City of East Moline Fire & Police Commissioners met Feb. 1.
Here is the minutes provided by the commission:
COMMISSIONERS:
Present: Laura Ford, Chairperson
Jeff Nelson
Tilford Flowers (Remote)
STAFF:
Present: Darren Gault, Police Chief
Jeff Snyder, Fire Chief
Alison Fleming, HR Manager
Leah Miller, HR Assistant (Remote)
Summer O’Leary, Police Executive Coordinator
Meeting Called to Order
Chairperson Ford called the meeting to order at 4:31 p.m.
Roll Call of Members
Roll call performed; Chairperson Ford, Commissioner Flowers, and Commissioner Nelson present.
Approval of Remote Attendance
Commissioner Nelson made a motion to approve the remote attendance of Commissioner Flowers; Commissioner Flowers seconded; roll call vote performed, motional unanimously carried.
Approval of Minutes
Commissioner Nelson made a motion to approve the January 12, 2021 Regular Meeting Minutes; Chairperson Ford seconded; roll call vote performed, motion unanimously carried.
Commissioner Nelson made a motion to approve the January 12, 2021 Executive Session Meeting Minutes; Chairperson Ford seconded; roll call vote performed, motion unanimously carried.
Commissioners Flowers made a motion to approve the January 20, 2021 Special Meeting Minutes; Commissioner Nelson seconded; roll call vote performed, motion unanimously carried.
Fire: Retirement
Firefighter/Paramedic Lieutenant Jerry Spiegel has submitted his letter of intent to retire dated November 21, 2020, effective 0730 on June 26, 2021. Lieutenant Spiegel will retire with 25 years of service with the City of Moline. Chief Snyder accepted Lieutenant Spiegel’s retirement in his letter dated November 23, 2020. Chief Snyder requested the Commission approve the retirement of Lieutenant Jerry Spiegel effective June 26, 2021. Chairperson Ford made a motion to approve the retirement of Firefighter/Paramedic Lieutenant Jerry Spiegel as presented, Commissioners Flowers seconded; roll call vote performed, motion unanimously carried.
Fire: Vacancies
The Moline Fire Department has an authorized strength of 65 sworn firefighters and maintaining minimum staffing is critical to meet demands in calls for ambulance and fire services. Resolution 1111-2020, an exception to the moratorium on hiring pursuant to Resolution 1051-2020, was approved by City Council to hire two firefighters in January 2021 and thereafter when practicable based on retirements. Commissioners have previously approved filling the vacancies created by the retirement of Chris Comeaux in April 2020 and resignation of Paul Tucker in December 2020. Chief Snyder requested authorization to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Justin Epstein in August 2020. Chairperson Ford made a motion to approve filling the vacancy created by the resignation of Justin Epstein, Commissioner Flowers seconded; roll call vote performed, motion unanimously carried.
Fire: Probationary Appointment of Firefighter/Paramedic
Chief Snyder requested the Board approve the Probationary Appointment of Brendan Kalata effective February 16, 2021. Brendan successfully completed all pre-employment screening. Commissioner Nelson made a motion to approve the Probationary Appointment of Brenda Kalata effective February 16, 2021, Commissioners Flowers seconded; roll call vote performed, motion unanimously carried.
Police: Resignation
Detective Collin Hennigar submitted his resignation dated February 4, 2021, effective February 25, 2021. Chief Gault requested the Commission accept the resignation of Detective Hennigar as submitted. Chairperson Ford made a motion to accept the resignation as submitted, Commissioner Nelson seconded; roll call vote performed, motion unanimously carried.
