The meeting was called to order at 11:00 a.m. In attendance were Chairman George Beasley, Commissioner Richard Ubl, Commissioner Samantha Dailey, Police Chief Don Thomas, Fire Chief Bill Riddle, City Manager Bill Nicklas and City Attorney Keith Foster.

A motion to approve the agenda was made by Commissioner Ubl and seconded by Commissioner Dailey.

Ayes: 3

Nays: 0

Abstain: 0

A motion to approve the minutes from the open session of the November 1, 2004 meeting was made by Commissioner Dailey and seconded by Commissioner Ubl.

Ayes: 3

Nays: 0

Abstain: 0

A motion to approve the minutes from the closed session of the November 1, 2004 meeting was made by Commissioner Dailey and seconded by Commissioner Ubl.

Ayes: 3

Nays: 0

Abstain: 0

COMMUNICATIONS

 

City Manager Nicklas reported that Officer Ed Richter had resigned his position, creating another opening in the Police Department. City Manager Nicklas explained that the City Council would be meeting On December 6^th and he would like to obtain their authorization before the Commissioners went ahead and began the process of hiring a replacement for Officer Richter. He said that he would notify the Commissioners of the Council’s decision on Tuesday, December 7^th. He said, however, that the Commissioners could begin some preliminary action to start the process, conditioned upon the approval of the City Council. Chairman Beasley said that the Commissioners had already asked Chief Thomas to conduct the background checks of the candidates who remain on the eligibility list. Chief Thomas indicated that the background checks had all been completed on four of the candidates. Chairman Beasley asked City Manager Nicklas if he was saying that the Commissioners could proceed to the next step in the hiring process. City Manager Nicklas answered that he felt that the Council would approve the hiring of a replacement for Officer Richter, but wanted to take the request to them as a matter of proper form. Commissioner Ubl asked why the Council’s approval was needed to replace an Officer who had resigned. City Manger Nicklas explained that the Council has the right to deny the request if they felt that, from a budgetary perspective, it would best for the City at this time.

Commissioner Ubl asked if the request to hire a replacement for Officer Richter was handled separately from the request to hire an Officer to replace Sgt. Snyder when he retires on May 1, 2005. City Manager Nicklas answered that it was and that the Council had already given their approval to hire a new Officer in January to replace Sgt. Snyder. Commissioner Ubl said that he thought a letter had been sent out to the top two candidates on the list to ascertain that they are still interested in being considered for the open positions. Recording Secretary Tritle said that she had put together two letters; the first was to the second candidate on the list, Daniel Hoffman, and it is an actual job offer. The second letter is going to be sent to the first candidate on the list, Joshua Wittenberg, to inform him that a second position has come open and to see if he is interested accepting it, subject to the approval of the City Council. Mr. Wittenberg had previously stated that he was not interested in the position that had come about due to Sgt. Snyder’s impending retirement, but would like to remain on the list. Chief Thomas asked if Mr. Wittenberg had put this in writing. Recording Secretary Tritle verified that he had. Commissioner Ubl said that this letter should also inform Mr. Wittenberg that his name will be removed from the list if he turns down this second position. If he does turn it down, the Commissioners will then send out a letter to the next candidate on the list. Chairman Beasley said that he did not think it was necessary to wait to send a letter to the third candidate to ascertain his or her interest. Recording Secretary Tritle responded that she thought it was necessary to wait and see what Mr. Wittenberg’s decision would be since he would be next in line for a job offer. Chairman Beasley said that he thought the Commissioners had the right chose from the top three candidates – not the candidate who is next in line on the list. City Attorney Foster answered that he thought the Commissioners did have to offer the job to the next candidate on the list. Recording Secretary Tritle said she thought that the only time the Commissioners could only skip over a candidate on the list was to choose a certified candidate. City Attorney Foster agreed, and added that there must be a valid reason for this, such as an emergency situation. Otherwise, the candidates must be taken in the order that they fall on the list. Commissioner Ubl said that he thought this was the reason why the Commissioners were contacting Mr. Wittenberg again, as he is the first candidate on the list. Recording Secretary Tritle confirmed that this was correct; Mr. Wittenberg had previously stated that he was not interested in the taking the position that opened up due to Sgt. Snyder’s retirement. She did not think that he was aware that a second position had now come open and would need to turn that one down if he were not interested in it. Commissioner Ubl reiterated that he thought this would be the correct procedure, adding, again, that it must be stated in the letter to any of the candidates that the offer to fill the position vacated by Officer Richter is contingent upon the Council’s approval.

