LIVE BLOG: Special City Council Meeting to Discuss Police Chief's Duties

9:25 p.m.

Tom Belczak has taken the podium.He wonders what would be different about the way Vana would work with the chief under this new arrangement then the way he currently works with Pavelchik.

Some parts of the proposal make it sound like Vana would assume some operational aspects of the police department, Belczak said. However, he said he doesn't know whether that's any different than what Vana does now.

"It's up for myself and the two deputy chiefs to work out these details," Vana said. "...A lot of that nitty gritty needs to be worked out if this change were to take place."

Vana said there's not a lot of funcitonality that would change.

"We're trying to read and capture in words something that is all about the details," he said. Vana said other communities are taking drastic measures, such as laying off officers. He said all the council is asking to do is move administrative duties.

"At the end of the day, it's trying to do the job that four people were doing with three now, given that we can save approximately $150,000 every year," Vana said. "...How the details work out, I defer to the tactical people for that."

It's not different than how the city does things now, Vana said.

There is a business side of the police job that has nothing to do with the safety of the community, and that is what the city is trying to tap into, Vana said.

"Part of what makes this work is the confidence in the working relationship I've had with the two deputies," Vana said.

Belczak said he's concerned about how future councils would interpret the ordinance. Vana said ordinances are changed all the time, and future councils would have the opportunity to change the ordinance again.

Vana said it's not about him making more money. He said the council has confidence in his abilities to make this proposal work.

"Is it wise to create an ordinance that is person specific?" Belczak asked.

Vana said it would be up to a council in the future to decide whether another administrator could also fulfill the duties in the proposal.

McIvor said she is hosting a town hall meeting for residents of Ward 6 on June 1 in the City Hall council chambers. It will be open only to residents of Ward 6.

Poteraske said the council is going to go back to work on a new version of the proposal to present June 6.

The meeting has adjourned.

9:10 p.m.

Weaver said that under the new proposal, the city administrator would appoint either Cooper or Skala as the new chief.

She said she thinks it's important for residents to understand the realities the city deals with regarding police salaries. There are seven steps, each with a 6 percent increase. There is also a cost of living increase.

Some Darien officer salaries are $144,000, $135,000 and $131,000, Weaver said. "Now we're talking about salaries that are even much higher than our city administrator makes," Weaver said.

Mark Bozek said that those numbers are misleading because some of the funding for their salaries comes from sources other than tax money.

9:03 p.m.

Paul Morris has taken the podium. He said he thinks the city council is doing a very good job.

"You're sort of in your groove," he said.

He added, however that maybe the city council is not seeing it from the police perspective. He asked if any of the members have ever spent a day with a police officer. Alderman John Poteraske said he was an auxilliary police officer for 2 1/2 years. Morris said he is an auxilliary as well.

"Just what I've seen from afar, the kind of stuff they have to go through—whenever they put on a vest, they might not come home," Morris said. He said more communication might help everyone better understand the situation.

He said he thinks it might be good to go through this proposal a little more slowly and communicate its details a little better.

"That's what we're trying to do here," Weaver said.

8:48 p.m.

Nick Darien has taken the podium again.

He said he doesn't feel comfortable about walking away from the current role of police chief. Darien said he thinks the police chief knows the needs of his department, and when the chief needs help delegating responsibilities, he goes to the right people—but it's his choice.

Darien said he thinks the current administration's confidence in Vana's abilities is very sincere. He said he is concerned about the ordinance being in the books in the future when a less capable person might be city administrator.

Weaver said that the ordinance could be changed in the future.

The chief already reports to the administrator, Vana said, so not much would be changing. The aldermen are not the department heads' bosses, he said.

"I just feel uncomfortable with this ordinance putting the chief in a more substantial subordinate position," Darien said.

"It's not any different than it is now," Weaver said.

