2005-11-08 - Board of Fire and Police Commissioners - Minutes Board orCommission: ❑ Fire& Police commission
Document Type: 0 A e
g nda 0 Minutes
Meeting ate: 11/08/2005
Type of Meeting: ❑ Rescheduled Regular Meeting
VILLAGE OF BUFFALO GROVE
Board of Fire and Police Commissioners
Minutes of Regular Meeting of November 8, 2005
CALL TO ORDER and ROLL CALL:
The meeting was called to order at 7:30pm by Vice Chairman Viehman at the Village of Buffalo Grove,
Police Department Library. Secretary Loeb called the roll. Secretary Loeb noted for the record that a
quorum was present at the meeting. Present were Vice Chairman Viehman, Secretary Loeb and
Commissioners Anderson and Karge. Also in attendance were Police Chief Steve Balinski and Fire Chief
Tim Sashko. Commissioner Viehman yielded the Chair to Chairman Jackson upon his arrival at 8:31 pm.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Commissioner Anderson made a motion to approve the minutes of the Special Meeting of October 11,
2005, which was seconded by Commissioner Karge. Commissioners Viehman, Karge, and Anderson
voted in favor of the motion and Commissioner Loeb abstained.
CHAIRMAN'S REPORT:
The meeting was chaired by Vice Chairman Viehman. Commissioner Viehman reported that Chairman
Jackson was expected to arrive late and that he would yield the Chair upon arrival of Commissioner
Jackson. It was reported that Officer Scott Eisenmenger was awarded Employee of the Quarter for the
3rd quarter of 2004 and Officer Bryan Spolar for the 4th quarter of 2004.
COMMISSIONER'S REPORT:
Commissioner Loeb expressed gratitude to Chief Balinski, Chief Sashko, the Board of Fire and Police
Commissioners and the many men and women of the Buffalo Grove Police and Fire Departments for their
kind expressions of condolence on the recent death of his mother. Vice Chairman Viehman reported that
he and Commissioner Karge attended a meeting of the Illinois Fire and Police Commissioners
Association. The meeting included a demonstration of a mock firefighter promotion interview and a
review/demonstration of the Candidate Physical Ability Testing Module being marketed for candidate
firefighter prescreening. Among the key questions of concern with respect to potential implementation
are the cost of the module and the source of payment. Commissioners Viehman and Karge were
certified as having completed modules pertaining to entry level firefighter selection processes and Board
duties. Vice Chairman Viehman and Commissioner Karge noted that is important for the Buffalo Grove
BFPC to review criteria for medical evaluation of candidates to be certain that medical examinations are
covering critical areas. In addition, it was noted that oral interviews in certain communities are now being
videotaped by the BFPC. The Buffalo Grove BFPC will discuss this at a future meeting. Commissioner
Karge requested an update on the status of the March 2005 BFPC meeting minutes. It was reported that
this is a still unresolved issue.
OLD BUSINESS:
A. Update on the 2005 Police Sergeant promotional process and timeline:
The promotional process remains on schedule and 20 oral interviews are scheduled for
November 12. The BFPC reviewed the interview questions to be used for the Sergeant oral
examination. PPRs are currently being completed for all candidates and results will be
provided to Art Malinowski after the interview process has been completed. Mr. Malinowski
will forward scores to Chairman Jackson.
B. Update on Police Officer hiring process:
One candidate (Douglas Shipman) is 4 weeks into the Police Academy and is doing well. Five
candidates have passed on offers of conditional employment (4, 5, 7, 8, and 12). Chairman
Jackson received a letter from candidate Peter Atto indicating that, although he passed on
the initial offer of conditional employment, he was interested in being considered again in the
future.
C. Update on Fire Department Lieutenant promotional process:
The process of embedding the recently approved collective bargaining agreement into the
rules and regulations of the BFPC continues and a final legal resolution is anticipated soon.