City Manager Nicklas stated that it was not impossible, but was improbable, that the Council would not approve the hiring of a new Officer to fill the position vacated by Officer Richter. He continued that, as long as there was even a remote possibility that the Council could say no, it would be best to send out the letters after the Council meeting on December 6^th. City Attorney Foster agreed. Recording Secretary Tritle explained that the letter she had prepared to Mr. Wittenberg was not a job offer; its purpose was only to inform him that a second position may be open and to ascertain his interest.

City Manager Nicklas asked if, once a candidate has stated he or she is not interested in an open position, the Commissioners typically go back to that person when another position becomes open, or if they drop that candidate from the list. Chairman Beasley answered that he does not ever remember going back to the candidate a second time in the past; once a candidate refused the position, he or she was usually eliminated from the list. He said that this is the first time a candidate asked to remain on the list. Commissioner Ubl said that the bylaws state that the Commissioners have the authority to decide whether or not a candidate can remain on the list if he or she declines a job offer. He said that Chairman Beasley indicated, since it was never communicated to the candidate by the Commissioners that he could not remain on the list, he felt that they must go back to him in this case and offer him the second position. However, it must be made clear to the candidate this time that, if he declines the offer, his name will be eliminated from the list. Commissioner Ubl said that he heard that Mr. Wittenberg is currently working as an Officer for another municipality and he has not completed his probationary period. He wondered if Mr. Wittenberg was just trying to stall his decision to take the position in the Sycamore Police Department until he is sure that he will successfully complete his probationary period in his current job. Chief Thomas said that he thought that Mr. Wittenberg had already completed seven or eight months of his probation. He also said that Mr. Wittenberg was aware that the Commissioners have the authority to allow him to remain on the list if he declines an offer, so he is sure that he is hedging his bets. Chairman Beasley said he thought that one of the other candidates also ranked high on another municipality’s eligibility list. Chief Thomas said that candidate Jennifer Saam was working for the NIU Police Department; she had told him verbally that she was not interested in the position. Recording Secretary Tritle confirmed that Ms. Saam never responded to the letter of interest that was sent to her, so her name was dropped from the list. Chief Thomas said that candidate Naomi Faivre did send a written response to the letter of interest that the Commission sent out, in which she indicated that she wished to remain on the list. She told the Chief verbally, however, that she is ranked second on the City of DeKalb’s list and that she knows that they will be hiring in 2005. Since their salary scale is about $10,000 more than Sycamore’s, she would prefer to accept a job with their Police Department. Chief Thomas said that, even if she accepted a job with Sycamore, she would most probably leave if DeKalb offered her a job. He would prefer not to pay for her training, just to have her turn around and leave for a job with another department. Recording Secretary Tritle reminded Chief Thomas that all Ms. Faivre’s response said was that she wished to remain on the list; she did not state in writing that she was not interested in the next job opening. Because of this, she wondered if the Commission would need to offer Ms. Faivre the next job opening. Commissioner Ubl said he thought that they would. However, he said that she should be told that she would be eliminated from the list if she indicates that she is not interested in the position. Chief Thomas suggested that, if the Commissioners send Ms. Faivre a letter and she indicates that she is interested in the position, they should re-interview her prior to offering her the job. She should be asked at this interview if she intends to stay with the department if she were hired. If she answers that she would not, or if the Commissioners sense that she is not answering honestly, they could then decide not to offer her the job. City Attorney Foster said that this would not be a solution; unless the Commissioners could prove deception, they would have no reason not to offer her the job if she answered that she would stay with the department, or even if she answered that she could not promise that she wouldn’t move to another police department someday. Chairman Beasley agreed, saying that this can happen with any job. Commissioner Ubl said that, if a candidate is a decent person, he would hope he or she would turn down the job if they are close to being hired in another municipality. Chief Thomas said that he thought maybe Ms. Faivre was also hedging her bets, hoping to be able to stay on Sycamore’s list if it turns out she does not get a job with the DeKalb Police Department. Therefore, the Commissioners should probably offer her the job. She can then be dropped from the list if she declines the offer. Commissioner Ubl asked if it would be legal for him to call DeKalb’s Fire and Police Commissioners to see if they will be hiring Ms. Faivre in the near future. City Attorney Foster answered that the eligibility list is public information. Commissioner Ubl said it should then be easy to find out what her ranking is on DeKalb’s list. Chief Thomas said that he would call and find out what her ranking is, but he knows for sure that she is within the first group that will be hired by DeKalb in January. City Attorney Foster wondered if she had already passed all of DeKalb’s prerequisite tests. Chief Thomas answered that he knows she has already successfully completed her background exam and polygraph; she still needed to complete her medical and psychological exams. Chairman Beasley reiterated that he did not think that, legally, the Commissioners had any choice other than extending an offer to Ms. Faivre if it came to that point.