Marchese said the department heads respond to the city administrator now. Every year the mayor reappoints Bryon Vana, Dan Gombac and Bob Pavelchik, Marchese said. The police chief role would not be more subordinate in the new proposal, he said.

Marchese asked Darien how he would feel if this proposal would improve the runnings of the police department.

A short time later, Darien said he appreciates that the council is listening to the residents about their concerns.

8:33 p.m.

Brian Kiefer has taken the podium and is thanking the council for listening to residents' concerns. He says he still has one concern.

He is reading the section from the proposal about Vana assuming all administrative duties for the police department.

"What else is it the police chief does?" Kiefer asked. 

Other than carrying a gun, it sounds like the proposal includes everything the police chief would do, Kiefer said.

Vana said he was trying to capture some things directly from the police chief's job description. But does see some redundancies between the police chief's job and the city administrator's job overseeing it.

"In these times, we're trying to do things differently," he said. He says the city administrator job is currently a catch-all that captures all these administrative aspects of the police chief's job already. 

For example, during last week's city council meeting, Chief Pavelchik looked to Cooper for information about the police vehicles that were approved for purchase, Vana said. That's the kind of delegation that would continue, he said.

"At the end of the day, we'll find out a lot of this is about semantics," Vana said. 

"As a resident, I would like whatever is best for the city," Kiefer said. "I would hope that everyone here would want what is best for the city. In here, I don't see what is best for the city."

He said that former Mayor Carmen Soldato said at the last city council meeting that there is no amount of money that is too small to save during these economic times. Kiefer said that based on that logic, this is not the best plan.

Kiefer suggested hiring one of the deputies, letting him fill the same role as Pavelchik, and be done.

Vana said the plan has several goals, not just one. He reads from the proposal that the goals include: saving money, allowing the administrator to handle some of the administrative duties of the police chief and developing positive communication between the city and police department. 

Kiefer said the redundancies could be eliminated without an ordinance.

McIvor said that if you took this whole proposal off the table, it would cost the city $20,000 to $30,000 to go on a national search for a new chief. Weaver said if this proposal were taken off the table, she would owe it to the city to do a national search to find the best possible candidate.

A La Grange police officer said he doesn't think economics should weigh into this decision. He suggested promoting one of the deputy chiefs without going to a national search.

Arleta Peknik took the podium. She said that Darien has run very smoothly during the 37 years she's lived in the city. She said evidence of that is that the city council hosts these open meetings to discuss proposals such as this in depth.

"I really think we've entrusted them as our leaders in the last election. I just feel they're going to take the questions and answers we've put in front of them ... and do the right thing," she said. "...They always have."

The economy is difficult, so she asks that people respect the difficult decisions the city's officials need to make.

"We all need to move forward without any grudges," Peknik said.

Lauren Catalano has taken the podium. She said she is an engineer, so it is her job to identify problems and come up with solutions.

She said she doesn't understand how this proposal will save money or increase communication.

She said she doesn't understand why Vana needs to take over the administrative duties or get a raise if the city is going to promote a deputy to chief anyway.

Donna Soukup has taken the podium.

She said the city administrator doesn't need to be in charge of everything. She said she also wonders why it wasn't brought up during the election that Pavelchik was retiring.

"Because it wasn't known," Weaver said. Even though Weaver knew that Pavelchik was thinking about retiring, she said the other aldermen didn't know anything about it.

Alderman Joe Marchese said people have talked a little about the process city council has taken with this proposal. He said two weeks ago the city talked conceptually about a proposal. A week ago, the council decided to postpone a vote because the city needed to hear more from the public. 

"We have listened to that and people need to know that the reason we are having this meeting tonight and that we are not voting is that we want to listen again," he said.

Marchese said he believes the city council would want to be able to give their advice and consent on whoever the city administrator would suggest fill the police chief role.

"I believe no one up here has an agenda to do anything other than the best we can," he said.

Marchese said the process is still open and the city wants to come up with a decision that makes the majority of residents happy.

