The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. In attendance were Chairman Robert Johnston, Commissioner George Beasley, Commissioner Richard Ubl, and Police Chief Don Thomas. Fire Chief Bill Riddle was absent.

A motion to approve the minutes from the May 13, 2003 meeting, as presented, was made by Commissioner Ubl and seconded by Commissioner Beasley.

Ayes: 3

Nays: 0

Abstain: 0

Chairman Johnston reported that Officer Walsh had submitted her resignation to Chief Thomas on August 26, 2003. Her last day of work will be on September 5, 2003. Officer Walsh stated in her letter that she is leaving the Department to pursue a new career. Chief Thomas and all of the Commissioners expressed their regrets about her leaving and wished her well.

A motion to accept Officer Lisa Walsh’s resignation was made by Commissioner Ubl and seconded by Commissioner Beasley.

Ayes: 3

Nays: 0

Abstain: 0

• Letter from the Fraternal Order of Police regarding the utilization of the Lateral Transfer Recruitment Process

Chairman Johnston reported that Mike Larmon, President of the Sycamore F.O.P had sent each Commissioner a letter on June 3, 2003 expressing the Union’s appreciation for the Commission’s use of the Lateral Transfer Process.

• Amendment to the Open Meetings Act

A copy of a letter sent to the City Clerk by City Attorney Keith Foster on August 27, 2003 was given to Chairman Johnston. The letter summarizes the changes made to Public Act 93-0523. Effective January 1, 2004, the Public Act requires the Commission to either videotape or make audio recordings of closed sessions. It also specifies the length of time that these recordings must be retained by the Commission before they can be destroyed. Commissioner Beasley commented that, in effect, this amendment takes away the necessity for closed sessions. Commissioner Ubl pointed out that the minutes of these sessions still remain closed to public scrutiny. Chairman Johnston said that there is still some value to closed sessions, as the Commissioners can still talk about personnel issues candidly, without concern that these discussions will be brought to and embellished upon by the media immediately. Commissioner Beasley said that he still feels that this amendment gets away from the reason why closed sessions are necessary. Commissioner Ubl pointed out that the tapes only needed to be kept for 18 months. Commissioner Beasley pointed out that this makes them accessible during that period of time. Recording Secretary Tritle said that the Open Meetings Act also states that the minutes from closed sessions need to be reviewed periodically to determine if they should remain closed or if they can be released to the public. This should be done every six months or so. Commissioner Beasley asked if they are just kept for 18 months, like the audio or video recordings, and are then destroyed. Recording Secretary Tritle said that the minutes are kept indefinitely. Chairman Johnston stated that the Council must approve the destruction of the audio or videotapes as well as approving the written minutes. He said that the Commissioners would come up with a procedure that conforms to the amendment prior to the January 1^st implementation date. Commissioner Ubl suggested that the Commissioners seek guidance from the City Attorney on this issue.

• Written examination, which would be worth 50% of the score;
• Oral exam, worth 50% of the score, to be conducted by an internal panel of 4 or 5 Police Department staff chosen by the Chief and approved by the Commission. They will interview the top 20 or 30 candidates, affix points to each, and form an initial hire list;
• Preference points will be affixed to those candidates who are eligible for them;
• The Commissioners would be given the list of these candidates, along with their written and oral scores. When an opening appears, the Department would conduct the polygraphs and background checks on the first 5 or 10 candidates. The Commissioners would interview these candidates and choose the one they wish to hire. By State law, however, they must choose from the top three candidates, though, in an emergency situation, the Commission could skip down to the first certified candidate on the list.