Commissioner Ubl summarized that Candidates Wittenberg and Hoffman would be sent a letter today. Mr. Wittenberg’s will be asked to verify whether or not he is interested in the second position. If he is, a job offer will be sent to him once Council approval is received on December 6^th. If he is not, he will be told that his name will be eliminated from the list. Mr. Hoffman’s letter is an actual job offer. Recording Secretary Tritle said that she had received an e-mail from Mr. Hoffman just before the meeting. He said that he was very anxious to come on board and wondered if someone would contact him after the Commissioners met to let him know what the next step would be. Commissioner Ubl asked Chief Thomas if he would call Mr. Hoffman after the meeting to let him know if the Commissioners had agreed to offer him the position. Recording Secretary Tritle said that she had replied to Mr. Hoffman’s e-mail and told him that, if the Commissioners all agreed, he would be sent a letter to offer him the position, which is contingent upon him successfully completing the medical and psychological examinations and a final interview with the Commissioners. She said that she would then be contacting him to see when he would be available to come to Sycamore to take these exams. Chief Thomas said that Mr. Hoffman is originally from Sycamore; he graduated from Sycamore High School and both his and his wife’s families live in the area.

Chief Thomas asked the Commissioners, if the Council approves hiring a replacement for Officer Richter, they would give Recording Secretary Tritle permission today to automatically send out a job offer on December 7^th to either Mr. Wittenberg (if he responds that he is interested in the position) or to Ms. Faivre (if Mr. Wittenberg responds that he is not interested). If Ms. Faivre declines the offer, then he was requesting permission to automatically send a letter to Ryan Goodman, the next candidate on the list. Chairman Beasley answered that would be fine. Since each candidate is given seven days to reply to the Commission’s letter, Chairman Beasley wondered if the candidate would be hired in time to attend the Police Academy in January. Chief Thomas said that it was likely that they would miss the application deadline for the January class. Commissioner Ubl asked if Mr. Hoffman needed to attend the Academy, since he is already a certified Officer in Wisconsin. Chief Thomas answered that only the second candidate would need to attend the Academy.