Pre-exam study materials, including a reading list, are required to be available 90 days
before the exam is administered. Model #3 anticipates an August 2006 starting date. The
Board expressed concern that Mr. Broiher has not yet completed his review of the
regulations. The Board indicated its hope that such regulations could be available before the
December Board meeting and approval would occur at that meeting. The BFPC approved
unanimously a recommendation that a communication be developed to inform firefighters that
the Board has actively reviewed the lieutenant promotional process, is seeking to incorporate
provisions of the contract into the BFPC rules and regulations and would like to begin the
promotional process as soon as feasible......that interested firefighters should begin to
prepare themselves as appropriate. The final draft language will be circulated to
Commissioners for approval and distribution as soon as possible.
D. Rules and regulations update:
It is likely that a special meeting of the Board will be scheduled to address potential updates
to the BFPC rules and regulations.
NEW BUSINESS:
A. Police Lateral Entry Process— Proposal:
The BFPC reviewed and commented on a draft proposal to create a formal lateral entry
process for candidate police officers. It was made clear that this process is NOT a
replacement for the regular list; rather, the lateral entry process list would be used only in
defined, mission-critical emergency situations based on threats to public safety. Nine phases
to the process were proposed, all of which will be refined and voted upon at the December
BFPC meeting. Commissioners suggested that specific criteria be developed that would
govern when the lateral entry process list is used (i.e., when current list is exhausted,
mission-critical need based on compromise to public safety). Chief Balinski noted that the
remaining issue associated with the lateral entry process is the frequency of the testing cycle,
which Chief Balinski proposed should be annual. It was also suggested that funding for this
process might be available through terrorism grants at the federal or state level.
B. Chief Balinski reported that he has met with Sergeant Clyburn regarding retirement. Sergeant
Chrobak has returned to duty about 4 hours/day. Officer Vingan is back to full duty and Desk Officer
Summers has resigned. Chief Balinski further reported that he will soon be meeting with Officer
Mentzelopoulos and Art Malinowski to discuss the status of his probationary period. Finally, Chief
Balinski reported that results from the recent Police Department Citizen Survey were complied and
demonstrated strong positive responses from citizens respecting safety in Buffalo Grove (>95% of
respondents reported feeling safe). All Commissioners asked for a copy of the report.
ADJOURNMENT OF OPEN SESSION: Motion was made by Commissioner Karge and seconded by
Commissioner Loeb to adjourn the open session and move to Executive Session at 9:04pm. All
Commissioners present voted in favor of the motion.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: The executive session began at 9:06pm and at 9:27pm a motion was made by
Commissioner Loeb, seconded by Commissioner Karge to return to open session. All Commissioners
present voted in favor of the motion.
RETURN TO OPEN SESSION: The open session resumed at 9:28pm to consider making conditional
offers of employment to 4 police candidates. Voting on the candidates was as follows:
Candidate Verduzco: A motion was made by Commissioner Viehman, seconded by
Commissioner Anderson to offer conditional employment to candidate Verduzco. All
Commissioners voted for the motion and Chairman Jackson will move the process forward.
Candidate Tottas: A motion was made by Commissioner Viehman, seconded by Commissioner
Anderson to offer conditional employment to candidate Tottas. All Commissioners voted for the
motion and Chairman Jackson will move the process forward.
Candidate Corsaw: A motion was made by Commissioner Karge, seconded by Commissioner
Viehman to offer conditional employment to candidate Corsaw. Commissioners Viehman,
Jackson, Karge, and Loeb voted against the motion and Commissioner Anderson abstained. No
offer will be made.
Candidate Blowers: A motion was made by Commissioner Loeb, seconded by Commissioner
Karge to offer conditional employment to candidate Blowers. Commissioners Loeb, Karge,
Viehman, and Jackson voted against the motion and Commissioner Anderson abstained. No
offer will be made.
A discussion ensued about the importance of receiving background checks in a timelier manner in order
to review materials. Chairman Jackson will brief Chief Balinski on the importance of more timely
distribution of background materials for the next round of candidates.
ADJOURNMENT: A motion was made at 9:35pm by Commissioner Loeb, seconded by Commissioner
Karge to adjourn the meeting. All Commissioners present voted in favor of the motion.
Respectfully submitted,
Jerod M. Loeb, PhD, Secretary
Board of Fire and Police Commissioners