Chairman Johnston asked Chief Thomas to verify that he was asking for an intermingled list, which would be comprised of both entry-level and certified candidates. Chief Thomas verified this was the case, and added that we are calling it an intermingled list only because we are recognizing the fact that this already occurs anyway; every hiring list the department has ever had possessed the potential to have certified police officers on it. Therefore, there really is no need to differentiate a new list from past lists. Chairman Johnston said that he wanted to make clear that with the intermingled list, whatever is done from a testing and selection process must be applied to both the entry-level and certified candidates who apply, as this is required by law. Chairman Johnston also wanted to verify that Chief Thomas still wanted to go through the traditional testing and selection process, but with one change – the testing would be administered internally rather than contracting with an outside testing agency as had been done in the past. Chief Thomas answered that we would only contract with an outside agency to administer the written exam. He suggested that the Commissioners might want to consider not sharing the written exam scores with him or with the internal panel that would administer the oral exam. In this case, the Commissioners would only forward on the names of the applicants who passed the written exam. The internal panel would interview these candidates and then give the Commissioners their scores; the Commissioners would then tally the final score for each candidate, based upon the written, oral exam grades and military/education preference points. If done this way, a candidate’s written exam score would not influence the internal panel. Commissioner Ubl wondered if it is a good idea to take 4 or 5 officers away from their regular duties in order to serve on the internal panel. He felt that we would be paying the officers on the panel to do the Commissioners’ job. He wondered why we wouldn’t want to hire professionals to do this. Chief Thomas said that he is not enamored of any of the professionals who would be hired by the Commission to conduct the oral interviews, due to the fact that the professionals are other Police Officers from other areas of the country. Since they do not know the needs of the department or community, their choices are usually based upon how well a candidate interviews instead of how well the candidate would fit in. If this were the case, he would rather use his own officers to conduct the interviews, as they are more familiar with the characteristics a candidate would need to be a Police Officer for the City of Sycamore. He also suggested that the Commissioners might want to conduct the interviews themselves, since they are familiar with the needs of our department and community as well. Chief Thomas said that he is confident that an internal panel of officers from his department would be a good alternative, due to the fact that they would all want to select someone who would be a good officer to work with. He did admit, however, that there is still room for bias in their decision-making. Chairman Johnston stated that was a concern of his as well. Chief Thomas stated that the best alternative would be to have the Commissioners conduct the oral interviews themselves, as this is how it is done in most municipalities. But, if the Commissioners chose not to, he feels that using the internal panel of officers would not only save the City money, but would help to bring a local flavor to the hiring process. He asked that, if the Commissioners still choose to hire outside professionals, they make sure that the testing is done in a timely manner. Chairman Johnston said that, after giving the Chief’s recommendations much consideration, he feels that the Commissioners could do a better job in conducting the oral examination than the outside professionals have done, especially since his own job in the private sector involves conducting interviews. While he understands that there is the potential for exposure to litigation for the Commission, anyone involved in the hiring process or in making employment decisions in the public or private sector faces the same exposure. He feels that the process that the Commission went through for the lateral transfers was very effective – the Police Department did an excellent job in reviewing the applications received and narrowing down the number to be interviewed. As a result, he supports the Chief’s recommendation to utilize the internal panel for the oral examination process. However, Chairman Johnston reiterated that he wanted to make sure that it is understood that both entry-level and certified applicants must all go through the same testing process to eliminate or minimize any potential legal repercussions. Commissioner Ubl stated that he feels that the Commissioners are abdicating their responsibilities by allowing someone other than themselves to conduct the oral examination. He feels that it is the job of the Commission to take some of these hiring duties away from the Chief and his staff. He said that the lateral transfer hiring process was an exception, since they were dealing strictly with experienced officers; the process worked well with the Commissioners doing the final interviews and rankings. When dealing with the integrated list, however, he feels that it is the Commission’s responsibility to conduct the oral interviews as a body independent from the Police Department. Chairman Johnston asked at what point in the process Commissioner Ubl felt this should be done. Commissioner Ubl said that it should be done early on in the process - the Commissioners should do the interviews that determine the ranking of the top ten candidates. Chief Thomas said that, while he likes the idea of the internal panel conducting the oral interviews, he would prefer that the Commissioners do them. However, that was not how the process was being done when he started his job with the City of Sycamore. At that time, the Commissioners did not assign any of the points in the hiring process, and he did not agree with this. He feels that the Commissioners could do a comparable - if not better - job of conducting the oral interviews than any of the outside professional that the have been hired to do this in the past. He said that he was offering an internal panel to conduct the bulk of the oral interviews and assign them points; the Commissioners would then have the responsibility of picking the person to be hired out of the top scorers. If however, the Commissioners wished to conduct the oral interviews, the Police Department would continue to help them to screen the applicants by conducting the background investigations. Once the final list has been established, if the Department has an opening and is in an emergency situation, the he then has the authority, by law, to skip to the first certified candidate on the list. Chief Thomas reiterated that, while either way would work for him, he would prefer that the Commissioners conduct the oral interviews.