Police: Authorized Strength & Vacancies
The Moline Police Department is authorized for 81 sworn officers. Currently five officers are in the police academy and while they are full-time employees, they are not manpower. It takes approximately 7-9 months to train an officer. Currently there are 76 active sworn employees (5 in the academy), (the resignation of C. Hennigar takes the department to 75 active), one officer pending permanent duty disability (75), another officer on disability and likely to retire in June (74), three other officers on temporary disability (71) and two officers have verbally informed us of their intent to retire in April. Another officer has verbally informed us they will retire in July. Resolution 1028- 2021 was approved by City Council on February 2, 2021 amending resolution 1148-2020, the budget for fiscal year 2021, for the police department, by temporarily increasing the authorized strength for sworn personnel from 81 to 83 and authorizing the hire of two officers in March 2021 to fill upcoming vacancies. However, since City Council approval, Detective Hennigar has provided his resignation notice which will reduce the temporary increase from 83 to only 82. Chief Gault requested the Commission approve the temporary increase in authorized strength and the hire of two officers to attend the March 2021 police academy. Commissioner Nelson made a motion to approve the temporary increase in authorized strength and the hire of two officers to attend the March 2021 police academy, Commissioners Flowers seconded; roll call vote performed, motion unanimously carried.
Police: Recruitment Schedule
The police recruitments schedule was reviewed with interview dates selected via Doodle poll of March 2nd, 3rd, and 4th 1:00-5:00pm. Calendar invite to be sent following the meeting. Testing is being held this weekend at Augustana College. Over 100 applications were received with approximately half scheduled for testing. Commission will interview the top 25, this can be expanded if more people have passed the written test. Recommendation is to interview as many as possible at this time to establish a good list. Due to current supply and demand of police officers it is anticipated that testing will be needed again in the fall. There are many opportunities in policing at this time across our region.
Other Business
Commissioner Flowers inquired about the request to modify the process to attend the academy. Chief Snyder advised that Trinity Hospital is beginning an accelerated paramedic course which will help greatly.
Chairperson Ford, on behalf of the Fire & Police Commissioners, thanked HR Manager Fleming for her service and wished her well.
Commissioner Flowers inquired about the status of the injured detective. Chief Gault informed the Commission that the Detective did have surgery and is on the road to recovery.
Discussion was held regarding preparation of promotional testing tip sheet/guide in order to have something developed to coincide with posting date. Suggestions for the “What to Expect in Promotion Process” document included sample interview questions, policies to study, computer software programs, etc. Commissioner Flowers offered to assist Chief Gault in the development of this. HR will finalize agreement with testing company with the support of Commissioners.
Chief Gault advised the Commission about the key points of HB163 which has now been modified to HB3653 Senate Amendment 2, currently pending signature by the Governor. Additionally, Chief Gault shared the QC Council of Police Chief’s position which includes delaying the implementation until 2022 among many others. The summary is attached.
HR Manager Fleming followed up from the last meeting and suggested that interview questions be reviewed closer to promotional interview date. Commissioners agreed.
HR Manager Fleming initiated discussion regarding the Commissioners preference of reviewing detailed applicant backgrounds in Executive Session. Following discussion, the Commissioners agreed that the respective Chief should make the decision within their authority and make the hiring recommendation to the Commissioners based on the results of the background investigation. Commissioners agreed that it is not necessary to review the background results of every candidate. However, in the event it is very close and more perspective is desired by the Commission, the Chief can certainly present it. Additionally, if removal from the list is recommended, the respective Chief will present the background to the Commissioners for their approval to remove. In regards to filling vacancies/hiring the process will be as follows:
1. Vote to accept employee departure and provide authorization to fill the vacancy created at the same meeting.
2. Chief’s will vet candidates through the background investigation process.
3. The Chief will request HR make a contingent employment offer. HR will coordinate pre employment checks and notify Chief when checks are complete.
4. Chief will add the probationary appointment of the individual to the next BFPC agenda. (Note: ratification of hiring is not permitted per legal guidance). In the event of time constraints related to the start date of the academy, a Special Meeting may be needed to obtain this approval.
5. BFPC votes to approve the probationary appointment of <insert name> as a Firefighter/Paramedic or Police Officer.
Public Comment
None.
Executive Session
None.
Remote Attendance Verification
Commissioners attending in-person and remotely verified, via roll call, the meeting was heard and understood in its entirety.
Adjournment
With no further business to discuss, Commissioner Nelson made a motion to adjourn; Commissioner Flowers seconded; meeting adjourned at 5:13 p.m.
http://www.moline.il.us/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/6927
Alerts Sign-up