Weaver said the city has a $12 million operating fund, about $7.5 million of which goes toward the police department. 

"That's what we're trying to get our arms around," she said.

Marchese said the council wants to provide the best services to people at the most reasonable costs. What is a luxury to some may be a necessity to others, he said. Not everybody is going to like some of the areas the council cuts, he said.

7:58 p.m.

Vana said he wants to make a clarification. The council is discussing a revision tonight that keeps a sworn officer in the office of police chief, he said. He said he will not have the ability to hire or fire police officers. The city is in that process, but the authority rests with the police board. 

Vana would not receive a police pension under any scenario, Weaver said.

"His pension would be like all of us average citizens," she said.

What makes this decision so important are the challenging economic times, City Treasurer Michael Coren said. The city is contributing about $1.174 million to police pensions, he said. Within four years, that amount will grow to about $1.98 million.

That's why the city is looking at restructuring the department, he said—"trying to cut more of the administrative fat while keeping people on the street."

Alderman Sylvia McIvor said that last week the city council approved new vehicles to bring the city's level of safety to a much higher level.

"That was a unanimous vote. There was no vindictive nature because that was the right thing to do," she said. "...That investment is being made as we speak as far as the upgrades to our safety."

Seifert says he wants everyone to spell out their concerns tonight so that they're all addressed as the council moves forward.

7:50 p.m.

David Pavlica has taken the podium.

He said that it looks bad that Vana gets a raise and more authority.

Several council members said that the city is conducting these meetings so as to discuss the issue.

For the last three years, Vana has not requested a salary increase, Coren said. 

7:45 p.m.

Leonard Catalano has taken the podium. He is reviewing what he said at the May 16 city council meeting. 

"Apparently, my concerns as well as the concerns of my fellow residents must have been valid because three days later, Vana benched that innovative proposal," Catalano said.

This new proposal gives one person the authority to pick the chief of police, Catalano said. It would not be the duty of an elected official, he said.

The raise will be based on Vana's evaluation, Catalano said. 

"In the past, a police chief was chosen by the mayor ... not one single person," he said.

The raise will be a monetary carrot dangled in front of the chief, Catalano said, which could lead to an "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" scenario.

During the last meeting, residents brought up the idea of promoting one deputy chief, giving him a raise and allowing him to have all duties normally assigned to the police chief, Catalano said. He said the city council would not entertain this idea.

Catalano is questioning why the city wants to give Vana more responsibilities and more money.

He said the city needs more checks and balances because the proposal would make Vana the most powerful city administrator in Illinois.

"The only reason I see is control, power and money," Catalano said. 

"I think you've forgotten, Len, that all city department heads are appointed annually," Weaver said, adding that all department heads are appointed with the consent of the city council, she said. 

"....You're implying the police chief is not part of management, and that is what is wrong with your message."

The police chief can't be a friend to the police officers because he has to deliver the message of the city council to his department, she said.

"You implied the chief has to do his own thing and be separate," she said.

"Separation of powers," Catalano said.

Vana is clarifying that the savings in his plan is about $150,000.

The job has changed a lot over the past 10 years, with the priority now being business management, Vana said. It has changed specifically in the past three years because of the economy, he said.

"I don't understand what any of that has to do with properly picking a police chief," Catalano said.

A little while later, Vana said the rap sheet on the MAP police union website perpetuates a mindset he doesn't think the community is aware of. One of the goals of the city's proposal was an attempt to bring a better form of communication to a department that tries to perpetuate the idea that elected officials are the enemy, Vana said.

"If you had a company and your employees had that mindset, you would do things differently," Vana said. 

7:23 p.m.

Vana is reading the proposal. 

After finishing, he said the proposal eliminates one deputy chief and leaves the city with one chief and one deputy chief.

"Part of this captures the reality of what we're dealing with in work loads for all of us," Vana said.

7:20 p.m.

Nick Darien said he has nothing but respect for the city government, but he said he was surprised a proposal like this even came forward.