Commissioner Beasley said that his biggest concern is consistency. He said that the Commissioners cannot change the process each time a list is established; they need to decide upon a process and stick with it. He said that outside professionals were used in the past due to the fact that the Commission was continually changing. The Commission and the Police Department are far more stable today. He is also concerned the issues of nepotism and favoritism if the oral interviews are conducted internally, as well as the amount of time it would take for the Commissioners to interview all of the eligible candidates. He stated that he would be open to having an internal panel that would consist of more than just the three Commissioners, such as several Sycamore Officers or even an officer from another entity, such as the State Police. Whatever method the Commissioners use, however, it is important that they employ the same process from here on out.

In order to pare down the number of candidates the Commissioners would need to interview, Chief Thomas suggested they consider using a two-tiered system. In this system, the applicants are told up front that only the candidates with the 10 highest written exam scores will be eligible for the oral interview. The first tier of applicants will have a complete score, while the second tier will only have the score from their written exam. When the candidates from the first tier are eliminated, the oral examination would then be given to the second tier of candidates. Commissioner Beasley said that he thinks there is something to be said for using an outside source, as it helps to keep away the inconsistencies that can arise in the hiring process. However, during the lateral transfer hiring process, he did like the input that the Police Department members provided. He thought that the Commissioners should consider a process whereby each Commissioner is teamed with two officers, and the teams would interview each candidate separately. Commissioner Ubl did not think it would be a consistent process if the Commissioners each did a separate interview. Commissioner Beasley felt that it would be consistent if they all asked the same questions. Chief Thomas said that they do it this way in larger municipalities, but this was due to the large number of applicants that they receive. Commissioner Ubl said that, while this was an effective way to interview the lateral transfer candidates since there were only three, he can’t help but think about the time that five officers would be putting into doing the interviews instead of performing their regular duties. He still feels that he would be abdicating his duties as a Commissioner if the Board did not conduct the interviews; it is the Commission’s responsibility to do the hiring and the firing. Chief Thomas suggested that he assign one of his staff members to the interview panel. In that way, if one of the Commissioners were absent, there would still be three people doing the interviewing. Commissioner Ubl said that Chief Thomas could participate in this capacity if he wished, but, ultimately, only the three Commissioners would make the decisions. Commissioner Beasley said that he would be open to having department members participate in the oral interviews along with the Commissioners as he feels the input of the department is important in this process. Chief Thomas agreed, reminding the Commissioners of how much the staff appreciated being included in the process when establishing the lateral transfer list. He said that he feels that this is one of the reasons his staff has come to hold the Commission in such high regard and credibility. Commissioner Ubl agreed, stating that the biggest problem he foresees is the amount of time it will take to conduct the interviews.

Chairman Johnston said that, at this point, it appears that all of the Commissioners are in agreement that the Board should take an active role in the oral interviewing process. He said that he agreed with Commissioner Beasley that it would be a good idea to have the department participate, as they add value to the process. He suggested that the panel be comprised of the three Commissioners and two department members – one from the Command Staff and one from the rank and file. Commissioner Beasley agreed, stating that the mixed panel would help to avoid the issue of favoritism as well. Chairman Johnston pointed out that this is no different than what happens in the private sector. An applicant for a private sector job will usually be interviewed by at least two other people in the organization, including the person who best knows the requirements of the position. Chairman Johnston said that the only other point that they need to decide upon is if we would specifically solicit experienced Police Officers. Commissioner Ubl stated that, as long as it is legal to do so, he does not have a problem with the intermingled hiring list, as well as advertising the fact that the experienced officers would start at Step 2 of the salary scale. Chief Thomas said that this type of advertising is done all of the time as an incentive for experienced officers to apply. Commissioner Ubl asked for verification that all applicants, both entry-level and experienced officers, would take the written and oral tests. Chairman Johnston stated that this was correct, as the law requires this. Commissioner Ubl also suggested that the City attorney be consulted to verify that the Chief does has the right to choose a certified candidate on the hiring list over an entry-level candidate in an emergency situation. Chief Thomas said that former City attorney Peter Smith had sent a letter to Chairman Johnston about a proposed change to the Commission’s Rules and Regulations concerning this topic. He suggested that one of the Commissioners or himself talk to the new City Attorney about this, although he said that the Rules and Regulations do not really need to be modified as the State Rules and Regulations allow this. Commissioner Beasley asked Chief Thomas if he would be appointing the two staff members who would serve on the internal panel. He said that he would ask a member of his Command Staff to volunteer to serve on the panel and would ask the F.O.P to select one of their members to participate. Commissioner Ubl reiterated that it is essential to make sure that these two staff members know that this will be a time consuming process. Chief Thomas said that the two staff members would be given comp time for any time they serve on the panel while they are not on duty. He stated, again, that his staff members were very happy to sit on the panel and appreciate the fact that they are allowed to participate in the selection process.