City Attorney Foster asked if Jeff Weese, who ranked number 3 on the eligibility list ahead of Naomi Faivre, had responded to the letter of interest sent out by the Commissioners. Recording Secretary Tritle explained that she had just received the card back from the Post Office which showed that his letter was signed for on November 22^nd. She explained that two other candidates also received their letters after the seven days had passed because they had moved; we had accepted their responses, even though they were late. Therefore, she wondered if this candidate should be offered the same benefit received by the other two. City Attorney Foster asked about the contents of the letter sent to the candidates on the list. Recording Secretary Tritle answered that the letter explained that the list was now a year old and the Commissioners wished to ascertain which candidates were still interested in working for the Sycamore Police Department, should a position come open. She said that the letter was sent out on November 8^th and the candidates were given seven days to respond back. City Attorney Foster said that, since technically Mr. Weese did receive notice, he should be given until the end of the day on November 29^th to respond to the letter. He asked if anyone had talked to Mr. Weese. Chief Thomas answered that they have been unable to find him. City Attorney Foster asked if the 4^th candidate on the list, Jennifer Saam had responded to the letter. Recording Secretary Tritle answered that she did not receive a written response back from her. Chief Thomas said that he did, however, talk to her and she told him verbally that she was not interested. Chief Riddle wondered why a candidate would not keep us updated if their address changed. Chief Thomas said that this is why it is standard practice to send out a certified letter of interest. If a response is not received or the candidate cannot be reached, he or she is dropped from the list. Chief Thomas said that he also talked to Naomi Faivre, who told him verbally that she was not interested in the first position but wanted to remain on the list. However, all she said in her written response was that she was still interested in a position with the Sycamore Police Department should one come open and wanted to remain on the list. Chief Thomas explained that candidate #6, Jeremy Davis, had passed away a few months ago. City Attorney Foster asked if candidate #7, Aaron Feiza, had responded to the letter. Recording Secretary Tritle said that he did not, and Chief Thomas said that they had not been able to contact him by phone. Chief Thomas said that candidate #11, Peggy Hopkins, would not take the job, as she was just hired for a full-time position in Hinckley.

In summary, Chief Thomas said that on December 7^th, he understands that Recording Secretary Tritle would be authorized by the Commissioners to send a letter to Naomi Faivre, if Joshua Wittenberg indicates that he is not interested in the position approved by the Council on December 6^th. If Ms. Faivre declines the position or does not respond to the offer within seven days, Recording Secretary Tritle is then authorized to send an offer letter to Ryan Goodman. Chief Thomas said that he has talked to Mr. Goodman, who has indicated that his will accept the job offer. Recording Secretary Tritle verified that she would actually be sending a job offer to Ms. Faivre, due to the fact that she only indicated in her written response that she wished to remain on the list. Chairman Beasley said that was correct. City Attorney Foster said that a job offer would need to be sent to Jeff Weese before it is sent to Ms. Faivre, if he responds by the end of the day that he wishes to remain on the list. Chief Thomas wondered if it would be possible to send a letter to Mr. Wittenberg and to Ms. Faivre prior to December 7^th, not to offer them the job, but to ascertain if they are even interested in the position. If they acknowledge that they are, a job offer could then be sent to Mr. Wittenberg, or Ms. Faivre if Mr. Wittenberg states that he is no longer interested, on December 7^th. If both of them indicate they are not interested in this position, then a job offer could be sent to Ryan Goodman on December 7^th. This would help to speed up the hiring process and enable the candidate that is hired to be enrolled in the January class at the Police Academy. City Attorney Foster said that this would be acceptable; the Commissioners agreed. City Attorney Foster said to wait until November 30^th to send the letters of interest to Mr. Wittenberg and Ms. Faivre, as the deadline for Mr. Weese’s response will have passed. If he does respond by the end of the day on November 29^th, he should then receive the same letter of interest that will be sent to the other two candidates.

City Attorney Foster asked if it was common for candidates not to respond to a letter of interest. Chief Thomas explained that most to the candidates are on more than one list and may have already taken another job when they receive the letter from the Sycamore Commissioners. He said that it is not uncommon for a municipality to hire a candidate and pay for his or her training at the Academy, only to have him or her leave when another municipality offers him or her a job. He said that many municipalities are now making new officers sign contracts in which they agree to pay back the cost of their training if they leave the municipality before a certain number of years have passed. Chairman Beasley said he thought this is a good idea. Chief Thomas suggested that this may be a practice that the City of Sycamore should implement.