"I cannot imagine the dilution of the duties of police chief," he said.

He said this would cause a tremendous amount of confusion in a crisis.

"I would wonder about the effect of respect both within the police department as well as within surrounding communities in the event of a major criminal act," Darien said.

When things go wrong, there could be finger pointing, he said. If the additional duties can be given to the city administrator, does that imply the administrator's plate wasn't full, Darien asked.

"I can't imagine we would have anyone other than a highly skilled officer in the position [of police chief]," Darien said.

7:15 p.m.

Leonard Catalano is asking that the Darien City Council discuss the ordinance prior to asking for public comment. Weaver said that the information was already posted on the city website.

Weaver said the council will go over the ordinance again after Nick Darien speaks.

7:14 p.m.

Fromer Alderman John Galan just took the podium.

He said Vana brought focus to the city and streamlined city functioning. He said it was unfortunatley a double-edged sword because some people had to be let go. But making those decisions is part of being a good manager, Galan said.

In 2002 Darien had a larger population than it does now, Galan said. When Vana was brought on in that year, his salary was about $96,000, Galan added.

"In the past eight years, Bryon's had the opportunity to grow, and his salary has increased commensurate to that," Galan said.

A year-and-a-half ago, Galan said he thought it was time to encourage Vana to look elsewhere for employment because he could earn twice as much as he does in Darien.

"From what I see, you're trying to create a monetary package in the neighborhood of $150,000 to keep him in the city," Galan said. "Frankly, I think that's a little high for what our city managers do." He said he thinks the position has maxed out.

"If the intent was to save money, you would save money by hiring someone who makes less than Bryon makes today," Galan said. He also suggested promoting one of the deputy chiefs.

"I would hope you would consider to encourage Bryon to move on," he said. Galan said it would be a loss to the city, but he's sure there are people who could come in and hit the ground running.

"If this is about saving money, there are other ways to do it," Galan said. "If this is about creating a package to keep Bryon, I don't think that's fair to him and I don't think it's fair to the citizens of Darien."

7:07 p.m.

"We've just left an executive session in which we were discussing the new concept ordinance that was advertised on our website," Mayor Kathleen Weaver said. "We've decided to continue the discussion on that ordinance."

Weaver says the council is listening to the fact that most residents want a sworn officer as police chief. She said the council will continue discussing the ordinance at another executive session after the public meeting.

Vana addressed why he was looking for a job in Glen Ellyn. He said it, in part, has to do with things that happened during the election.

"Kevin Monaghan was out to replace me. That was one of the key goals he had," Vana said. "I had no intentions to leave. I didn't want to leave."

Vana said  his goal was to stay in Darien.

Vana said this meeting, however, is to discuss the issue of police chief duties rather than his job prospects.

Weaver said that there's been speculation recently about collusion between her and Vana about the appointment of police chief duties.

"If you know me, that's simply not me," Weaver said.

Weaver said Chief Robert Pavelchik told her last November that he was considering retiring. She said she thinks what happened during the campaign put Pavelchik over the top.

Because of the economy, the city had to develop alternative solutions to replace him, she said.

"I want to put the idea of collusion or anything going on behind closed doors to rest," she said. "....You are our bosses."

The revised concept out there is a work in progress, Alderman Joerg Seifert said. 

6:58 p.m.

The meeting has been called to order.

6:54 p.m.

Several aldermen as well as City Administrator Bryon Vana have arrived in council chambers and are taking their seats.

6:36 p.m.

Treasurer Michael Coren came down to tell everyone in council chambers that the executive session is running longer than expected. He said it will be at least another 15 minutes before the public meeting gets under way.

6:25 p.m.

The special Darien City Council meeting starts in about five minutes. So far there are about 15 people in the audience, including Deputy Chiefs David Skala and John Cooper and former Alderman John Galan. The city council members themselves are still in executive session upstairs.