Chairman Johnston said that he would like to summarize the decisions made on how the selection process will work and to decide on the dates each step will occur. We will advertise via the Internet and the newspapers as we have done in the past. Chief Thomas said that he would also be faxing the job posting to about 150 Police Departments in Illinois. Chairman Johnston stated that the ad should be clear in regards to the fact that this is an initial hiring list and that we are recruiting both entry-level candidates and experienced officers. Commissioner Ubl asked which newspapers the job ad would be sent to. Ms. Tritle said that, for the lateral-transfer job posting, we only used The Chronicle and The Midweek; it is too expensive to put the ad in the Sycamore News because they now require that it also be printed in several other Kane County newspapers as well. Chairman Johnston said that he thought that the bulk of the applicants see the ad on the Internet sites anyway. Commissioner Beasley suggested placing the job posting in the Northern Star, as well as possibly having the F.O.P send it out. Chief Thomas said that they would also give the ad to the National Women’s Police Organization, as they will post it for free. Chief Thomas said that they would also send the posting to schools with law enforcement curriculum. Chief Thomas also said that the Command Staff Secretary has been compiling a list of people who have inquired about when the next test would be given. She will be sending notices to all of these people, too. Chief Thomas also said that he is investigating the possibility of being able to have candidates complete the application on-line. Chairman Johnston asked if an application fee should be charged to offset the cost of the examinations. Commissioner Ubl asked what the common practice was. Chief Thomas said that most entities waive the fee; those that do not charge around $25. Commissioner Ubl said that, since we are a small community, he does not feel it is worth it to charge a fee. Commissioner Beasley asked what the advantage of charging a fee would be. If it is just to offset the cost of the test, he felt that it should be waived. Chairman Johnston agreed, stating that the only cost it would offset would be the cost of the written examination. Chairman Johnston asked Chief Thomas and Ms. Tritle to decide upon an application cut-off date. Commissioner Beasley said that he felt that Ms. Tritle should also be a part of the interview panel. Chief Thomas agreed. Ms. Tritle said that she would like to participate, as this allows her to get to know our new employees a little better. Commissioner Ubl asked if anyone has ever meet with representatives from I/O Solutions. Chairman Johnston said that they did when they first brought them on. Commissioner Ubl wondered if it would be a good idea to revisit with them to get updated, whether it is in person or on the telephone. Chief Thomas said that he and Chief Riddle interviewed them as a part of their search for a new testing company. Commissioner Ubl said that he would consider giving them a call, as he would like to review their testing materials and to get a feel for what their organization is like. Chief Thomas said that he would be happy to share the materials that he has from I/O Solutions with Commissioner Ubl.

Chairman Johnston said that he felt it is still necessary to hold an orientation. An outside service will be contacted to conduct the written examination, and an internal panel of six, consisting of the Commissioners, Police Department staff, and City staff will conduct the oral examination.

