege said that a passing grade on the written examination would be 70%. Since there are 59 applicants, to save time and expense, the Commission should consider only administering the oral exam to the top 20 candidates. Commissioner Johnston suggested that they wait until after the test scores are in to determine the number of candidates who will go on to take the oral examination, based on the spread in the scores. Chairman Ege agreed, and said that he felt that this should be explained to the candidates at orientation, so that all those who pass the written exam realize that this does not insure that they will make it to the oral exams.

Chairman Ege also suggested that the Commission should explain to the candidates that, once they are on the list, if they do not have all of the qualifications for the position at the time of a job offer they would not lose their position on the list. When another job opportunity becomes available, the Commission will come back to that candidate again to see if that person has attained all of the required certifications. Commissioner Johnston verified that this means a person would remain a viable candidate in their numeric position until the list expires. Chairman Ege explained that this would eliminate the problem of a person being overlooked for the job just because they were only a few weeks away from completing their certification. Commissioner Johnston wondered if it would be a good idea to verify that a candidate who is not yet certified but remains on the list is actively pursuing the certification requirements. Chairman Ege said that the Commission would have the extra administrative burden of following-up on this. He feels it would be best to leave the candidate on the list and come back to him/her if another job opportunity should arise. It would then be the candidate’s responsibility to demonstrate that they have now obtained the required certifications. Commissioner Johnston agreed with this.

Chairman Ege said that Frank Schmidt agreed to administer the written exam. Chairman Ege explained that Mr. Schmidt currently administers the certification exams for the State Fire Marshall’s office and he is also the Division Chief in charge of Fire Prevention for the Rockford Fire Department.

Chairman Ege said the Commission needs to meet with I/O Solutions, the testing company, to discuss the questions for the oral examination, which will be given on July 27, 2002. Chairman Ege said that he would not be able to attend the oral examination. Commissioner Johnston said that he thought he would be able to be there. Chairman Ege asked that Commissioner Johnston and Chief Riddle both be involved in the meeting with I/O Solutions.

 

• Amendment to the Rules and Regulations

Chairman Ege met with City Attorney Peter Smith concerning the process for amending the Commission’s rules and regulations. Mr. Smith drafted a Resolution to be presented at the June 17, 2002, City Council meeting in regards to changing the age requirement for Police Officer applicants to comply with the age requirements specified in Chapter 65 ILCS 5/10-2.1-6 of the state statutes. Chief Thomas asked Chairman Ege if the age requirement can be changed if, in the future, someone who is over age 40 with 20 years of service already under their belt would want to apply for a position in the Sycamore Police Department. Chief Ege was not sure if this could legally be done through the Fire and Police Commission. We have had officers join the force in the past who are over age 40, but this was done through a lateral transfer. Chairman Ege pointed out that the state statute was amended to now read "under 40 years of age". Chief Thomas said that some other Police Departments are under the impression that you can subtract an officer’s time and grade from their age to get an adjusted age for hiring purposes. He said that he would check into this. Commissioner Johnston stated that the current Rules and Regulations cannot be interpreted to come up with the method that Chief Thomas was talking about. Chief Thomas then verified that a candidate cannot be over age 35, unless they are currently a certified officer, in which case they may be up to age 40. Chief Thomas asked if the Commission could pass an ordinance to amend our Rules and Regulations to consider applicants over the age of 40. Or, does the Commission even have to adopt the state Rules and Regulations? Chief Ege explained that we are adopting the state statutes as Sycamore’s current rules and regulations do not have the age 35 limit written into them. What we are doing is adopting the current state laws, which will automatically change Sycamore’s Rules and Regulations if the state rules are amended in the future. Chief Thomas wondered if we had to do this. Chief Riddle said that he doubted that there would be many older applicants who still wished to be a patrol officer or who we would want to hire. Chief Thomas said he just wanted to verify if this is something that we can do in the future, if desired. Chairman Ege recommended that we amend Sycamore’s Rules and Regulations to conform to the age requirements in the state statutes. Then, if Chief Thomas finds out that the hiring practice used by the other departments is allowed under the state statutes, then we can proceed from there.

A second resolution addresses amending the points for promotion to 40% written, 35% oral, 10% department merit and efficiency, 10% for years on the department, and 5% for time and grade, for a total of 100 points. Peter Smith said that the Commission should adopt and pass the resolution. A Public Notice should then be issued which states that the Commission has adopted the resolution, making it effective July 8, 2002, since it cannot be effective until at least 10 days after the resolution is passed. Chairman Ege suggested that the resolution be given a number: 2002-1. A Notice of the Amendment will be posted on the bulletin board outside the Clerk’s office and will also be printed in the newspaper.

Motion

A motion to approve Resolution 2002-1 was made by Commissioner Johnston and seconded by Chairman Ege. Chairman Ege called for more discussion on the Resolution; there was none.

Vote

Ayes – 2

Nays – 0

Abstain – 0

The Fire Chief had no new business.

• Police Chief

Chief Thomas wanted to verify that the Commission had sent a letter to Officer Jeff Wig to congratulate him for completing his probationary period. Chairman Ege confirmed that this was done.

Closed Session

Motion

A motion to go into closed session to discuss personnel matters was made by Commissioner Johnston and was seconded by Chairman Ege. Chairman Ege dismissed both Chiefs.

Vote

Ayes – 2

Nays – 0

Abstain –0

The closed session began at 6:55 p.m. Commissioner Beasley arrived.

The open session reconvened at 7:05 p.m. upon a motion from Commissioner Johnston. Commissioner Beasley seconded the motion. All three Commissioners voted in favor of returning to open session.

Adjournment

 

Prior to adjournment, Commissioner Beasley was updated on the items discussed prior to his arrival.

Motion

A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Commissioner Johnston and was seconded by Commissioner Beasley.

Vote

Ayes – 3

Nays – 0

Abstain –0

The meeting was adjourned at 7:20 p.m.

 

 

 

Minutes accepted by:

 

_______________________________

Gene Ege, Chairman Date

 

Attest:

 

 

_______________________________

Jean Tritle, Recording Secretary Date