Commissioner Dailey asked under what circumstances an experienced Police Officer can be hired over a candidate who has no experience. Chief Thomas said that the Commissioners have the authority to do this when an emergency situation exists. For example, his department is currently down two Officers out of a force of 23; in this instance, the Commissioners could hire a certified Officer from the list, even if he or she is not next in line for the job, since his staff is short two Officers. In this circumstance, Commissioner Ubl asked if we would still use the current eligibility list, or if the Commission would advertise for certified Officers. Chief Thomas explained that the current list would still be utilized; however, the Commissioners would have the authority to skip over untrained candidates in order to hire a certified Officer. He explained that there are three certified Police Officers on our current list; the Commissioners are hiring one, Dan Hoffman, and the other two did not respond to the Commissioners’ letter of inquiry, so they have been dropped from the list (they both are employed as Police Officers elsewhere).

Commissioner Ubl said that he has a concern when the Commission must hire candidates from the bottom of the list, as they obviously did not test as well as the candidates who ranked higher on the list. Chief Thomas said that most of the time the scores between the top candidate on the list and the bottom candidate on the list differ by a small amount, such as 1/10 of a percent. Commissioner Ubl said that, from the viewpoint of having a responsibility to the community to hire the best candidate, he feels as though he is committing a disservice by hiring a candidate who does not score well. Recording Secretary Tritle pointed out that many people may score low on their exams only because they are nervous or are poor test takers; this does not necessarily mean that they lack the job skills to be a good Police Officer or Firefighter. Commissioner Ubl said he believes that the interview process should still elevate a good candidate. Recording Secretary Tritle said that someone who does well during the interview may not have good job skills – they just have the ability to schmooze the interviewers. Chairman Beasley said that, after participating in the oral interviews for the Police and Fire candidates, he was amazed at how close the interviewers were in their rating of each candidate. Therefore, he believes the interview process does accomplish its goal. Chief Thomas said that he found it reassuring to note that the Police Officers who acted as interviewers were very happy with the rankings on the final list. Also, the Commissioners did eliminate some of the poor performers from the final list (those that did not have a composite score of 70 or better).

Commissioner Ubl asked if it would be possible to take a picture of the candidates at the time of their interview, to help the Commissioners remember which candidate is which during the hiring process. Chief Thomas said that his Department has begun taking photographs of the candidates as a part of the background investigation process. Chief Riddle suggested that we require a picture of the candidate to be included with their application. Recording Secretary Tritle responded that she did not believe this would be legal, as she knows for certain that an employer is not permitted to have pictures of employees in their personnel files in order to avoid discriminatory practices.

A motion to offer candidate Daniel Hoffman the position of Police Officer, contingent upon his passing a medical and psychological examination, was made by Commissioner Ubl and seconded by Commissioner Dailey.

Ayes: 3

Nays: 0

Abstain: 0

Recording Secretary Tritle said that she would contact Mr. Hoffman in order to schedule the medical and psychological examinations.

A motion to ask City Manager Nicklas to seek authorization from the City Council to hire the next eligible candidate on the list to fill the opening resulting from the resignation of Officer Richter was made by Commissioner Ubl and seconded by Commissioner Dailey.

Ayes: 3

Nays: 0

Abstain: 0

Recording Secretary Tritle asked if this needed to be put into the form of a written request to the City Manager. City Attorney Foster said that, from a formality standpoint, it would be best to put it into writing.

A motion to accept the resignation of Officer Richter was made by Commissioner Ubl and seconded by Commissioner Dailey.

Ayes: 3

Nays: 0

Abstain: 0

Commissioner Ubl asked if it was necessary for the Commissioners to send a letter to Officer Richter, informing him that his resignation was accepted. City Attorney Foster answered that he did not think this was necessary. Since he tendered the resignation, the Commission only needs to have it on record that it was accepted. He added however, that, as a matter of formality, it would not hurt to send Officer Richter a written acceptance. Chief Thomas pointed out that he has already sent a letter to Officer Richter acknowledging his resignation. The Chief also sent a letter to City Manager Nicklas, informing him of his resignation. The City, through Human Resources, also had sent Officer Richter a letter to acknowledge his resignation and inform him about his benefits at termination. City Attorney Foster said that, since Officer Richter has received these two letters, he did not think a third one was necessary. The Commissioners agreed.