Chief Thomas asked about physical agility testing. Officer Lozeau flunked this test on his second day at the Academy. He said that there are many Boards in the state that include the four-part physical agility test as the first step in the hiring process, after the orientation. He knows that the Sycamore Commissioners have been advised that it is not prudent to conduct this test in the City’s hiring process, since it has not been validated as a bona fide job requirement. However, there are other Police Departments and Boards that do use it. He wondered if the physical agility test should be considered to be a bona fide job requirement, since a candidate cannot pass the Academy if he or she does not pass this test. If so, maybe the Commissioners should consider making it a part of the City’s hiring process. The Department could administer the test themselves, as it only consists of a mile and one-half run, a certain number of sit-ups in one minute, touching one’s toes, and doing one bench press of 98% of body weight for younger candidates. Chief Thomas said that he would be willing to make a list available to the Commissioners of all of the Police Departments in the state that include this test as a part of their hiring process. Chief Thomas said that there were six people in Officer Lozeau’s class at the Academy who were sent home because they flunked the test. He said that, if the Commissioners do not want to make the test a part of the hiring process, his department would make it a part of the background examination. He asked the Commissioners if they would allow him to talk to the City Attorney about this. He would ask the City Attorney to talk to the attorneys of the cities who are using it as a part of the hiring process. Commissioner Beasley said that he does not have a problem with this, as it makes sense to him that a person need to be able to pass the test in order to get through the Academy. Chairman Johnston also agreed. Commissioner Ubl asked if there is a different test for females and males. Chief Thomas answered that it is exactly the same test for both, but with a different scoring system. For example, females only need to be able to bench press 78% of their body weight. All five Academies in the State of Illinois use the same test and scoring system, and it has been upheld; no one who has ever flunked out of any of the training academies on the second day has ever successfully sued an academy in Illinois. Chairman Johnston asked Chief Thomas to contact City Attorney Foster about this. Chief Thomas said that he should have an answer to this by the time orientation is held. He said that, if it were included, it would help to eliminate some of the candidates early in the process. Commissioner Ubl suggested conducting it after the written test, as those who do not pass the written exam need not then be tested. Chairman Johnston asked Chief Thomas if a preliminary background check would be conducted on the candidates who are eligible to go on to the oral examination prior to the interview. Chief Thomas said that his department could do a modified check, in which they check the accuracy of the information on the candidate’s application, as well as a credit check. Chairman Johnston suggested that it be done in the same manner that was used with the lateral-transfer candidates – a modified background prior to the oral examination, with the in-depth check done afterwards. Chief Thomas said that would be fine. He also said that, if the Commissioners decide to conduct the interviews in groups of ten, he could also have the polygraph exams done prior to the oral exam. It would cost him approximately $1000 for ten people. He reminded the Commissioners that the last time the polygraphs were done at this stage, two of the top candidates were eliminated and were not interviewed. Chairman Johnston said he feels that the process that the Commissioners have agreed upon will accomplish several objectives: it will expedite the process, compared to out-sourcing it 100%; it will have both Police Department and City staff involved; and it gives the Commission substantial authority in the final hiring decision.

A motion to adopt the hiring process as discussed for the position of Police Officer was made by Commissioner Beasley and seconded by Commissioner Ubl.

No further discussion.

Ayes: 3

Nays: 0

Abstain: 0

Commissioner Ubl asked if the panel would use the same interview assessment format that they used with the lateral transfer candidate interviews. Chairman Johnston answered that they would. Commissioner Ubl said that he thought this method worked well. Commissioner Beasley agreed. Chief Thomas said that he and Ms. Tritle would work on a time line for the process and then give the Commissioners tentative dates to approve. Ms. Tritle also said that she would send Commissioner Ubl the phone number, address, and name of our contact at I/O Solutions. Commissioner Ubl also wondered about the status of the Firefighters hiring list. Chairman Johnston answered that the current list was is still active and the last firefighter to be hired from that list was Patrick Dulzo. There are currently no openings in the Fire Department.

• Fire Chief

Chief Riddle was not present at the meeting.

• Police Chief

On October 6^th, the City Manager will be asking the City Council to approve an Ordinance that would change the organizational structure of the Police Department. He would like to change from having three Sergeants to four. This will enable the department to have stronger supervision on each shift. Therefore, once this is passed, he will be asking the Commissioners to appoint Officer Michael Anderson, who is the next eligible person on the current Promotional List. Chief Thomas said that Officer Anderson currently acts as the Officer in Charge for about 30 hours per week. He feels that Officer Anderson will make an excellent Sergeant. Commissioner Beasley asked if this change would give the department a floater. Chief Thomas said that it would. Chairman Johnston asked if Officer Anderson was aware of the fact that he could be promoted in the near future. Chief Thomas said that he is, and that Officer Anderson has been participating in the Command Staff meetings.

 

CLOSED SESSION

A motion to go into closed session to discuss personnel issues was made by Commissioner Ubl and seconded by Commissioner Beasley.

Ayes: 3

Nays: 0

Abstain: 0

Closed Session began at 8:10 p.m.

A motion to return to open session was made by Commissioner Beasley and was seconded by Commissioner Ubl.

Vote

Ayes: 3

Nays: 0

Abstain: 0

Open session reconvened at 8:12 p.m.

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

Vote

Ayes: 3

Nays: 0

Abstain: 0

The meeting adjourned at 8:13 p.m.

Minutes accepted by:

____________________________________________

Robert Johnston, Chairman Date

Attest:

____________________________________________

Jean Tritle, Recording Secretary Date