For verification, Recording Secretary Tritle said that she would be sending out the following letters:

1. A letter to Daniel Hoffman to offer him the position that has come about due to the impending retirement of Sgt Snyder;
2. A letter to Joshua Wittenberg to ascertain his interest in the second position that may be available due to Officer Richter’s resignation;
3. A letter to Naomi Faivre to ascertain her interest in the second position that may be available due to Officer Richter’s resignation.

Candidates Wittenberg and Faivre will be told in their letters that they will be dropped from the list if they do not wish to be considered for this second position, or if they do not respond to the Commissioners’ letter. Recording Secretary Tritle said she also will send a letter of interest to Jeff Weese, if his response to the first letter sent out by the Commissioners is received by the end of the day. She said she will have the Commissioners look over the letters before she sends them out.

Chief Riddle reported that the status on this issue was still the same as he reported to the Commissioners on November 1^st – it was still in negotiations He added that it appears that the section of the contract pertaining to promotional testing was almost complete.

• Correction to the End of the Probationary Period for Officer Richter

Recording Secretary Tritle explained that, prior to the November 1^st meeting, she had sent an e-mail to Lt. Darrell Johnson to inform him she had calculated that Officer Richter’s probation would end on November 29, 2004. Lt. Johnson did not respond to her message until after the meeting. He told her at that time that he calculated the end date to be December 2, 2004. After reviewing the calendar with Lt. Johnson, Recording Secretary Tritle said that she agreed with Lt. Johnson’s calculation. Therefore, the end date should be December 2^nd, and not November 29^th as stated at the last meeting. Chairman Beasley asked if this required any action on the part of the Commissioners. City Attorney Foster said that it did not.

Chief Riddle reported that he currently has three Firefighters on probation. He said that they are all doing a very good job.

The Chief asked if, now that the Physical Abilities Test has been instituted as a prerequisite to hire, if a letter could be sent to all of the candidates on the eligibility list to inform them about the test and its content. He also asked that the candidates be told that they are also welcome to come by the Fire house any time that they wish to practice for the test.

Commissioner Ubl asked if there are any openings for new firefighters coming up in the near future. Chief Riddle answered that he is currently trying to obtain authorization to hire a new firefighter before the new budget year begins on May 1^st. He explained that he is currently short two firefighters as a result of one being out on an extended medical leave and the other from the fact that the position created by the promotion of Lt. Niewold to assistant Fire Chief has never been filled. He said that there is also a possibility that they will go back to having 4 Lieutenants on the roster, since it has not worked out well for scheduling purposes to only have 3. Chairman Beasley asked if a fourth Lieutenant was needed for a swing shift; Chief Riddle verified that this was the case. Currently, a senior Firefighter acts as an Officer- in -Charge when there is no Lieutenant working on a shift. He said that some of these senior Firefighters are not those who are interested in ever being promoted.

Commissioner Ubl asked how many candidates are left on the Eligibility List. Chief Riddle answered that he thought there were about ten. Recording Secretary Tritle said that the list was relatively new and that only one candidate had been hired from it to date. Chief Riddle said that, since Firefighter jobs are relatively scarce, the list would not be exhausted as quickly as does the Eligibility List for Police Officers. Chief Riddle said that they had already fingerprinted the candidates on the list for their background exams, as getting the results often takes a long time. This also helps to eliminate any candidates who do not pass the background check early in the process.

• Police Chief

No other business

CLOSED SESSION

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

Ayes: 3

Nays: 0

Abstain: 0

Closed Session began at 11:54 a.m.

Motion

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

Vote

Ayes: 3

Nays: 0

Abstain: 0

Open session reconvened at 12:25 p.m.

ADJOURNMENT

 

Motion

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

Vote

Ayes: 3

Nays: 0

Abstain: 0

The meeting adjourned at 12:25 p.m.

 

 

 

 

Minutes accepted by:

 

 

 

 

____________________________________________

Chairman Date

 

Attest:

 

 

 

____________________________________________

Jean Tritle, Recording Secretary Date